September 2017 - Cognibrain

Chronic Tinnitus is Coupled with Definite Transform in Brain Networks

Tinnitus is characterized by a chronic abnormal noise (ringing or buzzing) experienced in one or both of the ears which can be unpleasant, frustrating and sometimes it is severe enough to seek treatment. Fatima Husain, professor at University of Illinois says that, tinnitus is invisible and there is no device to measure the severity which varies from patient to patient in terms of type of sound and duration.

Observations from functional MRI reveals various neural patterns saying that chronic tinnitus is associated in the region of brain called precuneus. This precuneus is connected with two inversely related neural networks such as the dorsal attention network (functional when person is at attention) and the default mode network (functional when person is at rest).

Sara Schmidt, graduate student and researcher of this study says that, precuneus of patients with chronic tinnitus is more connected to the dorsal attention network and less connected to the default mode network. Husain says that, this neural connectivity is the objective and invariant for chronic tinnitus, which means the patients with tinnitus are not truly at rest even while resting.

But in patients with recent onset of tinnitus, precuneus connectivity is similar to normal brain networks. Adding to this, Husain said that longitudinal follow-up studies on recent onset tinnitus patients may help us to explain when these neural network changes would take place and provides one invariant measurement as a tool for screening the severity of tinnitus.

Scientific Communication

How Medical Editing Can Get Your Manuscript Published?

Getting your manuscript published in a high-impact journal is a crucial part of gaining recognition for your medical research. So, it’s highly essential to acquaint yourself with the steps to be followed in getting your manuscript published.

Doing a thorough research on your medical topic and medical manuscript writing in strict accordance with the principles of scientific or medical publication are the preliminary steps you must pay heed to. However, it’s generally seen that 30-50% of the medical paper get rejected even before they are passed on for external peer review.

And one of the reasons for rejection is the use of poor language in the manuscript. Some authors do not take the initiative of proofreading their medical manuscript before submission, while others get it proofread by their colleagues.

If you think that writing a detailed medical article of your research and submitting it to the journal is the end of your responsibility, you are highly mistaken. It’s not the publisher’s responsibility to correct any grammatical or language errors in your paper. It is the author’s domain i.e. your primary responsibility to make sure that your research paper is in its best form before it is submitted for publication.

This is also important from the view of your reputation; reputation as a research scientist. Why give an opportunity to the publishers to pinpoint on your language and writing skills? Why not let them focus on the quality of your research?

So, proofreading and editing your medical manuscript is of paramount importance if you want to get it published in a high-impact medical journal.

Now, the question arises, what are the options for your medical manuscript editing?

Manuscript editing options

You can proofread and edit your manuscript yourself or get it done by your colleague. This will, of course, save you money, but before proceeding ensure that you or your colleague possesses the necessary skills for doing the job.

Many are of the opinion that proofreading and editing a medical manuscript is easy and requires just a perfect grasp of the English language, which, however, all do not have. Many of your colleagues do not have the necessary language as well as the scientific expertise to fully grasp a research paper. This may end in a level of editing that doesn’t match the requirements of the publication journal. It will only waste your time and ultimately nothing will come in hand.

Taking help from a professional medical editor can save you from such pitfalls. Before proceeding to hire one, you must understand what is medical editing and the role of a medical editor in getting your manuscript published.

What is medical editing?

Editing of a medical manuscript is way beyond eliminating the grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation errors in the document. It is the procedure of revising your manuscript to make each piece of information contained in it clear and precise. The language you use, the sentence construction, flow, and the clarity of the presented information are checked and revised during medical editing. After all, your manuscript is for the readers; to inform and instruct them about the new advances in the medical field. And it will be useless to publish a manuscript that doesn’t serve this purpose, that doesn’t engage your readers in reading your research paper. So, editing of a medical manuscript is crucial before it is submitted for publication.

Role of a medical editor in getting your manuscript published

As said before, editing of your medical manuscript is compulsory before submitting it for publication. And a professional medical editor is the person who carries out this responsibility in a flawless manner.

He/She is the one who is a language expert with precise knowledge of the scientific language and will make your manuscript ready for submission to the publisher. He/She will remove all the language errors, jargon, and awkward phrases used in the manuscript to make it readable and interesting for your audience.

Furthermore, they will ensure that all the facts, data, and figures enlisted in the manuscript are consistent with the guidelines of a scientific publication. He/She might inquire with you about the issues regarding logic and organisation of information or any missing piece of information in the manuscript.

So, don’t argue with your medical editor even if you hold a different opinion than him. He/She is not your critic, rather a support who helps you to present your manuscript in its best form. You might fear to lose your voice of opinion or style of writing in the hands of a medical editor.

However, that’s not the case. A competent medical editor views your manuscript from the reader’s point of view but also upholds your voice of opinion. In fact, he strives to make it better by rectifying all the loopholes which you might have missed.

Therefore, acknowledge the comments and queries placed by your medical editor for resolving the lapses in your manuscript.

