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Investigation Finds UConn Professor Fabricated Research

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:29:16 -0400

Editor's note: The Courant's website isn't updating right now, but we wanted to share the latest version of this story with our readers.

Investigation Finds UConn Professor Fabricated Research

Work Focused On Health Benefits Of Resveratrol, An Anti-Oxidant In Red Wine

By WILLIAM WEIR

bweir@courant.com

A three-year investigation into the work of a UConn researcher who focused on the health benefits of resveratrol -- a chemical in red wine -- found 145 instances of fabricated research.

Dipak K. Das, a professor in the Department of Surgery and director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at UConn Health Center, was the focus of the investigation conducted by UConn faculty.

An anonymous tip into "research irregularities" triggered the investigation, a UConn spokesman said. As a result of the investigation, all externally funded research in Das' lab has been stopped and the university has declined $890,000 in research grants.

Officials from the UConn Health Center have sent letters of notification to 11 scientific journals that have published Dipak's studies. The health center officials worked with the U.S. Office of Research Integrity during the investigation and submitted the 60,000-page report of its investigation to the office, which is now conducting its own investigation.

"While we are deeply disappointed by the flagrant disregard for the university's code of conduct, we are pleased the oversight systems in place were effective and worked as intended," Philip Austin, interim vice president for health affairs, said in a prepared statement. "We are grateful that an individual chose to do the right thing by alerting the appropriate authorities. Our findings were the result of an exhaustive investigation that, by its very nature, required considerable time to complete."

Das earns a $184,396 salary. UConn spokesman Chris DeFrancesco said he "remains employed by the UConn Health Center pending dismissal proceedings per university bylaws."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy answered a question about UConn's findings at a storm-preparedness press conference at Simsbury Town Hall on Wednesday afternoon. A reporter asked the governor how the findings might affect his ambitious plans to develop a research cluster around the health center, including the construction of a building for the Maine-based medical research firm Jackson Laboratory.

"Do I think it's helpful? The obvious answer is no," Malloy said. But he pointed out that UConn began this investigation itself and brought its findings to the appropriate external authorities.

Das, 65, of West Hartford, has been with the health center since 1984 and was granted tenure in 1993. In recent years Das has researched herbs and plant-derived compounds and their role in cardiovascular diseases. Das' work investigated the potential health benefits of resveratrol -- including whether it prevents coronary heart disease, whether it acts as an anti-inflammatory and also whether high doses of the antioxidant, which is derived from the skin and seeds of grapes, can kill cancer cells.

UConn's investigation began in December 2008. Bruce Koeppen, dean of academic affairs, appointed an investigation team, which collected all of Das' studies and examined them for irregularities. The report details several instances of data falsification, manipulation of images with photo software.

Much of the evidence gathered in the investigation was taken from the computer in Das' office, to which no other lab members had a key.

The report states that six other researchers were suspected at one point of having a role in the data manipulation. On the advice of the Office of Research Integrity and the office of the Connecticut Attorney General, the investigation focused specifically on Das. The six other researchers were referred to the health center's research misconduct committee. DeFrancesco said they "are subjects of inquiry but to date there have been no findings against them."

According to the report, Das stated that he had no knowledge of any of the allegedly manipulated figures. Based on testimony of other Cardiovascular Research Center staff, the investigators found that the professor's statement "lacks credibility." As senior author of the papers, the report states, he bears responsibility for any fabrication that occurred, and evidence "strongly suggests that Dr. Das himself was directly involved in fabricating figures for publication."

The report states that "one of the curious aspects" of the case is how responsibilities were divided on certain studies. Some lab members -- even when they were the first authors on the papers -- had no role in biochemical analyses or preparing figures. Compartmentalizing the work in such a way, according to the report, would make it harder to trace any fabrication to its origin.

