1,720,979 research outputs found
Assessment of patient's pain-related behavior at physical examination may allow diagnosis of recent osteoporotic vertebral fracture
No full textBackground context
Although innumerable studies have analyzed the multiple aspects of osteoporotic vertebral fractures, no study has focused on the clinical features related to spine pain in patients with recent osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs).
Purpose
To determine whether the assessment of pain-related behavior (P-RB) of patients with osteoporotic VCFs of recent onset may allow the fracture to be strongly suspected, or even diagnosed, at physical examination.
Study design
Pain-related behavior of elderly patients attending an outpatient spine clinic was evaluated on the basis of six consecutive movements made on the examining table.
Patient sample
Fifty-six patients complaining only of lumbar or thoracic pain. The fractured patients (FPs), representing the fracture group (FG), were the 19 who had a recent VCF, whereas the control group (CG) consisted of the remaining 37 patients.
Methods
Assessment of P-RB was based on six parameters: grimacing, sighing, clenching or blocking eyelids, gaping or strongly tightening the lips, need for help to take positions, and extreme difficulty to turn in the prone position. A score of 1 or a decimal was assigned to each parameter, the final score to each patient being 0 to 6. Three types of injury, acute (I), subacute (II), or chronic (III), were identified on the basis of the time elapsed from the probable occurrence of the fracture. The diagnosis of recent fracture was based on magnetic resonance images. Patients were videotaped during their movements. An examiner, unaware of the clinical history and diagnosis, gave a P-RB score to all patients and indicated whether they had to be placed in FG or CG, and also their presumable type of fracture. Subsequently, a DVD with the videotapes of all patients was given to three independent examiners, not specifically expert of spine conditions, who were asked to make the same evaluations as the first examiner.
Results
The mean scores for P-RB given by the first examiner were 4.6 to FG and 0.7 to CG (p<.01). He identified as FPs 89% of those who were in FG. The type of fracture was indicated correctly in 88% of patients identified as FPs. The mean scores for the three types of fracture ranged from 5.4 (Type I) to 3.3 (Type III) (p<.001). The mean scores for P-RB given by the independent examiners to FG and CG were similar to those of the first examiner. The rates of correctness in identifying the type of fracture in patients indicated as FPs varied from 87% to 80%. The mean scores assigned to the patients included in the three types of fracture ranged from 5.4 to 2.8.
Conclusions
Pain-related behavior evaluation of patients with osteoporotic VCF during their movements on the examining table may allow to suspect, or even diagnose, the presence of a fracture, particularly in the initial 4 to 6 weeks after the occurrence. Even orthopedic surgeons not particularly familiar with spine care may be able to suspect the injury during physical examination.Background context
Although innumerable studies have analyzed the multiple aspects of osteoporotic vertebral fractures, no study has focused on the clinical features related to spine pain in patients with recent osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs).
Purpose
To determine whether the assessment of pain-related behavior (P-RB) of patients with osteoporotic VCFs of recent onset may allow the fracture to be strongly suspected, or even diagnosed, at physical examination.
Study design
Pain-related behavior of elderly patients attending an outpatient spine clinic was evaluated on the basis of six consecutive movements made on the examining table.
Patient sample
Fifty-six patients complaining only of lumbar or thoracic pain. The fractured patients (FPs), representing the fracture group (FG), were the 19 who had a recent VCF, whereas the control group (CG) consisted of the remaining 37 patients.
Methods
Assessment of P-RB was based on six parameters: grimacing, sighing, clen
Effects of blood supply on bone formation in experimental spinal fusion with skeletal stem cells
No full textAbstract: Aims of this study was to assess the new bone formation, vascular density (VD) and their correlation in an experimental model of spinal fusion with skeletal stem cells (SSCs) loaded into a ceramic carrier. METHODS. 15 rabbits (group 1) had, on the right paraspinal bed graft, cultured SSCs loaded into a ceramic carrier (group 1 A); on the left side, a sham operation including a decortication of the transverse processes without any addition of graft material was performed (group 1B). Further 15 rabbits (group 2) had fresh bone marrow loaded into ceramic granules on the the right side (group 2A) and ceramic granules alone on the left side (group 2B). After 6 months animals were sacrificed and radiographic and semi-quantitative and quantitative histological analysis of the fusion mass was performed. Sections of the fusion mass were then immunolabelled for alpha-smooth muscle actin to assess the VD. RESULTS The Radiographic evaluation showed a solid fusion in 13 specimens of group 1A (87%), and, respectively, in 14 (93%) and 13 (87%) of those of group 2A and 2B. However, a complete fusion was not observed in any group on histologic analysis. Abundant newly formed bone was observed in the periapophyseal regions in 60% of cases while no bone formation was seen between transverse processes. Periapophyseal VD was significantly higher compared to interapophyseal region in all groups (p<0.05) and a significant correlation was found between newly formed bone and VD (p = 0,0009). CONCLUSIONS: Our experimental posterolateral spinal fusion model with SSCs showed that new bone formation is strictly correlated to the local blood supply. If the latter is not adequate, as between the transverse processes, SSCs are unlikely to survive and limited bone formation occurs
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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