Forensic Facial Reconstruction to Identify Skulls-A Review_Crimson Publishers

 Forensic Facial Reconstruction to Identify Skulls-A Review  by Sankeerti Mala Bonda in Forensic Science & Addiction Research_Journal of Addiction Research

   

Abstract

Facial Reconstruction- making faces is an old story which has undergone many changes in the techniques mentioned in the literature. Identification of skulls when all other evidence is destroyed or limited requires the usage of facial reconstruction for the forensic team. This review article is a summary of the different facial reconstruction methods and their role in forensic science to identify the individual.

Keywords: Facial reconstruction; Forensic science

Introduction

Facial reconstruction-making faces are an old story. In ancient Egypt, great efforts were made by scientists to preserve as many details of their ancestors as they could. Late in the 19th century, anatomists, anthropologists and forensic odontologists began to study the correlation between the surface soft tissues of the face and the underlying bony structure of the skull. In modern times, facial reconstruction has been developed in order to help archaeologists in their attempts to demonstrate the appearance of early man. Also, recently in forensic science in order to produce an image from a skull, which offers a sufficient likeness of the living individual [1].

Skulls can survive for centuries, even millions of years and can provide an unrivalled means of identification [2]. If a skull is accidentally recovered from a garden, forest etc, a positive identification will be needed. In cases where traditional methods of identification like dental records examination, radiography, DNA analysis etc, cannot be used or have been ineffective, forensic facial reconstruction can be used as an important tool which may help in facial recognition of the skull and lead to identification of an individual [3].

Faces are fascinating. The bones of the skull are a key determinant of facial appearance. They form the basic framework to which other tissues are attached and how a person looks depends on all these factors together-skin, muscle, fat and bone. In human beings, the basic look is similar but we are very sensitive to the small differences that can be used for identification purposes [2].

Techniques of facial reconstruction [1,4]

a. Plaster skull reconstruction (combination Manchester method/ British method)

b. Skull / photo video superimposition

c. Computerized 3D facial reconstruction

d. Anthropometerical American method/ Tissue depth method

e. Anatomical Russian Method.

Each approach utilizes either a manual or computer generated method. Computer generated models are particularly important to focus on in light of technological advances that have been made in recent years and the increasingly heavy reliance on these methods.

Regardless of the method used, approaches can be broken down into three basic schools of thoughts: anatomical, anthropometrical and combination. The anatomical view is heavily influenced by the prevalence of musculature in defining the shape of the reconstructed face, while anthropometrical view focuses on the average tissue depth of the face as the key factor. The combination view is a way of merging the anatomical and anthropometrical, with average tissue depth serving to confirm details obtained by looking at the muscle and bone structure. The method chosen determines the measurements and formulas that one uses and the level of objective and subjective influences [5].

Plaster scalp reconstruction technique

This is a traditional technique which requires the eyes and hands of an artist and the specialized knowledge of an anatomist. The method involves the preparation of a cast of skull (both cranium and mandible together fit with false eyes). On the cast, 3 mm diameter pegs are fitted to the distance according to the thickness of the soft tissues regarding the age, sex, ethnic group and mainly the appropriate set of measurements.

a. Medial and Lateral canthi of the eyes is marked with a copper pin.

b. 1 or 2 pegs from the nasal aperture.

The progression of muscle building in temporal muscle, masseter, buccinators, orbicular oris. Position and strength of muscle insertions should be noted. The width of the mouth is determined by the outer borders of the canine teeth. When teeth are missing, the distance between the inner borders of the iris is considered next the expression muscles are added-levator anguli oris, levator labii superioris, zygomaticus major and minor, depressor labii inferioris and depressor anguli oris. Space between them should be supported to prevent them from collapsing.

The width of the nasal aperture in the skull is equal to the three fifth of the overall nose’s width. Then the whole cast is to be covered by a layer of clay to simulate the outer layers of subcutaneous tissues and skin. The modelling of the superficial features makes a face look alive. The average success rate is between 50% and 60% [1,6-8].

Skull/photo video super imposition

This method was first described by Kenna [9]. This method is useful when ante-mortem photographs of 1 or more possible descendants are available. The skull to be identified is mounted on an adjustable support. A high resolution video camera is aligned at right angles with the ante-mortem photograph. A second video camera is aligned with the skull. The center of the lens must be at the same level as the horizontal center of the photograph. The 2 images from each camera are processed in a vision mixer, for horizontal, vertical wiping and super imposition and negative stimulation.

If teeth are present, the enlargement can be carried out until the teeth in the ante mortem photograph exactly overlaps the teeth in the super imposed video picture. If teeth are not present, estimation should be made by adjusting the vertical height of the photograph of that of the skull [1,9,10].

Compterized 3D facial reconstruction

This method employs computer programs to transform laserscanned 3D skull images into faces. Although the results are more reproducible than sculpted reconstructions, some subjectivity could remain in the pegging of a composite facial image onto the digitized skull matrix [1].

A database of head models (both skulls, faces and soft tissue depth with their personal characters (age, sex, race and nutrition status) is required. The remains of the deceased are examined by the forensic team and the information provided is utilized in order to chose the appropriate skull and soft tissue templates [11-13].

The skull is positioned in a padded head holder. The longitude changes as the skull rotates on the platform and the radius is measured for each latitude. A wire frame of 256 x 256 radii is musconstructed which must be transformed using tissue depth measurements to generate the foundation of the facial reconstruction. The facial features not predicted by the skull contours ( nose, eyes, mouth) must be added with separate means to generate a wire frame face onto which colour and texture are rendered [11,14].

Anthropometerical american method/ tissue depth method

This technique first developed by Krogman in 1946, uses soft tissue depth data which are obtained by the use of needles, x-rays or ultra sound. Facial muscles are recorded in a proper anatomical manner. This technique is not preferred now-a-days as it requires highly trained personnel [4].

Anatomical Russian method

This method developed by Gerasimov in 1971, does not uses soft tissue depth data but facial muscles were used in anatomical position.

Discussion

Several forensic scientists have criticized facial reconstruction for the accuracy of the method and its failing to create exact replicas of an individual. However forensic facial reconstructions will only produce images that are a gross approximation which may be an alternative method in the identification process where no other evidence is available.

However the choice of method of facial reconstruction depends upon the information provided by the team of a forensic pathologist, forensic anthropologist, forensic odontologist and the investigation team.

The technique of plaster face reconstruction requires the information of age, race, sex, nutrition status, to assess the soft tissue thickness data. Furthermore the details of nose, eye, ear, lips and chin cannot be constructed exactly from the skull and are largely guess work [13].

However in case of ante mortem photographs to be matched with the skull remains, the skull/ photo video super imposition technique can be of great advantage as the operator’s ability to fade either the skull or ante mortem photograph in and out of the video screen and can assess how well they match [9,10,15].

But the possibility that other skulls could fit all the facial features of a photograph could occur and therefore this technique is best used in exclsion rather than identification and to supply corroborative evidence [1]. In Australian courts of law, video super impositions has been accepted as a means of identifying skeletal remains when other methods of identification are not reliable [1,10,15].

Computer assisted facial reconstruction has many benefits compared to classic methods. It eases the procedure, the amount of time spent on proposing a facial model is greatly reduced. Several possible models can be moved under several angles increasing the probability of identification of individual [14].

Characteristics of facial features, namely the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Efforts have been made to produce standards that can be used for feature prediction. Research has shown that there exists a “significant correlation between eyeball protrusion and orbital depth” for instance [5].

The nose has proved more difficult to reliably assess, with the best method proving to be the two-tangent method first proposed in 1955 [5]. The width and thickness of the mouth have been demonstrated to be positively correlate to the distance between the irises or an inter canine width and teeth height respectively [5]. Despite the many ways to predict the specific characteristics of facial features, a great deal of the accuracy is still attributed to the discretion of a skilled analyst.

Conclusion

Facial reconstruction is a delicate mixture of art and science and with the evolution of innovative methods of facial reconstruction has evolved tremendously. Even though the accuracy of these techniques are questionable, these techniques prove to be a major tool for the forensic team in the identification of the individual when no other source of evidence is available.

References

1. Stavrianos Ch (2007) An introduction to facial reconstruction. Balk J Stom 11: 76-83.
2. Verze L (2009) History of facial reconstruction. Acta Biomed 80(1): 5-12.
3. Fernandes CM, Pereira FD, da Silva JV, Serra Mda C (1998) Is characterizing the digital forensic facial reconstruction with hair necessary? A familiar asssessors’ analysis. Forensic Sci Int 229(1-3): 164.e1-164.e5.
4. Sonia G (2015) Forensic facial reconstruction: the final frontier. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 9(9): ZE26-ZE28.
5. Lee WJ, Mackenzie S, Wilkinson DC (2011) Forensic Aanthropology 2000-2010. CRC Press, USA.
6. Neave RAH (1979) Reconstruction of the heads of three ancient Egyptian mummies. J Audiov Media Med 2(4): 156-164.
7. Prag J, Neave R (1999) Making faces. London: British Museum Press, China.
8. Neave RAH (1989) Reconstruction of the skull and the soft tissues of the head and face of Lindow Man. Canadian Soc Forensic Sci J 22(1): 43-53.
9. McKenna J, Jablonski N, Fearnhead R (1984) A method of matching skulls with photographic portraits using landmarks and measurements of the dentition. J Forensic Sci 29(3): 787-797.
10. Bastiann RJ, Dalitz GD (198) Video superimposition of skulls and photographic portraits-A new aid to identification. J Forensic Sci 31(4): 1373-1379.
11. Tyrell AJ, Evison MP, Chamberlain AT, Green MA (1997) Forensic threedimensional facial reconstruction: historical review and contemporary developments. J Forensic Sci 42(4): 653-661.
12. Miyasaka S, Yoshino M, Imaizumi K, Seta S (1995) The computeraided facial reconstruction system. Forensic Sci Int 74(1-2): 155-165.
13. Shahrom AW, Vanezis P, Chapman RC, Gonzales A, Blenkinshop C, et al. (1996) Techniques in facial identification: computer-aided facial reconstruction using a laser scanner and video superimposition. Int J Legal Medicine 108(4): 194-200.
14. Myers JC, Okoye MI, Kiple D, Kimmerle EH (1999) Three dimensional (3- D) imaging in post-mortem examinations: elucidation and identification of cranial and facial fractures in victims of homicide utilizing 3-D computerized imaging reconstruction techniques. Int J Legal Med 113(1): 33-37.
15. Iscan MY, Helmer RP (1993) Forensic analysis of the skull. Wiley Liss, New York, USA, pp. 105-182.

https://crimsonpublishers.com/fsar/fulltext/FSAR.000563.php

Publishers: https://crimsonpublishers.com/

For more articles in Journal of Addiction Research

Please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/fsar/

Carbon Nanotubes in Protective Fabrics: A Short Review_Crimson Publishers

 Carbon Nanotubes in Protective Fabrics: A Short Review by Bhanu Pratap Singh in Trends in Textile Engineering & Fashion Technology_Journal of Textile Science and Engineering

Abstract

Carbon nanotube (CNT) is a very fascinating material with outstanding properties suitable for various applications. In this review the importance of CNTs as ballistic materials are discussed, starting from various application of CNTs in textile industries and the utilization of CNTs in different ways to make composites for ballistic protection i.e dispersion of CNTs in polymer matrix which is used as impregnation of ballistic fabrics, growth of CNTs on ballistic fabrics and finally CNTs based fabrics. Some recent work carried out by various researchers in this field is also discussed. It has been found that only few layers of CNT fabrics can replace the several layers of ballistic fabrics and this will help in reducing the weight of existing ballistic protective fabrics significantly without hampering their performance.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes; CNT fabrics; Protective fabrics; Polymer matrix; High performance fabric

Introduction

Due to the constant requirement of textile material with unique mechanical, electrical, thermal, chemical along with wearable properties, development in textile sector has come a long way. These multifunctional textiles utilized in various conventional and innovative sectors like sportswear, electronics, automobile sector, geo-textile, bio-medical textile, protective clothing for law enforcement, etc. The quest of textile research for versatile applications comes to a new horizon called “Carbon Nanotube”or CNT.

figure 1:CNT application in textile industries.

CNTs possess high stiffness, high toughness, and high energy absorption capacity as compared to other well-adopted ballistic fibers. This short review provides some updated details on application of CNT as ballistic protection fabric. An earlier study by Mylvaganamet al. [2] gives the molecular dynamic simulation for analyzing CNT and its mechanical performance, which was surprisingly high and suitable for high mechanical energy storage textile application [2]. Further, Mylvaganam et al.[3]evaluated the ballistic response of CNT theoretically and experimentally[3,4]. The studies [2,3] involved various parameters such as projectile velocity, projectile distance, effect of clamping, and physical aspects of CNT which provides a dynamic model.This model is further carried forward by Zhang et al. [5] in macro scale in which firstly CNT forest was synthesized by chemical vapour deposition method and the fibers were prepared by spinning method. They[5] further studied the mechanical properties of these fibers experimentally and concluded that CNT fibers are stronger, stiffer and light weight than that of any other commercially available ballistic fibers. These remarkable properties of CNTs and its fiber make them an ideal candidate for employing them in different combinations with polymers, woven fabrics, fibers as well as ceramic alloys to make hybrid composites for coping with high velocity projectile threats.

CNTs can be used in three different ways to improve the performance of ballistic-resistance material. Firstly , the ballistic grade reinforced fabric along with CNT to enhance the energy absorption capacity. Secondly, CNTs grow over the surface of high performance fabric by several synthesis techniques. Thirdly, CNTs can be used in the form of woven and non-woven fabric for achieving outstanding ballistic resistance performance.

High velocity projectile resistant fabrics are generally made up of high performance spin-yarn which are woven in twodimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D) pattern formed by interlacing in warp and weft direction orthogonally. A stress wave is generated at a point of impact when high velocity projectile strike the fabric and it travels along longitudinal and transverse direction simultaneously. The speed of stress wave in the fabric depends on the stiffness and the density of the ballistic fiber. The kinetic energy of the stress wave is dissipated through fiber deformation, inter fiber friction etc. therefore causes deformation and delamination in fabric. Hence, it was observed that friction plays an important role in improving the overall performance of the impact resistant fabrics. To overcome this problem, Hymas et al. [6]developed a new functionalization method which is first realized theoretically by simulation and afterwards experimentally. In the study[6], Kevlar 29 is modified by adding an embedded cross-linked network of poly butyl acrylate (PBA) functionalized CNT. Mechanical and ballistic test are performed which reveals that modified Kevlar with CNT network increases the projectile impact resistance with no expense of flexibility. Most recently, Sharma et al.[7]improved the mechanical properties of Kevlar 49 fabric using long length MWCNTs. It was realized that the length of MWCNT improves the in-plane and through-plane mechanical properties by bridging action. The addition of longer length of MWCNTs improves the load carrying capacity of Kevlar fabric by improving its interfacial properties.

CNTs are the unique tool in nanotechnology owing to it exceptional properties, but their low dispersibility in polymer and aqueous media hampers their development in textile industries. Therefore, researchers are working towards various surface growth methods to enhance the direct uniform growth of CNTs over fiber surface. Bajpai et al. [8]developed an extremely fast growth method to synthesize CNTs over carbon fiber by using microwave irradiation method [8]. In this experimental study, a mixture of graphite, ferrocene, and carbon fiber is irradiated by microwave. It is observed that within just 5sec ~26wt. % of CNTs are synthesized which is a very fast and high yield technique for growing CNTs uniformly over the surface of fiber and it can be useful in large scale production of CNTs integrated carbon fiber. With this ideology, Hazarika et al. [9] synthesized the free standing CNTs on Kevlar fiber surface and further reinforced it to prepare polyester composite. Kevlar fibers were initially decorated with polypyrrole (PPy) and irradiated with microwave to synthesis nano projections of CNTs over it followed by vacuum bag impregnated with Ag-graphene dispersed in polyester resin. It was observed that, the synergistic of CNTs and graphene is helpful in improving the mechanical and impact resistance properties by high polymer interlocking mechanism [9].

Synthesizing CNTs over fabric surface is a useful technique to control the projectile resistance performance of the fabric by maintaining the dispersibility, uniformity and strong covalent interaction between fabric and nano-projection. But, still the properties of CNTs are not fully realized in this regard. Alignment and loading of CNTs are the major factors which are necessary for governing the further improvement in CNTs based fabric. Today, there are several techniques such as wet spinning, forest spinning and aerosol spinning etc. commonly employed for producing high performance macroscopic CNTs yarns and their fibers[10,11]. These CNT fibers have tremendous mechanical and electrical properties which can be used in wearable smart textile. Delton et al. [12]synthesized the super tough CNTs composite fiber of 100 m long by using coagulation based technique and weaved it in 2D fashion to produce the CNT fabrics [12].

Conclusion

CNTs are the futuristic material for protective clothing due to its light weight, high strength and high energy absorption capacity and have created an interesting field in textile industry for continuous investigation. For fabricating light weight multi-purpose protective fabric, CNT is a promising candidate. It will not only replace the several layers of ballistic fabrics by single layer T-shirt but can also be used as fire inhibiter and UV protection textile as well.

References

1. Shahidi S, Moazzenchi B (2018) Carbon nanotube and its applications in textile industry-A review. The Journal of The Textile Institute. 2018:1-14.
2. Mylvaganam K, Zhang L (2004) Important issues in a molecular dynamics simulation for characterising the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. Carbon 42(10): 2025-2032.
3. Mylvaganam K, Zhang L (2006) Energy absorption capacity of carbon nanotubes under ballistic impact. Applied Physics Letters 89(12): 123- 127.
4. Mylvaganam K, Zhang L (2007) Ballistic resistance capacity of carbon nanotubes. Nanotechnology 18(47): 475-701.
5. Zhang X, Li Q, Holesinger TG, Arendt PN, Huang J, et al. (2007) Ultrastrong, stiff, and lightweight carbon‐nanotube fibers. Advanced Materials 19(23): 4198-4201.
6. Hymas C, Lacey S, Rohrbach K, Gillard S, Berkey C. Novel PBA-grafted carbon nanotube soft body armor. pp. 1-24.
7. Sharma S, Pathak AK, Singh VN, Teotia S, Dhakate S, et al. (2018) Excellent mechanical properties of long length multiwalled carbon nanotube bridged Kevlar fabric. Carbon 137: 104-117.
8. Bajpai R, Wagner HD (2015) Fast growth of carbon nanotubes using a microwave oven. Carbon 82: 327-336.
9. Hazarika A, Deka BK, Kim D, Kong K, Park Y-B, Park HW (2017) Microwave-synthesized freestanding iron-carbon nanotubes on polyester composites of woven Kevlar fibre and silver nanoparticledecorated graphene. Scientific reports 7: 403-486.
10. Liu K, Sun Y, Zhou R, Zhu H, Wang J, Liu L, et al. (2009) Carbon nanotube yarns with high tensile strength made by a twisting and shrinking method. Nanotechnology 21(4): 045708.
11. Zhu H, Xu C, Wu D, Wei B, Vajtai R, et al. (2002) Direct synthesis of long single-walled carbon nanotube strands. Science 296(5569): 884-886.
12. Dalton AB, Collins S, Munoz E, Razal JM, Ebron VH, et al. (2003) Supertough carbon-nanotube fibres. Nature 423(6941): 703.

https://crimsonpublishers.com/tteft/fulltext/TTEFT.000562.php

Publishers: https://crimsonpublishers.com/

For more articles in Journal of Textile Science and Engineering

Please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/tteft/

Happy Thanksgiving day_Crimson Publishers

 Happy Thanksgiving day from Crimson Publishers

Development of Plant and Human Health and Climate Change at this age of Corona Virus Disease_Crimson Publishers

 Development of Plant and Human Health and Climate Change at this age of Corona Virus Disease by P Pushpangadan in Advances in Complementary & Alternative medicine_Journal of alternative medicine research

Abstract

Man is a passive agent for all the natural events. If man is inactive for all the natural hazards then how can he be active only for one climatic event i.e. global warming? Due to global warming temperature is increasing and the situation is deteriorating day by day. It is believed that there is increase in the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and so the global warming is taking place. The carbon dioxide traps the long wave terrestrial radiations and increases the temperature. The increase in its percentage is due to automobile and industrialization. It means the increase in the parentage of CO₂ is anthropogenic. Gangotri glacier has attracted international attention because of its rapid rate of retreat. No doubt it is retreating but the rate of retreat is decreasing for the last few years, so it is not in accordance with global warming. If global warming is only reason for the rapid rate of retreat, then all the glaciers should retreat at the same rate, which is not the case. It means there are local reasons other than global warming which are responsible for rapid rate of the retreat. Climate change is significant and lasting changes in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of year that is change in average weather. The most probable cause of climate changes are the human activities which are burning of fossil fuels and deforestation that leads to the increase in carbon dioxide production. There is a sudden outbreak of Corona virus disease which has killed over 2,34,000 people and infected more than 33 lakhs in 212 countries of the world.

Introduction

The remedy for sustainable development is the problem of climate change, pollution, and the depletion of natural resources. And many national education systems, at least in their rhetoric, are attempting to address this area of concern, particularly, but not exclusively, those nations that were signatory to United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED 1992) Agenda 21 of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit [1-3].

Toxic chemicals released by plastics such as -Styrene Trimmer, Bisphenol - A are deteriorating drinking water situation. It is uncountable to imagine consequences of 5250 billion plastic particles floating in water bodies. Substantial policies are formulated in developing countries against the use of plastic and its product such as complete ban of plastic bags and plastic bottles and imposing fine on usage of plastic. There should be a complete ban on micro beads in cosmetic and other personal care products such as toothpaste, face wash, shampoos. Decision on cutting trees stand between the most desirable development and economy enhancing goals or the continuation or the statuesque with the associated undesired consequences. Such decisions on cutting or trimming are often controversial. However, clear guidelines based on past consideration can help a great deal. Under the effect of global warming radial growth of trees and tree line advancement are being affected at high elevation vegetation in western Himalayan region by soil temperature and moisture. Rapid urbanization, change in income levels and life style resulted increased demand for the flowering potted plants.

