47 CFR 32.3000 - Instructions for balance sheet accounts-Depreciation and amortization.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Instructions for balance sheet accounts-Depreciation and amortization. 32.3000 Section 32.3000 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION... for Balance Sheet Accounts § 32.3000 Instructions for balance sheet accounts—Depreciation and...

26 CFR 1.822-3 - Amortization of premium and accrual of discount.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of... held by a mutual insurance company subject to the tax imposed by section 821. Such amortization and...

26 CFR 1.822-7 - Amortization of premium and accrual of discount.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of... held by a mutual insurance company subject to the tax imposed by section 821. Such amortization and...

7 CFR 4290.845 - Maximum rate of amortization on Loans and Debt Securities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE AND RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RURAL BUSINESS INVESTMENT COMPANY (âRBICâ) PROGRAM Financing of Enterprises by RBICs Structuring Rbic Financing of Eligible Enterprises-Types of Financings § 4290.845 Maximum rate of amortization on Loans and Debt Securities. The...

26 CFR 1.248-1T - Election to amortize organizational expenditures (temporary).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... accounting to which sections 446 and 481(a) apply if the corporation treated the item consistently for two or... business also is treated as a change in method of accounting if the corporation amortized organizational... obtaining of the corporate charter, are not alone sufficient to show the beginning of business. If the...

26 CFR 1.803-6 - Amortization of premium and accrual of discount.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... amortization of premium and accrual of discount on bonds, notes, debentures, or other evidences of indebtedness... earliest call date specified therein as a day certain, the earliest interest payment date if it is callable or payable at such date, the earliest date at which it is callable at par, or such other call or...

13 CFR 107.845 - Maximum rate of amortization on Loans and Debt Securities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... ADMINISTRATION SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT COMPANIES Financing of Small Businesses by Licensees Structuring Licensee's Financing of An Eligible Small Business: Terms and Conditions of Financing § 107.845 Maximum... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Maximum rate of amortization on...

The Effect of Shoulder Plyometric Training on Amortization Time and Upper-Extremity Kinematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Swanik, Kathleen A; Thomas, Stephen J; Struminger, Aaron H; Bliven, Kellie C Huxel; Kelly, John D; Swanik, Charles B

2016-12-01

Plyometric training is credited with providing benefits in performance and dynamic restraint. However, limited prospective data exist quantifying kinematic adaptations such as amortization time, glenohumeral rotation, and scapulothoracic position, which may underlie the efficacy of plyometric training for upper-extremity rehabilitation or performance enhancement. To measure upper-extremity kinematics and plyometric phase times before and after an 8-wk upper-extremity strength- and plyometric-training program. Randomized pretest-posttest design. Research laboratory. 40 recreationally active men (plyometric group, age 20.43 ± 1.40 y, height 180.00 ± 8.80 cm, weight 73.07 ± 7.21 kg; strength group, age 21.95 ± 3.40 y, height 173.98 ± 11.91 cm, weight 74.79 ± 13.55 kg). Participants were randomly assigned to either a strength-training group or a strength- and plyometric-training group. Each participant performed the assigned training for 8 wk. Dynamic and static glenohumeral and scapular-rotation measurements were taken before and after the training programs. Dynamic measurement of scapular rotation and time spent in each plyometric phase (concentric, eccentric, and amortization) during a ball-toss exercise were recorded while the subjects were fitted with an electromagnetic tracking system. Static measures included scapular upward rotation at 3 different glenohumeral-abduction angles, glenohumeral internal rotation, and glenohumeral external rotation. Posttesting showed that both groups significantly decreased the time spent in the amortization, concentric, and eccentric phases of a ball-toss exercise (P plyometric-training group exhibited an increase in internal rotation that was not present in the strength-training group (P plyometrics and strength training for reducing commonly identified upper-extremity-injury risk factors and improving upper-extremity performance.

17 CFR 256.108 - Accumulated provision for depreciation and amortization of service company property.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

..., unless the company maintains costs and related reserves for specific units or types of property. (c... depreciation and amortization of service company property. 256.108 Section 256.108 Commodity and Securities... COMPANIES AND SUBSIDIARY SERVICE COMPANIES, PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1935 Balance Sheet...

18 CFR 367.1110 - Account 111, Accumulated provision for amortization of service company property.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 2005, FEDERAL POWER ACT AND NATURAL GAS ACT UNIFORM SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS FOR CENTRALIZED SERVICE COMPANIES SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING... (§ 367.4040), for the current amortization of limited-term service company property investments. (2...

Amortization expenses' influence on financial position of the company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mijailović Snežana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Financial strength is a central issue of any business system and is reflected in payment, investing and financing. Depreciation as a form of self-financing aims to create added value company through increase in total revenues and income of a business entity. Since depreciation results from the positive business of the company, it represents its own stable and permanent source or funding available in the most important part of business economics - the process of reproduction. The revaluation of fixed assets, like a derived function of amortization, serves to objectively and more accurately show the property of the company for stakeholders.

Dynamic bridge-finding in õ(log² n) amortized time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Jacob; Rotenberg, Eva; Thorup, Mikkel

2018-01-01

2000], which was a bittrick-based improvement on the O((log n)4) amortized time algorithm by Holm et al.[STOC98, JACM2001]. Our approach is based on a different and purely combinatorial improvement of the algorithim of Holm et al., which by itself gives a new combinatorial

Establishing an Interest-Free Lending Platform Applying Optimum Premium, “Mesbah Point”, in Amortization and Time Value of Money

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Behnam Izadyar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of “Interest” has been viewed as a forbidden instrument in Islamic investments. This study has focused on establishing an interest-free platform, and introducing a new method of direct-to-consumer financing using the amortization and the time value of money. Based on this method, the borrower makes a pre-determined amount of upfront payment in order to receive zero percent interest rate financing and only makes monthly principal payments during the term of the loan.  Using the same interest rate and the same term period as in amortization, the total amount of interest occurring during the amortized loan is replaced as future value and the discounted value is calculated as the amount of upfront payment. The relationship between the amount of upfront payment in each range of 30,20,15,10 and 5 year terms and the interest rates 1%-30% shows a parabolic pattern in each term, in which the amount of upfront payment will increase to a pivotal level in each term and will decrease as the interest rate increases.  The vertex point of the parabola is named “Mesbah Point” in order to distinguish this conceptual point. Therefore, Mesbah Point is the optimum amount of upfront payment collected, irrespective of the interest rate, to receive an interest free, zero percent loan.  In other words, Mesbah Point is as an interest rate-proof value in which the borrower, regardless of interest rates in the market, can contribute a pre-determined amount of upfront payment to receive an interest free, zero percent interest rate loan.

On the Amortized Complexity of Zero Knowledge Protocols for Multiplicative Relations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cramer, Ronald; Damgård, Ivan Bjerre; Pastro, Valerio

2012-01-01

We present a protocol that allows to prove in zero-knowledge that committed values xi, yi, zi, i = 1,…,l satisfy xiyi = zi, where the values are taken from a finite field. For error probability 2− u the size of the proof is linear in u and only logarithmic in l. Therefore, for any fixed error...... theoretically secure. Using this type of commitments we obtain, in the preprocessing model, a perfect zero-knowledge interactive proof for circuit satisfiability of circuit C where the proof has size O(|C|). We then generalize our basic scheme to a protocol that verifies l instances of an algebraic circuit D...... over K with v inputs, in the following sense: given committed values xi,j and zi, with i = 1,…,l and j = 1,…,v, the prover shows that D(xi,1,…,xi,v) = zi for i = 1,…,l. The interesting property is that the amortized complexity of verifying one circuit only depends on the multiplicative depth...

24 CFR 982.623 - Manufactured home space rental: Housing assistance payment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... amortization cost may include debt service to amortize cost (other than furniture costs) included in the... amortize the cost of furniture, unless the PHA determines that furniture was not included in the purchase...) There is a separate fair market rent for a manufactured home space. The FMR for a manufactured home...

のれんの会計処理の国際比較と我が国の状況 : 米国の非公開会社におけるのれんの取扱いを中心に

OpenAIRE

小澤, 義昭

2016-01-01

The goodwill can be one of the largest items on a company's balance sheets, and it is currently amortized within 20 years in Japan. Under IFRS and U.S. GAAP, however, it is not amortized and is performed annual impairment testing. The accounting for goodwill is one of major differences among Japanese GAAP, IFRS and U.S. GAAP. Both sides are well-grounded and there has not been yet solved. Recently, the ASBJ publishes the Research Paper No.1 "Research on Amortization of Goodwill with a view to...

18 CFR 154.313 - Schedules for minor rate changes.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... of the End of the Test Period. (7) Schedule E. Working Capital. Show the various components provided.... Depreciation, Depletion, Amortization and Negative Salvage Expenses. Show, separately, the gas plant depreciation, depletion, amortization, and negative salvage expenses by functional classifications. For each...

78 FR 57219 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Form 4562

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-17

... 4562, Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property). DATES: Written comments... 20224, or through the internet, at [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Depreciation... 4562. Abstract: Form 4562 is used to claim a deduction for depreciation and amortization; to make the...

Financial reporting for the Powersmart programs of British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, A.T.

1990-01-01

The Powersmart program at British Columbia Hydro seeks to minimize the short- and long-term energy costs to customers through the efficient or avoided use of electricity. In determining the overall financial reporting of Powersmart, four areas were reviewed in depth. The question of deferral or expensing of expenditures was examined with reference to accounting principles and industry practice in Canada and the USA. Discussion is provided on the costs that would be deferred, the amortization period of deferred expenses, and financial statement presentation. Deferral and amortization appear appropriate if the costs incurred are recoverable under future rates. The design, development, and implementation of power saving programs are outlined as well as the criteria for selection of an amortization period. At British Columbia Hydro, all Powersmart programs are treated as one type of expense and an amortization period of 7 years has been selected for all programs to simplify the accounting

ECONOMIC CATEGORIES OF “AMORTIZATION” AND “DEPRECIATION”: THE HISTORY OF ACCOUNTING CONCEPT FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olesia Lemishovska

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the formation and development evolution of the accounting concept of amortization and depreciation of fixed and intangible assets. The methodological sense of the amortization and depreciation accrual processes and the resulting methods of their reflection in the accounting system in the context of historically formulated accounting theories and individual concepts are analysed. An estimation of historical experience through the representation of amortization and deterioration as objects of accounting in interrelation with their economic content is carried out. The level of accounting methods’ validity for calculating and displaying amortization charges and the amount of depreciation of fixed assets in the context of their consideration from the position of capital, fund, reserve and regulatory item are analysed. The possibilities of applying separate historically formulated ideas for developing an improved concept of accounting amortization adequate for the modern economy are set forth. The aim of the article is a historiographic analysis of the principal approaches and methodological foundations of accounting conventions of amortization, depreciation, and devaluation of economic entities assets and appropriateness assessment using individual developments in modern theory and practice. The subject of the article is the study of content and nature of amortization and depreciation of fixed assets as general economic categories and accounting objects. Methods of studying the theoretical and methodological basis are the dialectical method of cognition of conceptual processes of “depreciation” and “amortization”, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparison, an abstract and logical method of modelling. The practical significance of the work is that historical experience, important and necessary in modern conditions, can be adapted by incrusting several ideas of the past. Value/originality. To develop

Relationships Between Countermovement Jump Ground Reaction Forces and Jump Height, Reactive Strength Index, and Jump Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, Leland A; Harry, John R; Mercer, John A

2018-01-01

Barker, LA, Harry, JR, and Mercer, JA. Relationships between countermovement jump ground reaction forces and jump height, reactive strength index, and jump time. J Strength Cond Res 32(1): 248-254, 2018-The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between ground reaction force (GRF) variables to jump height, jump time, and the reactive strength index (RSI). Twenty-six, Division-I, male, soccer players performed 3 maximum effort countermovement jumps (CMJs) on a dual-force platform system that measured 3-dimensional kinetic data. The trial producing peak jump height was used for analysis. Vertical GRF (Fz) variables were divided into unloading, eccentric, amortization, and concentric phases and correlated with jump height, RSI (RSI = jump height/jump time), and jump time (from start to takeoff). Significant correlations were observed between jump height and RSI, concentric kinetic energy, peak power, concentric work, and concentric displacement. Significant correlations were observed between RSI and jump time, peak power, unload Fz, eccentric work, eccentric rate of force development (RFD), amortization Fz, amortization time, second Fz peak, average concentric Fz, and concentric displacement. Significant correlations were observed between jump time and unload Fz, eccentric work, eccentric RFD, amortization Fz, amortization time, average concentric Fz, and concentric work. In conclusion, jump height correlated with variables derived from the concentric phase only (work, power, and displacement), whereas Fz variables from the unloading, eccentric, amortization, and concentric phases correlated highly with RSI and jump time. These observations demonstrate the importance of countermovement Fz characteristics for time-sensitive CMJ performance measures. Researchers and practitioners should include RSI and jump time with jump height to improve their assessment of jump performance.