The investigation began with a preliminary review of 101 papers that came out of the Cardiovascular Research Center between 2002 and 2009. The team then focused on 26 of these papers, and on all of them Das was listed as one of the authors. Nine of the studies focused on resveratrol, a few of which compared the cardiovascular benefits of red wine to white wine. Another looked at whether freshly crushed garlic was better for the heart than processed garlic (it found that it was), and another explored broccoli's role in protecting mammalian hearts.

One focus of the investigation was a set of images in these papers representing "Western blots" -- an analytical technique used to detect certain proteins in tissue samples. Generally, these experiments are represented in papers with a series of bands, one for each experiment conducted. The investigation found several instances of these images being manipulated: Some were spliced together, some duplicated, some erased. Many bands that had nothing to do with the particular experiments were cut and pasted into the studies. The report states that these kinds manipulations can be done simply with such programs as Adobe Photoshop.

To add to the investigators' suspicion, the first instances of these manipulations began in 2005, when "there was apparently no one working in the lab with the expertise to prepare Western blots." Evidence from Das' computer shows that a lab technician had been asked to do some Western blotting, but Das was unhappy with her work and discontinued her salary, according to the report.

The investigators found such manipulations in 23 of the 26 papers. Similar fabrications were also found in three grant applications and in one communication with the editors of the American Journal of Physiology. A publications staff member for the American Journal of Physiology would not comment about Das Wednesday.

The authors of the report note that, for the sake of expediency, the investigators focused only on the "most egregious or obvious examples" of manipulation.

Retraction Watch, an independent website that monitors retractions in life sciences research, reported Wednesday that Das appears to have had a relationship with a Las Vegas resveratrol maker called Longevinex. The company promoted his research, he article in Retraction Watch said, and Das also shows up in a lengthy video touting the nutrient as the next aspirin. Retraction Watch said the infomercial is guided by an "investigative reporter" named Gailon Totheroh, who is affiliated with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

At least one resveratrol expert said the damage from Das' apparent fraud to resveratrol research will be minimal. Retraction Watch said Nir Barzilai, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said he'd heard of Das but never met him. Barzilai also noted that most of Das' list of publications "seem to be in lower-impact factor journals."

"There are many investigators who are working on resveratrol," Retraction Watch quotes Barzilai as saying. "That doesn't mean we know the whole truth. But Rome wasn't built on Dr. Das."

The 11 publications notified by health center officials are American Journal of Physiology - Heart & Circulatory, Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, Cellular Physiology & Biochemistry, Free Radical Biology, Free Radical Research, Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, Journal of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Molecular & Cellular Cardiology and Molecular & Cellular Chemistry.

Courant staff writers Kathleen Megan and Daniela Altimari contributed to this story.

Photo of Dipak Das courtesy of University of Connecticut

CT Spring Antiques Show Is Moving... To Massachusetts

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:07:24 -0400

Here's a bit of a shock. The Connecticut Spring Antiques Show, now in its 39th year, is moving to West Springfield, to the Eastern States Exhibition.

This terrific show, which benefits the Haddam Historical Society and the Thankful Arnold House, has been held in recent years at the Connecticut Expo Center.

Karen DiSaia explains the move -- sort of -- in this story in Antiques and The Arts Online.

And Mark Spencer has a lot more detail in his story in The Courant.

I hope the shift won't affect the excellent lineup of dealers. Stay tuned.

Made In The Shade: Great Day For A Garden Visit Or Two

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 07:47:39 -0400

What a spectacular morning and lovely start to a holiday weekend, with the air so fresh and still cool.

It's a great day to visit a garden and get inspired. Two private gardens in Avon are open today until 4 p.m. as part of the Connecticut Horticultural Society's growing series of garden tours. Admission is $5 at each, free for children under 12.

No need to worry about the sun as these are shade gardens.

Kathie Sisson's garden at 20 Buckboard Lane features more than 1,400 hosta cultivars, including her own hybrids and some rarities.

Joe McGrattan's garden at 118 Brookridge Drive also features hostas, as well as 15 varieities of Japanese maple, hydrangeas (including five types of climbers), classic shade lovers like rhododendron, azaleas and hollies -- as well as some surprising tropicals.

For directions and full descriptions, go to http://www.cthort.org/garden_tours

Photos: Connecticut Horticultural Society

The Great White Way

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:05:15 -0400

Shades of a sanitarium?

Or of straitjacketed style?

I don't think so.

An all-white room is so calm, so serene and, depending on the undertones in the white, so refreshingly summery.

Sharon McCormick of Sharon McCormick Design in Durham has collected a variety of rooms at her blog. (Several are from Elle Decor's archives of the late Metropolitan Home, which ceased publication in 2009. It just goes to show that some design ideas never go out of style.)

Here are a few of the rooms, along with her comments:

Crisp and clean -- there is something so refreshing about an all white room.

Warm summer weather really can make you yearn for the simplicity of a room that is not weighed down by heavy patterns or colors.

When we come across images of white rooms they can seem so appealing -- an antidote to our busy lives.

While these rooms convey a feeling of simplicity, designing them is anything but simple.

There are several important factors that create a beautiful all white room.

First, the shape and design of every piece is critical since the form of the furniture or accessory really stands out.

Each piece must be selected with great care.

Second, you must be aware of creating layers of interesting texture in these rooms so the rooms don't feel "flat" or boring.

Sumptuous textures help to create a feeling of warmth in rooms which can otherwise feel a bit cold.

Photos via Sharon McCormick Design: Living room by Holly Hunt (Metropolitan Home); sitting room from Cottage Living; dining room by Darryl Carter (Metropolitan Home)

Interlopers In The Garden

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:37:33 -0400

Multiflora rose. Phragmites. Oriental bittersweet. Japanese Barberry.

They're pretty. But they're bullies.

Invasive plants are non-native plants that grow around the state, and probably in your own backyard. The trouble is, they cause significant ecological and environmental damage.

Peter Fritsch, a UConn master gardener, will give a free presentation on invasive plants Tuesday, June 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Middlesex County Extension Center in Haddam.

Call 860-345-3357 for reservations and information.

Photos from top: Multiflora Rose, Phragmites, Oriental Bittersweet, Japanese Barberry, Japanese Knotweed, Mile-A-Minute Vine. Photos of Oriental Bittersweet and Japanese Barberry by Mark Brand/UConn; all others courtesy of Donna R. Ellis/UConn.

Time To Fix That Little Tear In The Backdoor Screen

Thu, 19 May 2011 19:02:29 -0400

Uh-oh. Lots of snow in the winter, and then lots of rain.

It's shaping up to be a brutal season for mosquitoes.

Bill Weir has the story.

Photo of female Culex pipiens mosquito getting a meal, from the Connecticut Mosquito Management Program website

A Little Something For A Friday Afternoon

Fri, 13 May 2011 14:07:59 -0400

Beautiful and rather mesmerizing -- click here for the link at BoingBoing.

Battered Branches? Head To The Hardware Store

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:09:42 -0400

Don Kauke of West Hartford says he was "pretty desperate" to save one of his miniature Japanese maples, which was seriously damaged by January's snow accumulation. (It's one of a matched pair that he planted five years ago.)

He talked with the folks at Moscarillo's Garden Shoppe in West Hartford, and learned that many growers had a lot of damage to trees and rhododendrons this winter, and that one of the few remedies for a split branch is a technique known as bolting.

Don says he consulted the ehow site -- www.ehow.com/how_4836852_repair-split-tree.html -- among others, for further instructions.

"While holding the split tightly together, I used an electric drill to pierce the tree and pounded through carriage bolts with a washer at each end to distribute the holding power and tightened with a wrench," Don says. "The bolts can be purchased at varying lengths at the hardware store."

Don did the repair about a month ago, and he happily reports: "In the weeks subsequent, the foliage has all flowered with no signs of sap leakage at the break. It has survived its first month after 'surgery' and I hope it continues."

And as the leaves continue to pop, the bolts can't be seen.

