Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are often unable to adequately fulfill their established roles due to physical disabilities and cognitive changes, making this chronic illness particularly threatening to personal identity. Twenty-five MS patients and 25 healthy controls were asked to recall five self-defining memories (SDM). Overall characteristics of SDM did not differ between patients and con...

The Sparse, Distributed Memory (SDM) model (Kanerva. 1984) is compared to Hopfield-type, neural-network models. A mathematical framework for cornporing the two models is developed, and the capacity of each model is investigated. The capacity of the SDM can be increased independent of the dimension of the stored vectors, whereas the Hopfield capacity is limited to a fraction of this dimension. T...

BACKGROUND The majority of patients diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer are in a position to choose between having a mastectomy or lumpectomy with radiation therapy (breast-conserving therapy). Since the long-term survival rates for mastectomy and for lumpectomy with radiation therapy are comparable, patients' informed preferences are important for decision-making. Although most clinicians...

BACKGROUND Enhancing health literacy can play a major role in improving healthcare and health across the globe. To build higher-order (communicative/critical) health literacy skills among socially disadvantaged Australians, we developed a novel shared decision making (SDM) training programme for adults with lower literacy. The programme was delivered by trained educators within an adult basic e...

BACKGROUND For most women, participation in decision-making during maternity care has a positive impact on their childbirth experiences. Shared decision-making (SDM) is widely advocated as a way to support people in their healthcare choices. The aim of this study was to identify quality criteria and professional competencies for applying shared decision-making in maternity care. We focused on d...

PURPOSE To compare modified Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (mETDRS) focal/grid laser photocoagulation with normal-density (ND-SDM) or high-density (HD-SDM) subthreshold diode-laser micropulse photocoagulation for the treatment diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODS A prospective, randomized, controlled, double-masked clinical trial with patients with previously untreated DME and be...

BACKGROUND Shared Decision Making (SDM) is regarded as the best practice model for the communicative challenge of decision making about treatment or diagnostic options. However, randomized controlled trials focusing the effectiveness of SDM trainings are rare and existing measures of SDM are increasingly challenged by the latest research findings. This study will 1) evaluate a new physicians' c...

Zimmermann-Laband Syndrome: Report of a Case with Early Cardiac Complications 1Atul P Sattur, 1Krishna N Burde, 2Venkatesh G Naikmasur, 3Megha Goyal 1Professor, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SDM College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Dharwar Karnataka, India 2Professor and Head, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, SDM College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Dharwar Karnat...