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Background: Cancer research is critically dependent on a continuous recruitment of junior research staff that devotes its academic life not only to clinical duties but also to basic and translational research. The present study aims to elucidate the success concerning gender equality in cancer research in the last decade (from 2008 to 2016) with lung cancer as the target parameter.
Materials and Methods: On the basis of the Gendermetrics Platform, a total of 19,724 articles related to lung cancer research were analyzed. The key method was the combined analysis of the proportion of female authorships and the female-to-male odds ratio for first, co- and last authorships. The distribution of prestigious authorships was measured by the Prestige Index.
Results: 31.3% of all authorships and 35.2% of the first, 32.2% of the co- and 22.1% of the last authorships were held by women. The corresponding female-to-male odds ratio is 1.22 (CI: 1.18–1.27) for first, 1.19 (CI: 1.16–1.23) for co- and 0.59 (CI: 0.57–0.61) for last authorships. Women are underrepresented at prestigious authorships compared to men (Prestige Index = −0.22). The female underrepresentation accentuates in articles with many authors that attract the highest citation rates.
Conclusions: While the current system promotes early career promotion of women, men still outnumber women in leadership positions. However, this male-female career dichotomy has been narrowed in the last decade and will likely be further reduced in the next decade.
Objective: About 2% of all pregnancies are complicated by the implantation of the zygote outside the uterine cavity and termed ectopic pregnancy. Whereas a multitude of guidelines exists and related research is constantly growing, no thorough assessment of the global research architecture has been performed yet. Hence, we aim to assess the associated scientific activities in relation to geographical and chronological developments, existing research networks and socioeconomic parameters.
Design: Retrospective, descriptive study.
Setting: On the basis of the NewQIS platform, scientometric methods were combined with novel visualising techniques such as density-equalising mapping to assess the scientific output on ectopic pregnancy. Using the Web of Science, we identified all related entries from 1900 to 2012.
Results: 8040 publications were analysed. The USA and the UK were dominating the field in regard to overall research activity (2612 and 723 publications), overall citation numbers and country-specific H-Indices (US: 80, UK: 42). Comparison to economic power of the most productive countries demonstrated that Israel invested more resources in ectopic pregnancy-related research than other nations (853.41 ectopic pregnancy-specific publications per 1000 billlion US$ gross domestic product (GDP)), followed by the UK (269.97). Relation to the GDP per capita index revealed 49.3 ectopic pregnancy-specific publications per US$1000 GDP per capita for the USA in contrast to 17.31 for the UK. Semiqualitative indices such as country-specific citation rates ranked Switzerland first (24.7 citations per ectopic pregnancy-specific publication), followed by the Scandinavian countries Finland and Sweden. Low-income countries did not exhibit significant research activities.
Conclusions: This is the first in-depth analysis of global ectopic pregnancy research since 1900. It offers unique insights into the global scientific landscape. Besides the USA and the UK, Scandinavian countries and Switzerland can also be regarded as leading nations with regard to their relative socioeconomic input.
Being the most aggressive type of brain tumor, glioblastoma is estimated to be diagnosed in about 12,400 new cases in 2017. The diagnosis is dramatic to patients and relatives and leaves open many unanswered questions for them. One is the big question why there is no cure as in other tumors. This review illustrates the US and global research efforts that have been made over the past century. It demonstrates the great magnitude of energy invested by US clinicians and scientists but undoubtedly, more research is needed and funding by NIH and other sources should be continued on the same level.
Objective: Worldwide, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) represents the predominant viral agent causing bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children. To conduct research and tackle existing healthcare disparities, RSV-related research activities around the globe need to be described. Hence, we assessed the associated scientific output (represented by research articles) by geographical, chronological and socioeconomic criteria and analysed the authors publishing in the field by gender. Also, the 15 most cited articles and the most prolific journals were identified for RSV research.
Design: Retrospective, descriptive study.
Setting: The NewQIS (New Quality and Quantity Indices in Science) platform was employed to identify RSV-related articles published in the Web of Science until 2013. We performed a numerical analysis of all articles, and examined citation-based aspects (eg, citation rates); results were visualised by density equalising mapping tools.
Results: We identified 4600 RSV-related articles. The USA led the field; US-American authors published 2139 articles (46.5%% of all identified articles), which have been cited 83 000 times. When output was related to socioeconomic benchmarks such as gross domestic product or Research and Development expenditures, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia and Chile were ranked in leading positions. A total of 614 articles on RSV (13.34% of all articles) were attributed to scientific collaborations. These were primarily established between high-income countries. The gender analysis indicated that male scientists dominated in all countries except Brazil.
Conclusions: The majority of RSV-related research articles originated from high-income countries whereas developing nations showed only minimal publication productivity and were barely part of any collaborative networks. Hence, research capacity in these nations should be increased in order to assist in addressing inequities in resource allocation and the clinical burden of RSV in these countries.
The oncogene B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) is associated with lymphomagenesis. Intriguingly, its expression is increased in preeclamptic placentas. Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Preeclamptic placentas are characterized by various defects like deregulated differentiation and impaired fusion of trophoblasts. Its pathogenesis is however not totally understood. We show here that BCL6 is present throughout the cell fusion process in the fusogenic trophoblastic cell line BeWo. Suppression of BCL6 promotes trophoblast fusion, indicated by enhanced levels of fusion-related β-hCG, syncytin 1 and syncytin 2. Increased mRNA levels of these genes could also be observed in primary term cytotrophoblasts depleted of BCL6. Conversely, stable overexpression of BCL6 reduces the fusion capacity of BeWo cells. These data suggest that an accurately regulated expression of BCL6 is important for proper differentiation and successful syncytialization of trophoblasts. While deregulated BCL6 is linked to lymphomagenesis by blocking lymphocyte terminal differentiation, increased BCL6 in the placenta contributes to the development of preeclampsia by impairing trophoblast differentiation and fusion.