Brundtland Commission on Environment and Climate Change

Brundtland Commission on environment (1987: 43) demand that “a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It prevents us from seeking to know the world as it is, itself- ‘Sustainable development’ tends to reinforce the conventional curriculum attitude of regarding nature as most properly revealed. The value is more illogical and it is superimposed with the environmental education [4-7].

Bamboo has several advantages in terms of substantially and carbon fixing capacity compare to the other fast growing species. It can play a significant role in linking climate change mitigation to sustainable ecological balance of an area. The scientists are well aware about the potentials of bamboos and efforts are being made to solve the hurdles in the field of propagation and improvement. The soil physic- chemical characteristics and its constituents interact to each other and affect availability of nutrients to the plant roots. The status of soil provides significant clues to the nutrients availability, management practices for sustainable agriculture and selection of crop cultivars. Climate change is attributed to anomalies in temperature, precipitation, pressure, winds. Human induced global warming has caused rapid climate change and deleterious effects on human health. Climate change has spurred intense heat waves, drought, floods, wildfires, tropical storms, causing innumerable fatalities. Intensity and frequency of which have increased manifolds. Enhanced temperature provides better breeding conditions for microbes and their vector causing dengue, malaria, lyme disease, cholera, diarrhea, leptospirosis, hyper occurrences. There has been an increase in reported Hantavirus related defunct. In plants, secondary metabolites primarily meant for the defense against various stresses and human health. Amongst these, flavanoids have been extensively studied and become the target molecules for metabolic engineering [8-11].

National Environmental Education Advisory Council Report

In 2005, the National Environmental Education Advisory Council submitted a report to Congress on the status of EE in the United States, accompanied by a set of recommendations. The report noted the need to develop evaluation guidelines for environmental education, in order that ‘‘outcomes of individual initiatives can be appropriately measured and can contribute to a cumulative body of results that point to the long-term goals of environmental education- environmental literacy and quality of life.

Sairiver is drying up and it may be linked with global warming and declining ground water level. But we knew that the Ganga plain exhibits many abandoned channels indicating that many rivers in the past had dried. To rejuvenate the Sairiver, we should opt for artificial recharging of aquifers and rainwater harvesting. Carbon dioxide and the temperature on the earth were much higher than the present during Cretaceous period (65 million years ago). This period is well marked by marine transgression and there were no glaciers even on Antarctica at that time. Dinosaurs became extinct during the Cretaceous (65 million years ago) much before the evolution and existence of man on the planet earth. It shows that retreat and advancement of glaciers, increase and decrease in the percentage of carbon dioxide, rise and fall of global temperature, extinction and evolution of fauna and flora, dry and humid, cold and warm climatic stages are natural cycle. So, all the global climatic and environmental changes are natural, not anthropogenic. No doubt humans are acting as a catalyst for these changes. We are developing at the cost of environmental degradation. Therefore, we should try our best to check deforestation and pollution to sustain the environment. It is our fundamental duty to conserve the environment and think about sustainable development so that we can hand over a green earth to our coming generations [12-15].

Contamination of Drinking Water by Arsenic Pollution and Other Environmental Pollutants

Recent research papers say arsenic contamination in ground water has penetrated the food chain. That should have woken up governments. Yet the focus remained on drinking water, and the affected regions became the primary stake holder in the mitigation approach. The government has only been focused on drinking water in the affected regions with Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) being the primary stake holder in the mitigation approach. Mitigation measures are targeted in treatment of ground water or supply of surface water. Similarly, government testing of water sources for arsenic contamination has also been restricted to drinking water sources; it has not widened the scope of investigation to water sources used for irrigation. What has aided in this contamination our dependence on groundwater to cater to water needs. Modern groundwater –based irrigation techniques and a gradual shift from a rain fed crop to multiple irrigated crops has increased the crisis. The environmental pollution has been steadily increasing over the past several decades. Many harmful gases such as CO2, CO, SO2 etc. have reached up to dangerous levels. Plants can be successfully used to mitigate all type of pollutions and excessive atmospheric heat. Their leaves intercept, reflect, absorb, and transmit solar radiation. Plant help in controlling air pollution through acting as biological and physical nets. They cleanse the air by absorbing pollutant gases. Shade loving foliage and flowering plants in beds and pots create a great beautiful and healthy atmosphere for living beings [16].

Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers reduces soil health by killing the microorganisms that nourish it. The average organic carbon content in soil – an index for soil health –is a low 0.3-0.4 percent, according to Indian Council for Agricultural Research. This is well below the acceptable 1-1.5 percent. Farmers get caught in a vicious cycle when they use chemical fertilizers as it degrades soil quality, which in turn, escalates input use. National Academy of Agricultural Sciences says that NPK use ratio stands skewed at 6:7:2:7:1. The ideal nutrient use is 4:2:1. This is happening more in high urea consuming states, indicating urgent need for restoring soil nutrient balance. India needs to make policy changes to extract nutrients from faecal sludge, as this will serve the dual purpose of reducing its dependency on imports for phosphorus and improve soil health, thus boosting farmer’s income.

Environmental conditions are always changing rapidly throughout the world. This is caused by various reasons such as emission of large quantity of green house gases, civilization processes, industrialization etc. These environmental changes causes alternations in temperature, humidity, moisture status and biological activities, ultimately disturbs various ecosystems. Due to this variable climate changes the incident of pathogenic diseases increases. Though the government has increased the allocation to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana - a scheme launched in 2016 to secure farmers against natural calamities and crop loss from Rs.14,000 crore in 2019-20.

Human health and Corona Virus disease

The Lunar New year break has been uncomfortably long and quiet for almost 50 million people in China. Since January 23, 2020 the authorities have locked down some 13 cities, including Wuhan in the province of Hubei, which is the epicenter of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak. Public transport and ride –hailing services have been suspended in this city of 11 million people. Trains and flights from the city have been suspended and people have been asked to leave their houses only for essential reasons like stocking up food. At places, the police has employed drones to ensure that people stay indoors. Travel restrictions and quarantine measures have also left streets, parks and shopping centres deserted in a dozen other cities, including Chibi, Zhenjiang, Huangshi, Xiantao, Enshi, Qianjiang and Xianning. The country’s largets metropolis, Shangahi, resembles a ghost city. As many criticize the government draconian enforcement of epidemic control laws government says the measures are to contain the spread of the virus that poses a “grave threat” as there is no preventive vaccine or cure for it. It has affected 118 countries with death of 38000 and 199,309 cases. More than a month after the first case was reported from China, there is little the world knows about the new corona virus. It has killed over 2000 people in China and infected more than 1,00,000 in 110 countries.

Scientists and health workers are racing against time to contain its spread. But they are yet to decipher the nature of the virus. The global medical fraternity is shadow boxing’ as the basics are still unknown”, says WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. So far, the Chinese authorities identified the source of COVID-19 to the Huvan sea food market, where game meat, including live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, porcupines and camel meat are sold. This market could have provided vital clues and helped researchers identify the real source of the virus. But the local authorities quickly cleaned the marker and shut it down. The “Jeevani” developed by JNTBGRI Scientist will be used to corona virus as an effective recuperative medicine. The use of “Jeevani” with a modified (turmeric and black pepper) to give it to the corona virus treated and cured people. It is the best known recuperative medicine for corona virus diseases.

Acknowledgement

The authors express their sincere thanks to Dr. Ashok K Chauhan, Founder President, RBEF and Amity Group of Institutions & Dr. Atul Chauhan, Dr. Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University, President, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, CEO, AKC Group of Companies for facilities and encouragements. The authors also expresses their gratitude to Mrs. Sunija George for patiently typing this manuscript.

References

1. Pushpangadan P, Rajasekharan S, Rathishkumar PK, Jawahar CR, Velayudhan NV, et al. (1988) Arogyapacha (Trichopus zelanicus Gaertn). The Ginseng of Kani tribes of Agasthyar hills (Kerala) for ever green health and vitality. Ancinet Science of Life 8(1): 13-16.
2. Pushpangadan P, Rajasekharan S, Subramoniam A, Latha PG, Evans DA, et al. (1995a) Further studies on the pharmacology of Trichopus zeylanicus. Ancient Science of Life 9: 127-135.
3. Pushpangadan P, Sharma AK, Rajasekharan S (1995b) Ethnopharmacology of Trichopus zeylanicus - The ginseng of Kerala. A review. In: Nyman PU, George U, Pushpangadan V (Eds.), Glimpses of Indian Ethnopharmacology, TBGRI publication, Trivandrum, India.
4. Sharma AK, Pushpangadan P, Chopra CL, Rajasekharan S, Saradamma L (1989) Adaptogenic activity of seeds of Trichopus sylanicus Gaertn, The Ginseng of Kerala. Ancient Science of Life 8(3-4): 212-219.
5. Banjot K, Alok G (2020) Corona virus, Down to Earth.
6. Brundtland Commission (1987) Our Common Future [World Commission on Environment and Development], Oxford University Press, Oxford, USA.
7. Dhruv SS (2020) Facts and Impacts of climate change, In: Second National conference on climate change: agriculture, Biodiversity and Human health from Feb 22-23, Clean & Green Environmental Society, CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, India.
8. Jitendra (2020) Expert’s guide to rural distress – this year’s budget has all the ingredients to deepen India’s farm crisis, Down to Earth 16- 29 Feb 2020.
9. Michael B (2007) Environmental education and the issue of nature. Journal of Curriculum Studies 39(6): 707-721.
10. National Environmental Education Advisory Council (2005) Setting the Standard, Measuring Results, Celebrating Successes: A Report to Congress on the Status of Environmental Education in the United States. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Report Number: EPA 240-R-05-001, pp. 55.
11. Nicole MA, Charlotte C, Elin K (2014) An exploration of future trends in environmental education research. Environmental Education Research 19(4): 499-520.
12. Rajeev K (2020) House plants combating air pollution. Second National conference on climate change: Agriculture, Biodiversity and Human health from Feb 22-23, Clean & Green Environmental Society, CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, India.
13. Shagun K (2020) Treasure in excreta, Down to Earth, 16-31 January 2020.
14. Simran S, Trinayani S (2020) Lurking in the shadows, Down to Earth 1-16 February 2020.
15. Tejaswini P, Pandey SN (2020) Changing environmental condition and human health. Second National conference on climate change: agriculture, Biodiversity and Human health from Feb 22-23, Clean & Green Environmental Society, CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, India.
16. WHO (2020) Covid-19 Corona virus Outbreak dated 18^th March 2020.

https://crimsonpublishers.com/acam/fulltext/ACAM.000633.php

Publishers: https://crimsonpublishers.com/

For more articles in Journal of alternative medicine research

Please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/acam/

Facing the Climate Change in Agriculture: Genetic Modified Organisms, Organic Agriculture or Agro-Ecology?_Crimson Publishers

 Facing the Climate Change in Agriculture: Genetic Modified Organisms, Organic Agriculture or Agro-Ecology? by Y Beovides García in Modern Concepts & Developments in Agronomy_International Journal of Agronomy

Opinion

The world faces a multidimensional crisis: economic, ecological and social. There are very complex problems to solve and for this, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary. A recent special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems provides an updated assessment of the current state of knowledge about climate change and related topics. The discoveries are highly worrisome, but the risk perception is still generally low. Climate change is mainly caused by natural factors and anthropogenic factors: change in solar radiation, greenhouse gases, deforestation, changes in land and water use pattern, energy uses, etc. The enormous emissions of greenhouse gases in the environment as a result of industrialization and urbanization phenomena in the course of growing human civilization is considered to be the main causal factors accelerating climate change.

