A substantial amount of research has been conducted over the past 40 years on technical aspects of computerized adaptive testing (CAT), such as item selection algorithms, item exposure controls, and termination criteria. However, there is little literature providing practical guidance on the development of a CAT. This paper seeks to collate some of the available research methodologies into a ge...

Switzerland, with its ETHZ and EPFL, universities, advanced technical colleges, the CSEM, the Empa and the Paul Scherrer Institute, possesses a complete chain of knowledge and interdisciplinary competence which ranks it among the worldwide leaders in medical technology. To ensure that a wider range of excellent research results are translated into marketable products and methods, the CTI Agency...

Despite advances in the processing and display of electroencephalographic (EEG) data, the utility of this inexpensive and noninvasive technique in the investigation of schizophrenia has not been well established. We studied the resting EEG in 19 medication-free patients with chronic schizophrenia and 21 normal controls. Patients with schizophrenia had increased delta activity which was not spec...

With an estimated 90 percent or more of alcohol use disorders going untreated (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 2012), the search for interventions that easily, effectively, and economi­ cally reach more people has become a priority. The landmark 1990 report, Broadening the Base of Treatment for Alcohol Problems (Institute of Medicine 1990), refocused alcohol treatment ...

The ongoing H1N1 influenza pandemic has provided a vivid reminder that hospitals are on the front lines of infectious disease monitoring, identification, and reporting in their communities. And, within hospitals, infection prevention professionals are key players—both in managing and coordinating the responses of their institutions to ongoing infectious disease challenges and in preparing for f...

Computers have become more and more involved in diagnosis, planning and surveillance of therapy in both medicine and dentistry. They are increasingly becoming an integral part of researches in dentistry and we are obliged to get the best insight possible into their function and their capabilities in order to make the best possible use of their capacity. In oral and maxillofacial surgery the use...

A method of item pool design is proposed that uses an optimal blueprint for the item pool calculated from the test specifications. The blueprint is a document that specifies the attributes that the items in the computerized adaptive test (CAT) pool should have. The blueprint can be a starting point for the item writing process, and it can be used to assemble item pools in a system of rotating p...