Bare in mind that in creating this example, I have omitted much of the original content, and I have included content from two very different papers, so everything presented here will not necessarily be related. This is meant as an example only, and is not to be reproduced in any way. Any reproduction of the content here will be considered plagiarism. If you wish to include similar information in your report (e.g. explaining fatigue and the conditions of fatigue), it must be in your own language and wording, and we will be checking all papers closely for plagiarism, particularly from this example.
Example of Abstract
Skeletal muscle contraction and force development results from a synchronized series of cellular and molecular events, known as excitation-contraction coupling. Fatigue may be caused by disruption to any of the mechanisms that contribute to tension development, and is characterised as a reduction in the maximal force produced by the muscle and a decrease in the velocity of muscle contraction. Under conditions of intense activity, the internal condition of the muscle fibres’ sarcoplasm becomes more acidic due to the accumulation of lactic aid, and subsequently free hydrogen icons. Such transformation has important implications for muscle performance, as low pH conditions have been observed to contribute to the development of muscle fatigue. The affect of low pH on the characteristics of fatigue was tested in a rana pipiens’ gastrocnemius, during a continuous muscle contraction. Similar to findings stated in the literature, a reduction in pH was demonstrated to have a fatiguing affect on muscle contraction. Specifically …..
Note the brief use of background information as preamble. This abstract could possibly use a bit more information about the actual methods employed, e.g. what gastrocnemius preparation was used? How did they create the pH conditions? Additionally, the original abstract contains further details about the specific results of their experiment(s), but I have omitted them. Keep your abstract to 1 page MAX
Example of Introduction
Background Information and Literature Review
Skeletal muscle contraction is a complex process that combines the efforts of both the nervous and muscular systems. A synchronised series of cellular and molecular events results in the generation of the force required for movement. Force production is limited however, and declines with intense or prolonged activity, as the muscles are subject to fatigue (reference, xxxx). Fatigue may be characterised by an inability of the muscle to maintain levels of force or velocity of contraction (reference, xxxx). The onset to fatigue may vary depending upon the muscular task, and particularly on the muscle fibres recruited to complete the task (reference, xxxx).
Often, the first line of your paper is the most important one; it should be considered the “hook”. If your hook isn’t good, you may loose the reader. Very few scientific publications have a good hook, but it should be your goal to have a good one. Would you consider the first line of this introduction a good hook? Does it make you want to keep reading? How would you make it better?
Muscle fatigue may be initiated by any factor that disrupts one aspect of the pre-described sequence of events, and is likely due to the contribution of multiple causes (reference, xxxx). One factor that has shown involvement in the development of fatigue is a reduced intramuscular pH (reference, xxxx; reference, xxxx).
This introduction then uses several references to further explain the cause of pH changes in muscle, as well as how those changes can affect muscle contraction and fatigue. Though their research objective is not novel (we do not expect you to do something novel), they support it with literature and demonstrate their understanding of the topic. The authors go on to include the purpose of the experiment and their predictions for the experiment, which are supported by their literature. What follows is an example of study objectives from a different report.
In the current study, the objective was to further understand the affects of preloading a muscle. The study investigated the effect of increasing loads on contraction as well as increasing voltage stimulation. It also considered the latency time of the response. In order to study these effects, a fully dissected gastrocnemius muscle from the frog was attached to a force transducer and a weight pan and stimulated at various voltages.
Example of Materials & Methods
Preparation of Ringers Solutions of Various pH
In order to test the effect of low pH on the fatigability of skeletal muscle, normal Ringers solution was altered to make three different acidic solutions. Normal Ringers solution, which was used during the control condition, was composed of: xxxx. The pH of normal Ringers solution was 7.67. Three different acidic solutions were made by buffering normal Ringers solution with HCl.
Frog Dissection and Muscle Exposure
A single leg of a previously pithed leopard frog, Rana pipiens, was dissected. The animal was prepared utilising an intact gastrocnemius muscle-sciatic nerve arrangement, in which the sciatic nerve was exposed from the surrounding musculature and the gastrocnemius was separated and severed at the distal tendon. The distal tendon was attached vertically to a transducer and an electrode was placed beneath the sciatic nerve (Figure 1).
Notice how this section is divided into subsections via short section titles that have been italicised for emphasis. This is almost always a good idea, as it will help you to organise your methods so it’s easier for you to write and easier for the reader to follow. They don’t have to be italicised specifically, but the style you choose must be consistent throughout. Also note their use of appropriate jargon (e.g. “distal”) which concisely and precisely describes their methodology. Additionally, they have referenced a Figure. It is advisable to use a picture/figure where ever you can, in order to helpcut down on text.
Figure 1 Diagram of Expected Findings
When muscle tension reaches the threshold, as shown in the dark gray line, the muscle is able to lift the load and contraction is observed from both ends of the muscle and the muscle shortens. The time period between muscle stimulation (the beginnings of tension) and the time of contraction is the latency period. With a steeper rise in tension, due to increased muscle recruitment via higher voltage stimulation or decrease load (thereby lowering the threshold for needed tension), the latency period will decrease. Also consider the fact that if muscle tension is unable to reach threshold, as shown in the light gray line, contraction will be isometric. That is, the load will not lift, though the force transducer’s level will record the contraction from the upper portion of the muscle as the experimental set up places no constriction on the force transducer’s lever.