In my opinion, weak linkages among institutions and countries have resulted in fragmentation, uncoordinated efforts and affect the ability to integrate the results to achieve a more comprehensive response to challenges of climate change. Agricultural productivity and hence, food and nutrition security will be significantly impacted by climate change (it is being affected nowadays), but at the same time, global agricultural production also contributes to climate change. However, the contribution and responsibilities of countries and types of agriculture are different. On the other hand, we can’t obviate the agriculture is one of the few global industries, which is mostly supported by family production around the world, and these small farms often support some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security goals are indispensable. Science-based policies are critical for the implementation of adaptation strategies which also take climate variability into consideration. In this sense, various technologies or practices can be developed in current farming operations to reduce the impact of climate change e.g. protected agriculture, water harvesting, drought tolerant crops. Like in other important topics, the defenders of each possible alternative believe that they have the ‘magic’ solution; however, it is not like that and maybe, the best option is to consider a scientific holistic point of view. I consider a privilege to write my opinion and some ideas about the controversial contribution of genetically modified organism (GMO), the organic agriculture or agro-ecology to face the climate change. I think that if they are used properly, they can contribute positively to increase the production and the sustainability of agricultural systems, but it is not enough at the present time. Plant biotechnology, for example supports innovative advances in agriculture and industry, offering new prospects to promote the integration and dissemination of improved crops and their derivatives from developing countries into local markets and the global economy.

Through tissue culture is possible to obtain planting material with high quality of major crops in order to enhance both, national food security and export diversification. We can reproduce elite varieties with high yields and other expected characteristics, too. We can increase areas and yield in several crops with GMO when all other growth measures are also well implemented; GM crops can contribute to poverty reduction and food security in developing countries. Nevertheless, a high production is not enough: what about the rest of the food chain? There is sufficient food, but they are distributed incorrectly. Rules and policies of distribution and consumption must be checked and changed. The strategy of GMO is good, but there are some failures of genetically engineered crops. Even if we ignore the environmental and health concerns for GM crops, there are other topics which give rise to concern. One is the idea that this kind of crops are the only way to feed the world: that’s not true. The other is the control of the world’s food supply by just a few agribusinesses. GMO can help to food security, but we need more efficient regulatory and technology delivery systems. Due to the unsustainable management of production systems during many decades, a current problem is that most of the world’s soil is in a degraded and often deteriorating state due to erosion, compaction, acidification, salinization and the chemical pollution.

However, millions of people are living on degraded agricultural lands. The spread of inappropriate crop-production practices makes the defenders of the organic agriculture, believe that organic farming is the solution. On the other hand, some countries realize that new technologies are contributing to replace traditional lifestyles and the loss of traditional ecological knowledge. I think that the organic agriculture integrates cultural, biological and mechanical practices which promote biodiversity. When it is applied properly, organic farming is able to maintain the ecosystem balance. But unfortunately, organic farming requires much more work to produce goods to be ready for sale; it usually costs more to be competitive with this kind of agriculture, and it becomes difficult to manage large tracts of land in production, so that its productions are still with good quality, but with a limited and specific market coverage, among other disadvantages. However, its principles are essential to strengthen the family agriculture and create inclusive agricultural systems. Urban agriculture is a nice example; it can provide fresh food, job opportunities and other benefits for communities. Some researchers consider that because of the climatic change, the agro-ecology is one of the best alternatives that we have to face the challenge. They see agrobiodiversity at the center of human development and economic prosperity. This alternative considers the development of different crops and varieties, and the use of genetically heterogeneous crops, it can be adopted as a mechanism to reduce risks and increase overall production stability. I agree with the idea that access to diversity, provides farmers with a range of options to deal with climate variability; this aspect needs to be given more importance. Crop diversity offers a cost-effective way to increase productivity, adaptation to climatic and manage crop pests and diseases; it also provides diverse, healthy and nutritious foods. One of the most effective ways for agriculture to mitigate the climate change could be to increase its resilience, and genetic diversity is the basis for breeding new crop varieties to face challenges for food security. For that reason, I think that agro-ecology seems as an important way to face climate change because this alternative includes all the best from the traditional methods, technologies and process that work in strict respect to the environment. It combines principles of organic agriculture and technology in order to protect the soil and water, to use integral production systems able to produce more and with much more quality, and it takes into account the eco-systemic services.

In a few words, we should understand that to reduce climate risks in agriculture, different alternatives must be applied. The world should move to a climatic smart agriculture and it is necessary to establish a leadership in good agricultural practices and mechanisms to share positive experiences and implement them. I believe that the bond among climatic change, the use of the land and the agricultural practices, as well as their consequences in the biodiversity should occupy a significant space in the national discussions. We need to stop the loss and degradation of forest and aquatic ecosystems. We need to stop the ecosystems fragmentation and recognize the importance of diversity and its role in food security. To eradicate the hunger, a change of paradigm is required towards a fully sustainable agricultural model that protects its natural resources, generate equal socioeconomic development and allow to adapt to the global change and mitigate its effects. Then, all the alternatives that promote a sustainable, efficient and productive agriculture are useful.

The uncertainties are big and the vulnerabilities exist. However, the new intervention capacities in nature and over the own man, demands to the science new and meaningful ethical problems related to its aims, reaches and procedures. Huge uncertainties on the way to climate change will impact agricultural and food systems directly and indirectly. Building resilience is essential to being prepared for future changes, because it can bring about enormous direct benefits on food security and hunger eradication. An appropriate action is needed, especially to avoid accumulative and long-term effects of climate change. It’s necessary and possible a whole change, maybe it will not be easy, but the solutions are in our hands.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thanks Ms. Geisy Díaz Roche for her contribution to the revision and for comments that greatly improved the original manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

https://crimsonpublishers.com/mcda/fulltext/MCDA.000602.php

Publishers: https://crimsonpublishers.com/

For more articles in International Journal of Agronomy

Please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/mcda/

Surgical Tips for Successful Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty_Crimson Publishers

 Surgical Tips for Successful Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty by Ji Un Kim in Research & Investigations in Sports Medicine_Crimson publishers journals

Abstract

Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) has continuously evolved into an alternative to total shoulder arthroplasty for various shoulder disorders that cannot be managed with the traditional arthroscopic procedure. The indications have expanded and currently it is being used for multiple diagnoses. It has been developed continuously since original Grammont design, but still there is on debate over which model to choose and which is better. The purpose this mini-review is to describe several surgical tips for RTSA, as range of motion after reverse arthroplasty is not only affected by implant-related factors, but also surgeon’s technical factors such as retroversion of humeral component and soft tissue reconstruction like subscapularis repair. In a decision-making process for the successful treatment, it is important to consider various relevant factors and to have enough communication with patients to determine the most beneficial strategy for them.

Introduction

Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) has become a standard treatment for cuff tear arthropathy (CTA) in older individuals. The indications have expanded and currently it is being used for multiple diagnoses including fracture sequelae, revision arthroplasty, instability and tumors as well as CTA and massive rotator cuff tear. Surgical outcomes after RTSA are reported favorably, and RTSA reliably and effectively restores ranges of motion and provides shoulder pain relief. Range of motion (ROM) after RTSA can be influenced by 2 categories of factors: surgical factors that are considered modifiable (version of the humeral component, balancing of soft tissues, and so on) and prosthetic factors that are considered non-modifiable (size of the implant, neck-shaft angle of the humeral component, and so on). Neer suggested that implants with a design that mimicked the normal anatomy would provide the best function and durability. Therefore, many factors are related to restore the normal anatomy during performing RTSA, and the selection of the ideal configuration and placement of the components to optimize shoulder function outcomes remains an issue of debate. So, the purpose this mini review is to describe several surgical tips for successful RTSA.

Surgical Tips for Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Since Paul Grammont introduced the biomechanical concept based on the medialization of the center of rotation and the downward translation of the humerus in 1985, RTSA has continuously evolved into an alternative to total shoulder arthroplasty for various shoulder diseases [1]. By medialization of the center of rotation, RTSA minimizes the torque of the glenoid components and recruits more fibers of deltoid muscle to act as the primary elevator of the shoulder, especially in patients with pseudoparalysis. However, this sort of medialized implants has higher incidents of complications, such as scapular notching, which is reported [2,3] as high as 60%, and limited ranges of motions. The recent designs of lateralized components have been used to reduce scapular notching and improve passive internal and external rotation of shoulder. Cuff et al. [4] reported that 96 patients with CTA had observed at least two years after lateralized RTSA and there were no mechanical failures or scapular notching. However, the torque and shear force at the baseplate-glenoid interface increases when using a lateralized glenoid component, it occurs to increase the failure rate of glenoid component [5].

The neck-shaft angle of humeral component can affect the outcomes of the RTSA. The 135° neck shaft angle is more anatomical, less scapular notching, and favorable for passive internal rotation and external rotation, even though the risk of instability [5]. However, original Grammont’s 155° neck shaft angle has good joint stability and is effective for lengthening deltoid muscle and improving ability of forward elevation. However, according to the biomechanical study [6], the 155° neck-shaft angle was more prone to scapular contact during adduction, but was more stable at the internal rotation, which was the least stable humeral rotation position.

Furthermore, although there are still debates on the role of subscapularis repair in RTSA, several previous studies presented similar clinical outcomes regardless of subscapularis repair in lateralized RTSA. Werner et al. [7] reported that ASES scores were significantly less improved in patients who underwent subscapularis repair and glenosphere lateralization. But, Vourazeris et al. [8] reported that primary RTSAs have similar clinical outcome scores, range of motion, strength, and rates of complications, including dislocations with or without subscapularis repair at 3 years of follow-up. Oh et al. [9] reported that there was no significant difference in range of motion and functional scores regardless of subscapularis repair in the lateralized RTSA.
Proper retroversion of humeral component in RTSA is also on debate. Implants with a design which mimicked anatomical position would provide best function and durability and increasing retroversion would lead to higher external rotation and lower internal rotation [2]. Some study had argued that fixed humeral retroversion between 0 and 30 degrees showed no significant differences in RTSA [10]. However, these studies were biomechanical cadaveric or finite element analysis studies, and few studies had compared clinical results of native humeral retroversion to fixed one. We must look at the recent clinical study presented better clinical outcomes including range of motion in the individualized retroversion group than fixed 20˚ group [9].
By the way, the current RTSA implants are designed for the United States and western European patients. The anatomical differences of the shoulders between Asian and Western populations should be considered. Asians have a smaller glenoid diameter and a larger lateral extension of acromial overhang than the Western population [11]. These anatomical differences might result in different clinical outcomes and complications of RTSA in the Asian population [12], yet there have been no previous studies regarding factors that might affect the results of RTSA in this patient group. Oh et al. [13] investigated radiological factors affecting clinical outcomes, and the deltoid lengthening (mean, 2.3cm) and inferior glenosphere overhang (mean, 2.9mm) should be chosen for the better outcomes, while the center of rotation should be individualized according to patient characteristics in the Korean population.

