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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Original article / research
Full Version
Study of the Utility of Short Course of Yoga to Improve Reaction Time
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Sendil Kumaran D,
Associate professor, Department of Physiology
Sri Siddhartha Medical College,Tumkur-570107,
Karnataka, India.
Phone: 9448006713
E-mail: kumarsendil@yahoo.com
Background and Objectives:
The improvement in the reaction time is important, as it is the indicator of the performance in sports and in professional persons. Therefore, there is a need for techniques or courses that can improve the reaction time. Yoga was found to cause a better improvement in the health of the individuals with and without ailments. Hence, this study intended to show its utility as a short course for improving the reaction time.
Methods:
25 male healthy volunteers who were aged between 18 and 25 years were selected. The Auditory Reaction Time (ART), the Visual Reaction Time (VRT) and the Cutaneous Reaction Time (CRT) were assessed before and after the yoga sessions.
Results:
There was a reduction in the alert responses of ART, VRT and CRT for both the sides. The decrease was statistically significant (P<0.05). The random responses did not show a significant improvement. RT had no correlation with the age, height or the weight.
Conclusion:
A short course of yoga has a beneficial effect on the reaction time and it can be used as a tool for improving the reaction time.
Reaction Time, Yoga, Auditory reaction time, Visual reaction time, Cutaneous reaction time
Introduction
The Reaction Time (RT) is one of the frequently used tests in the experimental physiology to assess the sensory-motor performance. It is the time interval between the onset of a signal (stimulus) and the initiation of a movement response (1). The frequently used RT tests are the Auditory Reaction Time (ART), the Visual Reaction Time (VRT) and the Cutaneous Reaction Time (CRT). The RT is an index of the processing ability of the central nervous system. Hence, this is being used in mental chronometry, psychometric psychology and also in training mentally challenged children (2),(3). Also, this test has a physiological as well as a clinical significance, as a shorter RT means a better performance, which is a prerequisite for sports personnel, precision surgeons and similarly for other professionals too (4). It has also been found that several disorders like diabetes and hypothyroidism prolong the RT and that they can thereby can affect the professional life (5),(6). Therefore, there is a need for therapies that can improve the RT. Yoga is an ancient science and an art of exercise which is associated with a set of principles and practices which are designed to promote the health and the well-being through the integration of the body, breath, and the mind. Its components include asanas (postures), pranayama (voluntary breath regulation) and dhyana (meditation). Yoga is commonly called as a mind-body therapy and it has often been claimed that it can enhance one’s ability to focus the attention, improve the cognitive abilities, decrease the stress and increase and improve the organ system’s strength and the suppleness of the nervous system. It has been reported that yoga training improves the human performance, which includes the CNS processing (7). This fact gave this study an impetus to investigate whether a short course of the yoga practice could be used as a therapy for improving the reaction time. Therefore, this Original Article Physiology Sectionstudy intended to find the reaction time tasks for the auditory, visual and the cutaneous stimuli before and after a short course of the yoga therapy.
The present follow up study was conducted at the Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Bellary, India. After obtaining the institutional ethical clearance, 25 male healthy volunteers who were right handed, who were aged between 18-25 years, were selected. They had a clinically normal hearing and vision. The selected subjects had not practiced any long term exercises, sports or yogic postures previously. Smokers, alcoholics and the subjects with any chronic illnesses like hypertension or diabetes were excluded. The selected subjects were briefed about the study protocol and a written informed consent was obtained from them.
Procedure:
Before the start of the actual study, a session was organized to familiarize the participants with the instrument and to train them on the test procedures. The subject’s anthropometric parameters were recorded. Their ART, VRT and the CRT were measured in a quiet secluded room, whose ambient temperature was about 27°C, between 10 AM and 12.30 PM, by using a RESPONSE –ANALYSER (Model YSRT-0101 from Yantrashilpa electronics, Pune) instrument. The instrument has 2 buttons, the first one, a start button, which was handled by the examiner to deliver the stimulus and the second button was the stop button (response switch), which had to be pressed by the participant when he perceived the stimulus. The thumbs of the right and the left hand of each subject were used alternatively to press the response switch to get the reading for that particular hand. For the ART, a stimulus was delivered through a head phone of a capacity of 1000 Hz tone .For the VRT, a visual stimulus was delivered through a glowing bulb. The start and the stop buttons were connected to a computer which recorded the reaction time in milliseconds. The CRT test measures the response to a cutaneous (touch) stimulus. Here, the stimulus was a contact between the plunger and the skin. The subjects were asked to press the response switch as soon as the touch with the plunger was felt by the other hand. The reading on the display indicated the response time to the cutaneous stimulus in milliseconds. The ‘alert’ values were obtained by keeping the participants mentally alert by a word of caution to avoid possible distractions. ‘Random’ values were obtained by changing the time of occurrence of the stimuli without cautioning the participants. The yoga therapy was instituted by a qualified yoga instructor for 6 days a week, between 5-7am, for one month. The yoga components included suryanamaskars, asanas and pranayama. The values which were obtained before and after the yoga course were tabulated, compared and analyzed by using the two tailed paired Student’s t-test. Pearson’s correlation was used to find any correlation of the reaction time with the age, anthropometric measurements and the blood pressure.
The results which were obtained have been tabulated in the (Table/Fig 1),(Table/Fig 2) and (Table/Fig 3). (Table/Fig 1) shows the range, mean and the standard deviation for the age, the anthropometric measurements and the blood pressures of the study group. (Table/Fig 2) shows the alert responses before and after the yoga course. It shows that there was significant decrease (<0.05) in the alert values of all the reaction times after the short course of yoga. (Table/Fig 3) shows 2the random responses before and after the yoga course. The ART on the left hand and the CRT on the right hand, showed significant differences (<0.05) before and after the yoga, but the other reaction times did not show any differences. By using the Pearson’s correlation between the age, anthropometric measurements, blood pressures and the basal reaction times (the reaction times before the yoga course); it was found that there were no significant correlations between them.
The reaction time, the interval between the presentation of a stimulus to a subject and the subject’s response, is often used as an indicator of the enhanced motor skills and the better overall fitness in sports-specific training and competitive situations (8). Therefore, there is need of techniques to improve the reaction times. A short course of yoga training improves the reaction time. The random responses showed an appreciable but a statistically insignificant shortening of the reaction time. The probable reason may be that, for the improvement in the random responses, a longer duration of the practice is warranted. Also, RT did not show a correlation with the height or weight because RT is an independent variable and because it does not depend on the anthropometric parameters. Yoga is involved in restoring the under activities of the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) and the Gamma Amino-Butyric Acid (GABA) systems. This restoration may be partly through the stimulation of the vagal nerves (9). A Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) study demonstrated that the yoga training program increased the Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF) and that the changes in particular, appeared to have a greater impact on the right hemispheric function, particularly in the frontal lobes (10). Now, it can be emphasized that the improvement in the reaction time may be related to the above facts. Thus, this study concluded that a short course of yoga course can be used as a tool for improving the reaction time, which is useful in sportsmen and in professionals like surgeons. This study was limited by its sample size and also, this study needs to be extended to the patients with disorders like Diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism.
ID: JCDR/2012/4561:2433
Financial OR OTHER COMPETING INTERESTS:
None.
Date of Submission: May 18, 2012
Date of Peer Review: Jul 28, 2012
Date of Acceptance: Aug 11, 2012
Date of Online Ahead of Print: Sep 01, 2012
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