1,720,955 research outputs found
Wearing a brace for idiopathic scoliosis above 18 hrs/day shows a dose-response effect on the outcomes improvement and end-of-treatment Cobb angle below 30 degrees
Full text linkPurpose: The Brace Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Trial (BrAIST) reported a bracing dose–response curve in AIS for brace-wearing time (BWT) up to 18 h/day (h/d) on the outcome end-of-treatment < 50°. We aimed to examine the dose–response curve for this and other relevant outcomes in cases of BWT > 18 h/d. Methods: Design: Retrospective secondary analysis of consecutively collected data. Participants: braced AIS patients with curves < 45° and a subgroup with BrAIST inclusion criteria. Treatment: different braces, prescribed 18 to 24 h/d, according to curve topography, Cobb angle and a shared decision-making approach. We divided patients into BWT quartiles and developed dose–response curves using the BrAIST methodology for the end-of-growth outcomes END < 50°, END < 30°, avoidance of progression, and improvement. Results: We included 884 patients (85% female), with a mean age of 13.0 ± 1.3 years and a mean Cobb angle of 28 ± 7°. In the higher BWT quartiles, we found larger scoliosis curves but also better final Cobb angle results. The dose–response curves showed statistically significant improvements for the outcomes END < 30° and improvement (outcomes improvements ranging 45–60% and 25–35%, respectively). The outcomes END < 50° and avoiding progression showed a ceiling effect due to a very high success rate (range 97–98% and 85–87%, respectively). Conclusion: BWT > 18 h/d is associated with avoiding surgery (END < 50°), reduced progression, and increased improvement rates, and achieving END < 30°, which is particularly relevant because it reduces the risk of problems in adulthood. Decisions on daily BWT should be based on the desired outcomes and an honest conversation with the patients and parents
The "Idiopathic Scoliosis Graphical Representation of Worsening Trend of Natural History" (IS-GROWTH) communication tool provides a reliable prediction useful to manage long-term treatment during growth. 2025 SOSORT award winner
Full text linkPurpose: Effective communication with patients regarding long-term conservative treatment for idiopathic scoliosis necessitates an understanding of its natural history. Existing predictive models have limitations in this regard. Our study aimed to develop and evaluate the reliability and utility of the Idiopathic Scoliosis Graphical Representation Of Worsening Trend of Natural History (IS-GROWTH) communication tool. Methods: IS-GROWTH development and validation involved consecutive untreated patients with radiographs taken at and prior to the first consultation. To construct the model, we calculated the minimum and maximum progression of patients grouped by 10° Cobb angle range and growth phases. IS-GROWTH is developed for each patient, incorporating the expected progression of each growth phase into the preceding one. For temporal validation, we included patients whose data were obtained after the development of IS-GROWTH, comparing IS-GROWTH predictions with natural history. We calculated the percentage of correct predictions and applied the chi-square test. We also examined the distribution of natural history within IS-GROWTH. Finally, we piloted the tool's usefulness for communication with patients among a group of physicians using it for several years. Results: To develop IS-GROWTH, we analysed 3,184 radiographs from 1,818 participants, spanning from infancy to adolescence. For validation, we included 552 patients and found an accuracy of 95% (95% Confidence Interval, 93-97%) after adjusting for the 5° radiographic measurement error. Nineteen physicians (7.3±5.8 years’ experience) reported using IS-GROWTH in 30% of their patients (range 5-95%) and found it most useful during follow-up (84%) to motivate patients (79%). Conclusion: IS-GROWTH is reliable and useful. We now regularly use it to deepen our understanding of individual natural history and enhance communication with patients
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
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
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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