Texas Christian University

About: Texas Christian University is a education organization based out in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3245 authors who have published 8258 publications receiving 282216 citations. The organization is also known as: TCU & Texas Christian University, TCU.

FiberWire is superior in strength to stainless steel wire for tension band fixation of transverse patellar fractures

Abstract: Background The metal implants used to achieve fixation of displaced transverse patellar fractures are associated with implant failure, postoperative pain and a significant re-operation rate. Recent studies have examined braided suture as a possible alternative to stainless steel wire to increase patient satisfaction and decrease re-operation rates, but suture has not demonstrated clearly superior fixation strength. FiberWire® is a reinforced braided polyblend suture that has demonstrated superior characteristics to the previous sutures studied and has not to our knowledge been examined as a material for tension band fixation of transverse patellar fractures. Methods Materials testing was performed on repeated samples of No. 5 FiberWire suture and 18-gauge stainless steel wire. The strength and stiffness of each material was measured. The two materials were then used for tension band fixation on a novel transverse patellar fracture model and tested to failure by three-point bending. The constructs included a single stainless steel wire, a single-strand FiberWire tied with a sliding knot, double-strand FiberWire tied with sliding knots and double-strand FiberWire tied with a Wagoner's Hitch. The fixation strength and stiffness of the constructs were measured. Findings Unlike stainless steel, FiberWire maintained its initial stiffness until failure. Furthermore, during three-point-bend testing, double-strand FiberWire was found to have a significantly higher failure load than stainless steel wire when the suture was tied and locked under the tension produced by a modified Wagoner's Hitch. Interpretation FiberWire is a potentially superior alternative to stainless steel wire in tension band fixation of transverse patellar fractures.

Does This Recession Make Me Look Black? The Effect of Resource Scarcity on the Categorization of Biracial Faces

Abstract: In-group biases are a ubiquitous feature of human social life (e.g., Brewer, 1979; Halevy, Bornstein, & Sagiv, 2008; Mullen, Dovidio, Johnson, & Copper, 1992; Tajfel, 1982). One explanation offered for these biases is that they arise from resource competition between groups (e.g., Kurzban & Neuberg, 2005; Schaller, Park, & Faulkner, 2003; Sherif, 1966). In this view, hostility toward the out-group is predicted to occur when people’s access to a resource is constrained (Pettigrew & Meertens, 1995; Takemura & Yuki, 2007; Wildschut, Pinter, Vevea, Insko, & Schopler, 2003) or when they seek to justify an existing resource advantage (Sidanius & Pratto, 1993). In the studies reported here, we extended this logic to test a novel prediction about in-group boundary formation—specifically, whether resource scarcity decreases the inclusiveness of racial in-groups. The cost of having unrestricted in-group boundaries may be relatively low during times of abundance. During times of scarcity, however, individuals may narrow their definition of belongingness to include only those whose group membership is unambiguous (Miller & Maner, 2012). We conducted two experiments in which people were primed with cues to scarcity or abundance and were then asked to categorize biracial faces as being Black or White. We predicted that willingness to include racially ambiguous individuals as part of their racial in-group would be lower in participants primed with scarcity cues than in participants primed with abundance cues.

Assessing Parenting Skills and Attitudes: A Review of the Psychometrics of Parenting Measures

Abstract: There are many measures that assess parenting skills or practices, such as behavior, beliefs, coping mechanisms, reactions to stress, or discipline. However, little is known about the psychometric quality of these parenting measures. This information is essential for practitioners and researchers to aide in the selection of the most valid and reliable measures to assess parenting behavior or attitudes. This study examined the psychometric quality among parenting measures published from 1985 to 2009. After the initial search 164 measures were identified, but were reduced to 25 measures that supplied some degree of psychometric information, were published in the United States or Canada, and were in English. Measures were compared across numerous categories including respondent type, norming data, administration type, and ten psychometric variables such as internal consistency, content validity, and predictive validity. Out of the 25 measures, seven had no acceptable psychometric properties, seven had only 1–2 acceptable ratings on psychometric properties, six had between 3 and 4 acceptable psychometric ratings, none had between 5 and 6 acceptable ratings, and only five had strong psychometric properties in seven or more of the 10 categories. Likewise, only five measures provided and norming information and 14 measures provided scoring procedures. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.