Conclusion

RTSA is the first-line treatment for elderly patients with cuff tear arthropathy for reduction of pain and restoration of active elevation function, and also can be considered for massive rotator cuff tear with superior migration of the humeral head. For a decision-making process of the successful RTSA, it is important to consider various relevant factors and to have sufficient communication with patients to determine the most beneficial strategy for them.

References

1. Baulot E, Sirveaux F, Boileau P (2011) Grammont's idea: the story of Paul Grammont's functional surgery concept and the development of the reverse principle. Clin Orthop Relat Res 469(9): 2425-2431.
2. Sirveaux F, Favard L, Oudet D, Huquet D, Walch G, et al. (2004) Grammont inverted total shoulder arthroplasty in the treatment of glenohumeral osteoarthritis with massive rupture of the cuff. Results of a multicentre study of 80 shoulders. J Bone Joint Surg Br 86(3): 388-395.
3. Werner CM, Steinmann PA, Gilbart M, Gerber C (2005) Treatment of painful pseudoparesis due to irreparable rotator cuff dysfunction with the Delta III reverse-ball-and-socket total shoulder prosthesis. J Bone Joint Surg Am 87(7): 1476-1486.
4. Cuff D, Pupello D, Virani N, Levy J, Frankle M (2008) Reverse shoulder arthroplasty for the treatment of rotator cuff deficiency. J Bone Joint Surg Am 90(6): 1244-1251.
5. Oh JH, Park MS, Rhee SM (2018) Treatment strategy for irreparable rotator cuff tears. Clin Orthop Surg 10(2): 119-134.
6. Oh JH, Shin SJ, McGarry MH, Scott JH, Heckmann N, et al. (2014) Biomechanical effects of humeral neck-shaft angle and subscapularis integrity in reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 23(8): 1091-1098.
7. Werner BC, Wong AC, Mahony GT, Craig EV, Dines DM, et al. (2018) Clinical outcomes after reverse shoulder arthroplasty with and without subscapularis repair: the importance of considering glenosphere lateralization. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 26(5): e114-e119.
8. Vourazeris JD, Wright TW, Struk AM, King JJ, Farmer KW (2017) Primary reverse total shoulder arthroplasty outcomes in patients with subscapularis repair versus tenotomy. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 26(3): 450-457.
9. Joo Han Oh, Nikhil Sharma, Sung Min Rhee, Joo Hyun Park (2019) Do individualized humeral retroversion and subscapularis repair affect the clinical outcomes of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty? J Shoulder Elbow Surg. Article in press.
10. Friedman RJ, Flurin PH, Wright TW, Zuckerman JD, Roche CP (2017) Comparison of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty outcomes with and without subscapularis repair. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 26(4): 662-668.
11. Cabezas AF, Krebes K, Hussey MM, Santoni BG, Kim HS, et al. (2016) Morphologic variability of the shoulder between the populations of North American and East Asian. Clin Orthop Surg 8(3): 280-287.
12. Matsuki K, Sugaya H, Hoshika S, Ueda Y, Takahashi N, et al. (2017) Geometric analysis of the proximal humerus in elderly Japanese patients: implications for implant selection in reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Orthopedics 40(3): e485-e490.
13. Sung-Min Rhee, Jeong Dong Lee, Yong Bok Park, Jae Chul Yoo, Joo Han Oh (2019) Prognostic Radiological Factors Affecting Clinical Outcomes of Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty in the Korean Population. Clin Orthop Surg 11(1): 112-119.

https://crimsonpublishers.com/rism/fulltext/RISM.000632.php

Publishers: https://crimsonpublishers.com/

For more articles in crimson publishers journals

Please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/rism/

Anterior Urethroplasty for Urethral Stricture and Subsequent Erectile Dysfunction. Correlations and Treatments in the Literature_Crimson Publishers

 Anterior Urethroplasty for Urethral Stricture and Subsequent Erectile Dysfunction. Correlations and Treatments in the Literature by Fiorello N in International Journal of Gerontology

Abstract

Abbreviations: ED: Erectile Dysfunction; IIEF: International Index of Erectile Function

Introduction

Urethroplasty is the gold standard for treatment of urethral stricture disease [1]. Potential risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) after urethroplasty procedures is thought to be attributable to cavernous and perineal nerve injury, or to the disruption of bulbar artery flow [2]. Before making a treatment decision for patients presenting with a urethral stricture, following anamnesis and general examinations, appropriate diagnostics are necessary. This includes at least uroflowmetry and cystourethrography and the use of ultrasound and cystoscopy may be of additional help [3]. There are many techniques described in the literature and the recurrence of ED in the first postoperative period is common. The objective of study is analyzing the data in the literature and the treatments for de novo ED.

Surgical techniques

In the bulbar urethra, the choice of surgical techniques depends on the stricture length. Stricture excision and primary re-anastomosis are considered an appropriate procedure for short strictures within 2cm. For strictures 3-5cm or longer, augmented roof-strip anastomosis and substitution urethroplasty are recommended [4]. Substitution urethroplasty is commonly performed to deal with long or complex strictures. In carrying out this procedure, the substitution tissue should possess a thick epithelial layer, minimal donor site morbidities and be easy to procure [5]. Currently, alternative replacement tissues include scrotal skin [6], penile skin [7], bladder epithelium [8], colonic mucosa [9], and buccal and lingual mucosa [10]. One-staged urethroplasty using a buccal mucosa graft has been reported to achieve a high success rate. Nonetheless, when dealing with a more complex stricture or cases with adverse local conditions, a staged procedure is more commonly recommended [11].

Post-operative

In a prospective analysis of Erickson et al. [2]. anterior urethroplasty has been shown to negatively impact erectile function. 52 patients were enrolled in this prospective study and they were undergoing anterior urethroplasty between October 2006 and May 2008, monitoring the effects of urethroplasty on erectile function. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) was completed preoperatively and on all subsequent postoperative visits. Preoperative and postoperative erectile function was compared. Postoperative erectile dysfunction was noted in 20(38%) men, of whom 18 recovered fully at a mean postoperative period of 190 days (range 92 to 398).

In patients with normal preoperative erectile function bulbar urethroplasty was more likely than penile urethroplasty to cause erectile dysfunction [2]. In another prospective analysis of Dogra et al. [12] it was evaluated the incidence and probability of recovery of erectile dysfunction after different types of one-stage urethroplasty for anterior urethral stricture disease. Mean preoperative IIEF score was 24.60-2.365, which was similar among the three groups. ED after urethroplasty was found in 4/25(16%), 9/32(28%), and 2/21(10%) in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In that study, it was found that although bulbar anastomotic urethroplasty causes more decline in IIEF score postoperatively, overall there is no difference among the type of repair. Recovery of EF occurred in more than 96% of cases within 6 months of urethroplasty [13,14] has published another study sexual dysfunction after Urethroplasty, reporting the differences between the different types of techniques. Treatment of post urethroplasty erectile dysfunction is similar to that of other causes of erectile dysfunction.

PDE5Is, which are the current first-line treatment of erectile dysfunction, have been tried in post urethroplasty setting. Most patients with anterior urethroplasty erectile dysfunction responded to PDE5Is. In this study the effectiveness was been tried also in posterior urethroplasty, performed for urethral damage from trauma of the pelvic district. For posterior urethroplasty treatment success depends on the etiology of erectile dysfunction, with a 60% improvement for neurogenic causes and 20% for arthritogenic causes, and an overall response rate of 47% to 80%. If they fail, intracorneal injection can be used with a 100% success rate in neurogenic causes and an approximately 50% success rate in arthritogenic causes of erectile dysfunction [14]. In a meta-analysis of Blaschko et al. [15] it was evaluating the likelihood of developing de novo erectile dysfunction after anterior urethroplasty and to determine if this likelihood is influenced by age, stricture length, number of previous procedures or timing of evaluation.

Thirty-six articles with 2323 total patients who underwent anterior urethroplasty procedures met the inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. The incidence of post-urethroplasty de novo ED ranged from 0 to 38%. This meta-analysis found that de novo ED was rare, with an incidence of 1%. The five studies that reported a de novo post-urethroplasty ED incidence of >20% were all conducted after 2001, all used a questionnaire to assess ED, and all patients were directly questioned about ED postoperatively. In many cases de novo ED resolved 6-12 months after surgery. Seven of the 21 studies that reported de novo ED reported resolution of ED in 86% (50/58) of cases [14].

Conclusions

D can be a complication of anterior urethroplasty due to an intraoperative damage caused to the nerve fibers involved in the erection. However, in many cases de novo ED resolved 6-12 months after surgery or, as shown in some studies, resolved after transient therapy with PDE5Is. Another study of Trevor Haines suggests improving ED recovery with psychological support therapy [15]. Urethral stricture remains the main indication for urethroplasty and ED may be considered a transient and acceptable complication.

References

1. Lue TF, Zeineh SJ, Schmidt RA, Tanagho EA (1984) Neuroanatomy of penile erection: Its relevance to iatrogenic impotence. J Urol 131(3): 273-280.
2. Erickson BA, Granieri MA, Meeks JJ, Cashy JP, Gonzalez CM, et al. (2010) Prospective analysis of erectile dysfunction after anterior urethroplasty: incidence and recovery of function. J Urol 183(2): 657-661.
3. Lumen N, Hoebeke P, Willemsen P, Troyer B, Pieters R, et al. (2009) Etiology of urethral stricture disease in the 21^st J Urol 182(3): 983-987.
4. Barbagli G, Sansalone S, Djinovic G, Romano G, Lazzeri M, et al. (2012) Current controversies in reconstructive surgery of the anterior urethra: A clinical overview. Int Braz J Urol 38(3): 307-316.
5. Wessells H, Aninch JW (1998) Current controversies in anterior urethral stricture repair: Free-graft versus pedicled skin-flap reconstruction. World J Urol 16(3): 175-180.
6. Jordan GH (2002) Scrotal and perineal flaps for anterior urethral Urol Clin North Am 29(2): 411-416.
7. Vyas PR, Roth DR, Perlmutter AD (1987) Experience with free grafts in urethral reconstruction. J Urol 137(3): 471-474.
8. Kinkead TM, Borzi PA, Duffy PG, Ransley PG (1994) Long-term follow up of bladder mucosa graft for male urethral reconstruction. J Urol 151(4): 1056-1058.
9. Xu YM, Qiao Y, Sa YL, Zhang J, Fu Q, et al. (2009) Urethral reconstruction using colonic mucosa graft for complex strictures. J Urol 182(3): 1040-1043.
10. Bhargava S, Patterson JM, Inman RD, Neil SM, Chapple CR, et al. (2008) Tissue-engineered buccal mucosa urethroplasty-clinical outcomes. Eur Urol 53(6): 1263-1269.
11. Palminteri E, Lazzeri M, Guazzoni G, Turini D, Barbagli G, et al. (2002) New 2-stage buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty. J Urol 167(1): 130-132.
12. Dogra PN, Ashish KS, Amlesh S (2011) Erectile dysfunction after anterior urethroplasty: A prospective analysis of incidence and probability of recovery-single-center experience. Urology 78(1): 78-81.
13. Dogra PN, Singh P, Nayyar R, Yadav S (2017) Sexual dysfunction after urethroplasty. Urol Clin North Am 44(1): 49-56.
14. Blaschko SD, Sanford MT, Cinman NM, McAninch JW, Breyer BN, et al. (2013) De novo erectile dysfunction after anterior urethroplasty: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BJU Int 112(5): 655-663.
15. HainesT, RourkeKF (2017) The effect of urethral transection on erectile function after anterior urethroplasty. World J Urol 35(5): 839-845.

https://crimsonpublishers.com/ggs/fulltext/GGS.000602.php

Publishers: https://crimsonpublishers.com/

For more articles in International Journal of Gerontology

Please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/ggs/

Bibliometric Analysis of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research from 1991 To 2018_Crimson Publsihers

 Bibliometric Analysis of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research from 1991 To 2018 by Yuh-Shan Ho in Orthopedic Research Online Journal_orthopedic research online journal

Abstract

A chronological survey of papers was conducted to investigate the journal titled Journal of Orthopaedic Research in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) between 1991 and 2018. Performances of countries, institutes, and authors, including total, single, collaborative, first author, and corresponding author publications were analyzed. Citation indicators including the total number of citations since publication to the end of 2018, the number of citations in 2018, total number of citations in the publication year, total number of citations per number of years, and citations per publication were applied to evaluate highly cited articles. Comparison of the articles contributing most to impact factor and highly cited articles were discussed. In addition, journal impact factor contributors and journal impact factor contributing articles were presented.