18 CFR 367.55 - Land and land rights.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 2005, FEDERAL POWER ACT AND... THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 2005, FEDERAL POWER ACT AND NATURAL GAS ACT Service Company... for amortization of service company property in § 367.1110, and account 404, Amortization of limited...

A Didactic Analysis of Functional Queues

Science.gov (United States)

Rinderknecht, Christian

2011-01-01

When first introduced to the analysis of algorithms, students are taught how to assess the best and worst cases, whereas the mean and amortized costs are considered advanced topics, usually saved for graduates. When presenting the latter, aggregate analysis is explained first because it is the most intuitive kind of amortized analysis, often…

14 CFR Section 14 - Objective Classification-Nonoperating Income and Expense

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Income and Expense 80Interest Income. Included under account 89 Other Nonoperating Income and Expense—Net.... 84.2Amortization of premium on debt. Record here for all classes of debt the amortizations of premium on short-term and long-term obligations. (b) [Reserved] [ER-1401, 50 FR 245, Jan. 3, 1985, as amended...

Faster Fully-Dynamic minimum spanning forest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Jacob; Rotenberg, Eva; Wulff-Nilsen, Christian

2015-01-01

We give a new data structure for the fully-dynamic minimum spanning forest problem in simple graphs. Edge updates are supported in O(log4 n/log logn) expected amortized time per operation, improving the O(log4 n) amortized bound of Holm et al. (STOC’98, JACM’01).We also provide a deterministic data...

Accounting for time-dependent effects in biofuel life cycle greenhouse gas emissions calculations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, Alissa; Chang, Brenda; Sharpe, Benjamin

2009-09-15

This paper proposes a time correction factor (TCF) to properly account for the timing of land use change-derived greenhouse gas emissions in the biofuels life cycle. Land use change emissions occur at the outset of biofuel feedstock production, and are typically amortized over an assumed time horizon to assign the burdens of land use change to multiple generations of feedstock crops. Greenhouse gas intensity calculations amortize emissions by dividing them equally over a time horizon, overlooking the fact that the effect of a greenhouse gas increases with the time it remains in the atmosphere. The TCF is calculated based on the relative climate change effect of an emission occurring at the outset of biofuel feedstock cultivation versus one amortized over a time horizon. For time horizons between 10 and 50 years, the TCF varies between 1.7 and 1.8 for carbon dioxide emissions, indicating that the actual climate change effect of an emission is 70-80% higher than the effect of its amortized values. The TCF has broad relevance for correcting the treatment of emissions timing in other life cycle assessment applications, such as emissions from capital investments for production systems or manufacturing emissions for renewable energy technologies.

Depreciation Requirements in the Department of Defense

Science.gov (United States)

1982-06-01

Horngren , C. J., Cost Accounting : A Managerial Emphasis, Prentice-Hall, •IP7. 34. Anthony, R. N. and Herzlinger, R. E., Management Control in Nonprofit...consisted of both accrual and cost accounting , as well as property accounting i [Ref. 1: p. 171] The Commission also made the recommenda- i tion, with respect...Amortization of Cost Current accounting for depreciation is based upon the cost amortization concept. As defined in the Report of the Committee on

A simple greedy algorithm for dynamic graph orientation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berglin, Edvin; Brodal, Gerth Stølting

2017-01-01

Graph orientations with low out-degree are one of several ways to efficiently store sparse graphs. If the graphs allow for insertion and deletion of edges, one may have to flip the orientation of some edges to prevent blowing up the maximum out-degree. We use arboricity as our sparsity measure....... With an immensely simple greedy algorithm, we get parametrized trade-off bounds between out-degree and worst case number of flips, which previously only existed for amortized number of flips. We match the previous best worst-case algorithm (in O(log n) flips) for general arboricity and beat it for either constant...... or super-logarithmic arboricity. We also match a previous best amortized result for at least logarithmic arboricity, and give the first results with worst-case O(1) and O(sqrt(log n)) flips nearly matching degree bounds to their respective amortized solutions....

IDENTIFICATION OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS ON ACCOUNTING DEPRECIATION OF TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lumbo Flavio MUCOMO

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Amortization is the process of gradual recovery of the financial result in irreversible impairment of assets, charges for the year by including the depreciation of the consideration of the duration determined by the projected operating assets, as amortization. Impairment occurs as a result of their use within the entity, or due to the passage of time and the amount of this distribution is performed impairment on the value of new products, works, services or activities carried out using these tangible assets. This process of distribution requires that the conclusion of the economic circuit through profit distribution, works, services or activities harnessed to separate or recover from revenue from that part of the value that was included in the operating cost of title reduction in value. Such amortization is considered separately in depreciation fund which is a power source of the fund's agent economic. Depreciation serves to correct the value of assets to bring to a value closer to reality.

Accounting providing of statistical analysis of intangible assets renewal under marketing strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.R. Polishchuk

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the content of the Regulations on accounting policies of the surveyed enterprises in terms of the operations concerning the amortization of intangible assets on the following criteria: assessment on admission, determination of useful life, the period of depreciation, residual value, depreciation method, reflection in the financial statements, a unit of account, revaluation, formation of fair value. The characteristic of factors affecting the accounting policies and determining the mechanism for evaluating the completeness and timeliness of intangible assets renewal is showed. The algorithm for selecting the method of intangible assets amortization is proposed. The knowledge base of statistical analysis of timeliness and completeness of intangible assets renewal in terms of the developed internal reporting is expanded. The statistical indicators to assess the effectiveness of the amortization policy for intangible assets are proposed. The marketing strategies depending on the condition and amount of intangible assets in relation to increasing marketing potential for continuity of economic activity are described.

A Hypergraph Dictatorship Test with Perfect Completeness

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Victor

A hypergraph dictatorship test is first introduced by Samorodnitsky and Trevisan and serves as a key component in their unique games based {operatorname{PCP}} construction. Such a test has oracle access to a collection of functions and determines whether all the functions are the same dictatorship, or all their low degree influences are o(1). Their test makes q ≥ 3 queries, has amortized query complexity 1+Oleft(log q/qright), but has an inherent loss of perfect completeness. In this paper we give an (adaptive) hypergraph dictatorship test that achieves both perfect completeness and amortized query complexity 1+Oleft(log q/qright).

Dynamic Planar Convex Hull

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølfting; Jacob, Rico

2002-01-01

In this paper we determine the computational complexity of the dynamic convex hull problem in the planar case. We present a data structure that maintains a finite set of n points in the plane under insertion and deletion of points in amortized O(log n) time per operation. The space usage of the d......In this paper we determine the computational complexity of the dynamic convex hull problem in the planar case. We present a data structure that maintains a finite set of n points in the plane under insertion and deletion of points in amortized O(log n) time per operation. The space usage...... of the data structure is O(n). The data structure supports extreme point queries in a given direction, tangent queries through a given point, and queries for the neighboring points on the convex hull in O(log n) time. The extreme point queries can be used to decide whether or not a given line intersects...... the convex hull, and the tangent queries to determine whether a given point is inside the convex hull. We give a lower bound on the amortized asymptotic time complexity that matches the performance of this data structure....

Dynamic Planar Convex Hull with Optimal Query Time and O(log n · log log n ) Update Time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Jakob, Riko

2000-01-01

The dynamic maintenance of the convex hull of a set of points in the plane is one of the most important problems in computational geometry. We present a data structure supporting point insertions in amortized O(log n · log log log n) time, point deletions in amortized O(log n · log log n) time......, and various queries about the convex hull in optimal O(log n) worst-case time. The data structure requires O(n) space. Applications of the new dynamic convex hull data structure are improved deterministic algorithms for the k-level problem and the red-blue segment intersection problem where all red and all...

ADAPTATION MODEL FOR REDUCING THE MANAGERIAL STRESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VIOLETA GLIGOROVSKI

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Changes are an inseparable component of the company's life cycle and they can contribute to its essential growth in the future. The purpose of this paper is to explain managerial stress caused by implementation of changes and creating an adaptation model to decrease managerial stress. How much the manager will successfully lead the project for implementation of a change and how much they will manage to amortize stress among employees, mostly depends on their expertise, knowledge and skills to accurately and comprehensively inform and integrate the employees in the overall process. The adaptation model is actually a new approach and recommendation for managers for dealing with stress when the changes are implemented. Methodology. For this purpose, the data presented, in fact, were collected through a questionnaire that was submitted to 61 respondents/ managers. The data were measured using the Likert scale from 1 to 7. Namely, with the help of the Likert scale, quantification of stress was made in relation to the various variables that were identified as the most important for the researched issues. An adaption model (new approach for amortizing changes was created using the DIA Diagram application, to show the relations between manager and the relevant amortization approaches.

47 CFR 32.2005 - Telecommunications plant adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... acquisition; and (2) the original cost of such plant, governmental franchises and similar rights acquired, less the amounts of reserve requirements for depreciation and amortization of the property acquired. If...

47 CFR 32.7300 - Nonoperating income and expense.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... requirements; (7) Amortization of goodwill; (8) Company's share of the earnings or losses of affiliated... ordinances) or approval, modification, or revocation of franchises, or for the purpose of influencing the...

77 FR 59348 - Revisions to Page 700 of FERC Form No. 6

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-27

... (line 1), Depreciation Expense (line 2), AFUDC Depreciation (line 3), Amortization of Deferred Earnings... an estimated average cost per employee for 2012 (including salary plus benefits) of $143,540, the...

12 CFR 223.22 - What valuation and timing principles apply to asset purchases?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... the covered transaction after the purchase may be reduced to reflect amortization or depreciation of the asset, to the extent that such reductions are consistent with GAAP. (2) Exceptions. (i) Purchase...

The methodical substantiation of measures to improve the use of basic production assets of the enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korol Svetlana Anatolevna

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The method of calculating the performance measures to improve the use of basic production assets of the enterprise: production cost, production volume, number of additional workers, depreciation and amortization.

7 CFR 3575.88 - Transfers and assumptions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

.... Installments will be at least equal to the amount amortized over a period not greater than the remaining life..., used due diligence to maintain the collateral against loss, and has otherwise fulfilled all of the...

7 CFR 1779.88 - Transfers and assumptions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... amount amortized over a period not greater than the remaining life of the debt being transferred, and the... lender must certify that the transferor has cooperated in good faith, used due diligence to maintain the...

Financial report - Annex H

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sotic, O.

1988-01-01

This Annex includes financial report of the RA Reactor engineering group from 1987-1988. detailed data concerning operating and continual and investment maintenance costs, amortization related to the reactor, fuel elements and heavy water [sr

Financial report - Annex H

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sotic, O.

1986-01-01

This Annex includes financial report of the RA Reactor engineering group from 1981-1985. detailed data concerning operating and continual and investment maintenance costs, amortization related to the reactor, fuel elements and heavy water [sr

29 CFR 4231.6 - Plan solvency tests.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

.... The actuary may select as the amortization period either— (i) The first 25 plan years beginning on or... determined under the funding method and assumptions expected to be used by the plan actuary for purposes of...

Main fiscal dispositions in the domains of energy and mineral raw materials as foreseen by the 2002 finances law and by the last corrigendum law for 2001

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

This short document summarizes the main changes for 2002 in the French fiscal measures (tax credits, amortization, tariffs, recovery etc..) relative to the petroleum products, the renewable energies, the energy conservation and the alternative vehicles. (J.S.)