Stumped by a gardening problem? Post it here, and I'll ask others to offer their suggestions and solutions.

Photos by Don Kauke

No Wonder Your Eyes Are Bright Red

Fri, 13 May 2011 07:39:43 -0400

It's not your imagination.

This May is practically off the charts for tree pollen. Bill Weir has the story. Click here.

Sample of tree pollen as seen under a microscope, collected by Waterbury Hospital's hematology lab for the National Allergy Bureau.

Photo courtesy of Liz Kalwat

Kitchen And Bath Designs For Aging In Place

Sun, 08 May 2011 09:32:31 -0400

We're getting older and that means creakier joints, fuzzier vision and other age-related ailments.

But we still want to live at home.

Kitchen and bath product designers have plenty of solutions, as Mary MacVean from the LA Times reports:

A grab bar for the bathroom shower that makes you think "pretty" before "old." A kitchen drawer for trash that makes you think "wow" before "useful." A kitchen faucet with temperature presets that says "looks elegant" before "avoids burns."

Read the whole story here.

At right, a Toto sink is designed with a sensor light that changes color with water temperature.

Photo by Isaac Brekken for the Los Angeles Times.

Stressed-Out Rhododendrons

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:30:10 -0400

I'm sure many Connecticut gardeners have been as shocked as I was at the sudden and significant browning of our rhododendrons. I almost fainted when my neighbor, Dave, first pointed out the problem -- brown, dessicated foliage and leaves rolled up along the mid-vein, the way they do in frigid weather. Now I see it on a lot of our beloved shrubs.

I was ready to start pruning madly, thinking all those branches were dead. I'm glad I talked with plant pathologist Sharon M. Douglas first.

Sharon, who heads the Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, said she has been fielding calls from nurseries, arborists and home gardeners all over the state -- from Washington Depot to Woodstock -- who ask, "Is it just my area?"

The problem is winter injury, a common problem of rhododendrons and azaleas caused by excessive drying, and this spring there's a lot of it.

Winter injury occurs when water evaporates from leaves on windy or warm, sunny days during the winter or early spring.

If the soil is frozen, the roots can't take up enough water to replenish the plant.

It's not just that, though. "We're also dealing with last year's drought," Sharon says. 'We had longer than normal periods above 90 degrees; that was sort of in the extreme."

So the heat stress and sun-burning of leaves from last summer were compounded with winter conditions.

The effects, however, aren't immediately apparent. Often the signs of winter injury don't become pronounced "until the plants really start to wake up -- especially when the plants are starting to push sap, hormones are produced and they're about to break bud."

Should You Prune?

The brown leaves are unattractive, but some of my shrubs are still covered with buds. I asked Sharon whether I should prune.

"I always urge people to be very cautious and to err on the side of conservatism," she says. "In many cases, the vascular tissues are still functional on that branch, and the bud is still going to flower."

So, unless it's time for a "rejuvenation pruning" (in which case you'll sacrifice this year's flowers), hold off. Buds that are firm and have a life to them, like an almost-ripe peach or an almost-ripe pear, should bloom, Sharon says. But buds that are extra squishy or really hard and dry are probably kaput.

I cut open a few buds that were on branches with completely brown leaves, and found their interiors were a nice, healthy green. (A bud may appear to still be plump, but if it looks black and necrotic inside, it's a goner.)

Sharon says you also can check the condition of the cambial tissues of a branch -- the xylem, which transplants water and minerals, and the phloem, which moves around the sugars. To do so, Sharon says, make a longitudinal cut in a twig, as though you're shaving a pencil. The outermost tissues should be bright green, and deeper inside it should be a creamy white. (If the tissues have an olive green look, though, the branch is likely heading in the wrong direction.)

Lichens, Fungal Canker

I had noticed a fair amount of lichen on some rhododendron branches. Sharon explained that lichen won't harm a plant but can be a sign that a plant or shrub has a problem. Lichens grow where there's more light and good air quality -- and those are the conditions when a plant has fewer leaves because of winter injury.

