Biochemical Journals Research Articles

Icariin Research Trends: Bibliometric Analysis

Icariin is a compound with various pharmacological effects, such as anti-osteoporosis, cardiovascular protection, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, immunoprotection, and sexual dysfunction improver. Over the past decades, several publications and literatures have studied the compound and its potential effects. This is a bibliometric analysis of academic studies related to icariin compounds, and their productivity. Therefore, this research aims to comprehensively analyse the findings of several articles related to icariin globally. The articles used were obtained from the Scopus database using the keywords "icariin" OR "icariine" OR "epimedii". Meanwhile, one of the inclusion criteria for the selection was articles published between 2010 and 2021. A total of 1,116 publications were then obtained from the search process, and the data were analyzed using VOSviewer, R-Studio (Biblioshiny). The results showed that the major contributing countries were China, South Korea, India, the United States, and Hong Kong, with a total of 844, 40, 26, 23, and 21 publications, respectively. Furthermore, the literatures were primarily published in pharmacology, chemistry, oncology, and biochemistry journals. The most mentioned compounds were icaritin, epimedium, flavonoids, icariside, and epimedin, which appeared in 41, 33, 29, 22 and 16 literatures, respectively. In the last 5 years, published research article focused on icariin’s effects on osteoporosis, inflammation, Alzheimer, oxidative stress, and osteoarthritis. Different formulation technologies, such as solid dispersion, liposomes, nanoparticles, microemulsion, cyclodextrin inclusion complex, self-microemulsifying drug delivery system, nanoemulsion, and pH-sensitive nanoparticles, have been explored.

Standing with giants: W.J. Whelan, a catalyst for international cooperation via the Miami Winter Symposium and the IUBMB

The Miami Winter Symposium, now in its fifth decade, appeared with various names in its early offerings. Dr. William J. Whelan, Professor and Chairman of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine started the Symposium in 1967 and continued to organize the annual meeting for many years. In 1983, I relocated from Vanderbilt University, where I was Professor of Biochemistry, to the University of Miami as Director of an interdepartmental research and clinical group, taking my primary faculty appointment in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Working with Dr. Whelan and others on the Organizing Committee for the 1986 Miami Winter Symposium, I recommended my friend and former colleague at Vanderbilt University, the late Dr. Stanley Cohen, for the Feodor Lynen Lecture. This proposal was met with enthusiasm by the Organizing Committee, as was the suggestion by Dr. Whelan that Drs. Herbert W. Boyer of the University of California at San Francisco and Stanley N. Cohen of Stanford University be co-recipients of the Symposium's Distinguished Service Award. It was a memorable meeting, and, when rummaging through some old files that somehow had survived laboratory and home moves, I found two poignant photographs taken at a 1986 Symposium reception. In Figure 1, I am shown with Drs. Whelan, Boyer, and Stanley N. Cohen, and Figure 2 captures Dr. Boyer flanked by the two Stanley Cohens. If I remember correctly, this was the first meeting of the Vanderbilt and the Stanford Stanley Cohens. Of note, the “Vanderbilt Stanley Cohen” is holding his signature corncob pipe. The work of Dr. Whelan and the three distinguished scientists honored at the 1986 Miami Winter Symposium was at the forefront in broadening the burgeoning field of biochemistry and extending it to include genetic engineering and molecular & cell biology. Their pioneering concepts and applications remain in wide use today. The impact of these four individuals on the life sciences and biomedicine has been immense, and over the years this foursome garnered many prestigious awards. To name but a few of these recognitions, Herbert Boyer, Stanley Cohen, and Stanley N. Cohen each received a National Medal of Science Award, and each was recognized with an Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. In addition, Herbert Boyer was a co-founder of Genentech, a highly successful biotech company. The Vanderbilt Stanley Cohen received the Fred Conrad Koch Award of the Endocrine Society and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine the same year he gave the Feodor Lynen Lecture in Miami, the Nobel Prize being shared with his former collaborator, Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini. Bill Whelan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, was an honorary Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, became a Fellow of the American Association of Academic Scientists, and received an honorary DSc. degree from La Trobe University, Australia. Complementing his leadership role in the annual Miami Winter Symposium and his original research on the importance of glycogenin as a primer for the initiation of glycogen synthesis, Bill was also effective in integrating biochemistry at the international level and serving as the founder and leading force of a number of biochemistry journals and societies. These accomplishments included: service as the first Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal, BioEssays, and Trends in Biochemical Sciences; Founding Editor of FEBS Letters; Executive Editor of Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics; Editorial Board Member of the Biochemical Journal; cofounder and First Secretary General of FEBS and PAABS; General Secretary and President of the IUBMB; and founder and, along with Dr. Angelo Azzi, co-Editor-in-Chief of IUBMB Life, the latter being a position he held from 2000 to 2020.1 Without question, in addition to being an outstanding biochemist, Dr. Whelan was a quintessential catalyst in promoting not only biochemistry and the burgeoning field of molecular biology, but also the international cooperation of life scientists. Each of these biochemists and molecular biologists continued their groundbreaking research for many years following the 1986 Symposium. It was a pleasure for me, as a mid-career scientist, to have had the unique opportunity to be in the company of such accomplished individuals; indeed, these were an “awesome foursome.” The author declares no conflict of interest.

