Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) and the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) have been adopted by large healthcare organization to support stroke diagnosis to reduce the level of misdiagnosis occurrence. This research presents a methodology for constructing a stroke decision support system (Stroke DSS) which integrates basic information, physical and image stroke assessment criterions, constructs ischemic, hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage of stroke diagnosis flow. A prototype embedded methodology was built to support stroke diagnosis in healthcare organization. Using a design science approach, we embed the constructs of our methodology in a prototype and perform a usability evaluation to demonstrate the utility of our approach. The usability evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. The resulting system allowed flexible knowledge model and representation that are useful for stroke diagnosis.

The business environment nowadays becomes much more dynamically and tensely than the past driven by the trend of globalization and free trading. Therefore, any enterprise in the world has to face competition from everywhere in the world. Under such complicated business environment, it¡¦s dangerous to make decision based on past experience or instinct. If some key message is missed or not collected, a disaster caused by logical decision, but far away from the reality might just happen. In last couple decades, software providers launched DSS(Decision Support System), BI(Business Intelligence), ¡K, etc. based on current enterprise IT infrastructure like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), MRPII(Manufacturing Resource Planning), ¡K, etc. to help enterprise for decision making. However, such systems are not popular in Taiwan, not to mention the successful stories. While I studied the lesson ¡§information technology and competitive advantage¡¨ conducted by Profession Kuo, I concluded from classmates¡¦ discussion that the root causes were as follows. 1. Most Taiwan manufacturers¡¦ strategy is to launch product at lower cost to allow them to win business via price war. Therefore, they are willing to invest tangible hardware, not intangible software. 2. The branches of international companies can¡¦t develop their own information system due to Corporate policy or security concern. Based on above mentioned, I started thinking if we could have a BI system that doesn¡¦t need to spend money, is easy to implement, and no need for Corporate approval. Such BI system could help management to retrieve effective and enough information for precise decision making. After evaluation, I think Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software is the most suitable solution. It¡¦s because almost all enterprises have it, it can contain 1M units of data in a file, and useful tools of macro, pivot table, sorting, filtering, VBA(Visual Basic for Application). Furthermore, the nature of spreadsheet is similar to database structure, so it can be easily integrated with database like SQL database, Microsoft Access. Thanks to Profession Kuo¡¦s coaching, I started doing research, and studied necessary tool like VBA, ¡K, etc. to warm up for this thesis. After months, I finally finish it, and I hope it can contribute to the ones that have similar problem with me.

The research focuses on the application of site selection for cage aquaculture in Taiwan by developing the site evaluation DSS (Decision Support System). The modeling aspect of the system belongs to the domain of multi-criteria decision theories, which AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and Fuzzy Set theory were used. Two case studies based on real world and hypothetical data were conducted to verify the integrity of the system. According to the literature review and the interview with several domain experts, various impact factors were identified first. The corresponding weights of each factor were then decided by analyzing the questionnaires designed based on the concept of AHP. The following work was to evaluate those impact factors based on the experience of domain experts using some appropriate approaches. To represent the domain knowledge, it is appropriate to use rule based inference system. Besides, fuzzy set theory was chosen to describe the antecedent and consequence of the rule base due to the considerations of uncertainty from human experts and ocean field data. Several related mythologies derived from the fuzzy set theory were used, such as the operation of fuzzy composition, determination of suitable membership function, fuzzy relationship matrix, fuzzy inference, defuzzification, and fuzzy pattern classification. All impact factors were categorized into three different types of membership functions that were designed specifically for the site selection of cage aquaculture. The consequence in the rule base, which is the site suitability, was also represented as the unique membership function. To calculate the fuzzy relationship matrix, the current research found that the operation of ¡§algebraic product and bounder sum¡¨ would produce better results than the commonly used ¡§max-min¡¨ operation. Each impact factor would have the associated fuzzy relationship matrix derived from the rule base. The site suitability in term of a fuzzy set can then be inferred by the fuzzy composition of current situation of the factor and the relationship matrix. By multiplying the AHP weight and the fuzzy suitability, the final site suitability index, taking all the impact factors into consideration, can therefore be derived. The real data in Feng-Gang, located in the southern Taiwan, were collected and evaluated using the site selection DSS. The results show Feng-Gang is suitable for the development of cage aquaculture, which is validated by the current prosperous business locally in cage aquaculture. As for the evaluation of multiple sites, 18 hypothetical sites near shore around Taiwan were chosen to calculate the corresponding suitability indexes, which were then be partitioned into several groups using the fuzzy pattern classification. Based on the results, the sites that were classified in the same group have similar cultivation conditions, which also proves the applicability of the site evaluation DSS.