Keywords: Bibliometric; SCI-EXPANDED; Citations per publication; Journal impact factor contributing articles; JIF contributors

Introduction

The bibliometric analysis of publications can provide insight to improve the understanding by editors and readers of an academic journal’s direction [1]. The Journal of Orthopaedic Research with ISO Abbreviation title J Orthop Res has been indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) and classified in Web of Science category of orthopedics since 1985. In this category, bibliometric analyses of journals have been reported to investigate journals’ development and impact in research fields, including journals Physical Therapy [2,3], Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy [4], Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica [5], International Orthopaedics [6], Knee [7], Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma [8], and Spine [9]. Recently authorship trends in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research [10] and a bibliometric analysis of classic publications in Web of Science category of orthopedics [11] were also reported. Document types, languages, publication trends, and publications of country, institution, and author were generally revealed to provide basic information about a journal [1,12]. In addition, journals’ impact factor, which was created in the early 1960s [13], has become a staple in many types of analyses of a journal’s scientific impact [14]. Publication indicators such as total, independent, collaborative, first author, and corresponding author publications [15] as well as citation indicators including the total number citations from Web of Science Core Collection since publication to the end of the most recent year [16,17] and the number of citations in the most recent year [18] were generally applied to evaluate journals [1,19].

In this study, the bibliometric method was employed to obtain an overview of Journal of Orthopaedic Research from 1991 to 2018. General analysis including publication characteristics and trends were presented. Furthermore, relationship among journal’s impact factor, its contributors, and highly cited publications were discussed.

Methodology

Documents used in this study were derived from the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) of the Web of Science core Collection, Clarivate Analytics (formerly known as the Thomson Reuters and the Institute for Scientific Information). The keyword phrase “Journal of Orthopaedic Research” was searched as publication name based on SCI-EXPANDED (updated on 20 November 2019). All document information from SCI-EXPANDED was checked and downloaded into Microsoft Excel 2016 [20,21]. Collaboration type of country and institution was determined by the affiliation of the authors. In the SCI-EXPANDED, the corresponding author is designated as the “reprint” author; this study uses as the term “corresponding author” [18]. In a single author article where authorship is unspecified, the single author is both first author and corresponding author [22]. Similarly, in a singly institutional article, the institution is classified as the first author institution and the corresponding author institution [22]. Only the last corresponding authors were considered in articles having multiple corresponding authors. Affiliations originating from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales were reclassified as being from the United Kingdom (UK) [23]. Affiliations in Hong Kong before 1997 were included with China [24].

Results and Discussion

Characteristics of document type

The distributions of document types at the Web of Science and their citations per publication (CPP_year= TC_year/TP) have been analyzed for journals by Ho’s group, for example Polish Journal of Environmental Studies [25], Journal of Membrane Science [1], and Revista de Biología Tropical/International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation [12]. Journal of Orthopaedic Research published 5,589 documents in 11 Web of Science document types from 1991 to 2018 (Table 1). Article (5,329) was the dominant document type comprising 95% of 5,589 productions with the third ranking of APP (5.8), followed by letters (1.4%), proceedings papers (1.3%), and reviews (1.1%). Among the 11 document types, proceedings papers had the highest CPP₂₀₁₈ of 50, followed by articles with CPP₂₀₁₈ of 33, notes (17), and reviews (16). It should be pointed out that CPP₂₀₁₈ of review is much lower than that of articles. Proceedings papers had the highest number of authors per publication (APP=8.5) followed by corrections (5.9). Only the articles were used for further study.

Table 1: Document types for Journal of Orthopaedic Research (1991-2018).

TP: Number of publications; AU: Number of authors; APP: Number of authors per publication; TC2018: The total number of citations from Web of Science Core Collection since publication to the end of 2018; CPP2018: number of citations (TC2018) per publication (TP).

Characteristics of journal’s Impact Factor (IF)

According to the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) in 2018, JCR indexed 9,258 journals with citation references across 178 Web of Science categories in SCI-EXPANDED. The journal impact factor (IF) is defined as all citations to the journal in the current JCR year to items published in the previous two years, divided by the total number of scholarly items (these comprise articles, reviews, and proceedings papers) published in the journal in the previous two years.

 The journal impact factor has a simple formula:

where IF_year is journal impact factor in a specific JCR year, C_year-2: citations from JCR year to items in “year - 2”, C_year-1: citations from JCR year to items in “year - 1”, TP_year-2: citable items in “year - 2”, TP_year-1: citable items in “year - 1”. The denominator is comprised of three document types such as reviews, articles, and proceedings papers. An item with any other document type is excluded from the denominator.

The top 21 most impact factor contributing articles were listed in Table 2. 29% and 14% of them were published in 2007 and 2009 respectively and 10% were published in 2015, 2011, 2005, and 2003 respectively. Only one top impact factor contributing article was published in 2012, 2008, 2004, and 2002, respectively. 67% and 52% of the top 21 most impact factor contributing articles were ranked top 21 in terms of TC_year-2 and TC_year-1 respectively. However, only 14%, 14%, 24%, and 57% of the top 21 most impact factor contributing articles were ranked top 21 in terms of C₀, total number of citations from web of science core collection in publication year [15]; TC₂₀₁₈, total number of citations from web of science core collection since publication to the end of 2018 [16,17]; C₂₀₁₈, total number of citations from web of science core collection in 2018 [18], and TCPY, total number of citations per number of year, TC₂₀₁₈/year [18] respectively. Furthermore, only 47% and 34% of the top 100 impact factor contributing articles were found in the top 100 articles in terms of C₂₀₁₈ and TC₂₀₁₈, respectively. Article entitled “Post-traumatic osteoarthritis: Improved understanding and opportunities for early intervention” by Anderson et al. [26] from USA was not the top high impact factor contributing article (ranked 1^st) but also the most impact article in the recent year with C₂₀₁₈ of 35 (ranked 5^th) in J Orthop Res However the article ranked 40^th in TC₂₀₁₈ with 243. It was generally accepted that time is needed to accumulate total number of citations for an article. Similarly, article entitled “Distribution of in situ forces in the anterior cruciate ligament in response to rotatory loads” by Gabriel et al. [27] from University of Pittsburgh in USA was not the top high impact factor contributing article (ranked 6^th) but also the highly cited with TC₂₀₁₈ of 383 (ranked 11^th). It can be concluded that the impact factor of journal is used to evaluate a journal’s relative importance, especially when compared to others in the same field but not appropriate to be used when compared to individual research performance. It was also reported in web of science that the journal impact factor is a publication-level metric. It does not apply to individual papers or subgroups of papers that appeared in the publication. Additionally, it does not apply to authors of papers, research groups, institutions, or universities.

Table 2: Top 21 journal impact factor contributing articles in Journal of Orthopaedic Research.

TC_year-1: number of citations from JCR year to articles in “year - 1” TC_year-2: number of citations from JCR year to articles in “year - 2” C0: total number of citations from web of science core collection in publication year TC₂₀₁₈: total number of citations from web of science core collection since publication to the end of 2018 C₂₀₁₈: total number of citations from web of science core collection in 2018 TCPY: total number of citations per number of year (TC₂₀₁₈/year)

J Orthop Res was classified in the Web of Science category of orthopedics. Figure 1 shows its journal impact factor and ranking within the subject category from 1997 to 2018. Journal impact factor (JIF) slightly increased with fluctuate trend was found. Ranking of J Orthop Res in the Web of Science category of orthopedics was decreased. How quickly recent publications are cited is an important factor that can affect IF [13]. In general, citations per publication for articles in a journal would have a sharp increase after publication and would reach a peak in a specific year. Figure 2 shows citations per publication for each year of article [28]. The peak year of citations per publication was found to be in the 5^th full year since its publication year. The peak year could be different, for example, the 7^th year for Revista de Biología Tropical [12]. A special case was reported that it does not show a peak, unlike previous findings, but shows an increasing trend without a peak after 4^th and 9^th year for Journal of Membrane Science [1] and Polish Journal of Environmental Studies [25] respectively. Since IF only considers citations within two years after publication, the IF of J Orthop Res would be higher if it was calculated after a couple of years. It was pointed that IF is not an unbiased criterion for all journals, since peak year citations per publication of each journal can be different from each other [25].

Figure 1: Rankings of Journal of Orthopaedic Research by journal impact factor (JIF) in Web of Science category of orthopedics from 1997 to 2018.

Figure 2: Trend of citations per publication.

Trends of number of articles and citations per publication

Trends of number of articles shows a journal’s development and citations per publication gives information about impact of a journal in research world. Trends of the number of annual articles (TP) and their citations per publication (CPP₂₀₁₈ = TC₂₀₁₈/TP) has been proposed to discover the development of a journal [1,12]. Of the 5,329 articles published in J Orthop Res, the annual number of articles increased about 3.2-fold from 101 in 1991 to 328 in 2018 (Figure 3). The number of annual articles were increased fluctuate. Minima number of articles was found in 1994 with 94 articles. In 1991, 101 articles had the highest CPP₂₀₁₈ of 91, which can be attributed to the top ten most frequently cited articles by Caplan [29] with TC₂₀₁₈ of 2,243 (ranked 1^st), [30] with TC₂₀₁₈ of 607 (ranked 2^nd); and [31] with TC₂₀₁₈ of 497 (ranked 7^th).

Figure 3: Trend of citations per publication.