VINCULACIÓN DEL VIRÓLOGO PROFESOR ADOLFO GARCÍA SASTRE CON LA UNIVERSIDAD DE SALAMANCA Y CON LA REAL ACADEMIA NACIONAL DE FARMACIA

We give some biographical details of the virologist Professor Adolfo Garcia Sastre, as a Graduate student (1981-1986) in the Biology School of University of Salamanca and during his PhD Thesis (1986-1990) in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Chairman Prof J.A. Cabezas), under the supervision of Prof. Enrique Villlar and obtaining the highest academic marks. The research lines that he established in collaboration with his Thesis director, with Prof. J.A Cabezas and others, as well as his results during his stay at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, are also highlighted. His findings in this period were published in prestigious Virology and Biochemistry journals and presented at national and international meetings. Thereafter, when he moved to Mount Sinai in New York, he met Prof Mariano Esteban, then working at Downstate Medical Center in New York, SUNY, and both, in collaboration with the group of Prof. Ruth Nussenzweig and Fidel Zavala at New York University, set up seminal immunological studies that are the basis for combined vaccination approaches, prime/boost and activation of CD8+ T cells, now widely used in preclinical and clinical studies. The scientific research contributions of Prof. García Sastre are growing at an exponential rate, opening new horizons in understanding the molecular biology of emerging viruses, their pathology, virus-host cell interactions and strategies of virus control.

Biotin interference in routine laboratory tests: A bibliometric analysis

Biotin interference in routine laboratory tests: A bibliometric analysis

Within-journal self-citations and the Pinski-Narin influence weights

Abstract The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is linearly sensitive to self-citations because each self-citation adds to the numerator, whereas the denominator is not affected. Pinski and Narin (1976) Influence Weights (IW) are not or marginally sensitive to these outliers on the main diagonal of a citation matrix and thus provide an alternative to JIFs. Whereas the JIFs are based on raw citation counts normalized by the number of publications in the previous two years, IWs are based on the eigenvectors in the matrix of aggregated journal-journal citations without a reference to size: the cited and citing sides are normalized and combined by a matrix approach. Upon normalization, IWs emerge as a vector; after recursive multiplication of the normalized matrix, IWs can be considered a network measure of prestige among the journals in the (sub)graph under study. As a consequence, the self-citations are integrated at the field level and no longer disturb the analysis as outliers. In our opinion, this independence of the diagonal values is a very desirable property of a measure of quality or impact. As an example, we elaborate Price’s (1981b) matrix of aggregated citation among eight biochemistry journals in 1977. Routines for the computation of IWs are made available at http://www.leydesdorff.net/iw .

