Taking it back: A pilot study of a rubric measuring retraction notice quality.

The frequency of scientific retractions has grown substantially in recent years. However, thus far there is no standardized retraction notice format to which journals and their publishers adhere voluntarily, let alone compulsorily. We developed a rubric specifying seven criteria in order to judge whether retraction notices are easily and freely accessible, informative, and transparent. We mined the Retraction Watch database and evaluated a total of 768 retraction notices from two publishers (Springer and Wiley) over three years (2010, 2015, and 2020). Per our rubric, both publishers tended to score higher on measures of openness/availability, accessibility, and clarity as to why a paper was retracted than they did in: acknowledging institutional investigations; confirming whether there was consensus among authors; and specifying which parts of any given paper warranted retraction. Springer retraction notices appeared to improve over time with respect to the rubric's seven criteria. We observed some discrepancies among raters, indicating the difficulty in developing a robust objective rubric for evaluating retraction notices.

Characteristics of Retracted Research Articles About COVID-19 vs Other Topics.

This cross-sectional study compares the author and journal characteristics of retracted articles on COVID-19 with retracted articles from other topics.

An "alarming" and "exceptionally high" rate of COVID-19 retractions?

More than 20 papers about COVID-19 have been retracted at the time of this writing. It is premature, however, to conclude that such work is being retracted at higher rates than the rest of the literature.

Analysis of retracted articles in the surgical literature.

BACKGROUND: Retractions of scientific articles represent attempts to correct the literature. Our goal was to examine retracted surgical papers. METHODS: NCBI PubMed database was queried using the search terms "surgery," "surg," or "surgical" and "retracted" or "retraction." Article details were recorded. RESULTS: There were 184 retracted surgical articles identified from 1991 through 2015. Average retraction time was 3.6 years. General (26%), Cardiac (22%), and Orthopedic (10%) surgery were most common. Reasons for retraction were duplication (35.3%), Institutional Review Board violations (18.5%), falsified data (14.7%), data errors (9.8%), author dispute (8.2%), plagiarism (7.6%), copyright violations (2.2%), financial disclosure violations (0.5%), and consent (0.5%). No reason for retraction was given in 8.7% of cases. Median IF was higher for administrative than content-related retraction reasons (3.0 vs. 2.0, P < 0.01). A paywall, requiring a subscription to read, restricted access to 23.4% of retraction notices. CONCLUSIONS: Article retractions occur across all fields of surgery for various reasons, both administrative and content-related. The majority of surgical retraction notices have a reason for retraction listed and do not require payment to read.

A novel method for deriving thresholds of toxicological concern for vaccine constituents.

Safety assessment evaluating the presence of impurities, residual materials, and contaminants in vaccines is a focus of current research. Thresholds of toxicological concern (TTCs) are mathematically modeled levels used for assessing the safety of many food and medication constituents. In this study, six algorithms are selected from the open-access ToxTree software program to derive a method for calculating TTCs for vaccine constituents: In Vivo Rodent Micronucleus assay/LD50, Benigni-Bossa/LD50, Cramer Extended/LD50, In Vivo Rodent Micronucleus assay/TDLo, Benigni-Bossa/TDLo, and the Cramer Extended/TDLo. Using an initial dataset (n = 197) taken from INCHEM, RepDose, RTECS, and TOXNET, the chemicals were divided into two families: "positive" - based on the presence of structures associated with adverse outcomes, or "negative" - no such structures or having structures that appear to be protective of health. The final validation indicated that the Benigni-Bossa/LD50 method is the most appropriate for calculating TTCs for vaccine constituents. Final TTCs were designated as 18.06 µg/person and 20.61 µg/person for the Benigni-Bossa/LD50 positive and negative structural families, respectively.

Isocyanate and VOC exposure analysis using Flexane®.

