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The article presents science news briefs as of April 23, 2015. Germany's ruling political parties have agreed to increase funding for science by €5 billion between 2018-2018. The journal "Meccanica" has retracted 11 papers authored by engineer Alberto Carpinteri over a conflict of interests stemming from Carpinteri's views on nuclear fission. Mexican President Enrique Peña announced a plan to save the vaquita, an endangered species of porpoise.

The article discusses a paper published by Sz Borsanyi et al which reports a breakthrough progression on problem of required calculations for the mass difference between neutrons and protons. Topics discussed include how neutron-proton mass difference can be calculated in terms of more fundamental inputs and how it is a milestone achievement in the inclusion of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and quantum electrodynamics (QED) accurately in the calculation since the techniques used are different.

The article discusses a text analysis of biomedical papers which revealed that young researchers are much more likely than older scientists to study innovative topics. It found that senior researchers are more likely to publish when they are supervising a younger scientist. The study was conducted by Mikko Packalen of the University of Waterloo in Canada and Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University in California and published by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research in February 2015.

The article discusses a research paper on climate-sensitivity determinations from the warm Pliocene epoch compared to those from the cold Pleistocene epoch. It references a study by M. A. Martínez-Bóti et al., published within the issue of "Nature". It discusses the method used by the researchers and the use of the instrumental temperature record to narrow the equilibrium climate sensitivity range.

The article discusses a research paper on the key enzymatic steps to install the sulfur atom of the antibiotic lincomycin A during its biosynthesis in the bacterium Streptomyces lincolnensis. It references a study by Q. Zhao et al., published within the issue of "Nature". It discusses the role of mycothiol as a sulfur donor and the involvement of ergothioneine in the chemical activation of the carbon atom that will bear the sulfur.

The article discusses a research paper on the occurrence of regime shifts from corals to macroalgae in response to coral bleaching. It references a study by N. A. J. Graham et al., published within the issue of "Nature". It discusses aspects of reef ecology that incfluence the likelihood of this shifts, the occurrence of coral bleaching, and the challenges facing reef managers in protecting coral reefs from human threats.

The article discusses a research paper on small molecules that mimic the pharmacological properties of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). It references a study by P. J. McEnaney et al., published in a 2014 issue of the "Journal of the American Chemical Society". It discusses the success of mAbs as pharmaceuticals and the evolution of tripartite Y-shaped antibodies.

The article discusses a research paper on the development of fully three-dimensional-printed light-emitting diodes based on quantum dots for printing of three-dimensional electronic devices. It references a study by Y. Kong et al., published in a 2014 issue of "Nano Letters". It provides information on quantum dots, improvements in device performance and applications of the technique.

The article discusses a research paper on the use of reflected seismic waves generated by explosive sources in boreholes to image the Pacific plate ascending beneath New Zealand. It references a study by T. Stern et al., published within the issue of "Nature." It discusses the effect of temperature on the viscosity of rocks, the presence of water or melt in the channel and the occurrence of water availability from phase transformations or melt ponding.

The article discusses a research paper on the impact of smoke in the air on tornado formation and intensity, which references a study by Pablo Saide et al., published in a 2015 issue of the "Geophysical Research Letters."

The article discusses a research paper on a technique that could help biologists to control organelle positioning and movement in cells. It references a study by P. van Bergeijk et al., published within the issue of "Nature." It discusses the organization of the cell's membranes, the use of optogenetic tools in regulating interactions between selected protein domains in areas of a cell or tissue and testing of the "tug-of-war" model for positioning organelles in neuronal protrusions.

The article presents Shanghai, China's contribution to the Nature Index based on weighted fractional count of scientific articles published in 2013, with Fudan University as the city's largest contributing institution. Fudan is strongest in materials chemistry with papers on composite nanofibers used in lithium batteries and nanotubes as cathode materials for rechargeable batteries. Shanghai Jiao Tong University is most open to collaboration with other institutes in chemistry and life sciences.

The article presents Beijing, China's contribution to the Nature Index based on weighted fractional count of scientific articles published in 2013, with Peking University and Tsinghua University as the city's largest contributing institutions. Peking's research outputs include conjugated polymers for transistors and asymmetric synthesis to develop drug molecules. Tsinghua's papers include topics on bimetallic nanocatalysts, supramolecules, and graphene synthesis using sodium-ammonia solution.

The article presents the Chinese Academy of Sciences as the world's largest scientific organization with researchers and institutes spread across China, led by the Institute of Chemistry, Institute of Physics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences. Chemistry papers were top contributors to the country's Nature Index while life science articles command a dominant share in journal publications.

