- A study by researchers from Rockefeller University provided a new insight into cancer biology by demonstrating that a lipid type is crucially essential for cancer immune evasion. The findings imply that existing medications for impeding lipid production can boost the immune system in fighting cancer. The study was published in Nature.
- Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital showed that lung cancer screening guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force don’t adequately serve their purpose, especially in Black patients. In place of requiring the equivalent of a pack a day for 20 years the Harvard researchers suggest switching “to a simple measure that would recommend annual screening for anyone who’s smoked for 20 years, regardless of how many cigarettes they smoke a day”. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
- Unlike other breast cancer types, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) does not respond to hormone therapy or anti-HER2 drugs. A new study from Mass General Brigham established that combining two types of therapeutic agents (AKT and EZH2 inhibitors) can selectively kill these cancer cells, establishing a foundation for a new triple-negative breast cancer treatment. The study is published in Nature.
- A study by Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center has offered “unprecedented insights” into early bladder cancer (specifically, urothelial carcinoma) development. Researchers found that antiviral enzymes and standard chemotherapy were the main culprits for bladder cancer development as sources of mutations. The researchers also gained insights into the mechanisms of bladder cancer resistance to therapy. These findings are breakthrough contributions to the knowledge of bladder cancer biology and pave the way to new therapeutic strategies. The study was published in Nature.
- Researchers from MIT discovered that the old cancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) which has been around since the 1950s, “acts differently in different types of cancer”. While it was long established that it affects cancer by damaging building blocks of DNA, the new study found that in gastrointestinal cancers it kills cells by interfering with RNA synthesis. This new finding will have an impact on what combinations of 5-fluorouracilwith with other chemotherapy drugs are given to achieve synergistic effects in different types of cancer. The study was published in Cell Reports Medicine.
Author Archives: Marina
Converting EndNote Citations to Unformatted Citations or Plain Text in Microsoft Word
The citation management software EndNote allows authors to easily add references from their EndNote library directly into their manuscripts in Microsoft Word, and these citations can move and respond as changes are made within the document. This works by including behind-the-scenes code into the Word document that is able to “talk” to the EndNote library. However, because of this additional information within the Word document, it can cause issues when it tries to talk to an EndNote library, but that library is not available (e.g. on another person’s computer).
Thus, it’s important to be able turn off this functionality without removing all the citations that have already been added to a manuscript. There are a few different options to turn off this functionality, including both temporary and permanent options.
Unformatted Citations
Unformatted citations is a temporary method of turning off this talking between Word and EndNote. This option can be used during the active writing stage, where a manuscript might be shared amongst collaborators or across devices and these different parties are all editing the document. It also can be used in conjunction with regularly formatted citations, where some citations are actively formatted and some are converted to unformatted temporary placeholders in the document.
This method converts the in-text citations to plain text, but with language that can be read by EndNote. However, t’s not actively talking to EndNote. In this method the in-text citation information is stored within {curly brackets} as a placeholder, and at any time the document can be reformatted and the proper in-text citations and bibliography will once again be functional and talking to EndNote.
Since this option will add curly brackets with the citation information within, those whom the manuscript is shared with must understand to be careful not to delete or move this bracketed information. If there is a risk that a collaborator might accidentally manipulate this information, see the plain text option below. Collaborators can add additional text and references as plain text that can be added through EndNote later once the document is reformatted.
Unformatted citations can also be used when dealing with extremely large documents with hundreds of citations, that can become very slow. There is also an option to turn off automatic formatting, which only talks to EndNote when you explicitly tell Word to update the bibliography.
EndNote for Windows OS
On the EndNote 21 tab within Microsoft Word, go to Convert Citations and Bibliography, and select Convert to Unformatted Citations.
If you are unformatting the entire document, this unformats all of the in-text citations and removes the current bibliography.
If you want to remove formatting for a specific citation or section, simply highlight that citation or section and then select Convert to Unformatted Citations.
EndNote for Macintosh OS
On the EndNote 21 tab within Microsoft Word, go to Tools, and then select Convert to Unformatted Citations.
If you are unformatting the entire document, this unformats all of the in-text citations and removes the current bibliography.
If you want to remove formatting for a specific citation or section, simply highlight that citation or section and then select Convert to Unformatted Citations.
Plain Text Citations
Plain text citations or Removing Field Codes is a permanent method of disabling the behind-the-scenes code that allows the Word document to communicate with EndNote. Since this method is permanent, it should be done after the active writing stage, and when the document needs to be sent to a publisher, editor, or outside reviewer.
Converting citations to plain text means stripping all metadata associated with EndNote from the Word document, and the in-text citations and bibliography are turned into regular Word document text.
This option can also be used during the writing process, if for example, there is a fear or risk of collaborators accidentally manipulating the information within the curly brackets of the unformatted citations, or if the curly brackets create a difficult reading environment. It can also be used if for some reason a reference has formatting errors that cannot be corrected through EndNote and need to be fixed manually.
Since this method is permanent, Word prompts you to save the plain text as a separate copy, so there is always a fail-safe if changes need to be made there is still a version that is connected to EndNote.
EndNote for Windows OS
On the EndNote 21 tab in Microsoft Word, go to Convert Citations and Bibliography, and select Convert to Plain Text. Click OK in the confirmation dialog to create a new document. A copy of the document, without field codes, appears in a new document window.
EndNote for Macintosh OS
On the EndNote 21 tab in Microsoft Word, go to Tools, and select Convert to Plain Text. Click OK in the confirmation dialog to create a new document. A copy of the document, without field codes, appears in a new document window.
Ancient Viruses Contributing to Cancer, Enhancer for CAR-T Cell Therapy, and More
- In a preclinical study, scientists from Yale University used therapy carrying antibodies redesigned from lupus to target tumors. The novel approach allows the antibodies to get “unnoticed into the tumor environment”, which makes this therapy very targeted. This results in a “reduction in toxic side effects experienced by patients when less precise therapies kill off healthy tissue.” The study was published in ACS Central Science.
- Researchers from Rockefeller University discovered that sensory nerves within breast tumors strongly influence cancer progression and metastasizing. This discovery opens new possibilities for stopping breast cancer growth. The study also determined that the TACR1 antagonist aprepitant, an FDA-approved drug for nausea prevention, may prevent cancer growth and metastasis by targeting neuron chemistry/breast cancer interplay. The study was published in Nature.
- Researchers from Harvard University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute designed a protein that allowed the prolongation of the potency of CAR-T Cell therapy, a crucially important type of cancer treatment. The study was published in Nature Biotechnology.
- The latest cohort study by a group of researchers from multiple medical centers established that people at risk of pancreatic cancer have better survival rates if they undergo annual imaging as part of preventive surveillance. The study’s findings may lead to early detection of pancreatic cancer in high-risk individuals and improved survival rates. The study was published in JAMA Oncology.
- In the latest research on the subject, researchers from the University of Colorado established that pieces of DNA “left behind by viruses that infected primate ancestors tens of millions of years ago” and present inside the human genome, if reawakened, may help cancer “survive and thrive.” The findings suggest that “silencing certain endogenous retroviruses” can help cancer treatments become more efficient. The study was published in Science Advances.
- A new study from the American Cancer Society that “used 2019 information from nationally representative data on cancer incidence and mortality, as well as risk factor prevalence” found that “four in 10 cancer diagnoses and almost half of all cancer deaths of adults over the age of 30 in the United States could be attributed to modifiable risk factors.” The article published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians reports in some detail epidemiology correlating the risk factors with different cancer types.