Comparing the Cost-Effectiveness of Short Orthopedic Missions in Elective and Relief Situations in Developing Countries

Ó The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Background The earthquake that occurred in Haiti on 12 January 2010 elicited an unprecedented response from the American orthopedic community. Many small organizations, such as Operation Rainbow, were thrust into the unfamiliar environment of relief surgery, whereas they normally provide short elective reconstruction missions in developing countries. Materials Because of the chaotic nature of relief work, it was assumed that the organization’s efforts would be less cost-effective than their usual elective work. To evaluate this conclusion, the present study was designed to compare the cost-effectiveness of the organization’s usual elective missions with the emergency relief provided in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. Results and conclusions The assumption that emergency costs would be higher was proven wrong, with estimates of $362 per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted in the elective group, and$343 per DALY averted in the relief group

Testosterone levels are negatively associated with childlessness in males, but positively related to offspring count in fathers

Variation in testosterone (T) is thought to affect the allocation of effort between reproductive and parenting strategies. Here, using a large sample of elderly American men (n = 754) and women (n = 669) we examined the relationship between T and self-reported parenthood, as well as the relationship between T and number of reported children. Results supported previous findings from the literature, showing that fathers had lower T levels than men who report no children. Furthermore, we found that among fathers T levels were positively associated with the number of children a man reports close to the end of his lifespan. Results were maintained when controlling for a number of relevant factors such as time of T sampling, participant age, educational attainment, BMI, marital status and reported number of sex partners. In contrast, T was not associated with either motherhood or the number of children women had, suggesting that, at least in this sample, T does not influence the allocation of effort between reproductive and parenting strategies among women. Findings from this study contribute to the growing body of literature suggesting that, among men, pair bonding and paternal care are associated with lower T levels, while searching and acquiring sex partners is associated with higher T levels.27 Jun 2013: Pollet TV, Cobey KD, van der Meij L (2013) Correction: Testosterone Levels Are Negatively Associated with Childlessness in Males, but Positively Related to Offspring Count in Fathers. PLoS ONE 8(6): 10.1371/annotation/bccccb7e-48a7-4594-b3e6-ce8c9d2489a2

Clinical measures of static foot posture do not agree

© 2016 The Author(s). Background: The aim of this study was to determine the level of agreement between common clinical foot classification measures. Methods: Static foot assessment was undertaken using the Foot Posture Index (FPI-6), rearfoot angle (RFA), medial longitudinal arch angle (MLAA) and navicular drop (ND) in 30 participants (29 ± 6 years, 1.72 ± 0.08 m, 75 ± 18 kg). The right foot was measured on two occasions by one rater within the same test environment. Agreement between the test sessions was initially determined for each measure using the Weighted Kappa. Agreement between the measures was determined using Fleiss Kappa. Results: Foot classification across the two test occasions was almost perfect for MLAA (Kw = .92) and FPI-6 (Kw = .92), moderate for RFA (Kw = .60) and fair for ND (Kw = .40) for comparison within the measures. Overall agreement between the measures for foot classification was moderate (Kf = .58). Conclusion: The findings reported in this study highlight discrepancies between the chosen foot classification measures. The FPI-6 was a reliable multi-planar measure whereas navicular drop emerged as an unreliable measure with only fair agreement across test sessions. The use of this measure for foot assessment is discouraged. The lack of strong consensus between measures for foot classification underpins the need for a consensus on appropriate clinical measures of foot structure