If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The aim of this article is to examine the differences in service quality between public and private hospitals in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach -This study applies the principles behind the SERVQUAL model and compares Turkey's public and private hospital care service quality. The study sample contains a total of 200 outpatients. Through the identification of 40 service quality indicators and the use of a Likert-type scale, two questionnaires containing 80-items was developed. The former measured patients' expectations prior to admission to public and private hospital service quality. The latter measured patient perceptions of provided service quality. Findings -The results indicate that inpatients in the private hospitals were more satisfied with service quality than those in the public hospitals. The results also suggest that inpatients in the private hospitals were more satisfied with doctors, nurses and supportive services than their counterparts in the public hospitals. Finally, the results show that satisfaction with doctors and reasonable costs is the biggest determinants of service quality in the public hospitals. Originality/value -Consequently, SERVQUAL, as a standard instrument for measuring functional service quality, is reliable and valid in a hospital environment.

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This study presents a more efficient and innovative prototype of a hydrogen generation system using proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. The aim of this study is to generate hydrogen gas energy that conducts the chemical reaction by electrolytic movements as well as to design a system that generates energy with H2 through new technology. The Cr‐C coated SS304 bipolar plates were used in the electrolysis cells and the septic mixture (urea, ammonia, methyl alcohol) was used in the electrolyzer as a chemical solution to make the hydrogen production more efficient and cost effective. The super strong magnets were also mounted on the outer surface of the electrolysis cells to improve the performance and efficiency. The performance of the electrolyzer was determined by operating the current and voltage parameters. The results were collected through experiments and the optimization of the different parameters. In this prototype study, the production of hydrogen gas in the system (1 MW) through the presented system was found to be as 6 m3 h−1 and the simple payback period (SPP) was calculated as 2.32 y. These results indicate that this system can produce hydrogen more efficiently and economically.

Statistical process control (SPC) is a powerful technique which organisations can use in their pursuit of continuous improvement of both product and service quality. Many organisations in the UK are still learning about the successful introduction, development and implementation of SPC, even though it has been widely and commonly used in many Japanese organisations with great success. Research in the UK academic institutions has clearly indicated that the only thing taught to engineers in relation to SPC is control charting and the mathematical aspects of the subject rather than the implementation aspects of the technique. It can be argued that it is not just control charts which makes SPC initiative successful in organisations, rather the emphasis should be on the critical factors which are essential for the success of SPC program and also issues such as “how to get started” and “where to get started”. This paper compares the existing frameworks for SPC implementation in terms of their strengths and weaknesses and then illustrates a conceptual framework for the successful introduction and application of SPC program in any organisation. The framework also shows a systematic approach to apply the SPC technique in an industrial setting.

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This study posed parameters effects to the PEM fuel cell performance by an experimental work. The aim of this study is to investigate performance effects of PEM fuel cells and to optimize water conditions as well as fuel cell performance. Platinum-plated catalyzed anode performance was demonstrated for the micro-scale modeling by experimental study in PEM fuel cell. Therefore, time dependent voltage and current parameter changes were observed for the performance analysis in the experimental study. PEM fuel cell was enhanced by adjusting the anode plate, air feed pump and hydrogen fuel quantities. This study is to determine about optimizing some parameters (pressure, flow rate, voltage) for the fuel cell performance. The result of this study was found to be 2.62 x 10 -7 [kg/s] average of water production and generated 42.5 [kJ] H2 energy. In conclusion, performance efficiency was found to be around 52%. These results demonstrated that water production was also very significant for the PEM fuel cell durability. PEM fuel cell energy efficiency increases while the mass flow is in a certain range and under pressure atmospheric conditions.