I have not included the actual figure here, but I have included the figure caption. Notice that the caption is very detailed. Figures should be able to stand alone, apart from the rest of the report. Please embed your figures in the text (NOT at the end of the paper), and wherever possible, embed them so that they disrupt the flow of the paper as little as possible. The box above shows a recommended size for a simple figure. If your figure has a lot of detail, it should be larger. The goal here is to maximize readability without having a figure take up an entire page. Figure captions should be single spaced, and a font size of 10 is appropriate.
Example of Results Section
Threshold, Optimal Tension & Characteristic Twitch
Stimulating the muscle directly, threshold stimulus was found to be at 0.4V. Characteristic twitches were conducted and were consistent at this voltage. Figure 3A displays an example of this twitch. After achieving optimal length, the tape was removed from the lever, which allowed the muscle to lift the lever. Note in Figure 3B the new characteristic twitch obtained at 0.4V.
Figure 3A Threshold Stimulus; 3B Characteristic Twitch without supporting tape
3A demonstrates the smooth contraction of the muscle after stimulation at the threshold value of 0.4V. Compare to 3B, a much smaller force produced when no longer held in isometric conditions by the tape. Note also the multiple peaks from lifting the lever and its oscillations.
This is a good example of how you should present your threshold and characteristic twitch information. Notice the use of 3A and 3B to help organise the figure
Decline in Peak Tension
In comparison to the control condition, the muscle that had been subject to pH of x was only able to produce a maximal force that was x% of the control condition’s maximal force. When the muscle was tested under conditions of a pH of x and x, the maximal forces produced as a percentage of the control condition’s peak tension were similar, at x% and x% respectively. Figure 3 presents information regarding the force developed in each acidic condition as a percentage of the force produced by the control condition.
Notice again, the use of sub-headings in the text, and the clear way that the results are presented. Remember to include figures taken directly from your recording in order to illustrate the different twitches under different experimental conditions
The results section is the most important part of the paper and is worth a considerable amount. It is important that you put a lot of work into this section. You should include raw data (i.e. the output from the LabScribe software) as well as graphs that you have constructed from your obtained data
Figure 4 Effects of stimulation amplitude on force production in the gastrocnemius muscle. As the amplitude of the stimulation increases, the force produced by the muscle increases in a linear fashion
Please note the use of a graph summarising the results of the experiment. If you stimulated the muscle at 6 different voltages, you would not include the raw data for all of these voltages, but would gather the data, plot it and present the graph to illustrate the effects of stimulation. Notice the style of the graph. If you are unsure how to present a graph for a scientific publication, it is recommended that you look at some published papers and see how the authors have presented their graphs. The main difference between their graphs and yours should be size; we want you to make your graphs about half a page so that we can easily read it
Example of Discussion
This experiment hypothesized three critical findings. With respect to increasing loads, it was predicted that the tension produced by the muscle would increase until the muscle reached an isometric point. Also, with respect to increasing voltage stimulation, it was believed that tension would increase as motor unit recruitment increased to a certain maximal point after which, increasing stimulation would no longer increase the tension response. Finally, with respect to the latent period, the muscle response should show an increased latent response to increased load.
This discussion section begins with a re-statement of hypotheses. This is a good way to begin a discussion section, but it is not the only way to begin. You should, however, include some form of short preamble before jumping into discussing your results.
The literature has found that at a pH of 6.5 there is a reduction in the maximal force generated by the muscle fibres, corresponding to a x% decline in fast twitch fibres and a x% decline in slow twitch muscle fibres (reference, xxxx). The results of this experiment agree with previously conducted research in that muscle fibres subject to acidic conditions demonstrated a reduced ability to generate peak tension.
Note how the authors cite relating literature and point out that their results were in accordance with established research. It is very important that your literature is relevant to your experiment. We do not expect that you find literature that is EXACTLY the same as what you have done; however, it still needs to have some relevance and support your hypotheses and conclusions in a significant way
Secondly, with respect in increasing the voltage stimulation, it was proposed that there would be an initial increase in tension response as it was believed higher stimulation would allow for increased motor unit recruitment. It was also thought that this increase in tension would reach a plateau of maximal motor unit recruitment and further increases in stimulation would not aid in tension produced. Figure 4’s data support the proposal. However, of interest is the decrease in tension in the xV and xV trials. It may be that the level of stimulation at this point is overloading the muscle and is in itself beginning to cause tissue damage. However, as some data points do show and increase in tension (Table1) and the tissue continued to respond throughout the trials, this is not believed to be the case. Rather, it is thought that simply the length of experimentation, removal from the body and blood supply, is the main factor in the muscle’s slow fatigue. Experimentation with a gastrocnemius muscle beginning at these levels of stimulation and returning to lower levels may help elucidate the muscle’s true response at this level of stimulation.
This paragraph discusses one of the group’s more unusual findings. They speculate as to why this might have happened, and notice how they suggest a way to improve upon the experiment in the future. A crucial part of a discussion is to suggest ways to improve experimentation and to suggest future directions for the experimentation. We will be looking for these in your discussion.
Example of References
Author, A.B., and Author, B.A. (2005). Title of the journal article. Journal Name, XX(Y), 100-101.
Author, C.D., and Author, D.C. (2000). Titles of books should not be capitalized, but should be italicized. City of publication, ON: Publisher.
What you see above are examples of APA formatting. You will NOT be using this style; I have merely included it for you as a general style. Rather, use the style of the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (journal available online at the University of Windsor)