Characteristics of countries, institutions, and authors

Excluding 16 articles without any author affiliation information on SCI-EXPANDED, the remaining 5,313 articles originated from 57 countries. Among those articles, 4,295 (81% of 5,313 articles) were single country articles, while 1,018 (19%) were internationally collaborative articles. Table 3 shows the top 10 most contributing countries with six publication indicators such as number total of articles (TP), country independent articles (IP), internationally collaborative articles (CP), first author articles (FP), corresponding author articles (RP), single author articles (SP), and citations per publication (CPP₂₀₁₈=TC₂₀₁₈/TP) [1,25]. The advantage of using CPP₂₀₁₈ and TC₂₀₁₈ is that it is invariant in comparison with the index of citations from the Web of Science Core Collection which has to be updated from time to time [24]. Four European countries, three Asian countries, two American countries, and one Oceania country were ranked on the top 10 of total articles. The most productive African country was Egypt with five articles ranked 37^th. USA dominated in J Orthop Res, ranking the first in all six publication indicators with TP of 2,974 articles (56% of 5,313 articles), IP of 2,309 articles (54% of 4,295 country independent articles), CP of 665 articles (65% of 1,018 internationally collaborative articles), FP of 2,720 articles (51% of 5,313 first author articles), RP of 2,520 articles (50% of 5,024 corresponding author articles), and SP of 19 articles (73% of 26 single author articles). USA also had the highest CPP₂₀₁₈ of 39. China ranked 6^th in total articles but have lower CPP₂₀₁₈ of 19.

Figure 4: Top 18 authors with Y-index (j ≥ 17).

Table 3: Characteristics of the top 10 productive countries.

TP: Total number of articles; IP: Country independent articles; CP: Internationally collaborative articles; FP: First author articles; RP: Corresponding author articles; SP: Single author articles; CPP2018: Citations per publication (CPP₂₀₁₈=TC₂₀₁₈/TP); N/A: Not available.

Table 4: Characteristics of the top ten productive institutes.

TP: Total number of articles; IP: Institute independent articles; ICP: Internationally collaborative articles; NCP: Nationally collaborative articles; FP: First author articles; RP: Corresponding author articles; SP: Single author articles; CPP₂₀₁₈: Citations per publication (CPP₂₀₁₈=TC₂₀₁₈/TP); N/A: Not available.

Of the total 5,313 articles with affiliation information in SCI-EXPANDED, 1,983 articles (37% of 5,313 articles) came from independent institutions with CPP₂₀₁₈ of 35; 3,330 articles (63%) from inter-institutional collaborations with CPP₂₀₁₈ of 32; included 1,018 articles (31% of 3,330 inter-institutionally collaborative articles) from international collaborations with CPP₂₀₁₈ of 31 and 2,312 articles (69%) from national collaborations with CPP₂₀₁₈ of 33. Percentage of the inter-institutional collaboration rate of J Orthop Res (63%) was found much higher than that of J Membr Sci (38%) [1] and Pol J Environ Stud (31%) [25]. Table 4 demonstrates the characteristics of the top 10 productive institutions. Nine of them were located in USA and one in Canada. Harvard University took the leading position in three of the seven publication indicators with TP of 163 articles (3.1% of 5,313 articles), ICP of 53 articles (5.2% of 1,018 inter-institutionally collaborative articles), and NCP of 91 articles (3.9% of 2,312 nationally collaborative articles). University of Calgary in Canada ranked top with IP of 54 articles (2.7% of 1,983 institutional independent articles) while University of Pittsburgh ranked top with FP of 89 articles (1.7% of 5,313 first-author articles) and RP of 76 articles (1.5% of 5,024 corresponding-author articles). In addition, University of California Davis published 64 articles (ranked 18^th) including the most single-author articles with SP of four articles (15% of 26 single-author articles). Harvard University, University of Pittsburgh, and Cornell University had the highest CPP₂₀₁₈ of 48 respectively. In the top ten productive institutes, Harvard University was the only one who published single author articles in J Orthop Res. It has been generally accepted that the first author and the corresponding author are the most significant author position [32,33]. Three bibliometric indicators such as total articles (TP), first author articles (FP), and corresponding author articles (RP) were applied for an analysis of authors’ publications in a journal [18,34]. Table 5 lists the top ten authors with at least 33 articles in J Orthop Res Of the 5,329 articles with author’s information were published by 17,001 authors. There were 5,329 articles by 4,150 first authors, 4,889 articles with corresponding information by 2,732 corresponding authors, and 26 single author articles by 21 authors. K.N. An contributed the most with 68 articles. P.C. Amadio published the most corresponding author articles with 38 while K.A. Mann and G. Li published the most first author articles with 11 respectively. B. Martin published the most first single author articles with three. S.L.Y. Woo with 44 articles had the highest CPP₂₀₁₈ of 76 followed by G. Li with CPP₂₀₁₈ of 57 and L.J. Soslowsky with CPP₂₀₁₈ of 51. M.M. Murray had highest TC_year-1 + TC_year-2 of 314. Only two productive authors M.M. Murray and S.L.Y. Woo were journal impact factor contributors (JIF contributors) who published high journal impact factor contributing articles with TC_year-1 + TC_year-2 of 48 for articles by Murray et al. [35] and Gabriel et al. [36] respectively. Bias is always considered in authorship analysis because two or more authors may have the same name, or authors used different names in their publications (e.g. name changes due to marriage) [19].

Table 5: Characteristics of the top ten productive authors.

TP: Total number of articles; FP: First author articles; RP: Corresponding author articles; TC₂₀₁₈: The total number of citations from web of science core collection since publication to the end of ₂₀₁₈; CPP₂₀₁₈: Citations per publication (CPP₂₀₁₈=TC₂₀₁₈/TP); TC_year-1: Number of citations from JCR year to articles in “year - 1”; TC_year-2: Number of citations from JCR year to articles in “year - 2”; N/A: not available.

Ho [18,22,37] proposed the Y-index which is related to the numbers of first author publications (FP) and corresponding author publications (RP). The Y-index with two parameters (j,h), assess both the publication potential and characteristics of contribution as a single index. The Y-index is defined as [22,37]:

j indicates publication potential. It was calculated by using numbers of first authored articles and corresponding authored articles as the Eq. (1). When one had larger j, it means its Y-index located far away from origin of the polar coordinates. It indicates that one published more articles as “important author” [37]. h is a publication characteristic constant, that introduces the distribution of the numbers of the corresponding authored articles and the first authored articles. h could be calculated by using Eq. (2). When the number of the first authored articles and the number of the corresponding authored articles are the same, Y-index is located in the 45-degree (0.7854 rad) line with the same h of 0.7854. When j>0.7854, it means one published more corresponding author articles, and when j<0.7854, it means one published more first author articles. When h=0, j=number of first author articles, and h=p/2, j=number of corresponding author articles.

Of the 5,329 articles published in J Orthop Res, 4,889 articles (92% of 5,329 articles) with both first author and corresponding author’s names in the SCI-EXPANDED were extensively analyzed by using the Y-index. A total of 4,889 articles were contributed by 15,911 authors. Only 1,803 authors (11% of the 15,911 authors) had both first- and corresponding-author articles in J Orthop Res In particular, 929 authors (5.8% of the 15,911 authors) had only corresponding-author articles (h=p/2); 334 (2.1%) authors had more corresponding-author articles than first-author articles (p/2>h>0.7854); 1,343 (8.4%) authors had the equivalent numbers of first-author and corresponding-author articles (h=0.7854); 126 (0.79%) authors had more first-author articles than corresponding-author articles (0.7854>h>0); and 11,162 (70%) authors had neither first- nor corresponding-author articles with Y-index of (0, 0). Figure 4 shows distribution of the Y-index (j, h) of the top 18 contributing authors with j³17 (j Cos h and j Sin h are chosen as the x and y coordinate axes). Each point has a coordinate (j, h) that could symbolize a single-author or multiple authors. j is contributed constant, an author with a higher j indicates more articles as first or corresponding authors. P.C. Amadio (39, 1.544), G. Li (36, 1.156), and M.M. Murray (30, 1.107) were the top three contributors on J Orthop Res Contributing characteristics constant, h, could help to obtain the different proportion of corresponding author articles to first author articles. Y-index is helpful to distinguish the different performance of authors especially when j of authors is the same. For example, the j of S.L.Y. Woo (19, p/2), B.C. Fleming (19, 1.138), M.J. Silva (19, 1.043), and S. Kobayashi (19, 0.838) were all the same of 19. However, h of Woo was p/2, Fleming was 1.138; Silva was 1.043, and Kobayashi was 0.838. That means Woo had greater proportion of corresponding author articles to first author articles than Fleming, Silva, and Kobayashi. All top 18 authors published more corresponding author articles than first author articles in J Orthop Res (h>0.7854). Within these top 18 authors, M. Spector (20, p/2), S.L.Y. Woo (19, p/2), and R.J. O'Keefe (17, p/2) had only corresponding author articles (h=p/2). Furthermore, K.N. An published the most 68 articles in J Orthop Res, including one first author and six corresponding articles with Y-index (7, 1.406). A bias would appear in authorship analysis because two or more authors may have the same name, or authors used different names in their publications [19].

Highly cited articles

The total citation count was obtained from web of science core collection, and this shows the total number of times that an article was cited by the journals listed in the Web of Science Core Collection database. The hotspots in a research field might be reflected by highly cited articles [38]. Highly cited publications in a journal were also investigated, for example JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association [14], Water Research [19] and Polish Journal of Environmental Studies [25]. Articles with TC₂₀₁₈≥100, were generally called highly cited articles [37,39]. In J Orthop Res, 333 of 5,329 articles were highly cited articles with TC₂₀₁₈≥100. The top 10 highly cited articles were listed in Table 6. All the top 10 highly cited articles were published in the 1990s. The earliest highly cited was published in 1991 by Caplan [29], Schipplein [30] & Athanasiou et al. [31]. The latest highly cited articles were published in 1999 by Mckellop et al. [40] & Vunjak-Novakovic et al. [41]. Three highly cited articles with TC₂₀₁₈≥100 such as articles by Caplan [29], Markolf et al. [42] & Schipplein [30] in J Orthop Res were also ranked top ten in C₂₀₁₈. The 10 highly cited articles were published by 45 highly cited authors from 18 institutions. Three of the top ten articles were published by authors from case western reserve university in USA. These top ten articles were published by USA while one was international collaboration with Switzerland. Caplan AI [29,43] and AJ Grodzinsky [41,44] published two the top cited articles respectively (Table 6). Citation histories of the top ten most frequently cited articles in J Orthop Res Were shown in Figure 5. The highly cited article about mesenchymal stem cells by Caplan [29] had different citation development trend. There is a sharply increased trend after publication year of 1991 for two decades to reach a plateau in recent years. Highly cited articles would not be always with high citations. Article by Buschmann et al. [44] with TC₂₀₁₈ of 395 had low citation in the most recent year of 2018 with C₂₀₁₈ of 7.

Distribution of words in article title and author keywords

Figure 5: Citation histories of the top ten most frequently cited articles.

The title of article directly provided a picture of an article’s theme. The synthesized analysis of words in article titles was developed and applied in last decade [38]. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions were discarded in this analysis [45]. Bone (16% of 5,329 articles), model (11%), human (10%) cartilage (8.6%), cells (8.4%), knee (8.1%), effect (6.7%), healing (6.7%), tendon (6.5%), and expression (6.5%) were the top ten most frequently used single words in article titles in the period of 1991-2018 in J Orthop Res Knee (8.1%), osteoarthritis (4.5%), mesenchymal (2.6%), differentiation (2.1%), ACL (1.6%), rotator (1.5%), cuff (1.5%), signaling (1.3%), head (1.2%), and plasma (0.77%) in in article titles showed a notable increasing trend in the study period.

