1,720,955 research outputs found
Proximal humeral fractures treated with a low-profile plate with enhanced fixation properties
No full textBackground: Our purpose was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of proximal humeral fractures treated with a new generation plating system and compare results with a meta-analysis of recent literature. Methods: Between 2014 and 2017, 93 patients (18 males, 75 females) with proximal humerus fractures were treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) using a Pantera® Plate. These low-profile plates are anatomically shaped and include “cross-elements” that form a three-dimensional scaffold in bone to enhance fixation stability. According to Neer classification, there were 24 two-part fractures, 49 three-part fractures and 20 four-part fractures (4 with dislocated heads). X-rays and Constant Shoulder Scores (CSS) were used to evaluate healing, complications, and clinical outcomes. Results were compared with a meta-analysis of similar studies reported in literature over the last 10 years. Results: Eighty-three patients with a minimum follow-up of 2 years had a mean CSS of 72 (53–90) graded as excellent for 23 patients (28%), good for 35 (42%), fair for 14 (17%), and poor for 11 (13%). Fractures healed without complication in 75 (91%) patients. Eight (9%) complications were observed, i.e., three avascular necrosis of the humeral head, one case of implant loosening, two cases of subacromial impingement and two superficial infections. There was no significant correlation between Neer fracture stage and patient outcome (p = 0.257). Compared to the literature, this method had a lower complication grade (p = 0.03), though it did not significantly differ in its clinical outcomes (p = 0.08). Conclusions: The investigated plating system includes design features that can potentially increase utility for ORIF of proximal humeral fractures. While the complication profile was signficantly less than reported in the literature for standard proximal humerus plates, clinical outcomes were similar. Further studies will be required to better understand the role of plate design on treatment of these challenging fractures. Level of evidence: IV, therapeutic study
Ultrasound-based decision making following metal-on-metal hip arthroplasty
No full textBackground: Metal-on-Metal (MoM) total hip arthroplasty (THA) represents a very controversial procedure because of the possibility of postoperative adverse local tissue reaction (ALTR). This study investigates the reliability of the ultrasound scan as a diagnostic tool to quantify a clinically useful threshold in the level of periprosthetic fluid collection to suggest implant revision. Methods: This study includes 116 patients (123 implants) who received an Articular Surface Replacement XL (ASRTMXL, De Puy Synthes, USA) MoM THA. The study group included 56 males and 60 females with a mean age of 66.6 years (range, 15–86 years). All patients were clinically and radiologically annually evaluated (according to the Harris Hip Score) up to a mean follow-up of 7.5 years (min. 1.4 – max. 10.3 years) from the primary surgery: all patients underwent standard ultrasound evaluation of the affected hip and Cobalt/Chromium blood detection testing according to a custom-made diagnostic algorithm for MoM THA revision. Results: At final follow-up, 51 (43.1%) of 117 implants underwent revision after a mean of 6 years (1.79–9.26) from the primary ASR implant. The authors found a statistically significant correlation between Cr (p = 0.015) and Co (p = 0.009) blood values and different ultrasound grades. Statistical analysis showed a significant association between periprosthetic fluid collection and revision surgery (p < 0.0001) and the final revision risk was estimated to be 7 times greater in patients with ultrasound grade ≥ 2 (peri-prosthetic collection ≥ 20 mm). Conclusions: This study confirms the reliability of ultrasound evaluation in detecting clinically significant peri-prosthetic joint effusions: a new diagnostic algorithm for MoM THA revision is here presented. Longer follow up studies are mandatory to better understand the potential advantages of this diagnostic protocol
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
Quick recovery and no arthrofibrosis in acute anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. A prospective trial of early versus delayed reconstruction
Full text linkBackground. Anterior cruciate ligaments tears is one of the most frequent orthopae- dics and sports medicine injuries in the athletically active population and timing of reconstruction represents a debated topic. The aim of the study is to compare range of motion (ROM) recovery and clinical outcomes between patients operated for acute reconstruction (maximum 2 weeks injury-surgery interval) and delayed reconstruction (minimum 3 weeks injury-surgery interval).
Methods. A total of 52 patients were prospectively involved in the study. 26 patients underwent acute reconstruction and 26 delayed reconstruction. A standard physical examination with Lachman and Pivot shift test and a passive ROM measurement with a goniometer were performed at each follow-up (2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks postoper- atively). Clinical outcomes were measured at final follow-up using Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS), Tegner Lysholm Score and International Knee Documentation Committe (IKDC 2000) and KT-1000 evaluation. Single-leg hop test and thigh circumference measurement were performed at final follow-up.
Results. Both groups showed no statistically significant differences regarding the ROM. Full ROM was achieved 12 weeks after surgery in both groups.
The mean IKDC was 98.7 and 95.2; the mean Tegner Lysholm was 100 and 93.8 and the mean KOOS was 99 and 95.5 in the acute group and delayed ACLR group respectively. Conclusions. There were no differences between acute and delayed anterior cruci- ate ligament reconstruction regarding the risk of arthrofibrosis and clinical outcomes. Acute reconstruction can be performed safely with no increased risk of arthrofibrosis
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
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