47 CFR 32.5999 - General.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Customer Operations Expense accounts shall include the cost of performing customer related marketing and... switching expense 6210 Non-digital switching expense 6211 Digital electronic switching expense 6212...—intangible 6564 Amortization expense—other 6565 Customer operations expense: Marketing 6610 Product...

78 FR 57927 - Credit Risk Retention

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-20

..., Division of Research & Statistics, (202) 452-2342; or Nikita Pastor, Counsel, (202) 452-3667, Division of... include provisions that strengthen the regulation and supervision of national recognized statistical... delinquencies and foreclosures since 2007. These included features permitting negative amortization, interest...

47 CFR 32.3300 - Accumulated depreciation-nonoperating.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Accumulated depreciation-nonoperating. 32.3300....3300 Accumulated depreciation—nonoperating. (a) This account shall include the accumulated amortization and depreciation associated with the investment contained in Account 2006, Nonoperating Plant. (b...

18 CFR 346.2 - Material in support of initial rates or change in rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... expense, depreciation and amortization, return, and taxes) developed from Statements B through G described.... This statement must set forth the operation, maintenance, administration and general, and depreciation..., supplies and expenses, outside services, rentals, pensions and benefits, insurance, casualty and other...

A Survey on Evaluation Factors for Business Process Management Technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mutschler, B.B.; Reichert, M.U.

2006-01-01

Estimating the value of business process management (BPM) technology is a difficult task to accomplish. Computerized business processes have a strong impact on an organization, and BPM projects have a long-term cost amortization. To systematically analyze BPM technology from an economic-driven

Tax exemption for nuclear power plants. Eon, RWE and EnBW hope for billions Euro fuel tax exemptions - this is the only reason why so many reactors are still operated; Steuer-Aus fuer AKW. Eon, RWE und EnBW hoffen auf eine Steuerbefreiung der AKW-Brennelemente in Milliardenhoehe - nur deshalb sind viele Reaktoren noch am Netz

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2016-10-15

Even after amortizations nuclear power plants cannot be operated with sufficient profit, this is the consequence of the increasing electricity production from renewable energies. The authors discuss the argument that the perspective of fuel tax exemptions is the economic factor for ongoing operation.

18 CFR 157.208 - Construction, acquisition, operation, replacement, and miscellaneous rearrangement of facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... accumulated provisions for depreciation, depletion, and amortization; (9) A concise analysis discussing the... conditions and the expected significant impacts that the proposed action, including proposed mitigation measures, will cause to the quality of the human environment, including impact expected to occur to...

30 CFR 5.10 - Purpose and scope.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... MINING PRODUCTS FEES FOR TESTING, EVALUATION, AND APPROVAL OF MINING PRODUCTS § 5.10 Purpose and scope... control and security and document preparation directly supporting application processing; (3) A... is in support of application processing; and (4) Amortization of facility improvements and...

Dynamic Planar Convex Hull

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacob, Riko

We determine the computational complexity of the dynamic convex hull problem in the planar case. We present a data structure that maintains a finite set of n points in the plane under insertion and deletion of points in amortized O(log n) time per operation. The space usage of the data structure...... is O(n). The data structure supports extreme point queries in a given direction, tangent queries through a given point, and queries for the neighboring points on the convex hull in O(log n) time. The extreme point queries can be used to decide whether or not a given line intersects the convex hull......, and the tangent queries to determine whether a given point is inside the convex hull. The space usage of the data structure is O(n). We give a lower bound on the amortized asymptotic time complexity that matches the performance of this data structure....

Office of Inspector General report on audit of the Western Area Power Administration`s contract with Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-06-25

At the request of the Western Area Power Administration (Western), an audit of 17 areas was conducted with respect to possible overcharges on a power contract between Western and Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin), Contract No. DE-MP65-82WP-19001. The contract for Western`s purchase of electric power from Basin was entered into on April 15, 1982, and was in effect from January 1, 1986, through October 31, 1990. During this 58-month period, Basin billed Western approximately $197.6 million. Overall, it was found that Basin overcharged Western approximately $23.8 million. These overcharges occurred because Basin: (1) did not recognize or amortize as gain its overestimate of completion and correction costs for Antelope Valley Station (AVS) Unit 2; (2) did not amortize the gain on the sale/leaseback of AVS Unit 2 as an offset to lease costs; (3) billed Western prematurely for lease and interest costs; (4) overcharged for the cost of coal by including administrative and general expenses and profit, as well as incorrectly calculating discounts, royalty payments, and imputed interest costs; (5) made faulty calculations of amortization rates for deferred costs; (6) used a shorter depreciation period for AVS common facilities than it had used for other power plants; (7) retained tax benefit transfers; and (8) charged Western for interest and depreciation that had been paid by others. In addition to the $23.8 million in overcharges, interest accrued on the overcharges through December 31, 1996 was estimated to be approximately $22.1 million, resulting in a total of $45.9 million due Western.

7 CFR 1767.16 - Electric plant instructions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... listed and defined hereunder: (1) Contract work includes amounts paid for work performed under contract... amortization and in Account 252, Customer Advances for Construction, shall be charged to such accounts and... satisfaction of state tax; (xvi) Filing satisfaction of mortgage; (xvii) Documentary stamps; (xviii...

48 CFR 31.205-52 - Asset valuations resulting from business combinations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES Contracts With... method of accounting for a business combination is used, allowable amortization and cost of money shall... capital assets, when the purchase method of accounting for a business combination is used, whether or not...

48 CFR 31.205-49 - Goodwill.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES Contracts With Commercial Organizations 31... accounting for a business combination when the price paid by the acquiring company exceeds the sum of the... portion thereof. Any costs for amortization, expensing, write-off, or write-down of goodwill (however...

26 CFR 1.709-1T - Treatment of organizational expenses and syndication costs (temporary).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... beginning with the month in which the partnership begins business. All organizational expenses of the... the partnership begins business. The election either to amortize organizational expenses under section... taxpayer, incurs $3,000 of organizational expenses after October 22, 2004, and begins business on July 1...

75 FR 70772 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-18

...-0172. Type of Review: Revision to a currently approved collection. Title: Form 4562--Depreciation and...) Claim a deduction for depreciation and/or amortization; (2) make a section 179 election to expense... regulations (especially proper entitlement to treaty benefits). Revenue Procedure 2003-64 amends Revenue...

75 FR 1403 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection for 1004-0102

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-11

... to pay private landowners for the use and/or maintenance of their roads. These fees represent the BLM's share of road construction and maintenance costs under reciprocal right-of-way agreements between... contract, and to amortize road construction and maintenance costs among several road users. Frequency of...

7 CFR 1810.2 - Adjustment of interest rates for certain loans involving use of or construction on prime or...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Adjustment of interest rates for certain loans... INTEREST RATES, TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND APPROVAL AUTHORITY Interest Rates, Amortization, Guarantee Fee, Annual Charge, and Fixed Period § 1810.2 Adjustment of interest rates for certain loans involving use of...

Succinct Dynamic Cardinal Trees with Constant Time Operations for Small Alphabet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davoodi, Pooya; Satti, Srinivasa Rao

2011-01-01

) bits and performs the following operations in O(1) time: parent, child(i), label-child(alpha), degree, subtree-size, preorder, is-ancestor(x), insert-leaf (alpha), delete-leaf(alpha). The update times are amortized. The space is close to the information theoretic lower bound. The operations...

17 CFR 229.1113 - (Item 1113) Structure of the transaction.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... principal distributions from the cash flows and other factors that will affect the timing or amount of..., amortization, performance or similar triggers or events, and the rights of investors or changes to the... suitability requirements regarding potential investors in purchasing the securities or any restrictions on...

The reversible air-conditioning: economical and ecological asset recognized by the public authorities; La climatisation reversible electrique: des atouts economiques et ecologiques reconnus par les pouvoirs publics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

The reversible air-conditioning allows at once the heating and the cooling of the building. This system is very powerful from an energetic and an environmental point of view. Moreover the government proposes financial assistance to the system implementation with a fiscal amortization. (A.L.B.)

26 CFR 1.111-1 - Recovery of certain items previously deducted or credited.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... including deductions with respect to depreciation, depletion, amortization, or amortizable bond premiums... reserve by a taxpayer on the reserve method of treating bad debts, it was not deducted, and it is... of such recovery exclusion, consideration must be given to the effect of net operating loss...

A Comparison of the Polish and Soviet Armaments Decisionmaking Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

translated and published under the auspices of the U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1977, p. 51; Antoni Rogucki, " Teoria potencjalu wojenno-ekonomicznego a...proizvodstvennogo oborudovaniia i sistema amortisatsii" (Managing the Renovation of the Production Equip- ment and Amortization System), Planovoe khoziaistvo, 1979

48 CFR 9904.414-63 - Effective date.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... of money factors applicable to each overhead or G&A expense allocation base employed within a business unit. Basis All data pertain to the cost accounting period for which the contractor prepares... or amortization of such facilities. For instance, the basis of allocation of undistributed assets in...

18 CFR 11.6 - Exemption of State and municipal licensees and exemptees.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... UNDER PART I OF THE FEDERAL POWER ACT Charges for Costs of Administration, Use of Tribal Lands and Other... the total amount of operating expenses, maintenance, depreciation, amortization, taxes, and interest... project. (e) Sales for resale. Notwithstanding compliance by a State or municipal licensee with the...

30 CFR 220.013 - Unallowable costs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...)); (c) Depreciation, depletion, amortization, or any other charge for capital recovery for materiel... employee move that is for the primary benefit of the lessee's non-NPSL operations; (h) The lessee's own cost of administering employee benefit plans; (i) The cost of acquiring or constructing shore base...

Cost estimation and economical evaluation of three configurations of activated sludge process for a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) using simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Jafarinejad, Shahryar

2017-09-01

The activated sludge (AS) process is a type of suspended growth biological wastewater treatment that is used for treating both municipal sewage and a variety of industrial wastewaters. Economical modeling and cost estimation of activated sludge processes are crucial for designing, construction, and forecasting future economical requirements of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this study, three configurations containing conventional activated sludge (CAS), extended aeration activated sludge (EAAS), and sequencing batch reactor (SBR) processes for a wastewater treatment plant in Tehran city were proposed and the total project construction, operation labor, maintenance, material, chemical, energy and amortization costs of these WWTPs were calculated and compared. Besides, effect of mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) amounts on costs of WWTPs was investigated. Results demonstrated that increase of MLSS decreases the total project construction, material and amortization costs of WWTPs containing EAAS and CAS. In addition, increase of this value increases the total operation, maintenance and energy costs, but does not affect chemical cost of WWTPs containing EAAS and CAS.

Design of data structures for mergeable trees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georgiadis, Loukas; Tarjan, Robert Endre; Werneck, Renato Fonseca F.

2006-01-01

merge operation can change many arcs. In spite of this, we develop a data structure that supports merges and all other standard tree operations in O(log2 n) amortized time on an n-node forest. For the special case that occurs in the motivating application, in which arbitrary arc deletions...... are not allowed, we give a data structure with an O(log n) amortized time bound per operation, which is asymptotically optimal. The analysis of both algorithms is not straightforward and requires ideas not previously used in the study of dynamic trees. We explore the design space of algorithms for the problem......Motivated by an application in computational topology, we consider a novel variant of the problem of efficiently maintaining dynamic rooted trees. This variant allows an operation that merges two tree paths. In contrast to the standard problem, in which only one tree arc at a time changes, a single...

7 CFR 1767.21 - Operating income.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... amortization charges applicable to amounts included in the electric plant accounts for limited-term franchises..., franchise taxes, Federal excise taxes, social security taxes, and all other taxes assessed by Federal, state... include, as approved by RUS, amounts relating to gains from the disposition of future use utility plant...

18 CFR 35.13 - Filing of changes in rate schedules, tariffs or service agreements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

...—Operation and maintenance expenses. (9) AI—Wages and salaries. (10) AJ—Depreciation and amortization... the electric utility land and land rights balances for electric plant held for future use in account... utility. (9) Statement AI—Wages and salaries. Statement AI consists of statements of the electric utility...

