Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the upper limb functional index

Background The Upper Limb Functional Index (ULFI) is an internationally widely used outcome measure with robust, valid psychometric properties. The purpose of study is to develop and validate a ULFI Spanish-version (ULFI-Sp). Methods A two stage observational study was conducted. The ULFI was cross-culturally adapted to Spanish through double forward and backward translations, the psychometric properties were then validated. Participants (n = 126) with various upper limb conditions of >12 weeks duration completed the ULFI-Sp, QuickDASH and the Euroqol Health Questionnaire 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D-3 L). The full sample determined internal consistency, concurrent criterion validity, construct validity and factor structure; a subgroup (n = 35) determined reliability at seven days. Results The ULFI-Sp demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.94) and reliability (r = 0.93). Factor structure was one-dimensional and supported construct validity. Criterion validity with the EQ-5D-3 L was fair and inversely correlated (r = −0.59). The QuickDASH data was unavailable for analysis due to excessive missing responses. Conclusions The ULFI-Sp is a valid upper limb outcome measure with similar psychometric properties to the English language version.

Use of modal flexibility method to detect damage in suspended cables and the effects of cable parameters

Modal flexibility is a widely accepted technique to detect structural damage using vibration characteristics. Its application to detect damage in long span large diameter cables such as those used in suspension bridge main cables has not received much attention. This paper uses the modal flexibility method incorporating two damage indices (DIs) based on lateral and vertical modes to localize damage in such cables. The competency of those DIs in damage detection is tested by the numerically obtained vibration characteristics of a suspended cable in both intact and damaged states. Three single damage cases and one multiple damage case are considered. The impact of random measurement noise in the modal data on the damage localization capability of these two DIs is next examined. Long span large diameter cables are characterized by the two critical cable parameters named bending stiffness and sag-extensibility. The influence of these parameters in the damage localization capability of the two DIs is evaluated by a parametric study with two single damage cases. Results confirm that the damage index based on lateral vibration modes has the ability to successfully detect and locate damage in suspended cables with 5% noise in modal data for a range of cable parameters. This simple approach therefore can be extended for timely damage detection in cables of suspension bridges and thereby enhance their service during their life spans.

Legal translation

Legal translation theory brooks little interference with the source legal text. With few exceptions (Joseph 2005; Hammel 2008; Harvey 2002; Kahaner 2005; Kasirer 2001; Lawson 2006), lawyers and linguists tend to tether themselves to the pole of literalism. More a tight elastic band than an unyielding rope, this tether constrains — rather than prohibits — liberal legal translations. It can stretch to accommodate a degree of freedom by the legal translator however, should it go too far, it snaps back to the default position of linguistic fidelity. This ‘stretch and snap’ gives legal translation a unique place in general translation theory. In the general debate over the ‘degree of freedom’ the translator enjoys in conveying the meaning of the text, legal translation theory has reached its own settlement. Passivity is the default; creativity, the ‘qualified’ exception (Hammel 2008: 275).

Spanish version of the screening Orebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire: A cross-cultural adaptation and validation

Background Spanish is one of the five most spoken languages in the world. There is currently no published Spanish version of the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire (OMPQ). The aim of the present study is to describe the process of translating the OMPQ into Spanish and to perform an analysis of reliability, internal structure, internal consistency and concurrent criterion-related validity. Methods Design: Translation and psychometric testing. Procedure: Two independent translators translated the OMPQ into Spanish. From both translations a consensus version was achieved. A backward translation was made to verify and resolve any semantic or conceptual problems. A total of 104 patients (67 men/37 women) with a mean age of 53.48 (±11.63), suffering from chronic musculoskeletal disorders, twice completed a Spanish version of the OMPQ. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability, the internal structure, internal consistency and concurrent criterion-related validity with reference to the gold standard questionnaire SF-12v2. Results All variables except “Coping” showed a rate above 0.85 on reliability. The internal structure calculation through exploratory factor analysis indicated that 75.2% of the variance can be explained with six components with an eigenvalue higher than 1 and 52.1% with only three components higher than 10% of variance explained. In the concurrent criterion-related validity, several significant correlations were seen close to 0.6, exceeding that value in the correlation between general health and total value of the OMPQ. Conclusions The Spanish version of the screening questionnaire OMPQ can be used to identify Spanish patients with musculoskeletal pain at risk of developing a chronic disability.

