1,720,963 research outputs found
The effect of oral baclofen and botulinum toxin treatments in hemiplegic spasticity on the nociceptive flexor reflex: A randomized clinical trial
No full textObjectives: This study aimed to analyze the effect of oral baclofen treatment and botulinum toxin type A (BT-A) injection treatment in hemiplegic patients with spasticity on the electromyographic nociceptive flexor reflex (NFR) threshold. Patients and methods: A total of 29 spastic hemiplegic patients (20 males, 9 females; mean age: 52.9±10.1; range, 27 to 64) with Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) grades 2-4 were included in the prospective, randomized study between May 2018 and March 2019. The patients were divided into two groups: the BT-A group consisted of 15 patients that underwent a BT-A injection and the baclofen group consisted of 14 patients treated with baclofen. Modified Ashworth Scale, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Barthel daily life activity index, and NFR threshold values were used in the evaluation of the patients before and after the treatment at the sixth week. The motor evaluation of the patients was performed using Brunnstrom motor staging. Results: In both groups, MAS and VAS values decreased significantly compared to pretreatment (p<0.05). There was a significant decrease in ankle MAS score (p<0.001) and a significant increase in Brunnstrom hand recovery stages in the BT-A group compared to pretreatment (p=0.020). While the NFR threshold statistically significantly increased in the baclofen group compared to pretreatment (p=0.007), there was no significant change in the BT-A group (p=0.669). Conclusion: These results suggest that BT-A injections do not cause a significant change in the NFR threshold in the treatment of spasticity
Comparison of the Therapeutic Efficacy of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy Versus Corticosteroid Iontophoresis in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Prospective Randomized Study
No full textObjective: To compare the effectiveness of radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (r-ESWT) and corticosteroid iontophoresis (CI) in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).Material and Methods: This randomized prospective study included a total of 72 wrists diagnosed with CTS of 54 patients with a mean age of 42.2±8.7 years (range, 22-59 years). The patients were randomly separated into two groups. Group 1 (n=37) received r-ESWT, and Group 2 (n=35) received CI. Evaluations were made at baseline and at 0, 1 and 3 months after treatment using the visual analog scale (VAS), Boston Symptom Severity Scale (BSSS), Boston Functional Capacity Scale (BFCS), grip strength, and electrophysiological examination. Results: Compared to baseline, the VAS, BSSS, BFCS, grip strength values at the 0, 1 and 3 months after treatment improved significantly in both groups (all p<0.001). However the nerve conduction study results were significantly improved only in r-ESWT group (all p<0.001). When the change levels were compared between the groups, the decrease in VAS (all p<0.001), the improvement in BSSS (p=0.029, p=0.023 and p=0.040, respectively), BFCS (p<0.001, p=0.001 and p<0.001, respectively), grip strength (all p<0.001), sensory nerve conduction velocity (p=0.001, p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) and distal motor latency (p=0.001, p=0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) before and at 0, 1 and 3 months after treatment were significantly higher in the r-ESWT group than the CI group. Conclusion: This study revealed that both methods were useful in alleviating pain and improving function in CTS, however r-ESWT seems to be more effective than CI
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Musculoskeletal Pain in Elderly Patients with Osteoporosis: A Multicenter Study
No full textObjective: The aim of this study was to identify the ones with osteoporosis (OP) in elderly patients presenting with musculoskeletal complaints and to evaluate the distribution of region of pain and the medications used for the musculoskeletal disease(s) in these patients. Materials and Methods: 1141 elderly patients who were consecutively admitted to the outpatient clinics in nine different provinces were screened for the diagnosis of OR Age, gender, complaints, diagnosis and current medications related to musculoskeletal system disorder(s) were recorded. Results: 382 elderly (341 female, 41 male) with a mean age of 71.9 +/- 5.3 years had the diagnosis of OR Low (54.5%) and upper back (39.6%) pain were the most common complaints in both sexes. These were followed by knee, hip, cervical and shoulder pain, respectively. Osteoarthritis (36%), lumbar (21%) and cervical spondylosis/stenosis (10%) were the most common musculoskeletal diseases accompanying OR The mean number of drugs used was 3.0 +/- 1.2. The most commonly prescribed anti-osteoporotic agents were bisphosphonates (59%). For the musculoskeletal pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (systemic and/or topical) were used in 46.6% and paracetamol in 24.6% of patients. Conclusion: It is crucial to perform a thorough physical examination to reveal the underlying cause of back pain in elderly osteoporotic patients. Besides, in order to minimize polypharmacy, it should be kept in mind that non-pharmacological approaches can be used for the management of musculoskeletal diseases. Turk J Phys Med Rehab 2012;58:263-6
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Get PDFWe 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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