Proximal ulna morphology in various pediatric population age groups: proximal ulna dorsal angulation (PUDA) and olecranon tip-to-apex (TTA) distance.

PURPOSE: To measure proximal ulna dorsal angulation (PUDA) and olecranon tip-to-apex distance (TTA) in pediatric population to aid surgeons with data for proximal ulna fractures fixation. METHODS: Retrospective review of the hospital radiographic database. All elbow radiographs were identified and after implementing exclusion criteria, included were 95 patients aged 0-10; 53 patients aged 11-14; and 53 patients aged 15-18. PUDA was defined as the angle between lines placed on the "flat spot" of the olecranon and the dorsal edge of the ulnar shaft and TTA as the distance between the tip of the olecranon to the apex of angulation. Two evaluators performed measurements independently. RESULTS: In age group 0-10, mean PUDA was 7.53°, range 3.8-13.7, 95% CI 7.16-7.91, while mean TTA was 22.04 mm, range 8.8-50.5, 95% CI 19.92-24.17. In age group 11-14, mean PUDA was 4.99°, range 2.5-9.3, 95% CI (4.61-5.37), while mean TTA was 37.41 mm, range 16.5-66.6, 95% CI (34.91-39.90). In age group 15-18, mean PUDA was 5.18°, range 2.9-8.1, 95% CI (4.75-5.61), while mean TTA was 43.79 mm, range 24.5-79.4, 95% CI (41.38-46.19). PUDA was negatively correlated with age (r = - 0.56, p < 0.001), while TTA was positively correlated with age (r = 0.77, p < 0.001). Reliability levels of 0.81-1 or 0.61-0.80 were achieved for most of intra- and inter-rater reliabilities besides two levels of 0.41-60 and one of 0.21-0.40. CONCLUSION: The main study finding is that in most cases mean age-group values may serve as a template for proximal ulna fixation. There are some cases in which X-ray of contralateral elbow may provide surgeon with a better template. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

Number line estimation and standardized test performance: The left digit effect does not predict SAT math score.

INTRODUCTION: Recent work reveals a new source of error in number line estimation (NLE), the left digit effect (Lai, Zax, et al., 2018), whereby numerals with different leftmost digits but similar magnitudes (e.g., 399, 401) are placed farther apart on a number line (e.g., 0 to 1,000) than is warranted. The goals of the present study were to: (1) replicate the left digit effect, and (2) assess whether it is related to mathematical achievement. METHOD: Participants were all individuals (adult college students) who completed the NLE task in the laboratory between 2014 and 2019 for whom SAT scores were available (n = 227). RESULTS: We replicated the left digit effect but found its size was not correlated with SAT math score, although it was negatively correlated with SAT verbal score for one NLE task version. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide further evidence that individual digits strongly influence estimation performance and suggest that this effect may have different cognitive contributors, and predict different complex skills, than overall NLE accuracy.

Partition dependence in financial aid distribution to income categories.

When allocating resources, people often diversify across categories even when those categories are arbitrary, such that allocations differ when identical sets of options are partitioned differently ("partition dependence"). The first goal of the present work (Experiment 1) was to replicate an experiment by Fox and colleagues in which graduate students exhibited partition dependence when asked how university financial aid should be allocated across arbitrarily partitioned income brackets. Our sample consisted of community members at a liberal arts college where financial aid practices have been recent topics of debate. Because stronger intrinsic preferences can reduce partition dependence, these participants might display little partition dependence with financial aid allocations. Alternatively, a demonstration of strong partition dependence in this population would emphasize the robustness of the effect. The second goal was to extend a "high transparency" modification to the present task context (Experiment 2) in which participants were shown both possible income partitions and randomly assigned themselves to one, to determine whether partition dependence in this paradigm would be reduced by revealing the study design (and the arbitrariness of income categories). Participants demonstrated clear partition dependence in both experiments. Results demonstrate the robustness of partition dependence in this context.

Probability range and probability distortion in a gambling task.

In decision making under risk, adults tend to overestimate small and underestimate large probabilities (Tversky & Kahneman, 1992). This inverse S-shaped distortion pattern is similar to that observed in a wide variety of proportion judgment tasks (see Hollands & Dyre, 2000, for review). In proportion judgment tasks, distortion patterns tend not to be fixed but rather to depend on the reference points to which the targets are compared. Here, we tested the novel hypothesis that probability distortion in decision making under risk might also be influenced by reference points-in this case, references implied by the probability range. Adult participants were assigned to either a full-range (probabilities from 0-100%), upper-range (50-100%), or lower-range (0-50%) condition, where they indicated certainty equivalents for 176 hypothetical monetary gambles (e.g., "a 50% chance of $100, otherwise $0"). Using a modified cumulative prospect theory model, we found only minimal differences in probability distortion as a function of condition, suggesting no differences in use of reference points by condition, and broadly demonstrating the robustness of distortion pattern across contexts. However, we also observed deviations from the curve across all conditions that warrant further research.

Pain Support for Adults with a Diabetes-Related Lower Limb Amputation: an Empirical Phenomenology Study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain after lower extremity amputation surgery has been reported in up to 80% of patients. Amputations are among the most debilitating chronic complication of diabetes with a variety of consequences including depression, inability to perform daily activities, and change in quality of life. AIMS: This study sought to understand the lived experience of chronic pain support among those who have undergone a diabetes-related lower limb amputation. METHOD: Researchers used a qualitative empirical phenomenology design. Private, semistructured interviews were conducted on a purposive sample (N = 11). Codes were identified for each participant separately and then across participants for common themes. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged from the research: (1) Phantom pain is nontreatable pain; (2) support systems were nonempathetic; and (3) participants experienced identification of a new normal. Participants did not understand that neuropathic (phantom) pain was part of the total pain experience. Further, they felt that there was no help from family or providers for alleviation of this pain. CONCLUSIONS: Phantom pain was identified as something the participants had to tolerate when it occurred. They did not feel that family or providers understood their pain. Further, they wanted a means of controlling their pain using nonpharmacologic therapies.