On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess

Dr. Isis might like a tasty dish and a hot pair of shoes, but at her core she is a physiologist.  Dr. Isis has a mad, mad crush on physiology that just won't quit.

Figure 1: The brand-spanking-new Never Enough Pump by Naughty Monkey ($84.94 at Zappos.com) might be hot, but it isn't as hot as physiology.

The favorite Saturday afternoon activity of the domestic and laboratory  goddess is cuddling up on the couch with a cup of coffee and the Journal of Applied Physiology and reading until one of the Isis children wake from naptime.  Thus, I have spent my early afternoon reading through my favorite little journal and thinking about the discussion being had in response to my post about carving a large study into smaller publications and PhysioProf's very insightful post on how not to write a manuscript.   I agree with Dr. P. Prof that a manuscript is a place for the facts and that, even if the hypothesis was not  well-developed at the beginning of the experiment, we test hypotheses when we perform statistical analyses and these are the things that need to be reported in papers.  However, I also can appreciate the desire for some, especially more junior scientists, who are not yet knowledgeable of all of the debating and snarking in a field that occurs at conferences, at seminars, and behind closed doors (and may not be evident in the literature) to gain insight into these controversies.

Well, JAP (as us hip insiders call it) takes care of your need for regular scientific snark with their Point-Counterpoint series.  Each issue (JAP is monthly) includes this written debate between two laboratories with different views on a particular issue.  Each group gets an initial statement, a rebuttal, and then a final statement, for a total of six letters per issue plus additional letters from other laboratories that may weigh in.  This is followed by a Viewpoint article in which authors are invited to submit commentary on a controversial topic of their choosing (that is different from the Point-Counterpoint topic) and often includes follow-up letters from the laboratories at the center of the controversy. The journal does a remarkable job of soliciting and organizing these letters so that they are contained in one (or maybe two if the topic is especially hot) issue.   The journal dedicates a fair amount of space to these  debates -- they comprise about 10% of the volume of any single issue.

Figure 2: Dr. Isis loves that the Journal of Applied Physiology gives scientists a forum to scrap about science. 

This month's Point-Counterpoint is a debate between von Tscharner and Nigg of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Calgary and Dario Farina of the Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction at Aalborg University on the validity of using surface electromyography (EMG) to characterize motor unit recruitment and type in exercising muscle. von Tscharner and Nigg begin with an overview of EMG and conclude that different activities evoke different patters of recruitment which can be observed with EMG and offer information about fiber type recruitment.  Farina quickly calls "bullshit" on von Tscharner and Nigg and argues that the assumptions upon which the use of EMG to distinguish fiber type recruitment are based are flawed and invalid.  von Tscharner and Nigg counter with "nuh uh" and Farina responds with "yuh huh."  In the end, a few other lab groups jump into the fray and von Tscharner and Nigg discuss a new and different analysis of previously unpublished data that occurred in their laboratory as a result of the Point-Counterpoint debate.  In his last throwdown, Farina concludes that EMG has not been sufficiently scrutinized for use in peer-reviewed publications ans then (at least I imagine in my own mind) does a bit of a victory dance.  The Point-Counterpoint series is then followed by a Viewpoint on the importance of altitude on circulating leptin.

The Point-Counterpoint series and Viewpoint are examples of science at its absolute best. So often these debates are had in the unarchivable context of scientific meetings and the controversy can be easily missed by those not in attendance (or who fall asleep because they were out too late partying it up). This forum provides an excellent opportunity to debate physiology in a very public and permanent way. It also offers a unique opportunity to review a subdiscipline one might not be immediately familiar with and get an idea of the current controversy without, frankly, a lot of effort. And, some of them are entertaining and downright snarky.

Now, if only the American Physiological Society would start a Point-Counterpoint blog and expand the debate even farther, Dr. Isis would hop right in the mix.  But, for now she has to go rescue a crayon from the Isis family dog.