TOPOISOMERASES: FEATURES OF THE ACTION, CLASSIFICATION, CELL FUNCTIONS, INHIBITION, ANTHRAFURANDION

Introduction. Topoisomerases influence on DNA topology and are capable of running down their super spiraling molecules by importation of one- or two-chained ruptures with the subsequent restitution and also the negative super rounds or catenae’s. Topoisomerases are known to be targets for antineoplastic therapy. Inhibitors of these enzymes of various nature and chemical structure are widely used for the suppression of tumor Topoisomerase I and/or II activity with the blocking cells in the phase G2 and a delay of their introduction in mitosis. Such difficult curable tumors as colorectal cancer, carcinoma of the stomach, non-small cell lung cancer and so forth are the most sensitive to these drugs. The search of perspective antineoplastic inhibitors is implemented generally in ranks of the non-camptothecin agents among which heterocyclic condensed nitrogenous compounds, in particular, anthrafurandiones show the most significant results. The review of thematic literature from 2011 to 2018 is devoted to the description of properties of topoisomerase as targets and their inhibitors from perspective classes. Objectives: 1. The analysis of signal characteristics of topoisomerases as targets for anticancer non-camptothecin inhibitors. 2. Identification of structure-activity relationship in the ranks of potential inhibitors of topoisomerases. 3. The choice of the most perspective non-camptothecin topoisomerase inhibitors among heterocyclic condensed nitrogenous compounds on the basis of the comparative analysis of structure and properties. Material and methods. Materials of 79 scientific articles published in the leading biological, biochemical and chemical journals of the different countries within the 8 last years are subjected to the analysis. The structure of the review meets the purpose and tasks of the scientific analysis. Results. The analysis of the thematic literature showed topoisomerases to be relevant targets for antineoplastic therapy of severe oncological pathology. In this regard, intensive search of various pharmaceuticals among topoisomerase inhibitors is performed in recent years. Researchers modify the known basic structures as well as synthesize new compounds. The discovery of a top-directional effect of the known medicines expands the data on their mechanism of the action. To identify the topoisomerase inhibitory activity of the drug the methods with the use of plasmid DNA is applied. The cytotoxic activity, apoptosis induction, including the caspases activation, modification of mitochondrial potential, influence on p53 and others are examined in parallel studies. The research directed on the identification of new effective non-camptothecin oral topoisomerase inhibitors among the anthracyclines derivatives are of undoubted relevance. Such agents, in contrast to Doxorubicin (anthracycline antibiotic widely used for tumor therapy), have moderate toxicity and allow to control the growth of solid tumors and leukemia in mono-therapy mode. Conclusion. In terms of searching of original antineoplastic agents, a class of heterocyclic condensed nitrogenous compounds, first of all, the anthraquinones showing properties of topoisomerase inhibitors is one of the most promising. The results of chemical and biological research of the compounds of this series were laid in a basis of the design of medicinal substances and their drug formulations. Prognostically significant data obtained in preclinical testing allow us to hope that obtained antitumor agents will be highly effective on a clinical stage of trials.

Mapping of Biochemistry Journals: An Analytical Study of Directory of Open Access Journals

This study presents an overview of ‘Biochemistry’ journals indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Data was retrieved from The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) as on May 04, 2017, which on that date listed around 9,456 journals across 129 countries. The present study demonstrates the various aspects such as the subject coverage, year-wise, and geographical distribution of contributions, language-wise, publisher-wise contributions and the payment levied for publishing. The findings of the study depict that in all, 107 biochemistry journals are registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals across the world. Subject-wise distribution of journals shows that among various subjects covered under Biochemistry discipline, maximum journals (29) are reported from Chemistry, i.e., 27%, followed by Biology i.e., 23%. Maximum 23 journals were reported during the year 2015. Country-wise distribution of journals exhibits that Egypt ranked at the top with 18 (16.82%) journals. Maximum 92 (85.98%) journals have been published in English language. 13.08% Biochemistry journals are published by Hindawi Publishing Corporation and Elsevier, both of them were placed at the top most position.

