Strategic analysis of healthcare service quality using fuzzy AHP methodology

Managers in the service sector are under pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer-focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. It is essential that customer expectations are properly understood and measured under the constraints that organizations must manage. The majority of the work to date has attempted to use the SERVQUAL (service quality) methodology in an effort to measure service quality. In this study, firstly the concept and factors of service quality are examined. Then a fuzzy AHP (analytic hierarchy process) is structured to evaluate the proposed service quality framework. A case study in healthcare sector in Turkey is presented to clarify the methodology. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Interferon-?2b may impair myelinization of rat optic nerve

PubMedID: 16644604This story investigated the effects of interferon-alpha-2b (IFN-?2b) on the optic nerves of 17 adult male Wistar albino rats. Animals were divided into 3 groups: 6 rats (group 1) received 7.5 units (5 mIU/m 2 ) IFN-?2b-a normal treatment dose, and 6 (groups 2) received 30.0 units (20 mIU/m 2 )-a high dose; 5 rats (control group) received 0.5 mL saline. Test substances were delivered by intraperitoneal injection 3 times a week for 3 weeks with animals under inhalation anesthesia. After the rats were sacrificed, their optic nerves were dissected, sectioned, and examined under an electron microscope. The mean thicknesses of the basal membranes of blood vessels were 86.354 nm in the control group, 104.297 nm in group 1, and 140.181 nm in group 2. Basal membrane changes in IFN groups were dose dependent. Mitochondrial swelling, degeneration, increased diameter of vacuoles, and vacuolization in the cytoplasm of oligodendrocytes and astrocytes were also observed. IFN-?2b has histopathologic effects on blood vessels and cells of the optic nerve. ©2006 Health Communications Inc

Germination Requirements of Androsace Villosa L. (Primulaceae)

We investigated the germination requirements of Androsace villosa L. (Hairy Androsace), which spreads on limestone or granite screes or ledges of rocky or turfy slopes and hilltops of the alpine zone. With seeds collect-ed from Uludag Mt. (Bursa, Turkey, 2200–2300 m a.s.l.), germination was studied in fresh seeds, seeds sub-jected to short-time moist chilling (15 d, +4°C), to GA3 (100, 150 and 250 ppm), and to chilling plus GA3. The hormone and moist chilling treatments were carried out in continuous darkness (20°C) and under a 12 h pho-toperiod at 20/10°C. Seeds maintained in darkness gave higher germination percentages than seeds maintained under a photoperiod. Germination rates rose to 90–97 % with 100–250 ppm GA3 and short-time moist chilling in continuous darkness (20°C). Seeds germinated rapidly under a combination of GA3 and short-time moist chilling in continuous darkness, generally giving the lowest mean germination times (4.4–5.0 d) among the treat-ments

Validity of sentinel node biopsy in early oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma

Purpose: This study investigates the possibility and sensibility of using sentinel node biopsy (SNB) during surgery for oropharyngeal carcinomas with clinically and radiographically unremarkable cervical lymph nodes. Materials and methods: A total of 36 patients who were treated for early oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma and unremarkable cervical lymph nodes were included in this study. After lymphoscintigraphy for detecting sentinel lymph nodes (SLN), the SLN were excised first. Thereafter elective neck dissection was performed. Histopathological and immunochemical examinations were used to examine the SLN and all other lymph nodes. Results: The preoperative SLN detection rate was 97.2% (35 of 36). SLN in level V were detected in four patients (11.1%). Metastases were found in 33.3% of the patients (12 of 36). All metastases were in the marked SLN. No skip metastases could be detected. A specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 94.4% were identified for the SNB. Conclusion: The study confirms that SNB is a precise diagnostic procedure for assessing the nodal status of cervical lymph nodes. Further studies are needed to determine whether SNB without elective neck dissection for clinically and radiologically unremarkable cervical lymph nodes can become a reliable course of treatment for carcinomas of the head and neck region. (C) 2018 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved