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Histopathology Laboratory
Categories Histology Services

Histopathology Laboratory: How to Choose the Best Stain for your Slides?

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

Using stains in microscopy is a routine part of the daily operations in a histopathology laboratory. The purpose of using these stains is to enhance contrast and highlight the structures in the slides, and thus to get accurate results in the tests.

However, choosing the best stain for accurate results isn’t always easy. This is because there are numerous stains in histology and selecting the best is cumbersome.

Besides the commonly used ones, many other stains are used for studying specific tissue types to give you better images. Further, using specialised stains also help in reaching a more accurate diagnosis or further differentiate the components seen on the histology slides.

So, here we give you a glimpse of the commonly used, and some specialised stains, their purpose, and utility to guide you in selecting the right stain for your histology slides.

The Most Commonly Used Stains

Haematoxylin and eosin are the first and most common stains used in most histopathology labs. Both these stains are used for routine tissue study where you don’t need much detail.

  • Haematoxylin stains all the nucleic acids (like DNA and RNA), and eosin stains the basic structures like muscle or red blood cells.
  • Haematoxylin stains the cell nuclei as bluish purple while eosin dyes other cell structures pink or red.

Specific Stains

1) Gram Stain

Developed by the Danish scientist Hans Christian Gram, it is a popular alternative to haematoxylin and eosin stains. It helps to detect bacteria in the study tissue and determine their characteristics. Follow these steps for Gram staining procedure:

  • Stain the slide with crystal violet and let it stand for a minute.
  • Gently rinse the slide with tap water or distilled water from a wash bottle and smear it with Gram’s iodine and potassium iodide solution. Let it stand for one minute.
  • Gently rinse the slide with tap water or distilled water from a wash bottle and decolourise with alcohol and acetone.
  • Follow this by counter-staining with a red or pink stain and let it stand for 45 seconds.

2) Congo Red

A stain which was once used in textile industry has now become popular in the histopathology laboratory for detecting amyloid fibres. These fibres get stained as a pale orange-red colour with the Congo stain.

Detection of amyloid fibres is important for the diagnosis of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Diabetes.

With routine stains like haematoxylin and eosin, it’s not possible to detect bacteria, amyloid fibres and other details in the study tissue. Thus, these specific stains must be a part of your histopathology laboratory.

If you don’t have accesses to these stains or get stuck with any process in the lab, feel comfortable to outsource your work to a knowledgeable lab. Exploit the histology services of a reputed lab to save money, time, and get high-quality slides with accurate results. Competent histology services have an experienced lab team to assist you in your daily microscopy operations and make your investments worthy.

How to avoid Duplicate Publication
Categories Scientific Communication

Medical Journal Articles: How to avoid Duplicate Publication and Simultaneous Submission?

Author krishna kumar 652 Comments on Medical Journal Articles: How to avoid Duplicate Publication and Simultaneous Submission? Posted on

For an honest and scholarly scientific research, you must follow the ethics of research and good publication practices. All the reputed journals expect the authors to know and comply with the ethics in publication.

Here, in this post, we discuss the two common and unethical publishing practices – duplicate publication and simultaneous submission, and how to avoid them with your manuscript.

1) Duplicate Publication

What is it?

When you publish a new paper similar to a published paper by another author or yours without acknowledging the source and without getting the permission of the original author, it is called a duplicate publication. Even if you change the title or the abstract, the data and the results remain the same.

Why is duplicate publication a problem?

Duplicate publication is unethical because:

  1. It violates the copyright for the paper.
  2. Researchers who study the subject may count the same set of results twice, and thus distort the empirical evidence. Since empirical studies form the base of many health policies, it becomes a serious problem.
  3. Republication of your own work without attribution surmounts to “self-plagiarism”.
  4. It leads to the wastage of editorial and review resources.
  5. Republication of the same work unjustly takes up the limited journal space and denies other authors’ right to publish their work.

What do journals say about the issue? 

The editorial committees of the academic journals instruct the authors do not submit the papers or variations of papers already published elsewhere. They design stringent policies and ask the authors to send copies of older, related articles along with their submitted paper.

However, republication is allowed in some cases:

  • A follow-up on a published preliminary report (e.g., an abstract, poster, or conference presentation)
  • A paper with a list of the guidelines prepared by professional societies or governmental agencies
  • A paper that re-analyses or re-interprets the findings of the study for a different audience
  • A translation of the original paper
  • e-prints of the paper in repositories

Despite these exceptions, authors must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Get permission from the copyright holders.
  • Get approval from the editor of the journal in which the paper was first published and the editor of the journal in which they will republish it.
  • Acknowledge the source of your republication by providing its full citation.

Dos and don’ts to avoid duplicate publication

  • Do not replicate content from any of your other published papers.
  • Do not offer preliminary reports about the published papers to any company without the permission of the journal.
  • When quoting data from your published work, include only a few sentences, and place the text in quotation marks and cite the source.
  • If you write more than one manuscript by using a single dataset, ensure:
    • Each manuscript addresses separate and important questions
    • You cross-reference the manuscripts
    • Inform the journal editors about this in a cover letter
  • While submitting your paper to the journal editor, provide copies of your published and related papers for complete transparency.