Integrating and evaluating neural word embeddings in information retrieval

Recent advances in neural language models have contributed new methods for learning distributed vector representations of words (also called word embeddings). Two such methods are the continuous bag-of-words model and the skipgram model. These methods have been shown to produce embeddings that capture higher order relationships between words that are highly effective in natural language processing tasks involving the use of word similarity and word analogy. Despite these promising results, there has been little analysis of the use of these word embeddings for retrieval. Motivated by these observations, in this paper, we set out to determine how these word embeddings can be used within a retrieval model and what the benefit might be. To this aim, we use neural word embeddings within the well known translation language model for information retrieval. This language model captures implicit semantic relations between the words in queries and those in relevant documents, thus producing more accurate estimations of document relevance. The word embeddings used to estimate neural language models produce translations that differ from previous translation language model approaches; differences that deliver improvements in retrieval effectiveness. The models are robust to choices made in building word embeddings and, even more so, our results show that embeddings do not even need to be produced from the same corpus being used for retrieval.

Job performance ratings: The relative importance of mental ability, conscientiousness, and career adaptability

According to career construction theory, continuous adaptation to the work environment is crucial to achieve work and career success. In this study, we examined the relative importance of career adaptability for job performance ratings using an experimental policy-capturing design. Employees (N = 135) from different vocational backgrounds rated the overall job performance of fictitious employees in 40 scenarios based on information about their career adaptability, mental ability, conscientiousness, and job complexity. We used multilevel modeling to investigate the relative importance of each factor. Consistent with expectations, career adaptability positively predicted job performance ratings, and this effect was relatively smaller than the effects of conscientiousness and mental ability. Job complexity did not moderate the effect of career adaptability on job performance ratings, suggesting that career adaptability predicts job performance ratings in high-, medium-, and low-complexity jobs. Consistent with previous research, the effect of mental ability on job performance ratings was stronger in high- compared to low-complexity jobs. Overall, our findings provide initial evidence for the predictive validity of employees' career adaptability with regard to other people's ratings of job performance.

Enhancing ethical data translation in educational qualitative research

Many educational researchers conducting studies in non-English speaking settings attempt to report on their project in English to boost their scholarly impact. It requires preparing and presenting translations of data collected from interviews and observations. This paper discusses the process and ethical considerations involved in this invisible methodological phase. The process includes activities prior to data analysis and to its presentation to be undertaken by the bilingual researcher as translator in order to convey participants’ original meanings as well as to establish and fulfil translation ethics. This paper offers strategies to address such issues; the most appropriate translation method for qualitative study; and approaches to address political issues when presenting such data.

When and why threats go undetected: Impacts of event rate and shift length on threat detection accuracy during airport baggage screening

Objective: We aimed to assess the impact of task demands and individual characteristics on threat detection in baggage screeners. Background: Airport security staff work under time constraints to ensure optimal threat detection. Understanding the impact of individual characteristics and task demands on performance is vital to ensure accurate threat detection. Method: We examined threat detection in baggage screeners as a function of event rate (i.e., number of bags per minute) and time on task across 4 months. We measured performance in terms of the accuracy of detection of Fictitious Threat Items (FTIs) randomly superimposed on X-ray images of real passenger bags. Results: Analyses of the percentage of correct FTI identifications (hits) show that longer shifts with high baggage throughput result in worse threat detection. Importantly, these significant performance decrements emerge within the first 10 min of these busy screening shifts only. Conclusion: Longer shift lengths, especially when combined with high baggage throughput, increase the likelihood that threats go undetected. Application: Shorter shift rotations, although perhaps difficult to implement during busy screening periods, would ensure more consistently high vigilance in baggage screeners and, therefore, optimal threat detection and passenger safety.