Aim was to assess students’ perceptions and attitudes towards having their first summative (OSCE) at the dental school of the Libyan International Medical University, Libya. A 14 item questionnaire used in previous publications was adapted to assess 5th year students’ responses. Twenty four students filled the questionnaire immediately after sitting OSCE examination. The questionnaire was admin...

PURPOSE There is no single, universally accepted definition of quality of life (QOL). Both subjective and objective information is necessary to assess QOL. The aim of the study was to evaluate in cross-sectional and prospective manner objective and subjective quality of life in schizophrenic patients 1 month after hospitalization and in one year follow-up. MATERIAL AND METHODS A study sample ...

Combinatorial problems appear in many real life circumstances, for example, when we drive from one location to another, we usually look for the shortest route, when schools have to allocate students and teachers to classrooms, they do this assignment trying not to crowd the room and not to interfere with the teacher’s schedule, and when the postman has to ride his bike to do the deliveries, he ...

The first-night effect--marked differences between the first- and the second-night sleep spent in a laboratory--is a widely known phenomenon that accounts for the common practice of excluding the first-night sleep from any polysomnographic analysis. The extent to which the first-night effect is present in a participant, as well as its duration (1 or more nights), might have diagnostic value and...

Any piecewise smooth function that is specified by an evaluation procedure involving smooth elemental functions and piecewise linear functions like min and max can be represented in the so-called abs-normal form. By an extension of algorithmic, or automatic, differentiation, one can then compute certain first and second order derivative vectors and matrices that represent a local piecewise line...

Multi-objective optimization is known as a useful mathematical model in order to investigate some real world problems with connicting objectives, arising from economics, engineering and human decision making. In this paper, a convex composite multi-objective optimization subject to a closed convex set constraint is studied. New rst-order optimality conditions of a weakly eecient solution for th...

INTRODUCTION A considerable number of clinical studies experience delays, which result in increased duration and costs. In multicentre studies, patient recruitment is among the leading causes of delays. Poor site selection can result in low recruitment and bad data quality. Site selection is therefore crucial for study quality and completion, but currently no specific guidelines are available. ...

Transdermal alcohol sensors continuously collect reliable and valid data on alcohol consumption in vivo over the course of hours to weeks. Transdermal alcohol readings are highly correlated with breath alcohol measurements, but transdermal alcohol levels lag behind breath alcohol levels by one or more hours owing to the longer time required for alcohol to be expelled through perspiration. By pr...

We present an algorithm for designing high efficiency (∼98%), small-footprint (1.5-4 square vacuum wavelengths) couplers between arbitrary nanophotonic waveguide modes in two dimensions. Our "objective-first" method is computationally fast (15 minutes on a single-core personal computer), requires no trial-and-error, and does not require guessing a good starting design. We demonstrate designs fo...

OBJECTIVE To quantify longitudinal changes in sedentary behavior (ie, nonexercise seated or lying behavior) after stroke to ascertain whether reducing sedentary behavior might be a new therapeutic target. DESIGN Longitudinal cohort study of patients with acute stroke who were followed over 1 year. SETTING Acute teaching hospital or outpatient clinic, and the community after discharge. PAR...