Edward Charles Slater. 16 January 1917 — 26 March 2016

With the death of Edward Charles Slater, Bill for insiders, biochemistry loses one of the key players in the field of bioenergetics in the second half of the twentieth century. Raised in Australia and trained as a chemist, he joined the lab of David Keilin FRS in Cambridge for his PhD where he discovered a new component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, an Fe-S protein, long known as the Slater factor. After a brief post-doc period in the lab of Severo Ochoa in New York, where Slater started studies on oxidative phosphorylation that would remain his major interest, he returned to Keilin's institute. In 1953 he formulated there his chemical hypothesis for the mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation that would dominate the field until displaced by the chemi-osmotic theory of Peter Mitchell FRS. In 1955 Slater moved to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where he built up one of the largest and most successful biochemistry labs in Europe. He was not only an excellent biochemist, but also an outstanding mentor and a gifted administrator who turned Biochimica et Biophysica Acta ( BBA ) into the largest and one of the most influential biochemical journals of the 1960s and 1970s and who contributed to the governance of numerous organizations, such as the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB).

A Quarter Century of Glycobiology.

As was pointed out in the editorial in the very first issue ofGlycobiology (Hart 1990), the study of the biology of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates dates back to the earliest foundations of biochemistry. What is now the Society for Glycobiology dates back to small meetings organized by the founding fathers of our field, which took place in the early 1960s (for a historical review, see Silbert at http://www. glycobiology.org/files/sfg_history.pdf ). The Society for Complex Carbohydrates was formalized in 1972, and it was agreed to have a Society meeting every year in the fall. In these early days, much of the work in the field was focused on the chemical and structural analyses of glycoconjugates, while the biological functions of glycans remained largely enigmatic. Given the limited technology of the period, the accomplishments of these early glycoscientists are remarkable! By the late 1980s, it was evident that glycoconjugates play key roles in nearly every aspect of biology, including major diseases that affect mankind. Indeed, a number of “glyco-focused” biotech companies were created leading to renewed interest in our rapidly growing field. In addition, technological advances allowed for meaningful research into the structure/functions of complex glycans in complex biological systems. The realization that glycans are critically important to nearly all aspects of biology led to coining of the term “glycobiology” (Rademacher et al. 1988). During this era, papers on glycoconjugates were published in a wide array of different types of journals, ranging from those focused on mostly chemistry to others focused mainly on biology. Thus, it was realized that glycobiology papers were either buried within thick issues of general biochemistry journals or diluted among papers in highly specialized journals focused mostly on immunology, neurobiology, virology, developmental biology and many other disciplines. In 1989, after discussions with Oxford University Press, plans to create the journal Glycobiology were finalized. An editorial board of leaders in all areas of our field was selected. It was planned that each issue of Glycobiology would contain invited mini-reviews, which would convey exciting breakthroughs in an easily readable format accessible to the general bioscience communities. Each issue would also have a “Glyco-Forum” section to highlight news, meeting announcements, and to provide a vehicle for sharing ideas not appropriate for formal research publications. An original aim of the Journal was to not only publish the best science in glycobiology, but also to keep publication times as rapid as possible. The first issue of Glycobiology was published in September of 1990 with Gerald W. Hart as Editor-in-Chief, and Anne Dell, Akira Kobata and DirkH. van den Eijnden serving as Executive Editors. Both the Editors and Board members were selected from all over the world, reflecting the international focus of the new journal. The first cover of the journal showed a Haworth Projection of a hexose enclosing an electron micrograph of the Golgi (Figure 1, reproduced on the cover of this issue), reflecting the importance of this organelle in the biosynthesis of complex glycans. In the early 1990s, it became apparent to the Board of Directors of the Society for Complex Carbohydrates that the Society’s name did not adequately reflect the new directions of the field into myriad diverse areas of biology. At the 22nd Annual Meeting (1993) in Puerto Rico, the membership nearly unanimously voted to both change the name of the Society to “Society for Glycobiology” and also to make Glycobiology the Society’s official journal (Hart 1994). By 1996, it was very clear that Glycobiology was not only the leading specialty journal in our field, but also thatGlycobiology ranked highly in terms of its relative impact among all biochemical journals, only just behind Journal of Biological Chemistry and Journal of Molecular Biology but ahead of Proteins, Biochemistry, Biochemical Journal and European Journal of Biochemistry (Hart 1996). Figure 1: Cover of inaugural issue. Glycobiology, 2015, vol. 25, no. 12, 1321–1322 doi: 10.1093/glycob/cwv090 Glyco-Forum