7 CFR 3560.67 - Rates and terms for section 515 loans.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... housing, loans will be amortized over a period not to exceed the lesser of the economic life of the... Section 3560.67 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DIRECT MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING LOANS AND GRANTS Direct Loan and Grant Origination...

17 CFR 270.2a-7 - Money market funds.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... portfolio securities are valued at the fund's Acquisition cost as adjusted for amortization of premium or...-Rounding Method of pricing means the method of computing an investment company's price per share for... within the procedures adopted by the board of directors shall be the following: (A) Shadow Pricing...

41 CFR 102-85.115 - How is the Rent determined?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... owned space provided by GSA is based on market appraisals of fully serviced rental values for the..., and security charges are calculated separately and added to the appraised shell Rent to establish the... addition to the shell Rent, the Rent includes amortization of TI allowances used, real estate taxes...

75 FR 52747 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-27

... type (all, new, previously occupied), by loan type (fixed- or adjustable-rate), and by lender type... amortized, purchase-money, non-farm loans that they close during the last five business days of the month... to determine trends in the mortgage markets, including interest rates, down payments, terms to...

18 CFR 367.59 - Additions and retirements of property.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 2005... TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 2005, FEDERAL POWER ACT AND NATURAL... company property (§ 367.1110), account 404, Amortization of limited-term property (§ 367.4040), and...

Download this PDF file

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ETIWISTIC

2013-04-29

Apr 29, 2013 ... Under German GAAP, historical cost is the only valuation method permitted for intangible assets. Under both UK-GAAP and. IFRS, however, intangible assets are to be carried at either historical cost or fair value less any amortization and impairment charges. Under fair value,. Measurement in Accounting: ...

26 CFR 1.48-4 - Election of lessor of new section 38 property to treat lessee as purchaser.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... OF THE TREASURY INCOME TAX INCOME TAXES Rules for Computing Credit for Investment in Certain... depreciation (or amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allowable to the lessor, it must have a useful life... property must commence with the lessor. See paragraph (b) of this section for the application of the rules...

78 FR 54715 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-05

...), (ii) based on a price quotation or other equivalent indication of value supplied by an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer) or (iii) based on amortized cost.\\11\\ The Adviser may... based on such pricing service's valuation matrix may be considered a market valuation. Valuations with...

17 CFR 210.12-23 - Mortgage loans on real estate and interest earned on mortgages. 1

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... each of the above classes of mortgage loans the average gross rate of interest on mortgage loans held... mortgages sold Amortization of premium Other (describe) Balance at close of period $ If additions represent... item of mortgage loans on real estate investments has been written down or reserved against pursuant to...

12 CFR 535.5 - State exemptions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... was revised, effective July 1, 2010. For the convenience of the user, the revised text is set forth as... an individual, corporation, or other business organization. § 535.12 Unfair credit contract... than one of the following methods: (i) An amortization period of no less than five years, starting from...

77 FR 18687 - Guidance Regarding Deduction and Capitalization of Expenditures Related to Tangible Property...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-28

...), ``Accounting method changes'' as paragraph (i). 0 4. In newly redesignated paragraph (j) the second sentence is... optional method of accounting for rotable and temporary spare parts) to taxable years beginning on or after...) or $140,000 (2 percent of X's total depreciation and amortization of $7,000,000). * * * * * * * * (k...

41 CFR 109-50.402 - Submission of proposals.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... for any proposed charge to DOE for amortizing the cost of plant and equipment items; (3) Recapture of... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Submission of proposals. 109-50.402 Section 109-50.402 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management...

Fast Allocation and Deallocation with an Improved Buddy System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Demaine, Erik D.; Munro, J. Ian

2005-01-01

We propose several modifications to the binary buddy system for managing dynamic allocation of memory blocks whose sizes are powers of two. The standard buddy system allocates and deallocates blocks in Theta(lg n) time in the worst case (and on an amortized basis), where n is the size of the memo...

Maldistribution in air-water heat pump evaporators. Part 2: Economic analysis of counteracting technologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mader, Gunda; Palm, Björn; Elmegaard, Brian

2015-01-01

maldistribution,high electricity prices, and colder climate. Investment in the individual superheat controltechnology, however, can be quickly amortized in many scenarios. For the warmer climatezone with a small number of operating hours counteracting of maldistribution does notpay off under the used economic...... assumptions.© 2014 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved....

76 FR 50887 - Elections Regarding Start-Up Expenditures, Corporation Organizational Expenditures, and...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-17

... begins an active trade or business, an amount equal to the lesser of (1) the amount of the start-up... begins. All start-up expenditures that relate to the active trade or business are considered in... active trade or business to which the expenditures relate begins. The election either to amortize start...

78 FR 73753 - Partnerships; Start-Up Expenditures; Organization and Syndication Fees

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-09

... deduct start-up expenditures in the taxable year in which the active trade or business begins. The amount... begins. All start-up expenditures that relate to the active trade or business are considered in...(b) to amortize start-up expenditures for the taxable year in which the active trade or business to...

41 CFR 102-85.105 - How does an agency pay for customer alterations that exceed the TI allowance?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... for customer alterations that exceed the TI allowance? 102-85.105 Section 102-85.105 Public Contracts....105 How does an agency pay for customer alterations that exceed the TI allowance? Amounts exceeding the TI allowance are paid in a one-time lump sum and are not amortized over the term of the occupancy...

Aging, Precarity, and the Struggle for Indigenous Elsewheres

Science.gov (United States)

Grande, Sandy

2018-01-01

Through the structures and logics of the settler/capitalist state, the aging body can only be viewed as a crisis of decreased labor power and increased social expenditure; an amortization that has only worsened under neoliberalism. As such, this article calls attention to the conspicuous absence of a counter discourse and politics of aging within…

26 CFR 1.197-1T - Certain elections for intangible property (temporary).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

...) to apply prior law to property acquired pursuant to a written binding contract in effect on August 10... section 13261 of OBRA '93 (e.g., the amendment of section 1253 in the case of a franchise, trademark, or... section 197 intangible with an unadjusted basis of $180. Under prior law, no amortization or depreciation...

A Paradox within the Time Value of Money: A Critical Thinking Exercise for Finance Students

Science.gov (United States)

Delaney, Charles J.; Rich, Steven P.; Rose, John T.

2016-01-01

This study presents a paradox within the time value of money (TVM), namely, that the interest-principal sequence embedded in the payment stream of an amortized loan is exactly the opposite of the interest-principal sequence implicit in the present value of a matching annuity. We examine this inverse sequence, both mathematically and intuitively,…

Department of Defense Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year 2006

Science.gov (United States)

2006-11-15

over the past 3 years are mainly driven by military retirement benefit costs, Global War on Terror costs, and depreciation expense on military...Generating Resources: Depreciation and amortization $ 65,116.2 $ 48,944.0 Revaluation of...accounting principles ( GAAP ). The accompanying financial statements account for all resources for which the Department is responsible. Information

29 CFR 2550.408b-3 - Loans to Employee Stock Ownership Plans.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... standard loan amortization tables. The third rule is that subdivision (2) is not applicable from the time... $750,000 from a bank. X guarantees the loan which is for 15 years at 5% interest and is payable in..., including the terms of the employer's articles of incorporation, unless so required by applicable state law...

Current status and availability of debt markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burbidge, C.R.

1991-01-01

This paper addresses the availability of financing and how that affects power projects seeking capital. The topics of the paper include the historical perspective, changes to amortization periods, equity requirements, return on investment, and amount of credit underwritten, what characterizes those that have left the business, those that are inactive, and those that are surviving

Report: investigation concerning environmental improvement expenditures (1974 survey commissioned by Environmental Agency)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1975-08-01

Environmental improvement expenditures were calculated from a pilot model for environmental conservation. An average cost for pollution elimination was postulated, and expenditures for lowering a pollution factor by one unit were calculated for construction, amortization, and operation. The pilot model consists of two sectors: economic activities sector (macromodel of Japanese economy, including factors based on industrial production, energy expenditures, and fuel consumption) and pollution factor sector, consisting of 5 pollution factors (sulfur oxides; nitrogen oxides; biological oxygen demand; general wastes; industrial wastes), their causes, treatment, amounts of emission, and target standards. External factors such as population changes and automobile usage are also included. Industries were divided into 20 groups for purposes of setting up a matrix for environmental improvement expenditures. Based on 1972 data, operational costs for desulfurization were calculated to be $410/S ton (direct desulfurization), and $760/S ton (indirect desulfurization), with the weighted averaged value being $609/S ton. Average construction costs for direct and indirect processes were calculated to be $5100/S Kg/hour. Average amortization costs were calculated to be $118/S ton.

The Management of Disinvestment Decision and its Impact on Financial Statements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moisescu Florentina

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The political and economic context of the world noticeably influenced, in recent years, the economic development of corporations, causing sometimes resounding failures, forcing businesses to act with caution. In this context, senior management decisions are oriented towards achieving financial stability, even if this implies a stagnation in terms of the financial result and not a constant profit growth. This paper examines the impact of fixed alienation on the entity's financial results, the importance of rational management strategie that lead to the creation of new sources of investment and the timing of disinvestments by applying the Altman model to the Romanian energy companies quoted at BVB. It has been found that the incorrect clasification of assets held for sale, changes the structure of the expenses incurred with the amortization said tangible assets because at the moments of their classification as assets held for sale, assests cease to be amortized. In the case of the failure of the Retail Plan, the recording of the accounting depreciation stops and the asset is being over-evaluated.

ECO-generation for some restricted classes of compositions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Luc Baril

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We study several restricted classes of compositions by giving one-to-one maps between them and different classes of restricted binary strings or pattern avoiding permutations. Inspired by the ECO method \\cite{BDPP99}, new succession rules for these classes are presented. Finally, we obtain generating algorithms in Constant Amortized Time (CAT for theses classes.

Reforestation tax incentives under the American jobs creation act of 2004

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas J. Straka; John L. Greene

2007-01-01

The American jobs creation act of 2004 made significant changes in the reforestation tax incentives available to private forest owners. Owners can now deduct outright reforestation costs up to $10,000 per year for each qualifying timber property and amortize any additional amount over 8 tax years. to assess the financial benefit the new incentives provide to forest...

26 CFR 1.171-2 - Amortization of bond premium.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... annual accrual periods. Example 3. Holder uses accrual method of accounting—(i) Facts. The facts are the same as in Example 1 of this paragraph (c) except that A uses an accrual method of accounting. Thus... disbursements method of accounting, and C decides to use annual accrual periods ending on January 15 of each...

Defense Contract Audit Agency Audits of Contractor Compliance with Cost Accounting Standards

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-11

Appendix B. Continued Need for Cost Accounting Standards Asset Valuations. GAAP requires that assets be revalued after mergers and acquisitions. If the...purchase method is used to revalue assets , depreciation and amortization costs may increase drastically to be passed on as increased costs on...contractor fully for the assets through normal depreciation . Contractor Pension Plans. Government-funded pension assets must be properly allocated

Risk-benefit evaluation of nuclear power plant siting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miettinen, J.; Savolainen, I.; Silvennoinen, P.

1976-01-01

An assessment scheme is described for the risk-benefit analyses of nuclear power versus conventional alternatives. Given the siting parameters for the proposed nuclear plant an economic comparison is made with the most advantageous competitive conventional production scenario. The economic benefit is determined from the differential discounted annual energy procurement cost as a function of the real interest rate and amortization time. The risk analysis encompasses the following factors: radiation risks in normal operation, reactor accident hazards and economic risks, atmospheric pollutants from the conventional power plants, and fuel transportation. The hazards are first considered in terms of probabilistic dose distributions. In the second stage risk components are converted to a compatible form where excess mortality is used as the risk indicator. Practical calculations are performed for the power production alternatives of Helsinki where district heat would be extracted from the nuclear power plant. At the real interest rate of 10% and amortization time of 20 yr the 1000 MW(e) nuclear option is found to be Pound9.1 m per yr more economic than the optimal conventional scenario. Simultaneously the nuclear alternative is estimated to reduce excess mortality by 2 to 5 fatal injuries annually. (author)

System analysis: Developing tools for the future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Jong, K.; clever, J.; Draper, J.V.; Davies, B.; Lonks, A.

