In conceptual design, there are decision problems wherein the information cannot be assessed precisely in a quantitative manner, but may be assessed in a qualitative manner. This necessitates a linguistic descript on a decision problem in conceptual design. Based on this viewpoint a new fuzzy decision model for selecting the preferred conceptual design from a set of alternatives is presented. T...

BACKGROUND Diagnostic imaging represents the fastest growing segment of costs in the US health system. This study investigated the cost-effectiveness of alternative diagnostic approaches to meniscus tears of the knee, a highly prevalent disease that traditionally relies on MRI as part of the diagnostic strategy. PURPOSE To identify the most efficient strategy for the diagnosis of meniscus tea...

Important marketing scales such as SERVQUAL are often adapted for use in a particular applied/theory-testing context and/or refined using some statistical method, assuming the resultant scale will have improved psychometric properties for a particular application. However, little attention has been paid to the consequences of how scale modifications are made, the criteria that are used to asses...

OBJECTIVE To explore the implications of current approaches used by health plans and purchasers to identify preferred hospitals for tiered networks using cost and quality information. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING 2002 secondary data from WebMD Quality Services on hospital quality and costs in five markets (Boston, Miami, Phoenix, Seattle, and Syracuse). STUDY DESIGN We compared four alternati...

Manuscript under review. Please do not quote without permission. Information Distortion in Risky Decisions 2 Manuscript under review. Please do not quote without permission. ABSTRACT—Substantial evidence indicates that information is distorted during decision making. However, no studies have assessed the distortion of outcome and probability information in risky decisions or the effects of ambi...

2,4,6-Tri(dimethylaminomethyl)-phenol was synthesized as a trifunctional moiety and incorporated onto poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) to obtain a novel quaternary ammonium functionalized PPO (PPO-TQA). Membranes of the polymer were fabricated and exhibited high conductivity, a low swelling ratio and water uptake.