Low amplitude dorsal ulnar cutaneous nerve sensory nerve action potential from cross over innervation. Can nerve ultrasound help?

The ulnar dorsal aspect of the hand is predominantly innervated by the dorsal ulnar cutaneous nerve with variable input from the superficial radial cutaneous nerve. This cross innervation can cause difficulty in interpreting low amplitude sensory nerve action potential for the dorsal ulnar cutaneous nerve particularly when facing suspected ulnar neuropathyat the elbow. In three subjects with low dorsal ulnar cutaneous sensory nerve action potential amplitude due to cross over with the superficial radial nerve, we compared amplitude with nerve circumference and fascicular count as measured by ultrasound. Dorsal ulnar cutaneous nerve circumference was significantly smaller where there was low sensory nerve action potential amplitude and showed fewer fascicles. Nerve ultrasonography may be a useful additional test modality to determine if low dorsal ulnar cutaneous nerve amplitude is physiological.

Publication trends of research articles from infectious diseases specialty in a medical journal from India.

Background: Details about research productivity in the infectious diseases specialty from India are lacking. Objective: To analyse publishing trends and research productivity of articles related to infectious diseases in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India (JAPI). Materials and Methods : We carried out bibliometric analysis of articles related to infectious diseases specialty from JAPI published between 2000 and 2011. Data were derived from the journal's website and the articles were analysed for type (original article, case reports, etc.), microorganism (bacterial, viral, etc.) place of the research and timelines for publication. Results : Out of 2977 articles published in JAPI over last 12 years, 256 articles belong to infectious diseases subspecialty. Infectious diseases contributed 11-18% of the published articles per year in JAPI during the last decade. Original articles (31%), case reports (38%) and correspondence (22%) constitute the majority of article types, while remaining 9% was made up by images. Bacterial (22%), protozoal and helminthic (20%), HIV (15%) and mycobacterial (16%) diseases lead the type of microorganisms represented in the research articles. Mumbai (16%), Delhi (9%) and Kolkata (7%) are the top three places contributing to the articles, followed by Chandigarh and Chennai. Original articles and case reports took approximately 14 months for publication, as compared to 6 months for an image (P < 0.0001). Conclusion : Infectious diseases specialty contributes about 15% of articles per annum in JAPI. HIV and tuberculosis together account for 30% of published litearture with fair representation from other organisms. Mumbai and Delhi are the leading contributors towards research productivity in this specialty.

Publication trends of a biomedical journal from India.

Background: The details about the research productivity of the biomedical journals published from India is lacking. We analyzed the publishing trends and the research productivity of the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India (JAPI). Materials and Methods: This was a bibliometric analysis of a biomedical journal. The data was obtained from the website of JAPI about the publications between 2000 and 2011. The articles were analyzed for the type (original article, case reports, correspondence, pictorial image, reviews, editorials, philately and miscellaneous), subspecialty (endocrinology, cardiology, etc), and place of the research work (Mumbai, Delhi, etc). Descriptive statistics giving data in numbers and percentages were used. Results: JAPI published 2977 articles over last 12 years (12 volumes and 134 issues). Case reports (29.5%), original articles (22.6%), and correspondence (20.5%) constitute 3/4 of the published articles. JAPI showed a gradual declining trend of published articles per issue (29.5 in 2000 to 17 in 2011). The data about 1798 research articles was analyzed further. Most of the articles belong to the Endocrinology, neurology, and infectious diseases. Mumbai is the leader over past 12 years in contributing toward the articles followed by other three metros. Conclusion: JAPI showed a declining trend in the number of published articles over last decade. Metro cities contributed the maximum research articles and the subspecialty coverage skewed in favor of Endocrinology.