Slides with English text that are explained in Persian

The common pattern of presentation in the Iranian medical community is lengthy English text in slides that are presented orally in Farsi, both in conferences and classrooms. In this paper, we aim to further explore this phenomenon based on a theory in the domain of cognitive science named the cognitive load theory (CLT). According to Atkinson and Shiffrin's model introduced in 1968, human memory consists of three parts: sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory. Information first enters the sensory memory, and if received adequate attention and reaches the level of consciousness, it enters the working memory, which, unlike the other two memories, i.e, sensory and long-term memory, has a limited capacity (1). Interestingly, working memory has two separate and independent channels for processing visual and auditory information with a limited and predetermined capacity (dual-channel theory). As a result, the speed of learning in humans restricts (2). In 1988, Sweller proposed a theory of learning called the CLT, in which the three key components of the cognitive structure, i.e. memory systems, learning processes, and types of the cognitive load imposed on the working memory, were merged. According to this theory, because of the limited capacity of the working memory, any factor that imposes an excessive load on this memory will disrupt the learning process (2). Here three types of loads are introduced: 1. Intrinsic load is related to the task. The more complex the information that must be processed by the working memory, the greater the load imposes. – Cont

Clinical reasoning assessment through medical expertise theories: Past, present and future directions

Exploration into the concept of "medical expert" dates back to more than 50 years ago, yet yielding three leading theories in the area of clinical reasoning, namely, knowledge structure, hypotheticdeductive, and dual process. Each theory defines "medical expert" in a dissimilar way. Therefore, the methods of assessment through which the experts are identified have been changed during the time. In this paper, we tried to categorize and introduce some widely used tests for identification of experts within the framework of existing main theories. Implementation of the proposed categorization for providing future assessment tools is discussed

Information reliability in complex multitask networks

The emergence of distributed and complex networks has altered the field of information and data processing in the past few years. In distributed networks, the connected neighboring nodes can cooperate and share information with each other in order to solve particular tasks. However, in many applications the agents might be reluctant to share their true data with all their neighbors due to privacy and security constraints. In this paper, we study the performance of multitask distributed networks where sharing genuine information is subject to a cost. We formulate an information credibility model which results in the probability of sharing genuine information at each time instant according to the cost. Each agent then shares its true information with only a subset of its neighbors while sending fabricated data to the rest according to this probability. This behavior can affect the performance of the whole network in an adverse manner especially in cases where the cost is high. To overcome this problem, we propose an adaptive reputation protocol which enables the agents to evaluate the behavior of their neighbors over time and select the most reputable subset of neighbors to share genuine information with. We provide an extensive simulation-based analysis to compare the performance of the proposed method with several other distributed learning strategies. The results show that the proposed method outperforms the other learning strategies and enables the network to have a superior performance especially when the cost of sharing genuine information is high

Assessment of demand for and utilization of dental services by insurance coverage in a developing oral health care system

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between demand for and utilization of dental services by insurance coverage among adults in Iran.Methods A cross-sectional survey based on telephone interviews was done. A total of 6,029 adults participated in this study conducted in Iran. The interviews were carried out using a structured questionnaire and covered dental visits, demographics and socio-economic background.Results Of 6,029 participants, 86% reported having health insurance, 58% had public, and 28% had both public and commercial insurance. Those with both public and commercial insurance coverage had higher odds for dental visits within the past 12 months [odds ratio (OR) = 1.5], and for dental check-ups (OR = 1.5). Receipt of restorative and expensive services (OR = 1.4) was more likely by those with both public and commercial insurance. Tooth extraction was more likely in subjects with no insurance coverage (OR = 1.6).Conclusion This study revealed a positive relationship between insurance coverage and demand for and utilization of dental services in a country with a developing health care system