1996-02-01

This report introduces and evaluates system analysis tools that were developed, or are under development, for the Robotics Technology Development Program (RTDP). Additionally, it discusses system analysis work completed using these tools aimed at completing a system analysis of the retrieval of waste from underground storage tanks on the Hanford Reservation near Richland, Washington. The tools developed and evaluated include a mixture of commercially available tools adapted to RTDP requirements, and some tools developed in house. The tools that are included in this report include: a Process Diagramming Tool, a Cost Modeling Tool, an Amortization Modeling Tool, a graphical simulation linked to the Cost Modeling Tool, a decision assistance tool, and a system thinking tool. Additionally, the importance of performance testing to the RTDP and the results of such testing executed is discussed. Further, the results of the Tank Waste Retrieval (TWR) System Diagram, the TWR Operations Cost Model, and the TWR Amortization Model are presented, and the implication of the results are discussed. Finally, the RTDP system analysis tools are assessed and some recommendations are made regarding continuing development of the tools and process.

Význam Slovanského přehledu pro českou (zejména literárněvědnou) bulharistiku

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Černý, Marcel

2015-01-01

Roč. 101, č. 3 (2015), s. 627-671 ISSN 0037-6922 Institutional support: RVO:68378017 Keywords : Bulgarian literary studies * Czech-Bulgarian cultural relations * literary reception * Balkans * historiography * Šak, V * Tichý, František R. * Páta, Josef * Krăstev,Krăstjo * Veličkov, Konstantin * Penev, Bojan * Amort, Čestmír * Dimitrov, Georgi Subject RIV: AJ - Letters, Mass-media, Audiovision

Department of the Navy: Annual Financial Report

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

Depreciation and amortization Revaluation of assets and liabilities (+/-) Other (+/-) Total components of Net Cost of Operations that will not require or...to the extent possible, Federal Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ( GAAP ). The accompanying financial statements account for all resources for...implement all elements of Federal GAAP and the OMB Bulletin No. 01-09 due to limitations of its financial management processes and systems, including

An Investigation of the Quality of Earnings Concept as Applied to Defense Contractors

Science.gov (United States)

1989-12-01

conservative a company’s reporting methods are within generally accepted accounting principles ( GAAP )-- that is, the more likely the company is to minimize...during periods of inflation. (2) Accelerated depreciation methods as compared to methods that depreciate assets less rapidly. (3) Amortization of...impact on earnings quality. When a company uses accelerated depreciation for tax purposes and straight- line depreciation for reporting, the "flow through

11 practical lessons on how expenditure for rational use of power can become worthwhile investments; 11 Praxislehrstuecke, wie Ausgaben fuer einen rationellen Stromeinsatz zur lohnenden Investition werden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Humm, O.; Kopp, B.; Lainsecq, M. de

1994-12-31

The eleven contributions to this booklet give examples of how and where, power can be saved and what results can be expected. The examples are taken from industry and business, trading and administration, from housing developments and public buildings. The information on economic feasibility are documented according to a unified table without gaps: Investment and operating costs, annuities and amortization times. figs., tabs., refs.

HARMONIZATION, HISTORICAL COST AND INVESTMENTS

OpenAIRE

Valentin Gabriel CRISTEA

2016-01-01

Choosing depreciation of assets; revaluation of tangible or keeping their historical cost; registration, whilst the tangible assets are entered in the conservation of amortization expenses or a corresponding adjustment to depreciation expense ascertained; choosing the method of evaluating stocks is accounting policies. IAS 40 is significant because it was the first time the International Accounting Standards Board has introduced a fair value accounting model for non-financial assets. All firm...

High third-generation cephalosporin resistant Enterobacteriaceae prevalence rate among neonatal infections in Dakar, Senegal

OpenAIRE

Breurec, Sebastien; Bouchiat, Coralie; Sire, Jean-Marie; Moquet, Olivier; Bercion, Raymond; Cisse, Moussa Fafa; Glaser, Philippe; Ndiaye, Ousmane; Ka, Sidy; Salord, Helene; Seck, Abdoulaye; Sy, Haby Signate; Michel, Remy; Garin, Benoit

2016-01-01

International audience; Background: Neonatal infection constitutes one of Senegal’s most important public health problems, with amortality rate of 41 deaths per 1,000 live births.Methods: Between January 2007 and March 2008, 242 neonates with suspected infection were recruited at threeneonatal intensive care units in three major tertiary care centers in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Neonatal infections wereconfirmed by positive bacterial blood or cerebrospinal fluid culture. The microbiologi...

26 CFR 1.248-1 - Election to amortize organizational expenditures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... as drafting the corporate charter, by-laws, minutes of organizational meetings, terms of original stock certificates, and the like; necessary accounting services; expenses of temporary directors and of...

Zero-Knowledge Proofs with Low Amortized Communication from Lattice Assumptions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgård, Ivan Bjerre; López-Alt, Adriana

2012-01-01

of the message and randomness that an honest prover chooses and the size of which an accepting verifier is convinced. Our constructions use the “MPC-in-the-head” technique of Ishai et al. (STOC 2007). At the heart of our constructions is a protocol for proving that a value is bounded by some publicly known bound...

Financial treatment of demand management expenditures at Ontario Hydro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ariss, D.G.

1990-01-01

Ontario Hydro's demand side management (DSM) plan comprises reduction of load, load shifting, and peak shaving. It includes an accounting policy applied only to measures which reduce demand by the increase in the efficiency of electricity of utilization or by the shifting of load from peak periods to off-peak periods. In order to choose the pertinent periods for which the DSM expenditures should be recovered, the utility has considered three accounting options: expensing all DSM expenditures as incurred; deferring all DSM expenditures; or deferring only those DSM expenditures that meet specified criteria. Ontario Hydro has chosen the last option, since it is in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. This option is based on the matching principle, under which costs and revenues that are linked to each other in a cause-and-effect relationship should be recognized in the same accounting period. It has also been judged advantageous to amortize the deferred expenses corresponding to each measure over appropriate periods. It has also been established that the amortization period should begin immediately after each measure has been put into operation. This accounting policy ensures that expenses relating to DSM are accounted in a pertinent and uniform manner. 6 refs

DEPRECIATION AS THE SOURCE OF REPLENISHMENT OF ENTERPRISE CURRENT ASSETS

OpenAIRE

KAFKA Sofiіa

2017-01-01

Along with the classical approach to understanding the meaning of such economic category as depreciation, we have considered the issues if the amortization is the source of the fixed assets renewal. For the purposes of the study we used methods of analysis and synthesis, systematic approach - to study the processes of working capital enterprises, logical method and simulation - to systematize information security of these processes. Results of investigations to determine the characteristic...

Drivers and economic aspects for the implementation of advanced wastewater treatment and water reuse in a PVC plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Prieto

2016-06-01

The proposed solution is profitable for sites where fresh demineralized water production costs are currently higher than 1.5 €/m3 and the required flow of the recycled water exceeds 50 m3/h. The water reuse concept allows decoupling the production from fresh water use. In this case, anticipating that a drought would lead to a 3% reduction of the production, the amortization period would be lowered to one year.

Aspects Concerning the Adoption Cloud Computing Services by Companies

OpenAIRE

Narcisa Isaila

2013-01-01

Companies' need to streamline their costs, especially in the current crisis, has led to the search for solutions to reduce the expenses with specialized personnel, licenses purchase, investment in equipment, amortization of these costs and other expenses related to their maintenance. The complex informatics systems, often expensive, especially SMEs, are desired as possible investment in the future. One solution may be the adoption "cloud computing" technology and the companies will pay only t...

Generalization of some ways of improvement of depreciation policy and restoration of depreciation of fixed assets of the enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergeev Leonid Ivanovich

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Discusses approaches to consider different factors in constructing the amortization policy and recording of different forms of wear of fixed assets of enterprises. Analyzed proposals of domestic and foreign researchers on the improvement of recovery processes and the acquisition of fixed assets under different conditions of their exploitation. It is proposed on the basis of management accounting and financial performance to build rational depreciation system recovery value of fixed assets of enterprises.

Investments in fixed assets and depreciation of fixed assets: theoretical and practical aspects of study and analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina D. Demina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available It is indicated that domestic economy is experiencing a shortage of investment.The acceleration of the processes of import substitution is one of the most important challenges facing the domestic economy at present.Investments, especially capital investments and related investment relations constitute the basis for the development of the national economy and improving the efficiency of social production as a whole. A problem of formation of the amortization fundremains actual at the moment. In the modern scientific and educational literature amortization fund means the fund, including the use of funds to complete the restoration and repair of the fixed assets. This paper makesthe analysis of the situation in the area of investment in the fixed capital, which has developed in Russia for the past severalyears. The aim of this paper is to study the investment climate in the country based on the analysis of investments in the fixed capital by the sources of financing and types of the economic activity. The work is based on dynamic and structural analysis of analytical and statistical information on the processes occurring in this field.As a result, it can be noted that in spite of a number of efforts being made, in general, there are low growth rates in industry, there is a deficit of investments in the fixed assets. Most of the investments in fixed assets are carried out at the expense of the organizations’ own funds. A significant number of economic entities do not have the means, necessary for the technological renewal. Unfortunately, the regulatory framework in the field of accounting for the fixed assets and accrual of depreciation does not imply the use of a special account for the accumulation, and, most importantly, for the purposeful control of the use of the depreciation fund.First of all, it is necessary for companies with state participation and monopoly organizations. The lack of control over the targeted use of the depreciation fund

Containment Area Aquaculture Program. Economics and Marketing of Aquaculture in Dredged Material Containment Areas

Science.gov (United States)

1993-09-01

Amortization Schedule (Years) 0 (B above) CC. Annual investment Depreciation NA (AA/ BB) DD. % of Initial Investment Borrowed 0% (D above) EE. Total...USCOE Investment (Saving) (Pg. 4. CC) $O MA Total Deprecaton NA NA CASH BALANCE, (c) NA W& N (Net Income - Principals Depreciation ) VALUE OF USCOES...PARTICIA77ON ANNUAL NEPW CM DIMFhMC NA (a) - (b) ANNUAL CAMH BALANCE IDIFFEIRECE NA (0) - (d) A8 Appendix A GAAP Economics and Marketing Worksetsf US

Allocation Methods for Use in the Accrual of Manpower Costs.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-06-01

planners more frugal in their use of military manpower (OB1, 1973). Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ( GAAP ) recognize accrual basis accounting...time. Examples of this type of allocation are depreciation or amortization of long term assets (Fremgen and Liao, 1981). It is this second concept of...financing is that the relatively "soft dollars" of the future will make it easier to contribute. A "soft dollar" is the depreciated value of the dollar

Department of Defense Manpower Requirements Report FY 1995

Science.gov (United States)

1994-05-01

lm& INYI 94 III aIII$• ~ BY 9 SUBMI Sam 1 mm I Em 1 am m I am- ITv too a" mT amsITTm aSM . cm 10 ARMA 31 a 21 137 M1 st 1 33 157 179 to I to Ha3 201 am...determined by the DoD Retirement Board of Actuaries . This Board of Actuaries also determines an amortization schedule for the transfer of funds from the

Особливості методичних прийомів обліку основних засобів з урахуванням змін у Податковому кодексі України

OpenAIRE

Koblyanska, H. I.; Laban, A. Y.

2016-01-01

Fixed assets are non-current assets, they are an important element of the policy and object of control. Other subjects of economy interested in the results of evaluation, depreciation and amortization, control of fixed assets. This article deals with the classification of signs and characteristics of fixed assets, defined the concept of fixed assets and sources of its reproduction. We study cycle stages of fixed assets in the organization. We consider the accounting policies for items of prop...

Comparative study of conducting iliac angioplasties with digital subtraction and conventional angiography. Incidence on true (consumable) costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenot, P.; Raynaud, A.; Pernes, J.M.; Parola, J.L.; Gaux, J.C.

