OBJECTIVE To improve the psychometric properties of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and elevate staff motivation. METHODS The OSCE was conducted in May 2006 at the Department of Surgery, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a pilot study for 95 students split over 2 consecutive days lasting 120 minutes each day. There were 15 actual stations on each day consistin...

Previous behavior-genetic research on adult personality relied primarily on self-reports or peer reports that may be subject to contrast effects, resulting in biased estimates of genetic and environmental influences. In the German Observational Study of Adult Twins (GOSAT), personality traits of 168 monozygotic (MZ).and 132 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs were rated on 35 adjective scales, largely ma...

The present study (1) assessed the reliability of the acceptable noise level (ANL) measure using speech-spectrum and speech-babble noises as the competing stimuli, and (2) investigated the relationship between ANL and preference for background sounds in 30 young adults with normal hearing sensitivity. Listeners were evaluated during three test sessions approximately one week apart. Results demo...

BACKGROUND In 2005, The Joint Commission included medication reconciliation as a National Patient Safety Goal to reduce medication errors related to omissions, duplications and interactions. Hospitals continue to struggle to implement successful programmes that meet these objectives. METHODS The authors used improvement methods and reliability principles to develop and implement a process for...

This study focusses on the development of a comprehensive multi-dimensional scale for assessing motivation for change in the alcohol dependent population. After establishing face validity, the items evolved were administered to a normal sample of 600 male subjects in whom psychiatric illness was ruled out. The data thus obtained was subjected to factor analysis. Six factors were obtained which ...

Quick and authentic identification of exotic and potentially invasive taxa with capability of causing high economic losses or detriments is essential prerequisite for effective plant quarantine and biological control initiatives. The order Thysanoptera includes several agricultural pest species that, not only because of their minute size but also due to their cryptic behavior, incline to undete...

CONTEXT Shoulder external rotators are challenged eccentrically throughout the deceleration phase of throwing, which is thought to contribute to overuse injuries. To evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programs, as well as identifying deficits, reliable and responsive measures of isometric and eccentric shoulder external rotation are necessary. Previously, isometric measures have primari...

Copyright 2000 / All rights reserved Companies of every sort are rushing to “.com” their businesses, creating new opportunities and challenges for service providers. As a result, these providers need ways to quickly differentiate themselves in the marketplace and to provide a highly reliable, scalable, and available level of service. In this article, Fred describes new CompactPCI solutions that...

The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of specific physiological, psychological, and cognitive variables in 31 chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) subjects and 31 matched control subjects. All variables were assessed weekly over a 4-week period and reliability was determined using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results ranged from moderately to highly reliable for all ...