JADA, Vol. 133, May 2002 569 Use of the risk assessment tool over time may result in more uniform and accurate periodontal clinical decisionmaking. R E S E A R C H

In this paper we propose a new general method for decisionmaking under uncertainty based on the belief interval distance. We show through several simple illustrative examples how this method works and its ability to provide reasonable results.

Ever since the advent of Women in Development literature in the 1970s, many researchers have argued that women’s empowerment is closely linked to positive outcomes for families and societies (Presser and Sen, 2000). Nowhere has this argument been more important than in the literature on child health (Mason, 1986). While intuitively plausible, the empirical work on this topic has been limited. T...

Beginning with the proposition that the western medical tradition of emphasizing patient autonomy undermines a patient’s ability to limit his or her role in medical decision-making, the author of this student note proposes a model of informed waiver to counterbalance the perceived legal bias towards informed consent. Part I explains the western notion of patient autonomy in two distinct ways: f...

An alternative to conventional models that treat decisions as open-loop independent choices is presented. The alterative model is based on observations of work situations such as healthcare, where decisionmaking is more typically a closed-loop, dynamic, problem-solving process. The article suggests five important distinctions between the processes assumed by conventional models and the reality ...

Some applications based on the theory of fuzzy sets in problems of computer recognition of vowels and identifying the person from his spoken words using only the first three formants (F 1, F2, and F3) of the unknown utterance are presented. Two decision algorithmic methods using weighted-distance functions and property sets are developed and implemented with the optimum size of the training set...

Recursive simulation is the technique of having simulated decisionmakers themselves use simulation to inform decisionmaking. In past research, these recursive simulation runs have evaluated the possible outcomes given that a decision was made one way or the other, allowing a simulated commander to consider the consequences of the alternatives. However, this allows only a reactive benefit, since...

How do you make decisions? By thinking about the problem for a little while and then deciding in favor of "what feels right?" Does the way you make a decision depend on how important the decision is? Have you ever overlooked critical information at the time when you originally made the decision and why did you? Do you ever have to go back, re-think, and then decide differently, and if so, how d...