1986-01-01

Differences in time and cost were evaluated between the performance of iliac angioplasty with conventional (AC) and digital subtraction (AN) angiography, after a total of 27 angioplasties (13 with AC and 14 with AN). Excluding amortization of material and personnel costs, findings confirmed a certain number of advantages for AN: gain in time of about 34%, decrease of about 14% in charges, and notably of 83% in expenditure on films and 50% on contrast media [fr

"Value Relevance of Consolidated Earnings -- Evaluation of Japanese Revolution and a New Proposal by FASB -- "(in Japanese)

OpenAIRE

Takashi Obinata

2006-01-01

In 2000, the reform of consolidated financial statements changed the income statement section where amortization of goodwill and gains and losses from interest method should be disclosed. The results in this paper show that the reform may improve the value relevance of operating profits and ordinary income. We cannot find the evidence that the reform decreases the relevance of the multi-step earnings. Though we cannot definitively conclude that the reform was the best way for improving the va...

Value Relevance of Consolidated Earnings -- Evaluation of Japanese Revolution and a New Proposal by FASB --

OpenAIRE

Takashi Obinata

2006-01-01

In 2000, the reform of consolidated financial statements changed the income statement section where amortization of goodwill and gains and losses from interest method should be disclosed. The results in this paper show that the reform may improve the value relevance of operating profits and ordinary income. We cannot find the evidence that the reform decreases the relevance of the multi-step earnings. Though we cannot definitively conclude that the reform was the best way for improving the va...

Turkey Financial Reporting Standard - 9 "Financial Instruments" by Standard Classification of Financial Instruments and Application Examples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emine Çına Bal

2013-09-01

Full Text Available According to IAS 39, financial assets are classified into four classes. This quadruple classification for financial assets in IAS 39 has reduced into the groups as valued at fair value in the form of financial assets valued at amortized cost by IFRS 9. At the implementing example of this study, stock held for trading is taken, and how to take into account the positive and negative differences in fair value using profit and loss accounts are shown. Another implementing example of our study is related to an investment in an equity investment that is not held for trading purposes. Changes will be occur later in the fair value of these financial assets are presented, as mentioned in the standard, in other comprehensive income subsequent. At the example related to purchase of bonds in the implementation part of the study, first the cost of bond at the date of purchase (purchase price + commission expenses, etc., cash flows will be obtained in the future from this bond (interest and principal payments equalizing discount rate (internal rate of return is calculated. Accordingly, an amortized cost table that shows interest income of each period, cash flows sourced from obtained interests and the cost bond at he and of each year is created. According to this table, accounting records considering each year-end valuation of the bond is shown.

Storage in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cabanes, J.M.; Rottenberg, J.; Abiad, A.; Caudron, S.; Girault, Ph.

2007-01-01

Storage represents one of the key elements among the different modulation tools. How the problem of storage is put forward in Europe in front of the increasing uncertainty of the gas demand and prices? What are the policies implemented by storage facility operators? To what extend storage can amortize gas prices volatility or allow the market actors to take the best profit of this volatility? These are the questions debated at this workshop by four specialists of this domain. (J.S.)

Porovnání vývoje způsobů odepisování dlouhodobého majetku a jejich vlivu na daňový základ

OpenAIRE

KUBECOVÁ, Jana

2011-01-01

The subject of my thesis is "Comparison of development of depreciation methods of long-term assets and their influence on the tax base". The aim of this study was to capture the development of methods of depreciation, amortization of transferring these methods into the numerical expression and assess the impact of the development of depreciation to the tax base. This work does not cover only the current depreciation issues, but focuses on the development of depreciation for the period from 19...

Search Trees with Relaxed Balance and Near-Optimal Height

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fagerberg, Rolf; Jensen, Rune E.; Larsen, Kim Skak

2001-01-01

We introduce a relaxed k-tree, a search tree with relaxed balance and a height bound, when in balance, of (1+epsilon)log_2 n + 1, for any epsilon > 0. The number of nodes involved in rebalancing is O(1/epsilon) per update in the amortized sense, and O(log n/epsilon) in the worst case sense. This ...... constant rebalancing, which is an improvement over the current definition. World Wide Web search engines are possible applications for this line of work....

Computing Cumulative Interest and Principal Paid For a Calendar Year

OpenAIRE

John O. MASON

2011-01-01

This paper demonstrates how easy it is use Microsoft Excel’s CUMPRINC and CUMIPMT functions to compute principal and interest paid for an entire year, even though the payments were made monthly. The CUMPRINC function computes the principal paid by a series of loan payments; the CUMIPMT function computes the interest paid. These two functions provide an alternative to preparing a monthly loan amortization schedule and adding up the amounts of monthly interest paid and principal paid for the ye...

FINANCIAL STUDY OF AN INVESTMENT PROJECT IN ALGERIA: CREATION OF A COMPANY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE NATIONAL FUNDSUPPORT FOR YOUTH EMPLOYMENT (FNSEJ)

OpenAIRE

Dr Lyes OUABDESSELAM

2017-01-01

This article proposes a financial study of a project to create a commercial enterprise through the scheme proposed by the National Agency for Youth Employment Support (ANSEJ). The company is a testing and analysis laboratory. In this study we have prepared a complete financial package and we have budgeted this project over the entire amortization period of the investment credit in accordance with the timetable set by the support system for young entrepreneurs to set up a business in Algeria. ...

On the Amortized Complexity of Zero Knowledge Protocols for Multiplicative Relations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cramer, Ronald; Damgård, Ivan Bjerre; Pastro, Valerio

2011-01-01

require the strong RSA assumption, we only need the assumption required by the commitment scheme itself, namely factoring. We generalize this to a protocol that verifies $l$ instances of an algebraic circuit $D$ over $K$ with $v$ inputs, in the following sense: given committed values $x_{i,j}$ and $z...

18 CFR 367.4040 - Account 404, Amortization of limited-term property.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... COMPANY ACT OF 2005, FEDERAL POWER ACT AND NATURAL GAS ACT UNIFORM SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS FOR CENTRALIZED... applicable to amounts included in the service company property accounts for limited-term franchises, licenses...

Capacity analysis of amortization of energy and environmental liabilities photovoltaic panels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiago Filho, Geraldo Lucio; Adriano Rosa, Carlos

2011-01-01

The claim that the use of solar energy through photovoltaic (PV) panels is a clean energy source is based, in most cases, considering only the generation of electricity by the group after manufacture and installation. Without considering the process of manufacture, neither more nor less CO2 emissions are produced, and other degradation environment, which vary according to the country's energy matrix in which these activities develop. This article uses analysis tools to study the impacts of life cycle environment that have passed since the exploitation of mineral deposits used in the manufacture of major components for the manufacture of the panel. In this study adds to quantify the emissions of various gases, emitted in the manufacturing process of photovoltaic modules, expressed in equivalent tons of CO2, resulting from the process and depending on the country in which the panel is manufactured and the depreciation of environmental liabilities, to allow life determination (author)

Dynamic Representations of Sparse Graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Fagerberg, Rolf

1999-01-01

We present a linear space data structure for maintaining graphs with bounded arboricity—a large class of sparse graphs containing e.g. planar graphs and graphs of bounded treewidth—under edge insertions, edge deletions, and adjacency queries. The data structure supports adjacency queries in worst...... case O(c) time, and edge insertions and edge deletions in amortized O(1) and O(c+log n) time, respectively, where n is the number of nodes in the graph, and c is the bound on the arboricity....

Case Study on Economic Return on Investments for Safety and Emergency Lighting in Road Tunnels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferdinando Salata

2015-07-01

Full Text Available While planning a double-hole road tunnel with a length higher than one km, it is important to pay attention to the safety factor if an accident occurs. If there is a power outage, in order to avoid critical situations that could jeopardize the safety of the people present (facilitating the stream coming out from the tunnel and the arrival of the emergency personnel, it is really important to guarantee uninterrupted lighting of roadways, mandatory emergency lay-bys, and ways of escape. Uninterrupted service of the lighting systems supply must be guaranteed, in accordance with the current regulations, through the exertion of UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply and power units. During tunnel construction, such devices represent a cost that must be amortized. In this case study, which takes into consideration a section of a road tunnel characterized by emergency lay-bys and ways of escape, emergency and security lighting were planned and installation and management costs were evaluated. The goal of this research was the creation of a cash flow thanks to the energy generated by photovoltaic panels, in a way that the service life of the system (25 years coincided with the amortization of the costs of the backup electrical equipment installation (complying with the regulations. The possibility of over-dimensioning the UPS and providing it with a proper photovoltaic panel surface (235 kWp to generate and exchange electric energy with the grid was taken into consideration.

Resource utilization associated with procurement of transplantable organs from donors that do not meet OPTN eligible death criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

DuBay, Derek A; Redden, David T; Bryant, Mary K; Dorn, David P; Fouad, Mona N; Gray, Stephen H; White, Jared A; Locke, Jayme E; Meeks, Christopher B; Taylor, Garry C; Kilgore, Meredith L; Eckhoff, Devin E

2014-05-27

The strategy of evaluating every donation opportunity warrants an investigation into the financial feasibility of this practice. The purpose of this investigation is to measure resource utilization required for procurement of transplantable organs in an organ procurement organization (OPO). Donors were stratified into those that met OPTN-defined eligible death criteria (ED donors, n=589) and those that did not (NED donors, n=703). Variable direct costs and time utilization by OPO staff for organ procurement were measured and amortized per organ transplanted using permutation methods and statistical bootstrapping/resampling approaches. More organs per donor were procured (3.66±1.2 vs. 2.34±0.8, Pdonors compared with NED donors. The variable direct costs were significantly lower in the NED donors ($29,879.4±11590.1 vs. $19,019.6±7599.60, Porgan transplanted were significantly higher in the NED donors ($8,414.5±138.29 vs. $9,272.04±344.56, Pdonors where thoracic organ procurement occurred were 67% more expensive than in abdominal-only organ procurement. The total time allocated per donor was significantly shorter in the NED donors (91.2±44.9 hr vs. 86.8±78.6 hr, P=0.01). In contrast, the amortized time per organ transplanted was significantly longer in the NED donors (23.1±0.8 hr vs. 36.9±3.2 hr, Porgan transplanted is significantly higher in donors that do not meet the eligible death criteria.

Effect of drop jump technique on the reactive strength index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Struzik Artur

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The basic drill of plyometric training aimed at improving lower limb power and jump height is a drop jump. This exercise can be performed using different techniques, which substantially affects jump variables. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the values of the reactive strength index (RSI for countermovement drop jumps (CDJs and bounce drop jumps (BDJs. The study was carried out in a group of 8 male youth basketball players. The tests were conducted using the AMTI BP600900 force plate to measure ground reaction forces and the Noraxon MyoMotion system to record kinematic data. Each player performed two CDJs and two BDJs from the height of 15, 30, 45 and 60 cm. The RSI was calculated as a ratio of jump height and contact time. Moreover, the RSI was determined for the amortization and take-off phases separately. Significant differences (p < 0.05 between RSI values for CDJs and BDJs were recorded for jumps from 30, 45 and 60 cm. Differences in RSI values for jumps from 15 cm were not significant. Furthermore, CDJ height values were significantly higher (p < 0.05 than the values recorded for BDJs. Times of contact, amortization and take-off during BDJs were significantly shorter (p < 0.05 than the respective values obtained for CDJs. Therefore, the use of the RSI to monitor plyometric training should be based on the drop jump technique that is commonly performed by basketball players.

Ice storage facilities may use excess contingents of electricity. Reduction of the payback period by smart grids; Eisspeicher koennen ueberschuessige Stromkontingente nutzen. Amortisationszeit durch Smart Grid verkuerzen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schulz, Klaus [Fafco S.A., Biel (Switzerland); Schmid, Wolfgang

2013-03-11

In Germany, energy storage device attain a great importance in the energy supply. However, up to now economical technologies are missing in order to store fluctuating offers of electricity from renewable energy sources directly in a storage medium. Within the modern refrigeration and air conditioning, ice storage facilities proved over decades could take up this position and could be one component of the energy policy turnaround. New tariff offers as well as the construction of virtual power plants let expect that ice storage facilities may amortize within few years.

The use of natural gas in the catering kitchen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holwerda, B.