Use of Design of Experiments and Manuscripts Rejection Rate

Traditional one-variable-at-a-time method was and still is for some researchers, the general procedure to determine the optimal conditions for a chemical, biochemical or biological mechanism. According to this technique, a large number of experiments should be performed to obtain a high precision in effect assessment and also the interaction among the variables cannot be defined. To overcome the limitations of this labor-intensive, time-consuming and expensive technique, the statistical Design of Experiments (DoE) was proposed by. DoE is recently the preferred method for optimization owing to the use of pivotal principles of statistics, randomization and replication. It is a suitable method to analyze the alteration of all factors simultaneously according to a design matrix. Therefore, the effect of each variable and also the combined effect of two or more variables can be estimated with a minimum number of experiments. With the advent of modern computing this method has become a ubiquitous tool in most research labs. While this approach is a versatile method for optimisation, its application can sometimes be haphazard or inappropriate under some conditions. Today, a significant fraction of the submitted manuscripts are influenced by the DoE methodology and the progress in the use of these techniques in the history of biotechnology has been nothing but astonishing. Based on the SCOPUS database, over the last 10 years, the number of manuscripts with ‘Design of experiment’ as a keyword has tripled across the major life and physical science journals. Whilst a vast majority of these manuscripts are published in medical journals and are a standard requirement for drug efficacy testing, within the biotechnology and biochemistry journals there has been a steady increase in the number of manuscripts using DoE methodology. An ever-increasing number of manuscripts that use DoE as a means to demonstrate the optimisation of the production of microbial compounds are being published, with a vast majority reporting incremental changes to the existing literature. However, some of the most highly cited papers have used DoE approaches. DoE software can produce subsequent number of tables/figures and consequently improve the quantity of the paper. However, this technique is only half of the whole story. The novelty of the research, its contribution to the field of study and data collection is the other half. Rejection of a manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal is a not a pleasant experience for the authors. Scientists plan to submit their works to quality journals forgetting the severe acceptance criteria for the journal. Manuscripts depend as much on DoE software tools without any contribution to the scientific community are likely to be rejected at the initial editorial screening. Manuscripts, therefore, should more rely on high quality research that helps in understanding of the role of science and technology in solving the key scientific and societal difficulties for the benefit of mankind and environment.

Recent Advances in Affinity Capillary Electrophoresis (2007)

Papers detailing the use of affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE) in examining binding parameters between biological species are summarized in this review. The works cited in this review were published during 2007 and were drawn from the major chemical and biochemical journals and especially the major analytical chemistry literature. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 98:394–410, 2009

The Protein Society: Celebrating 20 years in 2006—The founding and early years

A person is clearly identified as “old” when he begins to get requests to write a history of an organization with which he has been associated for many years. So it was not exactly a surprise when The Protein Society requested that I write a history of the Society and its journal upon the occasions of the 20th yearly American Symposium of The Protein Society and my announced retirement as Editor of Protein Science, since I have been active in both throughout their entire histories and am certifiably at an age that most of the attendees of the 20th Symposium will consider advanced.

How to use difference plots in quantitative method comparison studies

Quantitative method comparison studies are fundamental to clinical biochemistry. The interpretation of quantitative method comparison studies relied heavily on correlation and regression methods until Bland and Altman first described the concept of absolute difference plots. Since then, many clinical biochemistry journals advocate the use of difference plots; however, there is a lot of ignorance about the validity as well as the pros and cons of the various difference plots. The most important issue in quantitative method comparisons studies is to determine limits of agreement that are valid across the whole range of values in the study so that correct data interpretation and conclusions occur. This article discusses validity as well as the pros and cons of difference plots and provides means to determine limits of agreement that are valid across the whole range of values in method comparison studies. Accordingly, correct data interpretation will be more likely and better conclusions should be arrived as a result.

