1,720,959 research outputs found
Functional Reach and touch: how sense of movement disorders can influence Anticipatory Postural Adjustment?
No full textBackground: Sense of movement disorders (SMDs), as result
of the failure of a complex multisensorial process involving
the proprioceptive, visual, somaesthetic, and vestibular systems
(A Berthoz 1997), are very frequent in children with
cerebral palsy (CP) and negatively influence motor function-
ing and postural control. The most frequent signs are: exaggerated
and low threshold startle reaction, freezing posture,
blinking or closing eyes, visual attention shifting, and facial
grimaces. Diplegic children with SMDs show panic reactions
to mild postural perturbations and are therefore unable to
execute common tasks successfully, such as reaching and
touching an object. Postural adjustments depend on motor
reactions as well as on perception but perception has a leading
role in anticipation.
Objectives: We wanted to investigate how SMDs negatively
influence anticipatory postural adjustments (APA).
Method: A group of 14 children with diplegia were selected
according to the following criteria: aged 6–15 years, acquired
walking, no major differences at GMFCS, and no major sensorial
or cognitive deficit. Eight were diagnosed positive for
SMDs (according to the mentioned clinical signs), six did not
have SMDs, and five normal participants matched for age
were selected for the control group. The experimental setting
consisted of a functional reach and touch task in the sitting
position on an adjustable stool, a force platform
registered the centre of pressure. A small ball target was
placed at a distance of 120% of arms’ length and at 45˚ of
abduction. The child sat with feet on a foot rest. The stool
was set at two levels: ground and raised.
Results: APAs are indicated by a backward shifting of centre of
pressure with respect to the reaching direction before the
start of the gesture. The presence of APAs according to group
were: SMD, ground 42%, raised 36%; non-SMD ground 83%,
raised 78%; controls, ground 93%, raised 93%.
Discussion: The diplegic group with SMD has significantly
fewer APAs than both the controls and non-SMD group. The
height of the stool seems to influence APAs within the same
group but we did not have enough statistical evidence (ttest).
Data seem to support the hypothesis that SMDs influence
negatively anticipatory postural control and this can
reduce autonomy levels in action
Functional Reach and touch: how sense of movement disorders can influence Anticipatory Postural Adjustment?
No full textBackground: Sense of movement disorders (SMDs), as result
of the failure of a complex multisensorial process involving
the proprioceptive, visual, somaesthetic, and vestibular systems
(A Berthoz 1997), are very frequent in children with
cerebral palsy (CP) and negatively influence motor function-
ing and postural control. The most frequent signs are: exaggerated
and low threshold startle reaction, freezing posture,
blinking or closing eyes, visual attention shifting, and facial
grimaces. Diplegic children with SMDs show panic reactions
to mild postural perturbations and are therefore unable to
execute common tasks successfully, such as reaching and
touching an object. Postural adjustments depend on motor
reactions as well as on perception but perception has a leading
role in anticipation.
Objectives: We wanted to investigate how SMDs negatively
influence anticipatory postural adjustments (APA).
Method: A group of 14 children with diplegia were selected
according to the following criteria: aged 6–15 years, acquired
walking, no major differences at GMFCS, and no major sensorial
or cognitive deficit. Eight were diagnosed positive for
SMDs (according to the mentioned clinical signs), six did not
have SMDs, and five normal participants matched for age
were selected for the control group. The experimental setting
consisted of a functional reach and touch task in the sitting
position on an adjustable stool, a force platform
registered the centre of pressure. A small ball target was
placed at a distance of 120% of arms’ length and at 45 ̊ of
abduction. The child sat with feet on a foot rest. The stool
was set at two levels: ground and raised.
Results: APAs are indicated by a backward shifting of centre of
pressure with respect to the reaching direction before the
start of the gesture. The presence of APAs according to group
were: SMD, ground 42%, raised 36%; non-SMD ground 83%,
raised 78%; controls, ground 93%, raised 93%.
Discussion: The diplegic group with SMD has significantly
fewer APAs than both the controls and non-SMD group. The
height of the stool seems to influence APAs within the same
group but we did not have enough statistical evidence (ttest).
Data seem to support the hypothesis that SMDs influence
negatively anticipatory postural control and this can
reduce autonomy levels in action
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
The term diplegia should be enhanced. Part I: a new rehabilitation oriented classification of cerebral palsy
No full textThe classification systems for cerebral palsy (CP) need to be continuously
updated, according to specific aims and to significant changes observed over the
years in the panorama of CP. A simplification of CP categories, abandoning the
use of the term diplegia, has been recently suggested. Conversely, in this paper
a new proposal for classification of CP is briefly presented, where special
attention is given to diplegia which is suggested to be divided into four main
clinical forms, according to the patterns of walking observable in these
subjects. The proposed classification was applied to a large population of 213
subjects with diplegia, among 467 cases of CP admitted to two reference centres
for this disorder. The relative incidence of the four forms is reported. The
adopted classification criteria, based on a primary ability of professionals
working in rehabilitation, i.e. observation capacity, makes this approach simple
and easy to use at all levels of the rehabilitation services for CP
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
Individualized intensive physiotherapy-orthosis treatment in hand functional recovery of children with spastic hemiplegia after botulinum toxin injection
No full textBackground: The 2010 Cochrane review regarding Botulinum
Toxin A (BoNT-A) upper limb injections in children
with CP, underlined the need to better define the associated
physiotherapy treatment. Through an RCT involving 24
children with hemiplegic CP, an attempt was made to
define the physiotherapy protocol. The results confirmed
the determinant role of intensive individualized goaldirected
physiotherapy in activity domain improvement.
Objective: To define precise criteria for individualized physiotherapy
planning and a functional exercise inventory after
BONT-A injections.
Method: After BONT-A injection an individualized physiotherapy
programme was created for each child considering
not only injected muscles and functional goals but also
motor learning capacity and modifiability, pointing, reaching,
grasping, manipulating, releasing strategies, sensoryperceptual
disorders, bottom-up components, cognitive
level, age, sex and personality. Physiotherapeutic treatment
consisted of everyday stretching maneuvers, therapeutic
exercises and activities organized in three 45 minute
weekly sessions, for 24 weeks. Functional individualized
goals were established with family and child. The treatment
was combined with nighttime positional splints and
daytime functional orthoses aimed at facilitating grasping
and handling. The therapeutic approach was specific timed
to BONT-A action. During the first month therapists
focused on segmental treatment such as stretching, with
simple unimanual or bimanual exercises; both transitive
and intransitive tasks were proposed, aimed at activating
muscles antagonistic to injected ones. From the second to
the sixth post-injection month increasing complex functional
activities, bimanual and unimanual tasks, with or
without functional orthoses were utilized. Either motor
tasks, requiring previously selective then sequential executive
control, or perception oriented tasks were considered.
Setting was particularly important in guiding and supporting
activities, every exercise was incorporated into a game
or routine activity. Toys, common objects or specifically
constructed items were used. Repetition was often needed
to fix newly learned abilities, but each exercise was slightly
modified every few repetitions in order to maintain interest,
limit frustration and improve generalization. Family
cooperation helped transfer exercised abilities to daily life.
Video recording and testing before, during and after treatment
were performed.
Conclusion:Functional intensive individualized child-focused
approach, combining physiotherapy and orthoses, is effective
in improving manipulation after botulinum injection.
Positive standardized test results (AHA, Abilhand-kids,
Shuee, soon to be released data) are encouraging. This
approach is limited by the time required for preparing
individualized treatments and personalizing settings
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
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