Table 6: Top 10 highly cited articles in Journal of Orthopaedic Research.

TC₂₀₁₈: total number of citations from web of science core collection since publication to the end of 2018. C₂₀₁₈: total number of citations from web of science core collection in 2018.

Distribution of author keywords by years can be information for research trends [46]. There were 7,789 author keywords in 4,037 articles in J Orthop Res from 1991 to 2018. The most frequently used keyword was “osteoarthritis” which was used in 309 articles (7.7% of 4,037 articles), followed by biomechanics (196 articles [47-51]; 4.9%), cartilage (194 articles; 4.8%), knee (132 articles; 3.3%), fracture healing (126 articles; 3.1%), collagen (108 articles; 2.7%), tendon (107 articles; 2.7%), animal model (97 articles; 2.4%), bone (90 articles; 2.2%), and anterior cruciate ligament (89 articles; 2.2%) were associated with hot topics in J Orthop Res. In addition, keywords included osteoarthritis, cartilage, biomechanics, knee, intervertebral disc, fracture healing, animal model, tendon, inflammation, and collagen, ranked top ten in the most recent period of 2012 and 2018.

Conclusion

In total of 5,589 publications in 11 Web of Science document types were published in J Orthop Res from 1991 to 2018. Article was the dominant document type and had a CPP2018 of 33 but review had only half of CPP2018 with 16. The peak year of citations per publication was found to be in the 5th full year since its publication year. USA published the most articles and had higher citations per publication. Harvard University contributed the most articles in J Orthop Res. Results of citation analysis may have provided some initial evidences that highly cited articles in a journal might not contribute a lot to the journal’s impact factor. Articles related to osteoarthritis, biomechanics, cartilage, knee, and fracture healing were the most popular topics while intervertebral disc, tissue engineering, and apoptosis were new focuses in the journal.

References

1. Fu HZ, Ho YS (2015) A bibliometric analysis of the Journal of membrane science (1976-2010). Electronic Library 33(4): 698-713.
2. Coronado RA, Riddle DL, Wurtzel WA, George SZ (2011) Bibliometric analysis of articles published from 1980 to 2009 in Physical Therapy, journal of the american physical therapy association. Physical Therapy 91(5): 642-655.
3. Wiles L, Matricciani L, Williams M, Olds T (2012) Sixty-five years of Physical Therapy: Bibliometric analysis of research publications from 1945 through 2010. Physical Therapy 92(4): 493-506.
4. Coronado RA, Wurtzel WA, Simon CB, Riddle DL, George SZ (2011) Content and bibliometric analysis of articles published in the journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 41(12): 920-931.
5. Yalcinkaya M, Bagatur AE (2014) Articles published in acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica between 2003-2012: Content, characteristics and publication trends. Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica 48(5): 576-583.
6. Mavrogenis AF, Megaloikonomos PD, Panagopoulos GN, Mauffrey C, Quaile A, et al. (2017) Best one hundred papers of International Orthopaedics: A bibliometric analysis. International Orthopaedics 41(4): 689-697.
7. Sheridan G, Wisken E, Hing CB, Smith TO (2018) A bibliometric analysis assessing temporal changes in publication and authorship characteristics in The Knee from 1996 to 2016. Knee 25(2): 213-218.
8. Russell AF, Nguyen M, Bhuiya M, Likine EF, Fischer JP, et al. (2018) Comparative analysis of bibliometric, authorship, and collaboration trends over the past 30-year publication history of the journal of orthopaedic trauma and injury. Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma 32(8): E327-E333.
9. Brinker AR, Liao JL, Kraus KR, Young J, Sandelski M, et al. (2018) Bibliometric analysis of gender authorship trends and collaboration dynamics over 30 years of Spine 1985 to 2015. Spine 43(14): E849-E854.
10. Seetharam A, Ali MT, Wang CY, Schultz KE, Fischer JP, et al. (2018) Authorship trends in the journal of orthopaedic research: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 36(11): 3071-3080.
11. Li YZ, Xu G, Long X, Ho YS (2019) A bibliometric analysis of classic publications in web of science category of orthopedics. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research 14(1): 227.
12. Monge-Nájera J, Ho YS (2016) Bibliometry of the revista de biología tropical/international journal of tropical biology and conservation: Document types, languages, countries, institutions, citations and article lifespan. Revista de Biología Tropical 64(3): 1223-1235.
13. Garfield E (1999) Journal impact factor: A brief review. Canadian Medical Association Journal 161(8): 979-980.
14. Garfield E (1997) Dispelling a few common myths about journal citation impacts. Scientist 11(3): 11.
15. Ho YS, Kahn M (2014) A bibliometric study of highly cited reviews in the Science Citation Index Expanded™. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 65(2): 372-385.
16. Wang MH, Fu HZ, Ho YS (2011) Comparison of universities’ scientific performance using bibliometric indicators. Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science 16(2): 1-19.
17. Chuang KY, Wang MH, Ho YS (2011) High-impact papers presented in the subject category of water resources in the Essential Science Indicators database of the Institute for Scientific Information. Scientometrics 87(3): 551-562.
18. Ho YS (2012) Top-cited articles in chemical engineering in science citation index expanded: A bibliometric analysis. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 20(3): 478-488.
19. Wang MH, Yu TC, Ho YS (2010) A bibliometric analysis of the performance of water research. Scientometrics 84(3): 813-820.
20. Li Z, Ho YS (2008) Use of citation per publication as an indicator to evaluate contingent valuation research. Scientometrics 75(1): 97-110.
21. Ho YS, Fu HZ (2016) Mapping of metal-organic frameworks publications: A bibliometric analysis. Inorganic Chemistry Communications 73: 174-182.
22. Ho YS (2014a) Classic articles on social work field in Social Science Citation Index: A bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics 98(1): 137-155.
23. Chiu WT, Ho YS (2005) Bibliometric analysis of homeopathy research during the period of 1991 to 2003. Scientometrics 63(1): 3-23.
24. Fu HZ, Wang MH, Ho YS (2012) The most frequently cited adsorption research articles in the Science Citation Index (Expanded). Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 379(1): 148-156.
25. Chuang KY, Olaiya MU, Ho YS (2012) Bibliometric analysis of the Polish Journal of Environmental Studies (2000-11). Polish Journal of Environmental Studies 21(5): 1175-1183.
26. Anderson DD, Chubinskaya S, Guilak F, Martin JA, Oegema TR, et al. (2011) Post-traumatic osteoarthritis: Improved understanding and opportunities for early intervention. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 29(6): 802-809.
27. Gabriel MT, Wong EK, Woo SLY, Yagi M (2004) Distribution of in situ forces in the anterior cruciate ligament in response to rotatory loads. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22(1): 85-89.
28. Chuang KY, Huang YL, Ho YS (2007) A bibliometric and citation analysis of stroke-related research in Taiwan. Scientometrics 72(2): 201-212.
29. Caplan AI (1991) Mesenchymal stem cells. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 9(5): 641-650.
30. Schipplein OD, Andriacchi TP (1991) Interaction between active and passive knee stabilizers during level walking. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 9(1): 113-119.
31. Athanasiou KA, Rosenwasser MP, Buckwalter JA, Malinin TI, Mow VC (1991) Interspecies comparisons of insitu intrinsic mechanical properties of distal femoral cartilage. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 9(3): 330-340.
32. Gaeta TJ (1999) Authorship: “law” and order. Academic Emergency Medicine 6(4): 297-301.
33. Mattsson P, Sundberg CJ, Laget P (2011) Is correspondence reflected in the author position? A bibliometric study of the relation between corresponding author and byline position. Scientometrics 87(1): 99-105.
34. Ho HC, Ho YS (2015) Publications in dance field in Arts & Humanities Citation Index: A bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics 105(2): 1031-1040.
35. Murray MM, Spindler KP, Abreu E, Muller JA, Nedder A, et al. (2007) Collagen-platelet rich plasma hydrogel enhances primary repair of the porcine anterior cruciate ligament. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 25(1): 81-91.
36. Gabriel MT, Wong EK, Woo SLY, Yagi M, Debski RE (2004) Distribution of in situ forces in the anterior cruciate ligament in response to rotatory loads. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22(1): 85-89.
37. Ho YS (2014b) A bibliometric analysis of highly cited articles in materials science. Current Science 107(9): 1565-1572.
38. Ho YS, Satoh H, Lin SY (2010) Japanese lung cancer research trends and performance in Science Citation Index. Internal Medicine 49(20): 2219-2228.
39. Hsu YHE, Ho YS (2014) Highly cited articles in health care sciences and services field in science citation index expanded: A bibliometric analysis for 1958-2012. Methods of Information in Medicine 53(6): 446-458.
40. McKellop H, Shen FW, Lu B, Campbell P, Salovey R (1999) Development of an extremely wear-resistant ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene for total hip replacements. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 17(2): 157-167.
41. Vunjak-Novakovic G, Martin I, Obradovic B, Treppo S, Grodzinsky AJ, et al. (1999) Bioreactor cultivation conditions modulate the composition and mechanical properties of tissue-engineered cartilage. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 17(1): 130-138.
42. Markolf KL, Burchfield DI, Shapiro MM, Shepard ME, Finerman GAM, et al. (1995) Combined knee loading states that generate high anterior cruciate ligament forces. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 13(6): 930-935.
43. Young RG, Butler DL, Weber W, Caplan AI, Gordon SL, et al. (1998) Use of mesenchymal stem cells in a collagen matrix for Achilles tendon repair. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 16(4): 406-413.
44. Buschmann MD, Gluzband YA, Grodzinsky AJ, Kimura JH, Hunziker EB (1992) Chondrocytes in agarose culture synthesize a mechanically functional extracellular matrix. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 10(6): 745-758.
45. Xie SD, Zhang J, Ho YS (2008) Assessment of world aerosol research trends by bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics 77(1): 113-130.
46. Zhang GF, Xie SD, Ho YS (2010) A bibliometric analysis of world volatile organic compounds research trends. Scientometrics 83(2): 477-492.
47. Brimblecombe P, Grossi CM (2009) The bibliometrics of atmospheric environment. Atmospheric Environment 43(1): 9-12.
48. Bruder SP, Kurth AA, Shea M, Hayes WC, Jaiswal N, et al. (1998) Bone regeneration by implantation of purified, culture-expanded human mesenchymal stem cells. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 16(2): 155-162.
49. Bujdoso E, Lyon WS, Braun T (1981) Scientometric study of health physics. Health Physics 41(2): 233-242.
50. Monge-Nájera J, Ho YS (2012) Costa rica publications in the science citation index expanded: A bibliometric analysis for 1981-2010. Revista de Biología Tropical 60(4): 1649-1661.
51. Schinagl RM, Gurskis D, Chen AC, Sah RL (1997) Depth-dependent confined compression modulus of full-thickness bovine articular cartilage. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 15(4): 499-506.

https://crimsonpublishers.com/oproj/fulltext/OPROJ.000632.php

Publishers: https://crimsonpublishers.com/

For more articles in orthopedic research online journal

Please click on below link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/oproj/