Purpose: To determine the total direct costs (fixed and variable costs) of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and MR tractography reconstruction of the brain. Materials and Methods: The direct fixed and variable costs of DTI with MR tractography were determined prospectively with time and motion analysis in a 1.5-Tesla MR scanner using 15 encoding directions. Seventeen patients with seizure disorde...

Conventional hedonic analysis measures willingness to pay for attributes on the basis of marginal fixed costs. We argue that in many cases variable costs are also affected by these attributes and that this should be taken into account. We develop a simple model to show that the marginal willingness to pay for a quality attribute has to be equal to the full marginal cost, which includes marginal...

in this paper we intend to improve the explanatory power of regressions when the deletion method is used for the remedy of multicolinearity. if one deletes the variable (s) that is (are) responsible for multicolinearity, he loses some information that is not common between the deleted variable (s) and the other remaining variables in the regression. to improve this method, we run the deleted va...

a strategy that integrates an organization's marketing goals into a cohesive whole, ideally drawn from market research, focuses on the ideal product mix in order to achieve maximum profit potential; the marketing strategy is set out as a marketing plan, a good idea, method, information, object, or service that is the end result of a process and serves as a need or want satisfier. it is usually ...

PURPOSE Recently robotic approaches to cystectomy have been reported, and while clinical and oncological efficacy continues to be evaluated, potential financial costs have not been clearly evaluated. In this study we present a financial analysis using current cost structures and clinical outcomes for robotic and open cystectomy for bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS The financial costs of ...

proposing a robust designed facility location is one of the most effective ways to hedge against unexpected disruptions and failures in a transportation network system. this paper considers the combined facility location/network design problem with regard to transportation link disruptions and develops a mixed integer linear programming formulation to model it. with respect to the probability o...

In 2008, a World Health Organization multi-national clinical trial found screening and brief intervention (SBI) to be effective in reducing illicit drug use and many have called for its widespread dissemination. To gain policy support for widespread dissemination, however, a strong business case must be made to policymakers. In particular, policymaker concerns over implementation costs can act ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the independent effect of a single lower respiratory tract infection, urinary tract infection, or other healthcare-acquired infection on length-of-stay and variable costs and to demonstrate the bias from omitted variables that is present in previous estimates. DESIGN Prospective cohort study.Setting. A tertiary care referral hospital and regional district hospital in sou...