PONE-D-19-33551

Morphometric geometric differences between right and left human tali: A cadaveric study of fluctuating asymmetry via systematic measurement and three-dimensional scanning

PLOS ONE

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PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: In this study, a total of 24 tali were measured with a vernier caliper and three-dimensional laser scanner. The significant differences in the morphometric profile were found between the right and left matched pairs of tali. However, there are some points that need to be addressed.

1. Is it possible that the differences in the morphometric profile between the right and left matched pairs of tali due to the samples of elderly cadavers？

2. Please use a unified decimal place in the tables.

Reviewer #2: In this study, the authors demonstrated the morphometric geometric variations between the right and left tali in matched pairs of human cadaveric specimens. There are a few concerns on the methodology and interpretation of the findings.

1. In addition to age, gender and height, we understand that the bone morphometry especially for calcaneum and talus, also depends on the occupation and weight. Did the authors consider these factors as well?

2. From line 134 to line 136, the authors mentioned that 'Differences in categorical data were analyzed using the chi-square … Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to express the correlation between the parametric parameters'. In the Result section, I couldn't find the findings using correlation analyses or analyses of categorical data. Is this part of analysis missing in the Result section?

3. From line 201 to line 207, the authors cited several articles using different methods to measure the talus morphometry. However, they didn't describe whether their findings are similar/different from the others. What is the purpose of citing these articles?

4. It is not clear what 'stressful conditions' the authors are referring to in line 213.

5. In Table 1, five out of seven parameters of tali showed that right tali were larger than left tali. It seems that there is right dominance of talus morphometry, like handedness. The authors did not discuss the potential relationship between limb dominance and talus morphometry.

6. The clinical significance is not clear. Ankle arthroplasty implant definitely requires the measurements on the articulations of the bones surrounding the pathologic/injured talus. It is not clear how the findings in this study contribute to the improvement of current technology of making the implants.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Morphometric geometric differences between right and left human tali: A cadaveric study of fluctuating asymmetry via systematic measurement and three-dimensional scanning

PONE-D-19-33551R1

Dear Dr. Angthong,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you will receive an e-mail containing information on the amendments required prior to publication. When all required modifications have been addressed, you will receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will proceed to our production department and be scheduled for publication.

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With kind regards,

Shang-Chun Guo

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: In this study, a total of 24 tali were measured with a vernier caliper and three-dimensional laser scanner. The significant differences in the morphometric profile were found between the right and left matched pairs of tali.

Thanks for your revision.

Reviewer #2: Minor suggestions: In Tables 1-4, the units for the numbers under the columns of Mean, SD and SEM are missing.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No