1,720,957 research outputs found
Are standing balance and walking ability deficits poststroke related to the integrity of the corticospinal and non-corticospinal tracts? A meta-analysis
No full textBackground: The importance of corticospinal tract (CST) integrity in upper limb recovery poststroke is well established, but its association with standing balance and walking remains unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to establish the relationship between CST and non-CST motor tract integrity, and clinical scores of standing balance and walking poststroke. Methods: In July 2024, five databases were searched for studies, focusing on diffusion MRI metrics and clinical scores of standing balance and/or walking independence poststroke. Meta-analyses were conducted to pool correlation coefficients (r) and group differences (d) based on CST integrity. Results: Twenty-two studies were included. Cross-sectional analysis showed no correlation (r < .25) between CST metrics and the functional ambulation category (FAC) in the sub-acute phase. Weak prognostic associations were found for CST-FA and CST-FN with FAC. Significant FAC score differences were found between preserved- and disrupted CST groups in the sub-acute (d = .79) and chronic (d = 1.07) phase and for prognostic analysis (d = 1.40). Non-CST metrics showed no cross-sectional associations and mixed prognostic associations. Conclusions: CST integrity was not significantly associated with standing balance or walking independence in the sub-acute phase. Early CST integrity showed weak prognostic value for walking at 6 months. Multimodal longitudinal research is needed to improve lower limb recovery prognostics.This work was supported by the BOF (bijzonder onderzoeksfond) of the University of Antwerp, and was funded by the Flemish Government under Grant ID: [44607]. The authors would like to thank the University of Antwerp and the research groups of MovAnt and Translational Neuroscience for their contributions
Time-dependency of test-retest reliability and measurement error of center-of-pressure synchronization and symmetry during quiet standing within specific frequencies in early sub-acute stroke
No full textBackground: People with unilateral sensorimotor impairments after a stroke exhibit poor between-limb synchronization and asymmetries in balance control by relying on their less-affected side to maintain stability during standing. Therefore, there is a growing consensus to include center-of-pressure metrics as between-limb synchronization and dynamic control asymmetry when investigating balance improvements poststroke. However, the test-retest reliability of these metrics remains under-investigated, hindering uptake of these assessments in future stroke rehabilitation and recovery studies. Research question: First, are three immediate test-repetitions necessary for obtaining reliable synchronization and asymmetry scores in individuals with sub-acute stroke, or can fewer repetitions suffice? Second, does timing of assessments at 3-, 5-, 8-, and 12-weeks poststroke affect these estimates' test-retest reliability and measurement error? Methods: Thirty stroke survivors with moderate-to-severe motor impairments were tested at 3-, 5-, 8-, and 12weeks poststroke. At each timepoint, they completed three 40-second quiet standing trials on a dual force plate which measured center-of-pressure signals separately on each side. We calculated between-limb synchronization (i.e., cross-correlation) and dynamic control asymmetry (i.e., symmetry index) using the original centerof-pressure signal, and after decomposition into high and low (cut-off 0.4 Hz) frequency bands. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess test-retest reliability and measurement error. A cut-off was used to determine acceptable reliability (ICC>0.75). Results: Between-limb synchronization and dynamic control asymmetry showed good-to-excellent reliability (ICCs=0.80-0.97) across three repetitions at all timepoints. Reducing to two repetitions yielded acceptable reliability (ICC=0.77-0.95) for dynamic control asymmetry and high-frequency measures, yet insufficient reliability for between-limb synchronization. At the 3-weeks timepoint, ICCs were generally lower, with more error, compared to later timepoints. Conclusion: Novel performance metrics quantifying synchronization and asymmetry of balance control can be reliably obtained during the early sub-acute phase if three test-repetitions are administered per assessment.JS received a strategic basic research doctoral (PhD) fellowship by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Belgium (application no.1S64819N) for conducting the TARGEt studies; AvH received a doctoral (PhD) fellowship from the special reserach fund DOCPRO, University of Antwerp, Belgium (application no.44607) for the analyses set forth here
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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