A reduced history of the Biochemical Journal

It is a pity that there is not the equivalent of a telegram from the Queen for journals celebrating their 100th birthday, because otherwise the Biochemical Journal, surely the Grande Dame (but whether Evadne Hinge or Hilda Bracket is matter of personal choice) of biochemistry journals, would be getting one this year (and, yes, in case you are wondering, the Biochemical Journal, like a majestic ocean liner, is definitely a ‘she’).

Can scientific journals be classified in terms of aggregated journal‐journal citation relations using the Journal Citation Reports?

AbstractThe aggregated citation relations among journals included in the Science Citation Index provide us with a huge matrix, which can be analyzed in various ways. By using principal component analysis or factor analysis, the factor scores can be employed as indicators of the position of the cited journals in the citing dimensions of the database. Unrotated factor scores are exact, and the extraction of principal components can be made stepwise because the principal components are independent. Rotation may be needed for the designation, but in the rotated solution a model is assumed. This assumption can be legitimated on pragmatic or theoretical grounds. Because the resulting outcomes remain sensitive to the assumptions in the model, an unambiguous classification is no longer possible in this case. However, the factor‐analytic solutions allow us to test classifications against the structures contained in the database; in this article the process will be demonstrated for the delineation of a set of biochemistry journals.

Articulating Biochemistry in the Netherlands after the Second World War: Science for its Own Sake

Biochemistry — including molecular biology — constituted a major part of Dutch chemical research over the period from 1940 to 1980. However, the Netherlands did not occupy a strong position in that field of research after the Second World War. The present paper seeks to explain the successful development of biochemistry in the Netherlands into an independent discipline of international standing. Formulating the goal of biochemistry as “science for its own sake” played an important role in this development. Post-doctoral positions, senior fellowships and editorships of journals were crucial for biochemistry in the Netherlands in building a network of international contacts that could keep researchers informed about current developments. Westenbrink and Slater were key participants in the development of these networks. These two scientists developed international contacts via fellowships and as editors of major biochemical journals. It was through these forms of communication that the hitherto peripheral Dutch biochemical research community gained a more central position.

Growth, Characteristics, and Distribution Patterns of Chemistry and Biochemistry E-journals: A Feasibility Study for CUNY Libraries

This article reviews past, present, and future trends of electronic journals (e-journals) in general, and more specifically, chemistry and biochemistry journals. The author presents various issues involved in e-journals and their subscription models and provides some professional tools and figures. The author analyzes the growth, characteristics, and distribution patterns of e-journals and discusses aggregators, the leading e-journal packages, and pricing options. The second part of this study considers when and how a consortium of university libraries should switch from print to e-journals. The author presents a feasibility study for the acquisition of a core collection of electronic journals in chemistry and biochemistry by the City University of New York (CUNY) libraries. Serials Review 2002; 28:21–32.

Growth, Characteristics, and Distribution Patterns of Chemistry and Biochemistry E-journals: A Feasibility Study for CUNY Libraries

This article reviews past, present, and future trends of electronic journals (e-journals) in general, and more specifically, chemistry and biochemistry journals. The author presents various issues involved in e-journals and their subscription models and provides some professional tools and figures. The author analyzes the growth, characteristics, and distribution patterns of e-journals and discusses aggregators, the leading e-journal packages, and pricing options. The second part of this study considers when and how a consortium of university libraries should switch from print to e-journals. The author presents a feasibility study for the acquisition of a core collection of electronic journals in chemistry and biochemistry by the City University of New York (CUNY) libraries. Serials Review 2002; 28:21–32.

Old bugs for new tasks; the microbial offer in the proteomics era.

Old bugs for new tasks; the microbial offer in the proteomics era.

'Nothing to laugh at at all': humor in biochemical journals

'Nothing to laugh at at all': humor in biochemical journals