The author comments on a study which suggests that press releases by universities are to blame for the exaggerated press reports of published medical-research papers. He discusses the importance of media coverage of research. He calls on researchers to work closely with those who write and circulate press releases on their behalf to avoid media hype of medical research.

The article discusses contributions by researchers in Middle and South America to science and technology research. Topics include investment in the science and technology investments made in the Middle and South America, total article count and physical sciences journals. University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and University of Chile is mentioned. Research funding in Argentina and Brazil are discussed. Charts presenting details of the research papers share are included.

The article discusses contributions by researchers in Central, East and South Europe to science and technology research. Topics include expanding research base, institutional organizations and physical sciences research. Institutions including Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) and Academy of Sciences (RAS) in Russia and National Science Center in Poland are discussed. Academy of Sciences in Hungary is mentioned. Charts presenting details of the research papers are included.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including research papers, scientific literature and researcher surveys.

The article discusses contributions by researchers in Africa to science and technology research. Topics include domestic science spending, international funding and research articles from Africa. African universities including Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, University of the Witwatersrand and University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa are mentioned. Charts presenting details of the research papers are included.

The article discusses contributions by researchers in Australasia and Pacific Islands to science and technology research. Topics include research output and science spending in New Zealand and Australia. Budget cuts in Australia and increase in research budget by New Zealand is mentioned. Institutions including University of Sydney and Monash University in Australia and University of Auckland in New Zealand are mentioned. Charts presenting details of the research papers are included.

The article discusses about the scientific breakthroughs and research in West Asian countries. Topics include the science papers published by Israeli scientists, the budget allocated for research and development, and its weighted fractional count (WFC). The quality of research in Saudi Arabia, its university KAUST, and comments by its vice president Jean Frechet are included. Charts for research efficiency and research strengths of West Asian countries are also given.

Chart, graphs and diagram are presented which explain topics including research papers contributors, article counts and subjects areas with high weighted fractional count (WFC).

The article discusses the ways in which the most highly cited biomedical scientists score their top-ten papers. Topics include the selection of the most-cited biomedical scientists and the methodology used for the scoring, the response of these scientists based on factors like Continuous Progress, Greater Synthesis and Broader Interest and the correlations involving factors like Disruptive Innovativeness, Surprise and Publication Difficulty.

The article discusses collaborative tools that helps reduce the difficulties in writing and publishing scientific papers by simplifying editing and formatting processes on an online document at the same time. Application, writeLaTeX used by ecologist Fernando Cagua is mentioned. Other topics include scholar-focused online writing apps like Fidus Writer, Google Docs and Authorea, the tools keeps track of different versions of the document, and interactive,user friendly data-driven article.

The article discusses some of the useful recommendations services for the researchers which would help them in locating the recent research papers and articles. Topics include options such as Google Scholar, Twitter, and Sparrho and experiences of academic researchers such as Casey Bergman, Ross Mounce, and Cassie Ettinger. Also discussed is search with keywords and filters for the scientists along with features of search engines such as PubChase and Scizzle.

Arising from I. F. King et al. 501, 58-62 (2013); doi:10.1038/nature12504In an important recent paper, King et al. reported that inhibition of TOP1 and other topoisomerases reduces the expression of extremely long genes. They also showed that the list of large genes affected by TOP1 inhibition is enriched with candidate genes for autism spectrum disorders (ASD); however, the list of candidate genes that was used contains many genes with limited evidence for association with ASD. Here we demonstrate that the size of the genes among ASD candidate genes is biased towards extremely large genes only for genes identified to be disrupted by copy number variations (CNVs). Thus, our analysis suggests that the association between large genes and ASD is mainly driven by the method that implicated the genes in ASD. There is a Reply to this Brief Communication Arising by Zylka, M. J. et al. Nature 512, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13584 (2014). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a paper from the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium on genome-wide analysis of mental disorder schizophrenia. It mentions that the analysis revealed over 100 genetic regions associated with schizophrenia that contribute to disease risk. It also mentions that existence of 108 loci that contribute to susceptibility of disease has been confirmed by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium.

The article reports that statistician Chris Hartgerink has been blocked from downloading large number of papers from the website of scientific publisher Elsevier.

The article reports after European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) European Bioinformatics Institute co-director Ewan Birney posted on the microblog Twitter on how to determine the quality of around 2,500 research papers instead of using journal titles as a proxy for quality.

The article presents information on the Nature Index database of institutional relationships and author affiliations which tracks contributions to articles published in specific science journals. It states measures provided in the index include the article count, the fractional account which considers the relative contribution of authors to an article, and weighted fractional count which applies weighting to adjust for an over-representation of research papers in astrophysics and astronomy.