Winter injury also can make rhododendrons susceptible to Botryosphaeria (fungal) canker, which Sharon says is not an aggressive pathogen but more opportunistic, taking advantage of plants whose tissues are weakened by drought stress or winter injury.

Fungal canker is nothing new, she says, but this spring there does seem to be an upswing in many differrent plants, including weeping cherries, rhododendrons and crab apples.

You might see flattened or somewhat sunken areas on branches. If the fungus that produces the canker has completely encircled a branch, Sharon says, you should prune back to healthy, sound wood.

Broken Branches

We had so much snow this winter, and a lot of rhododendrons endured a lot of breakage. When the break is only partial, I've tried to repair the damage with electrical tape.

"You can try," Sharon says, "but I think the odds are not really stacked all that well in favor of that graft taking."

For more information, click here for Sharon's excellent article, "Common Problems of Rhododenron and Azalea."

Photos by Nancy Schoeffler

Growing Once, Growing Twice, Sold!

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:11:41 -0400

The auction action will be of the horticultural variety Friday, April 29, beginning at 7 p.m. at United Methodist Church, 1358 New Britain Ave., West Hartford -- at the Connecticut Horticultural Society's spring plant auction and sale.

Perennials, shrubs, trees, houseplants, herbs, wildflowers, ferns, Alpines, bulbs and more will be sold.

The free (and always lively) event raises money for scholarships for students at UConn's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and horticulture students at Naugatuck Community College.

The society has donated more than $130,000 to UConn students since the scholarship fund was started in 1959. The spring and fall plant sales are the primary source of money for that fund.

For more information, call 860-529-8713, email connhort@aol.com or go to www.cthort.org.

Photo by Nancy Schoeffler

Bugs, Birds, Blossoms: Biodiversity's Crucial Connections

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:59:36 -0400

When Douglas Tallamy was 9, he and his family moved into a new subdivision in Berkeley Heights, N.J. It was called Oak Park, he said, "because oaks were what they knocked down to develop it."

The lot next door, as yet unbuilt, had a pond, and young Doug was fascinated by the toads there. He heard them singing and saw them "hugging" a lot (so to speak), and, sure enough, soon there were thousands of tiny pollywogs.

He watched them every day as they grew their little legs, he told members of the Connecticut Horticultural Society at their meeting last week.

But just when some of the pollywogs were making their way onto land, a bulldozer came along to get the site ready for construction and completely buried the pollywogs and the toads' breeding site.

It was Tallamy's first lesson about "local extinction."

Tallamy, professor and chairman of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware and author of "Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife With Native Plants," wove a compelling portrait of the interconnectedness of species as well as humans' need for biodiversity for our own health and well-being.

We have "sterilized our neighborhoods and demonized nature," he lamented.

Some of his statistics were mighty sobering: 128,800,000 houses in the U.S.; 33,000 plants and animals on the brink of extinction; 4 million miles of paved roads in this country (covering a surface that's five times the size of New Jersey).

And as for lawn, which is "not a functioning ecosystem," 62,500 square miles of suburban lawn in the U.S.

But Tallamy's slide-illustrated talk went far beyond just a grim catalog of disaster. Suburbia is the place where people have the biggest opportunity to make positive change. Gardeners can make a crucial difference.

However, he said, it's not merely a matter of "just add plants."

"We have to stop thinking of plants as if they were only ornaments," Tallamy said. The reason: "All plants are not equal in their ability to support food webs."

Plants from Asia leaf out earlier than native plants, he said, and an imported plant can quickly become an invasive plant because it won't be controlled by local insects. And if the plants that local species-specific insects need to survive are overwhelmed, that means less food for local birds, and so it goes, on up the food chain.

Most insects can develop and reproduce only on the plants with which they share an evolutionary history, he said. "Ninety percent of insects that eat plants are specialists."

Tallamy is clearly a guy who loves insects -- and not just because they are "bird food." While many people think of "dirty" roaches and stinging wasps when they think of insects, Tallamy points out in his book that of the 4 million or so insect species on earth, a mere 1 percent interact with humans in negative ways.