1995-01-01

Extensive use is made of electricity in professional catering. Yet, the advantages of natural gas are obvious: energy costs are considerably lower as well as nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions. Generally, the amortization period of natural gas appliances is two years, sometimes even less than six months. In co-operation with the energy utilities and within the framework of the Marketing Plan for the Public Gas Supply (MOG), Gasunie informs the various target groups, including caterers, of the advantages of natural gas. At the moment five projects have already been carried out. 4 ills

Considerations for advanced reactor design based on EBR-II experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, R. W.

1999-01-01

The long-term success of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) provides several insights into fundamental characteristics and design features of a nuclear generating station that enhance safety, operability, and maintainability. Some of these same characteristics, together with other features, offer the potential for operational lifetimes well beyond the current licensing time frame, and improved reliability that could potentially reduce amortized capital costs as well as overall operation and maintenance costs if incorporated into advanced plant designs. These features and characteristics are described and the associated benefits are discussed

Case studies of energy efficiency financing in the original five pilot states, 1993-1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farhar, B C; Collins, N E; Walsh, R W

1997-05-01

The purpose of this report is to document progress in state-level programs in energy efficiency financing programs that are linked with home energy rating systems. Case studies are presented of programs in five states using a federal pilot program to amortize the costs of home energy improvements. The case studies present background information, describe the states` program, list preliminary evaluation data and findings, and discuss problems and solution encountered in the programs. A comparison of experiences in pilot states will be used to provide guidelines for program implementers, federal agencies, and Congress. 5 refs.

Port Investment Strategies under Uncertainty: The Case of a Southeast Asian Multipurpose Port1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioannis N. Lagoudis

2014-12-01

The methodology has been applied on the expansion evaluation of warehousing facilities in a multipurpose port. For the evaluation of the alternatives, the expected net present value (ENPV is based on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA. Results show that the investment strategy for a new 4-level warehouse with a flexible option was the optimal choice when compared with strategies of similar scale. However, depending on the emphasis placed on the various investment metrics the optimal investment strategy seems to be closer to a non-flexible 5-level warehouse.

Funding for reactor decommissioning: the NRC perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, R.S.

1981-01-01

The cost of decommissioning a nuclear power plant is discussed. Four funding approaches that have received the most attention from the NRC are: prepayment into a trust fund of estimated decommissioning funds at the start of facility operation; annual contributions into a trust fund outside the control of the utility over the estimated life of a facility; internal reserve or sinking fund amortizations over the estimated life of a facility; and insurance or other surety mechanisms used separately or in conjunction with any of the first three mechanisms

26 CFR 1.818-3 - Amortization of premium and accrual of discount.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... required under section 818(b) on account of accruable discounts. (f) Denial of double inclusion. Any amount... section shall not be includible in gross income under section 1232(a) (relating to the taxation of bonds...

26 CFR 1.822-10 - Amortization of premium and accrual of discount.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Mutual Insurance Companies (other Than Life and Certain Marine Insurance Companies and Other Than Fire Or Flood Insurance Companies Which Operate on Basis of... mutual insurance company subject to the tax imposed by section 821 (a) or (c). However, only the accrual...

26 CFR 1.197-2 - Amortization of goodwill and certain other intangibles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... regularly traded on an established market. (See paragraph (g)(3) of this section for special rules... existing futures contract, foreign currency contract, notional principal contract, interest rate swap, or other similar financial contract, whether or not the interest is regularly traded on an established...

Amortized deduction as a source of the real financing of industrial modernization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Ivanovich Tatynov

2011-06-01

Full Text Available In the process of creating a new concept of the financial mechanism, it is important, in our opinion, to construct a mechanism for depreciation of fixed assets of enterprises, adequate to the goals of the national economy modernization. It seems appropriate to establish a depreciation model which will allow the state to conduct depreciation policy differentiated by branches of the national economy and on specific territories. In addition, depreciation deductibles must be real, that means, they should be accumulated on the accounts and not just be tax exemptions. There are expressions of the Russian economists, that it is possible to ensure the realization of revenues depreciation on special accounts under threat of possible penalties. The solution of this problem, it seems, can be achieved through mandatory enrollment of depreciation amounts into the escrow bank accounts without withdrawing the funds before the expiration of the depreciation period of fixed assets of the owners. The yield on bank deposits in the Russian market, as a rule, does not exceed the Central Bank refinancing rate. Keeping money in the long term on such conditions is not economically feasible - a negative return on these investments is guaranteed, but if the federal government has helped to ensure a nominal rate of return of deposits to 10% (in a given period of time at the expense of its resources, then our proposal could have lost the character of economic voluntarism. If all accrued depreciation (2 348 641 million rubles will be placed on deposit accounts and the credit system of the Russian Federation will provide holders an annual yield of 10% (at the rate of inflation 8.8%, the annual subsidy amount will be 28 183.7 million rubles. In this case, the credit system receives a resource for the issuance of long-term loans. Taking into account the banking margin of 2%, the annual interest on long-term loans could amount (in terms of the current time 10-12% of annual yield.

Financial aspects of nuclear power programmes from the experience of the Foratom Member Countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riverola Pelayo, R.

1977-01-01

This paper reviews the financial aspects of the nuclear power programme from the experience of the Foratom Member countries. To appreciate the magnitude of the financial requirement the investments for the nuclear programme over the period 1976-85 are related to gross national product and gross capital formation. An examination is made of the sources and systems of financing for nuclear power stations and for all stages of the fuel cycle. The importance of interest during construction of the nuclear plant is considered in detail as, with the lengthening of construction times, this has now become a major factor in the total cost of a nuclear station. The possible accounting conventions under which interest during construction can be treated are examined and a study is made of the investment profile, the cost of money and the effect of inflation. The fiscal aspects of nuclear finance are studied with reference to national regulations and amortization rules. The amortization of nuclear installations also presents certain problems associated with their dismantling once their useful life is over, and this raises the question of the need to create a reserve fund which can commence with the startup of the power plant. For the fuel cycle a distinction can be made between areas of high (economic) risk such as in the prospecting and mining of uranium and the reprocessing of irradiated fuel, and those areas of normal risk such as the manufacture of fuel elements. The difficulties of obtaining credit for the first phase should be considered. (author)

Application specific Tester-On-a-Resident-Chip (TORCH{trademark}) - innovation in the area of semiconductor testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bowles, M. [L& M Technologies, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Peterson, T. [New Mexico Highlands Univ., Las Vegas, NM (United States); Savignon, D.; Campbell, D. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

1997-12-01

Manufacturers widely recognize testing as a major factor in the cost, producability, and delivery of product in the $100 billion integrated circuit business: {open_quotes}The rapid development of VLSI using sub-micron CMOS technology has suddenly exposed traditional test techniques as a major cost factor that could restrict the development of VLSI devices exceeding 512 pins an operating frequencies above 200 MHz.{close_quotes} -- 1994 Semiconductor Industry Association Roadmap, Design and Test, Summary, pg. 43. This problem increases dramatically for stockpile electronics, where small production quantities make it difficult to amortize the cost of increasingly expensive testers. Application of multiple ICs in Multi-Chip Modules (MCM) greatly multiplies testing problems for commercial and defense users alike. By traditional test methods, each new design requires custom test hardware and software and often dedicated testing equipment costing millions of dollars. Also, physical properties of traditional test systems often dedicated testing equipment costing millions of dollars. Also, physical properties of traditional test systems limit capabilities in testing at-speed (>200 MHz), high-impedance, and high-accuracy analog signals. This project proposed a revolutionary approach to these problems: replace the multi-million dollar external test system with an inexpensive test system integrated onto the product wafer. Such a methodology enables testing functions otherwise unachievable by conventional means, particularly in the areas of high-frequency, at-speed testing, high impedance analog circuits, and known good die assessment. The techniques apply specifically to low volume applications, typical of Defense Programs, where testing costs represent an unusually high proportional of product costs, not easily amortized.

The modification of existing Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA) instrument by using the concept of qardhul hassan and flexible sharing ratio

Science.gov (United States)

Rajak, Abd Aziz Arrashid Abd; Halim, Nurfadhlina Abdul; Jaaman @ Sharman, Saiful Hafizah

2017-08-01

Bai Bithaman Ajil (BBA) instrument as the main mode of financing has become the biggest leap in the revolution of real estate purchase. Through many years of developing and refining its usage in financial institutions, BBA has confronted several argumentation and debate among scholars on its conformity towards Shariah. Although there are cases of inconsistency findings when it comes to conformity towards Shariah, BBA is still one of the predominant, accepted mode of financing especially in Malaysia. Therefore, this paper will prove that BBA instrument using the approach of Constant Rate of Return (CRR) is mathematically identical to the conventional approach which is annuity. Besides, this paper will also provide the amortization of CRR. It is proven that CRR formula is likely based on the amortization of conventional approach. Besides, this paper discusses mainly on the incompliance of BBA towards Shariah and hence will introduce the proxy for BBA instruments by implementing profit-loss sharing (PLS). The modified BBA instrument is develop by deliberating the concept of qardhul hassan as its principal payment and as for its rental payment will introduce the sharing ratio to represent the ownership of bank and customers in every periodic payments by using flexible sharing ratio. This modification does not include any increment in the repayment of principal and the profit gained is based solely on the payment of rent to purchase the ownership of the bank. Hence, this modified BBA is much more compliance towards Shariah law because it does not comprise any riba, gharar, or masyir.

Financial aspects of nuclear power programmes from the experience of the FORATOM member countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riverola-Pelayo, R.

1977-01-01

This paper reviews the financial aspects of nuclear power programme from the experience of the FORATOM member countries. To appreciate the magnitude of the financial requirement, the investments for the nuclear programme over the period 1976-85 are related to gross national product and gross capital formation. An examination is made of the sources and systems of financing for nuclear power stations and for all stages of the fuel cycle. The importance of interest during construction of nuclear plant is considered in detail as, with the lengthening of construction times, this has now become a major factor in the total cost of a nuclear station. The possible accounting conventions under which interest during construction can be treated are examined and a study is made of the investment profile, the cost of money and the effect of inflation. The fiscal aspects of nuclear finance are studied with reference to national regulations and amortization rules. The amortization of nuclear installations also presents certain problems associated with their dismantling once their useful life is over and this raises the question of the need to create a reserve fund which can commence with the startup of the power plant. For the fuel cycle, a distinction can be made between phases of high (economic) risk such as in the prospection and mining of uranium and the reprocessing of irradiated fuel, and those areas of normal risk such as the manufacture of fuel elements. The difficulties of obtaining credit for the first phase should be considered

Hot ethanol extraction: economic feasibility of a new and green process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carré Patrick

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A new extraction process using ethanol at a temperature above boiling point is assessed from an economic point of view. The study was based on an assessment of the main operating costs adjusted by Lang’s factor. Operating costs were assessed based on energy consumption calculated using a model of the process developed from experimental results, and for a hypothetical unit with a 160 000 t/year rapeseed crushing capacity. The processing cost was estimated at 47.4 € per ton of processed seed. Amortization represented 35% of this cost, energy 32% and manpower 10%. Uncertainty about investment is the main factor that could lead to significant error in this cost, but this uncertainty could be offset by an adjustment of the amortization duration, most of the equipment being durable. Profit generated by the process relies principally on a better valuation of the meal: higher value comes from higher protein content and quality on the market for GM-free high protein feedstuffs. Oil quality is also improved by a lower oleic acidity, low phospholipid content and pigment concentration. This gain was estimated at 2.5% of the crude oil value. Unlike the conventional hexane process, hot ethanol extraction produces molasses in small proportions. Molasses value was set at 70% of corn price. The process profitability appears sufficiently positive to justify further research to test the hypothesis underlying our model. The main uncertainty lies in the performance of the process in real conditions of counter-flow extraction and solvent regeneration.