The article focuses on souring relations between Russia and Western countries and how Russian President Vladimir Putin's isolationism and anti-Western rhetoric may negatively impact Russian science. It states Russian research institutes and universities have started to instruct scientists to gain permission from the Federal Security Services prior to submitting papers or giving talks at scientific conferences. It mentions concerns of foreign-funded foundations they could be placed on a list of undesirable organizations.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to an article in a previous issue which offered possible reasons why Brazil and India rank above Europe and the United States in terms of the numbers of interdisciplinary research papers published in Elsevier journals.

The article looks at "Discrete Analysis," an online-only, peer-reviewed journal which provides links to mathematics papers hosted on the preprint server arXiv. According to Timothy Gowers, the journal's managing editor, the journal's model of using arXiv and relying on authors to perform their own typesetting and copyediting will reduce its susceptibility the commercial pressures facing most scientific journals. Gowers' role in the the boycott of the publisher Elsevier and the Episciences initiative for overlay journals is also discussed.

The article focuses on the scientific controversy of a retracted research paper that was published in "Nature" in 2014 on stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP), which was claimed as a method to reprogram cells. The author discusses failed research efforts to replicate the findings, articles about STAP research in this present issue of "Nature," recommendations concerning cell line verification, and implications of this incident for future scientific research.

The article discusses an analysis published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" journal which reports that long-term research collaborations yield a 17 percent increase in citation rate for resulting papers, including an average of 21 more citations in biology and 8 more citations in physics.

The author criticizes the organization the European Commission for ending consideration of the initiative known as Science 2.0. He argues that a change in the commission's research programmes that were anticipating Science 2.0 could have assisted in the development of younger Europeans to approach knowledge development differently. The article discusses peer-reviewed papers and peer-reviewed single-investigator grants in the digital age, a programme initiated by European Commission research commissioner Carlos Moedas, and the organization the US National Institutes of Health.

The article covers a paper by psychologists Brian Earp and Jim Evertt that suggests that doctorate (PhD) psychology students replicate at least one study from their own specialism as part of their education in an effort to reproduce psychology findings.

The article examines the scientific community's reaction to a paper by developmental biologist Etha Bier and student Valentino Gantz describing how they used the CRISPR gene-drive system to insert a modification into the genes of fruit flies that would be passed on to their offspring. It notes that while the application of this process could eliminate invasive species or render mosquitoes unable to carry malaria, scientists are concerned over unanticipated environmental effects.

The article focuses on a paper published in a 2015 issue of "Physical Review Letters" which found that the viscosity of normal liquid solutions could be altered by varying Escherichia coli concentrations and that when around six billion bacteria were in the suspension spinning in a rheometer, the fluid became a superfluid.

A letter to the editor is presented concerning the 40th anniversary of a scientific paper that described the discovery of the cell-signalling protein known as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in the inflammatory disease a cytokine.

The author argues that the use of metrics in scientific research should support but not replace expert judgement. He states that peer review is the best form of academic governance despite its drawbacks and should remain the central standard for assessing research papers, proposals, and scholars. The author discusses the scheduled publication of an independent review of the use of research metrics at the behest of the British government.

A correction to the article "Alzheimer's disease: From big data to mechanism" that commented on the paper "Integrative genomics identifies APOE ε4 effectors in Alzheimer's disease" by H. Rhinn and colleagues, which appeared in a 2013 issue is presented.

The article cites three blog posts that emphasize the importance of professional, constructive responses from authors whose papers had been reviewed by referees.

The article discusses research done on academic papers that went for decades before they were recognized and considered as important. It references a study by Q. Ke and colleagues, published in the 2015 issue of the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA." Information is presented on the relevance of research done by German chemist and colloid pioneer Herbert Freundlich that was published in 1906.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to an article published in a previous issue on the topic of double-blind peer review of research papers.

The article reports that the journal "Basic and Applied Social Psychology (BASP)" is banning null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) by not publishing papers with P values since the P values are often associated to lower-quality research.

The article discusses research on the use of sticky tape to deposit metal nanoparticles on a surface, referencing a study by Bartosz Grzybowski published in the "Journal of the American Chemical Society" in 2015.

The article discusses a research paper on daily temperatures in Europe from climate observation stations across the continent, which references a study by Martin Beniston et al., published in a 2015 issue of the "Climatic Change."

The article discusses a research paper on the change in color being made by squids to signal a fellow squid or for camouflage, which references a study by Hannah Rosen et al., published in a 2015 issue of the "Journal of Experimental Biology."

This article presents excerpts of research papers published in past issues of "Nature," including one on the ability of rats to discriminate between the presence or absence of X-rays in the February 6, 1965 issue and another on astronomers and the war in the February 4, 1915 issue.