2) Simultaneous Submission

What is it?

The practice of submitting the same manuscript to two or more journals at the same time without informing the respective scientific journal editors is known as simultaneous or multiple or dual submission.

Why is simultaneous submission a problem?

The journals consider simultaneous submission as unethical because:

  1. If more than one journal publishes the paper, it can lead to a copyright dispute.
  2. Since two publication houses will carry out the same task, it is a waste of academic and scientific resources.

However, simultaneous submission is acceptable in following cases:

  • When the editors of the two or more journals agree to publish the paper simultaneously or jointly in the larger interest of the society.
  • When scientific conferences allow the authors to simultaneously submit their papers to other meetings with overlapping submission periods.

Dos and don’ts for the authors 

  • Do not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal.
  • If you wish to submit a paper that is “under consideration” at one journal to another journal:
    • Get a written consent from your co-authors.
    • Inform the first journal editor asking about the paper withdrawal.
    • Do not submit unless you get a formal notification from the first journal editor regarding the paper withdrawal.
    • Submit this notification to the second journal along with your paper.
  • If you have written two related papers and wish to submit them to two different journals:
    • Disclose the details of each paper to both the journals.
    • Inform both the editors that you have a similar paper under review at another journal (even if they are in different languages).
    • Enclose the copies of both the papers along with your submission.

Conclusion

Thus, duplicate publication and simultaneous submission are a serious offence and you can spoil your research career by indulging in such practices. We recommend you to contact our professional journal publication services experts to understand and follow ethical submission practices for the welfare of the society and your career.

Scientific Paper Writing
Categories Scientific Communication

Scientific Paper Writing: Have you Selected the Right Research Question?

Author krishna kumar 2 Comments on Scientific Paper Writing: Have you Selected the Right Research Question? Posted on

The first and most important step in scientific paper writing is to choose your research question. You must choose a topic that will advance and add to the existing scientific knowledge. Even the journal editor won’t accept a paper that does not have a good research question.

The significance of a good research question:

A good research question:

  • Gives the researchers more clarity on developing the study protocol, designing the study, and analysing the data.
  • Makes a good initial impression on the scientific journal editors and peer reviewers.
  • Shows a well-thought research.
  • Increases your chances of publication in the journal.

Although your paper can address more than one research question, it’s better to focus on one primary research question.

But what makes a good research question?

Though this will vary for different papers and across disciplines, there is an overall criterion to keep in mind while planning your research question.

So, let’s dive in to learn that criteria!

1) So what?

Foremost, after choosing your research question, always ask yourself “So what?” This means that the findings/ result pursuing from the question must be important, interesting, and meaningful.

For example, the research question “Is exercising beneficial to reduce impairment in people?” won’t yield any meaningful knowledge. A targeted question like “Is therapeutic exercise of benefit in reducing impairment for people who would be expected to consult a physiotherapist?” could help physiotherapists revive their treatment procedure for the patients.

2) Unobviousness

Scientific journal editors’ stress on novelty and “unobviousness” i.e. the research question should not have an obvious or an undisputed answer.  You can ensure this unobviousness and provide value in one of the following ways:

  • Contribute new information that has a real-world application or leads to further lines of research
  • Validate the existing information and extend its applicability
  • Provide findings that contradict the existing literature OR
  • Critically review and analyse the literature.

Good research questions arise from critical thinking about current practices and problems and from applying new concepts to solve old problems.

3) Replication is sometimes acceptable

It’s not always necessary to convey unknown information through your research paper. You may replicate other researchers’ observations, especially if they were controversial or weak but significant. You can research whether the findings in one population also apply to others or clarify known relationships by using new methodologies.

So, when you formulate your research question, check whether it fulfils the above three requirements. And if yes, you’ve probably got a worthwhile research question.

After knowing the qualities of a good research question, it’s time for the tips to formulate one.

Tips for finding and formulating good research questions

Your field of experience and your own research interests are obviously important to identify the potential lines of research. However, you must review the existing literature to know whether your question is still relevant.

In addition, keep abreast of the current developments in the field to avoid doing same thing someone else has done.

Ways of finding a new research question:

  1. From the old literature. The ‘Discussion’ section of many papers often mentions the questions that remain unresolved or additional studies that can be done. You can formulate a good research question from the old literature by identifying the gaps and weaknesses in them.
  2. Attending conferences. Recent advances in any field of Science are presented at the academic conferences. Participating in such conferences will help you network with the experts in the field and aid in your own research.

Conclusion

Since research question is the most crucial element of any scientific paper, you must take extreme care while choosing it. If you write a paper with results that are unoriginal, predictable, or trivial, it’s less likely to be published. So, contact our professional scientific writing services team to develop the right research question that will help you avoid problems in future.

Medical Device Development
Categories Preclinical Research

Medical Device Development: Design Validation and Preclinical Research

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

For medical device manufacturers, the preclinical testing of medical device development is most crucial. This is the stage in which they set the design of the product including its functionality and safety aspects and validate the selected materials.

