The purpose of this study was to examine reliability and validity of a new method of measuring hand size in which a tape measure is wrapped around the hand in a figure-of-eight pattern. In the first experiment, two testers measured hand size in 60 individuals with no recent history of injury or surgery. Intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.99 and 0.97 indicated high intratester and intertes...

We propose a simple method to assess the number of subpopulations in multivariate data by projecting the data on its principal curve and then applying Silverman’s bandwidth test to the resulting univariate sample. Our results indicate that this method works well even in high-dimensional settings with relatively small sample sizes, provided that the number of subpopulations is not large compared...

AIM To compare an ultrasonic height measuring device (Gulliver) with mechanical stadiometry and the classical "book and tape measure" method. METHODS Blinded duplicate measurements of height were made on each of 14 children by a pair of observers using a stadiometer (H) and Gulliver (G). Height was measured on a further 18 children by parents and an auxologist using Gulliver and the book and ...

Monotonicity of the equilibrium bidding strategy is a key property of structural auction models. Traditional nonparametric estimators provide a flexible means of uncovering salient features of auction data, but do not formally impose the monotonicity assumption that is inherent in the models they are trying to estimate. Here we develop a nonparametric estimator which imposes the monotonicity as...

A method of measuring trunk motion and two related motions using a tape measure and a stepstool was developed by physical therapists at our hospital. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of this method. Three repetitions of six motions performed by 24 subjects were each measured by three physical therapist raters on two separate days. The motions were forward bending, backwar...

The purpose of this paper is to present a clinically feasible method to provide objective, quantitative information regarding the quality of a patient's gait. The technique used is simple and economical and requires minimal equipment. The four basic temporal and distance factors are 1) stride length, 2) step length, 3) cadence, and 4) velocity. The technique requires the following equipment: 1)...

At times a clinician must describe the size of a lesion when measurement presents difficulties. A 'guestimate' may then be recorded. We tested the accuracy of forensic clinicians (10 physicians and 1 nurse) in guestimating the sizes of ten test objects, comparing their performance with 13 individuals from other professions. The participants were permitted to handle the objects but not to use a ...

This paper describes a laboratory exercise designed to provide students with experience testing a hypothesis by systematically isolating and controlling determinant variables. The study involves an analysis of walking and is performed by the students on a subject from within their lab group. The study requires use of a motorized treadmill, tape measure, stop watch, metronome, personal cassette ...

We have examined some of the characteristics of moisture advection and its relation to precipitation over Australia. Seasonal extremes of moisture advection have changed considerably during the latter part of the 20th century. Analysis of its skewness reveals that the relative occurrence of these events has increased. A kurtosis analysis shows that there has been a geographical shift of where t...