ABSTRACT
In Nigeria, the flourishing of universities and turn-out of graduates do not adequately reflect in national development. The aim of this study was to determine some factors that can guarantee career success in the field of biomedical science in Nigeria. The objectives were to examine thirty three articles of a centennial issue (April 2012) of the FASEB Journal for: a) Number of printed pages of the journal, b) Number of major studies described in the article, c) Number of figures and presentation of data within the figures, d) Number of days the journal took to review the article before acceptance for publication, e) Number of scientific references listed at the end of the article. The data showed that articles took up 10.5±1.5 printed pages, reported 8.03±0.36 major studies, utilized 49.76±7.4 references, and took 87.76± 8.4 days to be accepted. Data were presented as tables in 16/33 articles; diagrams in 18/33 articles; graphs in 21/33 articles; histograms (and other charts) in 31/33 articles; photos/pictures in 24/33 articles, blots (mainly western) in 20/33 articles; machine print-outs in 10/33 articles; and sequences, arrays, or mappings in 7/33 articles. The author concludes that young biomedical scientists need to be directed to take care of the following factors along their research career: a) quantity of work, b) quality of work, c) richness of evidence, d) planning and pacing of work, e) relationship of work with universal knowledge and development
Subject(s)
Nigeria , Publications , ResearchABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The effect of chronic high altitude hypoxia (CHAH) in the juxta-alveolar region near the air-blood interface is unknown because of the experimental inaccessibility of this region. OBJECTIVE: To examine primary cultures of digested juxtaalveolar smooth muscle cells for hypoxia-induced changes. METHODS: Smooth Muscle Cells (SMCs) obtained by dispase digestion of the extreme lung parenchyma were used to study the effect of CHAH in the juxta-alveolar region and foetal and maternal cells were compared. Pulmonary venous SMCs were also obtained from dissected 5th to 7th generation levels pulmonary veins (0.5 mm). Fluorescence tagged antibodies against alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha SMA) and calponin respectively were used as markers to identify cellular structural differences by routine immunohistochemistry. Comparison of the functional integrity of the cells was made using their growth profiles obtained by radiolabeled thymidine incorporation and liquid scintillation counting. RESULTS: Marked differences were seen in juxta-alveolar SMCs obtained by digestion of extreme lung parenchyma of hypoxic sheep. Hypoxic adult sheep cells showed increased filamentation. Hypoxic foetal sheep cells showed internal restructuring and disorganization of both alpha-SMA and calponin filaments. The growth profiles of juxta-alveolar SMCs showed that the hypoxia-affected cells of both the foetus and adult sheep had a fast initial growth rate peaking at 48h while their normoxic equivalents had a steadier growth rate peaking at 72h. Hypoxia-affected cells showed contact inhibition at ~50subconfluence and apoptosis by 48h. CONCLUSION: Chronic high altitude hypoxia causes both phenotypical and functional changes in pulmonary smooth muscle cells near the air/blood interface