However, their major dilemmas are “When to plan the preclinical stage of the device development?” and “What aspects to consider?”

So, here we answer these questions to help the medical device manufacturers in their preclinical research and design validation.

A Step-by-Step Guide:

1) Review the current industry standards to plan your preclinical research.

2) Consider the following aspects for your research:

a) Material selection: Carefully select the material to be used in the device keeping in mind the factors like its mechanical, physical, chemical, and toxicological properties. Review the current literature to get information about the standard tests, purity, and bio-compatibility studies of the raw material.

b) Manufacturing methods: Since manufacturing processes affect the safety and performance of the device, get as much information as possible on the manufacturing processes.

Evaluate any changes in the manufacturing methods made during the preclinical phase irrespective of whether it will or will not impact the timing of the testing of the device. The manufacturing methods can also change during the post-market phase of the device development. Thus, consider its possibility during the preclinical phase.

Factors such as packaging/sterilization, manufacturing storage instructions, shelf life, transport, and target population should also be considered.

c) Biocompatibility tests: If existing literature doesn’t give sufficient information about a product’s safety, then preclinical biocompatibility testing is also needed.

d) Preclinical study design: After considering the materials, manufacturing methods, and biocompatibility, the manufacturer must also test its performance. First, determine the purpose, aim, and endpoints of the study. The duration of the study is the next point of consideration as this will determine the number of termination intervals needed, which can range from a couple of weeks to several months.

If you only look at the device’s functionality, histopathology of the implant site is sufficient. But, if you plan to prove its safety, it will require body and organ weights, target organ pathology, and a statistical analysis of the data

e) Packaging and sterilization: Select the packaging material based on the product integrity, sterilization method, and product functionality. Your aim is to design a packaging system that is easy to access and protects the product from internal or external breaches in sterility.

It is important to consider packaging materials and sterilization methods early in the design process. Before validation, it’s important to identify the product packaging.  This will help you avoid choosing materials for the device that are incompatible with the packaging and sterilization, and thus, save time.

f) Sterilization validation: For devices that will be sold and used sterile, or cleaned between uses, it’s imperative to choose and validate their sterilization method. This is because sterilization methods can also affect the product’s safety and efficacy. Some of the common sterilization methods are:

  • Ethylene oxide
  • Steam
  • Dry heat
  • Irradiation (gamma, x-ray, or e-beam)

Different methods have different effects on the device material. For example, Ethylene oxide residuals can be toxic, gamma sterilisation can increase cross-linking in polymers, high temperatures may soften or oxidise the material.

Thus, while choosing the device materials, consider its sterilisation method also.

Finally, before planning your preclinical study, also plan out the following to avoid unnecessary delays:

  • Where to submit.
  • When to submit
  • Timelines for all activities like biocompatibility and preclinical studies, sterilisation validation, and written evaluation of existing materials.
  • Compilationof all documents and data

If you pay attention to all these aspects and plan well in advance, your preclinical design validation stage of medical device development will be a great success.

Medical Proofreading and Editing Service
Categories Scientific Communication

How to Get the Best Out of Your Medical Proofreading and Editing Service?

Author krishna kumar 0 Comments Posted on

It’s necessary to review your work before submitting to the journal. Now, you can either request your department head or a colleague to review your manuscript or take help of the professional medical editing and proofreading services. For many researchers, such professional medical proofreading services are economical because it enhances the quality of the research document.

But, before you submit your document to the professional editing and proofreading services, look at these suggestions on how to get the best out of their service:

Send your best document:

Professional editors are busy people. They have to pay attention to other’s documents as well and can devote only a part of their time to yours. So, it is good if you fix everything you can in the document before giving it to the editor. For example, missing/extra spaces, heading style, and consistency of the references’ list. This will help the editor stay focused and address the issues you can’t.

Tell your issues in advance:

If you have any issue with the terminology used in the document or the structure of the sentences, inform your editors in advance. This way the editor won’t waste his time looking for the problems but offer you the solution straight away.

Ask questions:

Majority of the medical editing services offer a facility to address the author’s questions regarding the edited document. Use this facility to seek answers to your queries and to learn from the editor. This will help you prepare your future manuscripts.

Provide the necessary information:

Give your editor all the information he needs for an effective edit. For example, the format of the document as per the journal guidelines, the name of your target journal, the recommended word count, and your contribution to the manuscript.

Provide your feedback:

If the editor misunderstood a technical term or has not adhered to certain conventions of your field, write to him about this. The editors welcome the suggestions from the authors. Also, if you do not agree with the changes he made, communicate such concerns to him. This will help him clarify why he made the change and you may agree with his logical explanation.

However, don’t criticise the editor even if you don’t agree with his viewpoint. If you appreciate his work, tell the editor about it. Consequently, he will take extra care to give a consistently good service to you in the future.

Remember, preparing a manuscript is a continuous process. It may not be possible to prepare publication-ready document after just one round of editing.  Therefore, view your relationship with the editor as long-term and collaborative rather than a onetime transaction. Cooperate with your editor through multiple rounds of edits to get the best results. Finally, you can also take the help of your editor to answer the comments or the questions of the peer reviewers after submission.

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