1,720,981 research outputs found
The medial femoral condyle free corticoperiosteal flap versus traditional bone graft for treatment of nonunions of long bones. a retrospective comparative cohort study
No full textFracture healing is a complex process and many factors change the local biology of the fracture and reduce the physiologic repair process. Since 1991 the free vascularised corticoperiosteal graft has been proposed to treat nonunions. In this study we compare the healing rate and the healing time of the free vascularised corticoperiosteal graft harvested from medial femoral condyle versus the traditional cancellous bone graft from the iliac crest combined with other biologic or pharmacologic factors. We performed a retrospective cohort study. The main measures of outcomes were the rate of bone union and the mean healing time from surgery. The authors performed 10 free vascularised corticoperiosteal grafts in the cohort A and 10 patients received traditional cancellous bone graft plus other biologic or pharmacologic treatment in the same period in the cohort B. The mean follow up in cohort A was 18.6 months with a healing rate of 100% (10/10). In cohort B the mean follow up was 22.5 month with a healing rate of 90%. The mean time to obtain union (healing time) in the group that was treated with the free flap procedure was significantly shorter, 3.2 months versus a mean time of 8.8 months in the other group. Some studies describe a high healing rate of recalcitrant nonunions with treatments different from vascularized bone flaps: it is difficult to compare the results of vascularized bone transfers with the results of other case series. Our groups are very homogeneous even if it is difficult to define correct inclusion criteria because there is still no agreement about what is defined a recalcitrant or difficult nonunion, and the number of trials of previous surgery before to perform a vascularized free flap. Even if our study cohort is small, we have demonstrated that the MFCCF generally seems to give a better healing chance with a shorter healing time compared to other treatments
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
A simple and reliable method to perform biomechanical evaluation of postoperative nerve adhesions
No full textBackground: Perineural fibrotic adhesions are among the major complications of peripheral nerve surgery. While different experimental models have been used for the pre-clinical testing of anti-adherential strategies, the methods used so far to induce scar tissue appear to be poorly standardized and reproducible. New method: Thirty adult mice were used. Two methods were tested: the first one is based on burning the perineural muscular bed with a diathermocoagulator, while the second is based on direct scratching of the nerve surface with a cotton swab. After 3 weeks, the fibrotic reaction was assessed by measuring the peak pull out force of the nerve from muscular bed by means of a new tool specifically devised for biomechanical assessment of scar tissue formation. Moreover, histological analysis with specific collagen stain was also carried out. Results: Both methods produced fibrotic reaction. Statistical analysis of biomechanical data showed a significant difference between burning and scratching group compared to the control sham operated group. No significant differences were detected between burning and scratching group. Histological analysis showed the presence of perineural scar tissue in both groups, though with a different distribution pattern. Comparison with other methods: This protocol is easier to perform. The tool used for biomechanical evaluation is reliable and cheap. Conclusions: Both methods for perineural scar formation are effective and simple. They represent reproducible models for the study of the anti-adherential strategies. Yet, biomechanical testing with the device that we have developed proved to be a reliable and simple method for the quantitative assessment of the degree of perineural adhesion formation
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Treatment of chronic Osteomyelitis with vascularized bone flaps in one-stage-procedure
No full textBackground Chronic osteomyelitis is a long-standing infection of the bone. Treatment is often combined, using antibiotics and surgery (with radical debridement and secondary or concomitant reconstruction). One-stage management is an alternative approach, with few reported cases in literature. Patients/Material and methods We carried out an observational retrospective multicenter study to evaluate the results of one-stage reconstructions with vascularized bone flaps. We assessed bone and infection healing in 14 cases, with a mean follow-up of 63.6 months. Results: Bone union was obtained in 10 cases (71.4 %) in a mean period of 7.9 months. Nonunion occurred in 4 cases (28.6 %), 2 of them with infection persistence. Bone nonunion risk increases in polymicrobial infections (p = 0.0269) and in compromised hosts (p = 0.0110). Infection healing was achieved in 11 cases (78.6 %). Fistula recurred in 3 cases of forearm osteomyelitis (21.4 %) in 10 months on average. Infection recurrence is associated with polymicrobial infections (p = 0.0378) and is higher in internal fixation and compromised hosts with no statistically significant relation. Conclusions One-stage surgical treatment seems to be an effective approach in selected patients, in particular when an important impairment of local soft tissue and bone exposure are present, and immediate bone coverage with vascularized soft tissue is needed. Most complications occurred in compromised hosts and in patients with polymicrobial cultures. Further research, with comparison between one and two-stage procedures, is needed in order to strengthen the level of evidence
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