1,722,977 research outputs found
Does load carriage differentially alter postural sway in overweight vs. normal-weight children?
No full textAmong a wide range of negative consequences stemming from excess mass in children, recent studies
suggest an impairment of postural control, including basic capabilities such as static and dynamic
balance. Such impairment may be compounded when additional tasks are performed, such as carrying
localized loads as occurs among children using a backpack. To investigate this, postural control was
measured among 77 overweight and obese children (6–11 years old), and an equal number of normal-
weight children matched for gender, age, and height. Testing was conducted at school, in which center of
pressure (COP) time series during quiet standing were obtained in the presence and absence of each
student’s backpack. A traditional postural control measure derived from COP (mean velocity) did not
indicate significant differences between overweight and normal-weight children, regardless of backpack
presence. In contrast, a complexity index (derived from multiscale entropy) suggested the existence of
different postural strategies and reduce
Fatigue-induced balance alterations in a group of Italian career and retained firefighters
No full textFirefighters (FFs) often work in hazardous and physically-demanding environments, and injuries related to loss of balance are common among them. This study examined the postural balance
of FFs with different levels of experience and training, both before and after simulated physicallydemanding
and fatiguing firefighting and rescue activities. Balance was assessed in two FF groups (career and "retained", n=13 each), on the basis of center-of-pressure (COP) time series that were acquired using a pressure platform during quiet upright stance. Several traditional COP-based measures (mean COP velocity and sway area) were derived. In addition, and to quantify the dynamical properties of postural control, complexity of the COP time series was determined using the multi scale entropy (MSE) method. Both age and the annual number of working days were higher for career FFs, though both groups had comparable levels of pre-activity balance. Post-activity changes in balance were also generally comparable between the groups, except that retained FFs exhibited a significantly
higher post-activity loss of COP complexity in the medial-lateral direction. These results suggest that
experience and training may serve to offset age-related decrements in postural balance, and implications for the risk of balance-related injuries during firefighting operations are discussed
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
Characterization of pulling forces exerted by primary school children while carrying trolley bags
No full textCarriage of school items by children remains an issue of concern, mainly due to the large loads they have to bear, starting from early age when the musculoskeletal structure is still under development. As such, children are potentially exposed to important risks of acute or chronic injuries due to such carriage. While backpack remains the most common modality, in recent years trolley bags are increasingly considered and used. Trolleys may be of benefit, as much of the load can supported by the ground, and the muscular effort is limited to a pulling force. Nevertheless, there are situations (like stair ascent and descent, steps, and ramps) where the pulling force increases or, in some cases, has to be fully supported by a single arm. Under such conditions, the use of trolley bag might be disadvantageous versus a backpack, in that the latter allows a symmetrical distribution of the load on the body in a range of conditions. To provide more empirical evidence, which at present is very limited, this study aimed to characterize the pulling forces needed when using a school trolley bag, on a route that includes level and inclined ground surface, steps, and stairs. A sample of 195 students of primary school (age 8-11) participated, and they were asked to pull an instrumented trolley loaded with school items (total load = 62 N) from the school entrance to a classroom located one floor up in the school building. The results, expressed in terms of “pulling force vs. time” curves, show that particularly during stairs ascent and descent, one arm may exert quite large dynamic forces, and that these forces can be up to twice the mass of the carried load. Although exposure to such loads is quite limited, the methodology described here highlights the potential for concern and provides a basis for future investigations of the contribution of trolley bag carriage and disorders of the arm-shoulder complex among children
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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