Moreover, even if you are an expert in your field of medicine, writing a medical manuscript doesn’t come easily to you. You need to be a language expert too. And a medical editor is two-in-one. He/She possesses the knowledge of the scientific domain as well as the proficiency of the language used in the medical manuscripts.

So, hiring a professional medical editor is not a loss. It will indeed raise the chances of your manuscript being accepted for publication.

But, you must look for the following qualities in a medical editor before handing over your manuscript for editing:

They should possess a general scientific knowledge of the fields covered in the publication and be skilled in the art of writing, editing, and critical assessment.
They should be familiar with the general principles of statistics.
They should be able to make rational changes in the manuscript and notify you according to the set deadlines.
They must be impartial and honest in his editorial decisions.
They must be able to maintain confidentiality about your submitted manuscript.

Maintaining a positive relationship with your medical editor will go a long way in increasing the success rate of your manuscript publication.

Don’t Stop Here ! Contact our medical editing services experts to get your manuscript published.

Medical Writing

Antiseptic Mouthwash Kills Beneficial Bacteria and Increased the Risk of CVD

At the American Naturopathic Medical Association 36th Annual Convention and Educational Seminar, Nathan Bryan, delivered a lecture on the critical importance of nitric oxide for the health of vital organs and system of physiological functions. Nitric oxide is naturally produced in our body and plays a vital role in various functions such as inflammation, and regulation of blood pressure which is a prime factor in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

He added that, lack of nitric oxide can be considered as the early event in the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease. While explaining the various sources of natural production of nitric oxide, he brought out the importance of oral commensal bacteria and continual supply of nitric oxide by them. In order to maintain oral hygiene, there is a usual practice of applying antiseptic mouthwash / antibiotics which can kill these commensal bacteria resulting in eradication of one of the prime sources of nitric oxide production. This in turn keeps patient at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

A study demonstrated that, though antiseptic mouthwashes eliminate bad breath / odour they will end up in killing good bacteria resulting increased blood pressure. The observed rise in blood pressure is around 26 mm Hg, which is an indication of essential hypertension in healthy individuals.

While concluding the lecture, Nathan Bryan added that one must choose evidence based therapeutic and nutritional strategy to restore nitric oxide production which is helpful to overcome the body’s own inefficiencies.

Gene Therapy for Genetic Male Infertility

Medical news

New Molecular Technique to Overcome the Genetic Male Infertility

Male infertility refers to inability of a man to cause pregnancy in a fertile woman. Though there are many causes for this infertility such as low sperm count, and hormonal imbalances, but common cause of this infertility in man lies in genetic defects.

Generally X and Y chromosomes are responsible for the sex determination. It is well known that combination of two X chromosomes (XX) results in baby girl, and combination of one X and one Y chromosomes (XY) results in baby boy. Observations from several investigations reported that one in 500 men will possess an extra X or Y chromosome, and this extra chromosome will interrupt the formation of mature and active spermatozoa and this condition is referred to Klinefelter syndrome (XXY) or double Y syndrome (XYY).

Considering the research work published in the journal Science, researchers at Francis Crick Institute in London, in collaboration with the University of Kyoto (Japan) has developed a new technique and experimented in mice.

In this study, researchers collected small tissue fragments from the XXY and XYY mice and developed fibroblasts which then converted to stem cells, and in the process of conversion, some of stem cells lost the extra sex chromosome. In the laboratory chemical signals were employed to convert these new stem cells to mature spermatozoa, and created mouse pups through assisted reproduction. This technique is at preliminary stage, but offers a potential approach to overcome genetic cause of male infertility.

Medical news

Anti-Lipidemic Drug Have Potential to Halt Infectious Diseases

For researchers, there is a great interest in identifying new therapeutic applications for the existing class of drugs, now, Duke Scientists choose Statins, cholesterol lowering drugs.

Article from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, gave a new insight for Dennis C. Ko (assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine) to understand the mechanisms that govern human susceptibility for various infectious diseases, particularly Salmonella bacteria, that uses cholesterol of cell membranes to infect host cells.

As a first step, Ko and his team conducted studies on human cell lines by exposing them to green fluorescent tagged Salmonella typhi and observed differences in bacterial invasion rates between cell lines. Researches had already found that a single nucleotide of DNA in VAC14 gene is associated with bacterial invasions.

By knocking out this VAC14 gene, researchers observed an equal rate of bacterial invasion. Unexpectedly, they also observed that a higher rate of invasion was associated in the cell lines with high cholesterol levels.

Considering the cholesterol levels, Monica Alvarez, researcher at Ko lab, run an experiment on zebra-fish by adding cholesterol lowering drug (Ezetimibe or Zetia) to the waters and injected the fish with Salmonella typhi. She found that fishes in drug treated water are very less susceptible for infection compared to the non-treated.

Considering this mechanism, Ko said that, identifying such new therapeutic applications for the existing class of drugs will lead us to a step ahead in research.

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Monthly Archives: September 2017