Restricted Wrist Rotation after an Ulnar Head Fracture: A Report of Two Cases

Background Isolated ulnar head fracture is a rare entity, and the restriction of range of motion in the wrist is rarely reported. Case Description We report two cases of conservatively treated ulnar head malunion with restricted supination and pronation. The increased tension of the volar portion of the triangular fibrocartilage complex was observed, and the surgical treatment significantly improved the range of motion. Literature Review There are a few reports on isolated ulnar head fracture. Other causes of restricted supination and pronation of the wrist are mostly due to the interposition of soft tissues or loose bodies. Clinical Relevance Malunion after ulnar head fracture can cause restriction of wrist supination and pronation. Surgical intervention may be considered if restricted range of motion remains after conservative treatment.

Psychometric properties of a self-report version of the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory for Women (SIDI-F-SR)

Background: The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory Female (SIDI-F) is a clinician-administered scale that allows for a comprehensive assessment of symptoms related to Hypoactive Sexual Desire Dysfunction (HSDD). As self-report questionnaires may facilitate less socially desirable responding and as time and resources are scarce in many clinical and research settings, a self-report version was developed (SIDI-F-SR). Aim: To investigate the agreement between the SIDI-F and a self-report version (SIDI-F-SR) and assess psychometric properties of the SIDI-F-SR. Methods: A total of 170 women (Mage=36.61, SD=10.61, range=20-69) with HSDD provided data on the SIDI-F, administered by a clinical psychologist via telephone, and the SIDI-F-SR, delivered as an Internet-based questionnaire. A subset of 19 women answered the SIDI-F-SR twice over a period of 14 weeks. Outcomes: Intraclass correlation as well as predictors of absolute agreement between SIDI-F and SIDI-F-SR, as well as internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and criterion-related validity of the SIDI-F-SR were examined. Results: There was high agreement between SIDI-F and SIDI-F-SR (ICC=.86). On average, women scored about one point higher in the self-report vs. the clinician-administered scale. Agreement was higher in young women and those with severe symptoms. Internal consistency of the SIDI-F-SR was acceptable (α=.76) and comparable to the SIDI-F (α=.74). When corrections for the restriction of range were applied, internal consistency of the SIDI-F-SR increased to .91. Test-retest-reliability was good (r=.74). Criterion-related validity was low but comparable between SIDI-F and SIDI-F-SR.

Development of construction and analysis of the elastic shells packet stability of the device for well trajectory management

Overview of equipment for management of a trajectory of directional and horizontal wells during drill process was done in the article. Both domestic and foreign equipment are described. Based on the critical analyses, most promising designs were chosen and were described their base disadvantage: restriction of range of changing of curvature angle of deflecting tool through some design features. Based on mentioned above, modern device for management of directional and horizontal wells trajectory was suggested. Advanced unit for curvature of deflecting tool’s axle is fundamentals of construction. Using of the elastic shells packet that loses stability by critical axial load and gets small longitudinal deformation is the main innovation. Further, it is a reason of unlocking the mutual movement of specific elements of the device and buckling of its axis on preset angle. That’s why angle of deflecting tool curvature does not depend of absolute longitudinal deformation of the elastic shells packet and, as result, is not restricted by them. Deflecting tool’s axis gets the rectilinear shape after a drill string is torn off from a downhole. So, there is possible to manage a well axis during drilling process using stretching and compression of the deflecting tool. The elastic shells packet that consists of variable quantity of shells is used for setting necessary compression force that switches device in regime of curvature. Stability of the packet was analyzed by 3D-modeling and finite element method. The magnitude of critical force is determined depending on the number of shells in the packet. Was mentioned, this dependence is rectilinear. There is a possibility, by selecting the number of shells in the elastic shells packet, to manage magnitude of axial compression force that causes bend of the deflecting tool’s axis considering needed bit load.

Updating the Direction Orientation Task: An Aviation Selection Tool

Military branches rely on selection and placement testing to help identify individuals who will be well-suited for jobs that they likely have little exposure to or experience with. The goal for this research was to update the Direction Orientation Task (DOT), which is used by both the United States Navy and Air Force as part of their aviation selection batteries. The current version of DOT has limitations such as ceiling effects in some populations and a restriction of range within test scores. We created a new version (DOT2) that attempted to increase the difficulty and variance of the test (among other things discussed in the paper). Ninety-five student Naval Aviators completed an experiment where they completed DOT1, DOT2, and the operation span. Results showed that DOT2 was significantly more difficult and had increased variance compared to DOT1. Scores on DOT1 were highly related to scores on DOT2, both were similarly unrelated to scores the operation span, and both were similarly related to the number of math errors made on the operation span. These preliminary data suggest that DOT2 may be a viable upgrade to DOT1.

