1,720,987 research outputs found
The effectiveness of carpal bone mobilization accompanied by night splinting in idiopathic carpal Tunnel syndrome
No full textObjective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of carpal bone mobilization (CBM) and night splinting and to compare it with night splinting as a control group in the treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).Methods: In the single-blind (assessor) prospective randomised controlled trial, a total of 40 patients with mild to moderate CTS were diagnosed by electroneuromyography (ENMG). In Group 1 (n=20), patients received CBM three times a week, total of 10 times, and used neutral volar wrist splint at night for 3 weeks. Patients in Group 2 (n=20) used only neutral volar wrist splint at night for 3 weeks. All of the patients were assessed at baseline and at the 3rd month with respect to pain intensity using a numerical rating scale (0-10), handgrip and pinchgrip strength, functional status and symptom severity using the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnarie (BCTQ), and ENMG measurements.Results: There were improvements in all of the clinical variables, distal sensory latancy, and sensory nerve action potentials of the median nerve in Group 1. In Group 2, there was improvement in only BCTQ symptom severity and night/day pain intensity at the 3rd month. Improvement in pinchgrip strength and BCTQ functional status were superior in Group 1 when compared with that in Group 2 at the 3rd month.Conclusion: Both of the treatment modalities may be recommended for symptomatic relief. However, CBM combined with splinting may be a better choice for functional and strength amelioration as a noninvasive alternative treatment modality in CTS
Magnetotherapy in hand osteoarthritis: A pilot trial
No full textObjective: To evaluate the effectiveness of magnetotherapy in the treatment of hand osteoarthritis (HO).Methods: In this randomized controlled single-blind follow-up study, patients with HO were randomly assigned into 2 groups (G1 and G2). The subjects in G1 (n = 25) received 25 Hz, 450 pulse/s, 5-80G, magnetotherapy of totally 10 days and 20 min/day combined with active range of motion/strengthening exercises for the hand. G2 (n =25) received sham-magnetotherapy for 20 min/day for the same duration combined with the same hand exercises. Outcome measures were pain and joint stiffness evaluation, handgrip and pinchgrip strength (HPS), Duruoz and Auscan Hand Osteoarthritis Indexes (DAOI) and Short Form-36 Health Questionnaire (SF-36) administered at baseline, immediately after treatment and at the follow up.Results: When the groups were compared with each other, improvement observed in SF-36 Pain (p < 0.001), SF-36 Social Function (p = 0.030), SF-36 Vitality (p = 0.002), SF-36 General Health (p = 0.001), Pain at rest (p < 0.001), Pain at motion (p < 0.001), Joint stiffness (p < 0.001), DAOI (p < 0.001) were in favor of G1.Conclusions: Changes in pain, function and quality of life scores showed significant advantage in favor of the applied electromagnetic intervention in patients with HO
Correlation of Femoral Cartilage Thickness and Osteoporosis in Female Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis
Full text linkObjective:To evaluate the relationship between ultrasonographic femoral cartilage thickness and presence of concomitant osteoporosis in a group of female patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).Materials and Methods:This study included 118 women with knee OA who visited our outpatient clinic. Demographic data were collected, radiologic grading using Kellgren Lawrence (K-L) scale, ultrasonographic femoral cartilage thickness (FCT) evaluation, pain intensity evaluation, disability evaluation using OA index [Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index (WOMAC)], quality of life measurement using Short Form-36 (SF-36) and bone density measurement using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were conducted for each patient.Results:We found that 58 patients (median age: 64.5 years, range: 50-75) had osteoporosis (group 1) and 60 patients (median age: 62 years, range: 51-75) did not have osteporosis (group 2). Group 2 had higher body mass index (BMI) in addition to lower WOMAC, SF-36 physical function, physical role limitation, pain and social function scores. The severity of osteoporosis and K-L staging were negatively correlated. The DXA femoral neck and total lumbar T-scores were higher in the advanced stages of OA. FCT had no significant correlation with age, WOMAC index and SF-36 scores. Moreover, the left knee FCT was negatively correlated with BMI.Conclusion:Radiologic staging of OA had a negative correlation with osteoporosis but no significant correlation with the quantitative measurement of FCT using ultrasonography
Evaluation of the relationship between proinflammatory cytokine levels and clinical findings of fibromyalgia syndrome
No full textBackground: Immune system has an important effect on pain related disorders such as fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). There is no specific laboratory technique for the diagnosis of FMS, but measuring serum proinflammatory cytokines may help. Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine the serum levels of immune mediators and their relationship with FMS symptoms. Methods: 25 healthy individuals and 29 FMS patients receiving pregabalin 150 mg/day for a minimum of 3 months were included in this study. FMS patients were diagnosed according to diagnostic criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR 2010). Widespread pain index (WSI), fatigue, waking unrefreshed, cognitive symptoms, somatic symptoms, and Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) scores were evaluated in patients with FMS. Serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, IL 12, IL-17, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha) were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Proinflammatory cytokine levels were higher in the control group than patients with FMS (P<0.05). A positive correlation was found between age and WSI (P=0.037). In addition, a significant positive relationship was determined between IL-17 level and waking unrefreshed (P=0.049). There was no significant relationship between other cytokines and clinical findings. Conclusion: Lower proinflammatory cytokine levels identified in FMS patients may be related to pregabalin treatment, and there may be an impairment in the inflammatory response. On the contrary, IL-17 showed positive correlation with waking unrefreshed
Kinesiophobia and Related Factors in Fibromyalgia Syndrome
No full textObjective: This study aimed to determine the kinesiophobia levels in female patients with fibromyalgia (FMS). In addition, we intended to search the factors associated with kinesiophobia in patients with FMS and to evaluate the effect of kinesiophobia on work outcomes in this patient population.Materials and Methods: Between January 2021 and May 2021, 50 female patients with FMS and 44 female patients with musculoskeletal pain but not meeting the diagnostic criteria for FMS were included in the study. Pain was evaluated using the numeric scale, kinesiophobia levels with the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), and the work outcomes with a questionnaire form prepared by us.Results: The median TSK scores were 41,50 (21-61) in the FMS group and 37 (23-61) in the control group. TSK score was significantly higher in the FMS group (p=0.030). Pain scores (p<0.001), and symptom duration (p<0.001) were significantly associated with high levels of kinesiophobia. When multiple linear regression analysis was performed, it was found that body mass index (p=0.411) was not associated with kinesiophobia levels, whereas age (p<0.001) was associated with kinesiophobia levels. Increased levels of kinesiophobia in patients with FMS patients have been associated with worse work outcomes.Conclusion: Evaluating the level of kinesiophobia in patients with FMS and developing preventive strategies in the presence of kinesiophobia can provide useful information when creating a treatment program
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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