FC-GAGA: Fully Connected Gated Graph Architecture for Spatio-Temporal Traffic Forecasting

Forecasting of multivariate time-series is an important problem that has applications in traffic management, cellular network configuration, and quantitative finance. A special case of the problem arises when there is a graph available that captures the relationships between the time-series. In this paper we propose a novel learning architecture that achieves performance competitive with or better than the best existing algorithms, without requiring knowledge of the graph. The key element of our proposed architecture is the learnable fully connected hard graph gating mechanism that enables the use of the state-of-the-art and highly computationally efficient fully connected time-series forecasting architecture in traffic forecasting applications. Experimental results for two public traffic network datasets illustrate the value of our approach, and ablation studies confirm the importance of each element of the architecture. The code is available here: https://github.com/boreshkinai/fc-gaga

Using modified Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) to assess undergraduate medical students

Introduction: Nowadays according to competency based curriculum, selecting an appropriate assessment method is inevitable. This study aimed to investigate application of Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) in undergraduate medical students. Methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted during emergency ward rotation in last year medical students using consensus sampling method. Each student performed 2 procedures at least twice under the observation of 2 assessors using modified DOPS rating scales designed for each procedure simultaneously. Correlation between DOPS score and final routine exam was measured. Face and content validity was determined by the panel of experts. Moreover, through the test-retest and interrater reliability, the correlation of each score and total score was investigated. The spent time was calculated too. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 18. Results: Totally 60 students did 240 procedures under DOPS. The face and content validity confirmed by an expert panel. The findings showed that there was a significant correlation between the scores of each test and the total DOPS score (r1=0.736**, r2=0.793**, r3=0.564**, r4=0.685**; p<0.001). There was a significant correlation between the first and second scores of doing the same procedure (Pearson Cor.=0.74, p<0.001) and also between the scores of the two individual examiners when observing the same procedure (Pearson Cor.=0.84-0.94, p<0.001). The results showed that there was no correlation (Pearson Correlation=0.018, p<0.89) between the scores of this test and the final routine ward exam scores. The average time for doing DOPS test and the average time for providing feedback were 11.17±7.5 Max and 9.2±4.5 Min, respectively. Conclusion: The use of novel performance assessment methods such as DOPS is highly beneficial in order to ensure the adequacy of learning in medical students and assess their readiness for accepting professional responsibilities. DOPS as a practical and reliable test with acceptable validation can be used to assess clinical skills of undergraduate medical students

Teachers’ and Students’ Satisfaction with DOPS Examination in Islamic Azad University of Mashhad, a Study in Year 2012

Introduction: Assessment is an essential and integral part of medicine. In addition to validity and reliability, a desirable method for student evaluation should leave a positive effect on student’s learning and be feasible and acceptable by students and teachers. Hence, this study aimed to survey students’ and teachers’ satisfaction with DOPS examination. Methods: This experimental study used a single group post test study design in which a total of 60 medical internship students of emergency ward of 22 Bahman and Arya educational hospitals participated. After obtaining testimonial from students, in an emergency course, they were trained for one month on how the DOPS evaluation is run. The assessors (n=23) included clinical teachers and other professionals such as nurses. Expert panel selected seven basic medical skills and provided assessment checklists. Students selected two skills out of seven and performed through DOPS. A researcher-made questionnaire in Likert scale (0-3 points) was developed to investigate students’ and assessors’ viewpoints in areas of feasability, educational effects, and satisfaction that and its validity and reliability was confirmed prior to utilization. Data was analyzed using students’ one-sample and paired samples t test. Results: From students’ viewpoint, feasibility, educational effects, and satisfaction rates were significantly higher than 50 (average expected grade). Meanwhile, educational and learning effects showed the highest points (78±14.8) among them. From the assessors’ viewpoint also, satisfaction in the mentioned areas was significantly higher than fifty. Satisfaction with examination showed highest score (76.7±11.6) among all domains. Conclusion: According to the compliance of DOPS method with the performance objectives of medical curriculum and students’ and assessors’ viewpoints regarding its acceptability, feasibility, and educational impact in the existing clinical centers, as well as their satisfaction with this method, it is recommended to assess senior medical students’ clinical performance using this method