ON SOME METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE STUDY OF HUMAN INDIVIDUALITY

Human individuality, presented on different levels (from biological to social ones), is of a high interest in Russian psychology, and the method of correlation design is widely used among researches, because it allows revealing relationships between multi-level properties of individuality. The present article examines several methodical aspects of the correlation analysis implementation, discussing problems and possible solutions. In particular, it considers the issue of nonlinear dependencies (parabolic, hyperbolic etc.), which are impossible to reveal by common correlation methods, but which can be uncovered by using nonlinear correlations, such as correlation index, correlation ratio, maximal information coefficient, distance correlation, maximal correlation, “partial moments” method. Furthermore, it considers the necessity of visualizing variables correlation (scatterplots) that enables to reveal hidden data structures, for example, subgroups. Special attention is paid to correlations corrections for restriction of range and related difficulties that are well-known, but scarcely researched in Russian psychology. In process of investigating plentiful pairwise correlations between individuality properties on different levels it is important to consider anissue of multiple comparisons, which, however, is rarely taken into the account by researches, leading to false results in many occasions. Moreover, the article examines robust statistical methods, particularly permutation tests and bootstrap. These methods combine robustness and high power. Finally, the study observes such issues as the completeness of results presentation and current debates about significance level, effect size and confidence intervals, reproducibility of psychological researches, and meta-analysis approach. Significance level has often been criticized; interval estimates and effect size were supposed to replace it. However, the problem of Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) has not been completely solved yet. A possible solution is presentation of complete data on research results including precise significance level, confidence intervals, effect size and etc. These estimations can be then applied in meta-analysis, which allows moving on to a new level of scientific generalizations.

Domain-General Models of Expertise

This chapter reviews evidence concerning the contribution of cognitive ability to individual differences in expertise. The review covers research in traditional domains for expertise research such as music, sports, and chess, as well as research from industrial–organizational psychology on job performance. The specific question that we seek to address is whether domain-general measures of cognitive ability (e.g., IQ, working memory capacity, executive functioning, processing speed) predict individual differences in domain-relevant performance, especially beyond beginning levels of skill. Evidence from the expertise literature relevant to this question is difficult to interpret, due to small sample sizes, restriction of range, and other methodological limitations. By contrast, there is a wealth of consistent evidence that cognitive ability is a practically important and statistically significant predictor of job performance, even after extensive job experience. The chapter discusses ways that cognitive ability measures might be used in efforts to accelerate the acquisition of expertise.

Exploring the factors of the English Comprehension Test

The empirically designed English Comprehension Test was initially developed as a means of assessing individual’s English comprehension skills. The test development of the English Comprehension Test led to the piloting of two test versions of the English Comprehension Test, namely, version 1.2 and version 1.3. The purpose of this study was to statistically explore the factors emerging from the two test versions of the English Comprehension Test. This study is the initial step towards establishing the construct validity, which forms part of the validation of the English Comprehension Test. This quantitative study involved an exploratory inspection of the factors of the English Comprehension Test, with the use of factor analyses. It also employed two factor extraction methods (Principal Component Analysis and Principal Axis Factoring) for comparison. These two factor extraction methods used for the exploratory factor analyses revealed a dominant factor for both test versions of the English Comprehension Test, thereby endorsing an argument for unidimensionality of the English Comprehension Test. The similarities between the results for the two test versions confirmed the existence of an inherent structure for the English Comprehension Test, despite the differences between the two test versions. The labelling of the factors of the test also suggests that the English Comprehension Test could be an assessment of cognitive (verbal) aptitude. A major limitation of this study is the restriction of range and lack of generalizability. The contribution made by this study will enhance psychometric validation studies in South Africa as well as increasing literature on South African test construction for multicultural and multilingual individuals.

THIS (METHOD) IS (NOT) FINE

SummaryIn their response to my criticism of their recent article in Journal of Biosocial Science (te Nijenhuis et al., 2017), te Nijenhuis and van den Hoek (2018) raise four points none of which concerns my main point that the method of correlated vectors (MCV) applied to item-level data represents a flawed method. Here, I discuss te Nijenhuis and van den Hoek’s four points. First, I argue that my previous application of MCV to item-level data showed that the method can yield nonsensical results. Second, I note that meta-analytic corrections for sampling error, imperfect measures, restriction of range and unreliability of the vectors are futile and cannot help fix the method. Third, I note that even with perfect data, the method can yield negative correlations. Fourth, I highlight the irrelevance of te Nijenhuis and van den Hoek (2018)’s point that my comment had not been published in a peerreviewed journal by referring to my articles in 2009 and 2017 on MCV in peer-reviewed journals.