The others keep busy with their do-good activities: pollinating plants, returning nutrients that are tied up in dead plants and animals to the soil, keeping insect herbivores in check, aerating and enriching soil, providing food directly or indirectly to other animals.

"If you delight in a golden-crowned kinglet foraging in your oak tree or an indigo bunting singing from a perch in the middle of your goldenrod patch, you may also find pleasure in the exquisite beauty of the insects that your native plants produce," he writes. "Creating habitats specifically for particular insect species can be its own reward and will connect you to a fascinating part of nature that most people never meet."

But most people pay little heed to "the plight of the insect whose native host plant has been replaced by an inedible alien."

For example, many people delight in butterflies, but they unwittingly plant butterfly bushes (Buddleia) in hopes of attracting them. Tallamy explains the problem: Though the butterfly bush, native to China, does provide nectar to adult butterflies, not one species of North American butterfly can use a butterfly bush to reproduce.

Tallamy urges gardeners to put more native plants back into barren landscapes. His book and his website -- BringingNatureHome.net -- includes recommendations of both woody and herbaceous plants that help support and sustain biodiversity. He also recommended the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's website, www.wildflower.org, and www.namethatplant.net as useful resources on native plants.

Biodiversity is something to protect, to nurture, Tallamy said. "I wish we could see it as a natural resource."

Photo at center: Larvae of giant silk moths like Hyalophora cecropia thrive on alternate-leaf dogwood. Cecropia moths are even more likely to take up residence in your yard if you provide their favorite host plant, black cherry.

Photo above: The stately monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, needs milkweed (Asclepiadaceae) to reproduce. The caterpillar of the monarch can only eat members of the milkweed family. Without milkweeds in the landscape, there will be no monarchs.

Photos by Douglas W. Tallamy

Tragedy For Eagle Cam

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:04:28 -0400

UPDATE: The father bird reappeared at about 6:46 p.m.

For weeks now, several of my colleagues here at The Courant have been avidly watching the activity at a nest holding three baby bald eagles in the wild, via the online Eagle Cam at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Virginia.

Installed more than 80 feet high in the branches of a pine tree, Eagle Cam has captured video of an adult pair of eagles, together since 2003, as well as eggs being laid, chicks hatching, the baby birds being banded, and the parents carefully tending the eaglets.

This morning, the mother bird was apparently killed.

The botanical garden's website says an adult bald eagle was struck and killed by an incoming passenger plane at Norfolk International Airport and that the dead bird is believed to be the female of the nesting pair.

Biologists involved with Eagle Cam say they are fairly certain that it was the mother, due to her physical characteristics and size -- and the fact that she has not been seen at the nest since this morning.

They are continuing to monitor the nest and are working to ensure the health of the eaglets.

Meanwhile, comments have been pouring in from Eagle Cam fans from around the country, who are heartbroken and hoping to see the father bird return to care for the eaglets.

I'm also watching and hoping.

If you are interested in getting a close look at eagles, the website also has a wonderful archive of earlier videos, including those from previous years.

Photos of adult female bald eagle by Duane Noblick, via the Norfolk Botanical Garden website

At DesignSourceCT: Cottage Florals For Spring

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:00:51 -0400

If you haven't discovered it yet, DesignSourceCT, the interior design paradise at 1429 Park St. in Hartford, has its own blog, now three months old.

The blog is a great way to keep tabs on some of the abundance of design inspiration available at the 25,000-square-foot showroom.

A recent post focused on using fabrics in a cottage palette to put some spring in your design -- and give a bedroom or living room a sweet, relaxed feeling.

The colors are lively and cheerful and look so great with this year's many popular pinks.

"Ping-pong in the living room, anyone?" Brittany amusingly asks.

Also appealing are the fresh greens from Schumacher (at left) -- just the right colors to cool down a sunroom.

Photos via DesignSourceCT