Flexane® 80 is a trowelable urethane product used in combination with cleaners and primers to effect rubber conveyor belt repairs. These products are of concern due to the potential for worker exposure to isocyanates and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Small chamber experiments were used to identify chemicals liberated to the ambient air from each of the Flexane®-related products. A new sample collection method using treated cotton sleeves as a surrogate skin surface to assess potential dermal exposure to isocyanates during mixing and application of the Flexane® product was validated. Six simulations of a worst case scenario were performed by an experienced belt repair technician in a walk-in laboratory exposure chamber. Analysis of air samples from the large chamber simulations did not detect airborne isocyanates. The average airborne VOC concentrations were below established occupational exposure levels. Dermal sleeve samples detected intermittent and low levels of isocyanates from self-application while wearing gloves having surface residues of uncured Flexane®. The data strongly suggest that the normal and intended use of Flexane® putty, and its associated products under worst case or typical working conditions is not likely to result in worker VOC or isocyanate exposure levels sufficient to produce adverse health effects.

Attenuation of bromobenzene-induced hepatotoxicity by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors.

Inhibitors of the nuclear enzyme poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) have been demonstrated to attenuate pathophysiological conditions associated with toxicant-induced oxidative stress. This investigation evaluates Nicotinamide (NIC), a non-specific PARP inhibitor, and 6(5)-Phenanthridinone (Phen), a specific PARP-1 inhibitor, for their efficacy in blocking or attenuating bromobenzene (BB) induced hepatocellular toxicity. Male ICR mice were treated with an intraperitoneal injection of bromobenzene, followed by concomitant treatment with NIC or with NIC at 0.5, 1 and 2 hours after BB treatment, or with concomitant treatment of Phen at 10 mg/ml, 20 mg/ml, or 40 mg/ml solution concentration. Mice with only BB treatment displayed substantial hepatotoxicity as evidenced by a 3.5-fold increase in serum alanine transferase (ALT) compared to controls. Mice treated with 3 injections of NIC (at 0.5, 1 and 2 hours) after BB treatment demonstrated a 90% reduction in serum ALT at 24 hours after BB treatment (p < 0.05). Mice with concomitant BB and Phen treatment demonstrated a 75% reduction in ALT at 24 hours after treatment (p < 0.05). Histological evaluations of centrilobular hepatic tissue from treated animals confirm findings of reduced hepatotoxicity as indicated by the ALT results in the NIC and Phen treatment groups. Mortality after 7 days was reduced to levels near controls in the NIC and Phen treatment groups. The PARP-1 inhibitors evaluated in this investigation produce clinically significant attenuation of BB-induced liver injury in male ICR mice.

Attenuation of bromobenzene-induced hepatotoxicity by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors.

Inhibitors of the nuclear enzyme poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) have been demonstrated to attenuate pathophysiological conditions associated with toxicant-induced oxidative stress. This investigation evaluates Nicotinamide (NIC), a non-specific PARP inhibitor, and 6(5)-Phenanthridinone (Phen), a specific PARP-1 inhibitor, for their efficacy in blocking or attenuating bromobenzene (BB) induced hepatocellular toxicity. Male ICR mice were treated with an intraperitoneal injection of bromobenzene, followed by concomitant treatment with NIC or with NIC at 0.5, 1 and 2 hours after BB treatment, or with concomitant treatment of Phen at 10 mg/ml, 20 mg/ml, or 40 mg/ml solution concentration. Mice with only BB treatment displayed substantial hepatotoxicity as evidenced by a 3.5-fold increase in serum alanine transferase (ALT) compared to controls. Mice treated with 3 injections of NIC (at 0.5, 1 and 2 hours) after BB treatment demonstrated a 90% reduction in serum ALT at 24 hours after BB treatment (p < 0.05). Mice with concomitant BB and Phen treatment demonstrated a 75% reduction in ALT at 24 hours after treatment (p < 0.05). Histological evaluations of centrilobular hepatic tissue from treated animals confirm findings of reduced hepatotoxicity as indicated by the ALT results in the NIC and Phen treatment groups. Mortality after 7 days was reduced to levels near controls in the NIC and Phen treatment groups. The PARP-1 inhibitors evaluated in this investigation produce clinically significant attenuation of BB-induced liver injury in male ICR mice.