1,720,968 research outputs found
The effects of incontinence pad application on loaded skin with reference to biophysical and biochemical parameters: an exploratory cohort study using a repeated measure design
No full textPurpose: the purpose of this study was to evaluate temporal changes in skin responses following exposure to moisture alone or moisture in combination with mechanical loading.Design: exploratory cohort study to evaluate the effects of incontinence pad application using a repeated measure design on individuals of two different age groups Subjects and Settings: the sample comprised 12 healthy volunteers. Participants were purposely sampled from two different age groups; 50% were 32 to 39 years and 50% were from 50 to 62 years old. Participants identified as white, black or mixed; 83% (n= 10); 8 (67%) were female.Methods: four sites at the sacrum were challenged with application of specimens taken from two absorbent products; the pad specimens were applied dry or saturated with synthetic urine (SU, pH=8); a further site from the sacral skin was also selected and used as a control. Skin assessments were performed at different points in time: 1.) 60 minutes after exposure to dry or SU saturated pad specimens, 2.) 60 minutes after exposure to pads and mechanical loading (application of pressure in the form of 45⁰C high sitting), and 3.) 30 minutes after removal of all pads (recovery period). Outcome measures were Transepidermal water loss (TEWL), Stratum Corneum (SC) hydration, erythema, pH and skin inflammatory biomarkers measured at each of the time points described above. Results: The control site and those exposed to dry pads showed minimal time-dependent changes irrespective of the parameter investigated. By contrast, significant increases in TEWL (p=0.0000007) and SC hydration responses (p= 0.0000007) were detected at the sites under absorbent pads specimens after saturation with SU (exposure to moisture). In some participants, TEWL and SC hydration parameters were significantly higher during pressure application. Skin pH remained in the mildly acidic range throughout the test session and no consistent trends were observed with erythema. Skin inflammatory biomarkers also exhibited considerable variability across participants with none of the analysed biomarkers presenting significant temporal or spatial changes (p> 0.05). Conclusion: we evaluated an array of parameters to identify changes following skin exposure to two absorbent pads in the presence and absence of synthetic urine and mechanical loading. Analysis revealed changes in skin barrier properties in the presence of moisture and/or pressure. Statistical significant differences (p=0.02) were also detected following the exposure of moisture in combination with pressure. This observation suggests a need for frequent pad changing as well as periods of skin offloading to protect the skin health of individuals with incontinence.<br/
Dataset to support the article: Evaluation of in-shoe plantar pressure and shear during walking for diabetic foot ulcer prevention
No full textThe dataset is associated with an article entitled 'Evaluation of in-shoe plantar pressure and shear during walking for diabetic foot ulcer prevention' to be published in Journal of Wound Care
The data is available on request only to bone fide researchers. Please complete the attached request form and return to [email protected]</span
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
Synthetic nanoclay gels do not cause skin irritation in healthy human volunteers
No full textSynthetic clays are promising biomaterials for delivery of therapeutic molecules in regenerative medicine. However, before their use can be translated into clinical applications, their safety must be assessed in human volunteers. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a synthetic nanoclay (LAPONITE) does not cause irritation to the human skin. To achieve this, a nanoclay gel at two different concentrations (1.5 and 3% w/v) was applied on the forearm of healthy volunteers for 24 h. 1% sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and 3% (w/v) polyacrylic acid were used as the positive and negative controls, respectively. The compromise in the skin barrier function was measured by trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), erythema by spectroscopic measurements, and skin inflammatory biomarkers (IL-1α and IL-1RA) by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found that the nanoclay caused no prolonged increase in TEWL, erythema, or induction of inflammatory cytokines. This was in contrast to 1% SLS, a known irritant, which induced significant increases in both skin erythema and TEWL. We conclude that the nanoclay is not an irritant and is thus suitable for therapeutic interventions at the skin surface
- …