The planning and scheduling requirement of industry can not be satisfied by traditional scheduling systems. Companies need to put extra human resource to fix the result made by these systems. The main reason is an improper assumption of infinite capacity adopted by these scheduling systems. In order to improve the scheduling result, this research refers plastic injection industry¡¦s characters to implement a decision support system. The decision support system integrates Forward Finite Loading and Constraint Directed into our algorithm in order to minimize the increase in total cost, and raise the capacity balance between machines .According to the result of the practical research, we can prove this decision support system is more effective and efficiency than the traditional scheduling method.

Problem solving for location is one of the most critical cognitive skills that can be utilized in deriving a naive location and/or finding a primed location in large open spaces of the built environment. Wayfinding or locating objects in large open spaces is not often easy for individuals due their limitations in building effective mental models of the open space or their lack of a correct procedure for determining the grid coordinates of an object within that space. With the success of the global positioning system (GPS) in providing location information, it is expected that this technology could be utilized to control and improve building construction and facility management productivity within building interior spaces as well. However, GPS cannot perform robustly inside buildings due to the exterior walls or roofs, which weaken the signal. The Cricket indoor location support technology has been developed to respond to this limitation. Cricket uses a combination of radio frequency (RF), ultrasonic sound signals, and the triangular rule to calculate a user's current location. This research investigated performances within the context of a work order system between a human-based system and a computer-based system. Thirty subjects participated in this study. The subjects were asked to derive, find and verify a target box's location. Locating time-on-task, accuracy, and attitudes were measured. The overwhelming results demonstrated the speed and accuracy of the computer-based system over the human-based system. In addition to longer procedural processing times, subject errors included: 1) an incorrect estimation of distance, 2) an inability to correctly locate and/or project the X-axis and Y-axis grid lines, and 3) an incorrect treatment of the positive and negative characteristics of these coordinates. Even though half of the subjects liked the human-based system more, they significantly believe the computer-based system to be more accurate. All but one subject preferred that the computer-based system be used in his or her own future business. Finally, results indicate that the computer-based system does relieve humans of cognitive dependency, which may be further evidence that the computer-based system developed and tested in this study achieved its purpose.

Ashe Juniper encroachment onto privately owned rangelands in Central Texas has resulted in significant degradation of the ecological condition of these lands, and a subsequent public concern for the hydrologic function, wildlife habitat, and livestock production these historically predominant grasslands provide. The result has been an interest and public investment in land restoration programs such as the removal and management of brush via landowner cost-share. Implementation of a publicly funded land restoration program requires the allocation of millions of dollars of public funds on private lands over large geographic areas that represent hundreds of landowners with varying property management objectives, tract sizes, ecological conditions, and geologic characteristics. This study describes the development, accuracy, and application of a decision support geographic information system (DSGIS) for land restoration programs in the Leon, Lampasas, and Bosque River watersheds in the Brazos River basin of Central Texas. The spatially referenced data layers and associated database within the DSGIS provide the capability to assemble site specific information including vegetation cover, endangered species habitat, landowners, ecological sites, elevation and slope, hydrologic characteristics, and political boundaries to support policy and implementation decisions for Ashe Juniper (Juniperus ashei) brush control and management and goldencheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia) habitat restoration programs. The goldencheeked warbler is a federally listed endangered species with a breeding range limited to the oak-juniper woodlands of Central Texas. The data layers were developed with the support of ongoing research from the Leon River Restoration Project (LRRP) in Coryell and Hamilton counties. One hundred and eighty-eight (188) sub-watersheds were delineated within the project area and prioritized for implementation of an Ashe Juniper brush control program and a golden-cheeked warbler habitat restoration program. Costs associated with the clearing and stacking of Ashe Juniper were estimated for selected subwatersheds based on projected landowner participation and an analysis of actual costs from the LRRP. Sub-watersheds were targeted for the implementation of an Ashe Juniper brush control and golden-cheeked warbler habitat management program in Bosque, Coryell, Lampasas, Bell, and Burnet counties. Detailed tables were also developed to document the density and quantity of pertinent layer attributes within each of the 188 sub-watersheds.

<p>The main purpose of this research is to use Hermeneutic research approach to find out how Decision Support System (DSS) is used in banks and financial services. The research started from one stance, from which the further process could be extended to reach more complete picture of Decision Support System’s usage in strategic decision makings in banks. The research is also trying to find out the drawbacks and benefits of the DSS which have been used nowadays in banks. Furthermore, the future improvements of using DSS to make better decisions related with moral and different environments are also being discussed in the research findings.</p><p>During the primary data collection, resources from different channels have been used to support the research. The primary data sources include lectures and discussion in three banks’ visiting opportunities in Stockholm, Sweden, one interview with IT Vice president from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, New York, two interviews with a professor and a director respectively from Lund University and Financial Services Innovation Centre in University College Cork, Ireland.</p><p>Experiences from both academic and practical have been shared to strength the research’s validity and trustworthiness. Hermeneutic research approach addresses through the whole research process which needs to be open-minded and flexible.</p><p>Unawareness of DSS for people who are working in banks is one of the issues today. Different embedded models regarding various functions are not so clear to bank staff; thus there is a gap between human decisions and system decisions. There is a variation of requirements between central banks, retail banks, commercial banks, investment banks. Hence there should be a differentiation when implementing a system. Banking systems are widespread systems which are influenced by environment factors, political, economic, socio-cultural and technological variables.</p>

This thesis focuses on the application of scientific information and planning support system (PSS) technologies to community planning and decision-making processes. Years of scientific research and recent technologicaladvances have produced a wealth of information and increased accessibility to this information. Technological advances have also enhanced the types of analysis that can be done to support planning and decision-making processes. However, having the capability to access this wealth of information and perform advanced analyses does not necessarily mean it results in incorporation of the data and analysis into. the planning or decision-making process.The main objective of this research is to devise a methodology to evaluate the role and impact of PSS technologies and scientific information on community level planning and decision-making processes. The methodology consists of six areas of focus: (l) issue of concern; (2) characteristics of the planning and decision-making process; (3) relevance of science to the issue; (4) capabilities ofthe PSS system; (5) roles and capabilities of the planners and decision-makers; and (6) impact of the science.The methodology is applied to Walden, Tennessee as the town goes through the process of creating a conservation-oriented zoning ordinance.

This thesis was aimed at the development of a Geographical Information System (GIS) based model to support the Rwanda Land Use and Development Master Plan. Developing sustainable land management is the main task of this master plan. Stakeholder’s involvement was of key importance. Their demands should be analysed and visualised to support discussions and the decision-making process. Spatial Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is a proven method for land-use planning purposes. However, most land-use planning applications focus on a specific theme, such as urban development. In addition, land-use planning is often limited to a relatively small area. This thesis focused at the development of a countrywide GIS model, containing all land-uses accommodated in three main land-use categories: urban, agriculture and conservation. The GIS model was largely based on the Land-Use Conflict Identification Strategy (LUCIS) model. Many of the goals, objectives, and subobjectives that described the earlier mentioned land-use categories were adopted from the original model. However, a significant number of them were dropped, and new were created to suit the Rwandan situation. Stakeholder’s involvement was realized by assigning weights to the goals and preference maps. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used as weighting method. ESRI’s ArcGIS ModelBuilder was used to give the model shape in the GIS. Firstly, suitability maps were created of all elements in the model. The suitability maps were then transformed into preference maps by weighting them. In the next step the preference maps were collapsed in three classes: low, medium and high preference. Finally, the preference maps of the three land-use categories were combined, in order to visualize conflict areas. Ortho photos proved to be useful when acting as reference for the suitability and preference maps. Despite a large number of missing datasets, the GIS model was executed to simplify the understanding. However, many of the obtained results were unreliable because of the incompleteness of datasets, and can therefore not be used for decision-making.  Unfortunately, due to the stage of the project it was not possible to obtain weights from the stakeholders, and should therefore be done when the time is right. Right Choice DSS, a very user-friendly decision support application, was proposed to use for calculating weights. To conclude, the developed GIS model integrated countrywide land-use suitability mapping and stakeholders’ wishes that can be used for discussions and decision making.

Managing groundwater can be difficult because there is no common perspective among stakeholders about what they wish for their desired future conditions (DFCs) for Texas' aquifers. Conflicts over how to manage aquifers, whether to mine or sustain groundwater levels are complicated by diverse state and local approaches. This dissertation proposes a decision support method to derive acceptable future aquifer conditions through engaging stakeholders by combining five processes: landowner surveys, stakeholder and decision maker focus groups, contingent valuation, system element identification and scenario-testing. Surveys of water users identified conflicts among water users and decision makers' preferences. For example, how much is groundwater worth in Texas? Responses to two survey questions revealed a willingness to buy groundwater for an average of $2,872 per acre-foot. Most landowners most did not want to sell groundwater at any cost. Those willing to sell revealed an average of $4,069 per acre-foot. A survey of landowners and decision makers indicated that 41 percent of landowners indicated that no new users be issued permits to support stable Trinity Aquifer groundwater levels. Meanwhile, the decision makers chose a DFC of a 30 foot drawdown in the Trinity Aquifer over 50 years. Stakeholder surveys identified the 'best groundwater decision makers' as being the stakeholders or well owners, yet 75 percent of the decision makers preferred the groundwater conservation district board presidents. This suggests that stakeholders would prefer to be the decision makers rather than being asked for their preferences. One decision-maker focus group identified 12 elements representing their understanding of the DFC process. These elements form a system information diagram or preference map. Such a map can help identify alternative pathways for solving problems in the decision process. These complexities remain challenging as Texas moves toward more local regulatory control, more competing interests, and less certainty about Texas' future groundwater supply. / text