TAX AND ACCOUNTING TREATMENT ON THE REVALUATION OF TANGIBLE ASSETS IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NICOLAE ECOBICI

2017-02-01

Full Text Available According to the regulations in force, the revaluation is an alternative treatment to the cost method, tangible assets to be presented in accounting to the fair/ reassessed value. In this paper we aim to capture the accounting treatment established under the laws in force in 2017. We will present ways of determining the reassessment differences and their implications on determining the tax on buildings (only tangible assets as buildings. We will also present the way to register the added value (revaluation surplus or minus value (amortization on reassessment and the treatment of the revaluation reserve (surplus from reassessment recorded in account the 105 “Reserve from reassessment” in accounting. Comparing the laws in force and those of IAS 16, we conclude that the accounting treatment related to the revaluation of tangible assets is similar. There remain unusable for the entities that do not apply IFRS in Romania: permanent reassessment of the duration of use and amortization method. Throughout the paper we will present the tax treatment of reassessment through corporate tax implications. Therefore, we will consider that the entities to which we refer are in the category of corporate tax payers and not in that of microenterprises. They no longer feel the influence of corporate tax because are taxed on income and not at the fiscal result (1% for those with at least 1 employee and 3% others. The main findings focus on the issue of identifying the exact moment when the reassessment reserve is taxed and on what are included in items similar to income, corporate tax implications.

CASE STUDY ON RE-ADJUSTMENTS DEPENDING ON PRICE MODIFICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cozma Ighian Diana

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Inflationary moments, characterized by significant price rises, have proved that accountingsystems based on historical costs provide a distorted image of the reality: the elements ofthe balance sheet are under-valuated, and the stock-related expenses and amortization in theprofit and loss account are also under-valuated. Under these circumstances, the result isover-valuated, and its distribution leads to allotments from the company’s capital. In thispaper we draw up a case study with regards to the methods used for adjusting pricemodification, clearly outlining, through a comparative analysis, the main differencesbetween the accounting system based on historical cost and inflation accounting.

Laboratory and pilot plant studies for the recovery of uranium from phosphoric acid by the D2EHPA-TOPO process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Botella, T.; Gasos, P.

1989-01-01

The activities and costs involved in laboratory and pilot plant studies are discussed as applied to the D2EHPA-TOPO process. The overall capital investment (including engineering) for a plant with a throughput of 12 cubic meters of acid/day has been estimated to be around one million US dollars. Operating costs per year, without considering amortization and labor, are over 20,000 US dollars. A total time of 3,5 years (including engineering, purchase and pilot plant tests) could be needed to obtain the information required for final scale-up. (author). 40 refs, 1 fig., 5 tabs

'Immortal' energy systems and intergenerational justice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weinberg, A.M.

1985-01-01

Some critics of our technological society have asserted that we are leaving a legacy of problems for our descendants - in the shape, for example, of CO 2 pollution of the atmosphere and radioactive waste. The author argues that if some of our power generation systems turn out to be near 'immortal', with lives much longer than their book lives, on the contrary, great benefits may be bequeathed to our successors - in fully amortized plant with very low running costs. There are examples in history of similar benefits conferred by dams built hundreds of years ago but which still serve useful purposes today. (author)

AGRIFIS - simulator prospecting scenarios and evaluation of projects for production of seeds, in nature oil and castor oil biodiesel; AGRIFIS - simulador de prospeccao de cenarios e avaliacao de projetos de producao de sementes, oleo in natura e biodiesel de mamona

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Polizel, L.H.; Tahan, C.M.V.; Pelegrini, M. A.; Soares, B.F. [Universidade de Sao Paulo (ENERQ/USP), SP (Brazil). Centro de Estudos em Regulacao e Qualidade de Energia], Email: cmvtahan@pea.usp.br; Takeno, H.K. [Companhia Energetica de Petrolina (CEP), PE (Brazil); Silva, O.C. da; Monteiro, B.; Velazquez, S.M.S.G. [Universidade de Sao Paulo (CENBIO/USP), SP (Brazil). Centro Nacional de Referencia em Biomassa; Drumond, M.A.; Anjos, J.B. dos [EMBRAPA Semi-Arido - Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (EMBRAPA), Petrolina, PE (Brazil)

2006-07-01

This paper presents a model conceived for scenario prospection and project evaluation of small scale castor bean farming, oil extraction and bio diesel production (transesterification) integrated chain. To evaluate the performance of each project the model adopts financial, social and environmental index such as NPV, IRR, SPB, DPB, production costs, family income, number of settled families and employment. The model was implemented in a computational environment, allowing its use as a decision support tool for investments on the castor bean production chain; it calculates the cash flow of the entire project and of each family, including earnings, debts, taxes, interest and amortization. (author)

Factors Explaining Management Preferences of Accounting for Goodwill Prior to the Implementation of IFRS 3: A Cross-Country Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emita W. Astami

2006-01-01

The results show that accounting practices for goodwill vary significantly across country of origins and across industry groups. Two economic variables significantly explain management preferences of accounting for goodwill. The finding shows that the higher a company’s financial leverage ratio the company managers prefer to write off goodwill immediately against income or to capitalize and amortize it in a sorter period of time. The higher a company’s size, the more likely the company would write-off of goodwill to balance sheet reserves. Thus, this study provides empirical evidence that management preferences of accounting for goodwill have economic consequences.

'ISL pattern reserve requirements for today's spot price,' or 'how many in-place pounds are needed for a mining pattern to be profitable in today's market'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anthony, H.L.

2000-01-01

Recent uranium spot market values place additional burdens on the geologist and project manager to identify mineralized ore that will yield a profitable return on investment to the mining venture and its investors. The author reviews the various cost components that comprise the total work effort required to produce uranium via ISL methods to arrive at a suitable ore grade that will guarantee profitably. Amortization of costs based on recent expenditures for typical ISL operations are used in conjunction with wellfield development, operating and restoration costs to determine the ore value required to show a positive return on investment. (author)

Progressive reduction of the thermal wall system by modal analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mokhtari, A.; Meslem, A.; Bounif, A.; Kadi, L. [Universite des Sciences et de la Technologie, Oran (Algeria)

1993-12-31

A reduction method of thermal systems called ``progress`` using the modal Analysis is presented. It allows to do, at each time of simulation, a synthesis information in the system evolution. Consequently, the limited number of descriptive and significant parameters (proper modes), can produce some extremely useful indication about dynamic evolution. However this method can eliminate proper modes of which the energetic contribution will be neglected or amortized. Some examples were studied, showing the efficiency of this method by reducing the computing time, as well as, having high precision on predicted dynamic response over time of simulation. (Authors). 4 refs., 4 figs.

A new request to the social psychiatry in Ukraine: stress-related disorders and PTSD, are we ready?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg Chaban

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In early 2014 resulted by the outbreak of conflict in eastern Ukraine 823,000 people became internally displaced, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service. All of the above requires a new assessment of the state of people in a situation of chronic stress and distress taking into account their mentality, psychological amortization properties and social situation. We need systematic training of specialists in the field of acute stress and PTSD, with following consistent professional development. It is necessary to develop a national protocol for PTSD management and to implement an appropriate modernization of the Ukrainian health care system.

Financial history and various statistics: Summary 1988-1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

Data are presented for various aspects of Hydro-Quebec's performance during 1988-1992. Tables and graphs give information on financial balances, expenses of various Hydro-Quebec programs, electricity sales in terms of kWh and dollar values for different economic sectors and regions, electricity sales outside Quebec, electricity sales by type of power (interruptible, surplus, firm), expenditures, taxes, power purchases, interest charges, labor costs, debt, depreciation, assets, liabilities, dividends, investments, amortization, and power system requirements. Some data are also included for associated organizations such as Hydro-Quebec International, Societe d'energie de la Baie James, and Nouveler Inc. 20 figs., 99 tabs

HOW THE DEPRECIATION METHOD CONTRIBUTES TO ESTIMATING FUTURE TREASURY FLOWS OUT OF THE ASSETS USE – CASE STUDY IN THE GROUPS OF SOCIETIES FROM THE ROMANIAN AREA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manea Marinela - Daniela

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The current paper further pursues a previous research which sets out to test the contribution of the amortization method to generating the future cash flows from using tangible fixed assets within the European and Romania area. The process was initiated out of the necessity to identify new working tools available for the Romanian accountant professionals with regard to implementing the provisions of the accounting international standards (IFRS and it came across the difficulty of modeling the sample – 40 societies – and collecting information from financial situations, often incomplete, insufficiently formalized and difficult to process.

Battery sizing for serial plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: A model-based economic analysis for Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ernst, Christian-Simon; Hackbarth, Andre; Madlener, Reinhard; Lunz, Benedikt; Uwe Sauer, Dirk; Eckstein, Lutz

2011-01-01

The battery size of a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) is decisive for the electrical range of the vehicle and crucial for the cost-effectiveness of this particular vehicle concept. Based on the energy consumption of a conventional reference car and a PHEV, we introduce a comprehensive total cost of ownership model for the average car user in Germany for both vehicle types. The model takes into account the purchase price, fixed annual costs and variable operating costs. The amortization time of a PHEV also depends on the recharging strategy (once a day, once a night, after each trip), the battery size, and the battery costs. We find that PHEVs with a 4 kWh battery and at current lithium-ion battery prices reach the break-even point after about 6 years (5 years when using the lower night-time electricity tariffs). With higher battery capacities the amortization time becomes significantly longer. Even for the small battery size and assuming the EU-15 electricity mix, a PHEV is found to emit only around 60% of the CO 2 emissions of a comparable conventional car. Thus, with the PHEV concept a cost-effective introduction of electric mobility and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per vehicle can be reached. - Highlights: → Total cost of ownership of a PHEV and a conventional car are compared for the average German car user.→ PHEVs with a 4 kWh battery reach the break-even after 5-6 years at current Li-Ion battery prices.→ Even with a small battery, PHEVs emit about 40% less CO 2 emissions than the average conventional car.

26 CFR 1.177-1 - Election to amortize trademark and trade name expenditures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... franchises or rights to the use of a trademark or trade name. Generally, section 177 will apply to... beginning after December 31, 1955, shall, within the time prescribed by law (including extensions thereof...

26 CFR 1.195-1T - Election to amortize start-up expenditures (temporary).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... business, or $5,000 (reduced (but not below zero) by the amount by which the start-up expenditures exceed... beginning with the month in which the active trade or business begins. All start-up expenditures that relate to the active trade or business are considered in determining whether the start-up expenditures...

ACCOUNTING POLICIES APPLIED BY ENTITIES AND THE VALUE OF FIXED ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Partenie Dumbravă

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to present the accounting policies applied by medium taxpayers in Covasna county and analyse the factors of influence over choice of accounting policies related to tangible assets. The study contains an analysis of answers given by respondents to the questionnaire sent, with regard to: evaluation bases, revaluation of the tangible assets of the entities, used amortization methods and the depreciable value. The results obtained among other, show that the greatest effect on accounting policy choices have influence factor no. 7 - The tangible assets value in the financial statements present the true and fair view of them.

Responsabilidad social corporativa y sostenibilidad financiera en la industria del cemento en México

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Abelardo Pérez Sosa

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to determine if the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR has any impact on the financial sustainability of Mexican cement companies, which was evaluated with the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC and the Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciations and Amortizations (EBITDA. Among the analyzed companies, the one with better results in the CSR accomplishment was also the company with a stronger financial sustainability, that is, that had greater reductions in its financial cost and higher improvements in its EBITDA. Therefore, is accepted the hypothesis that states that the companies engaged with the CSR keep or improve their financial sustainability.

HARMONIZATION, HISTORICAL COST AND INVESTMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentin Gabriel CRISTEA

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Choosing depreciation of assets; revaluation of tangible or keeping their historical cost; registration, whilst the tangible assets are entered in the conservation of amortization expenses or a corresponding adjustment to depreciation expense ascertained; choosing the method of evaluating stocks is accounting policies. IAS 40 is significant because it was the first time the International Accounting Standards Board has introduced a fair value accounting model for non-financial assets. All firms must provide fair value for their real estate assets either directly in the balance sheet in accordance with the fair value model choice, either in the footnotes below cost model selection.

ACCOUNTING AND TAXATION ASPECTS REGARDING THE DEPRECIATION OF FIXED ASSETS IN THE AGRI-FOOD ENTERPRISES OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vadim COJOCARI

2014-06-01

Full Text Available If accounting issues concerning the calculation of fixed assets depreciation are considered by most economists as rationaland appropriate to the requirements of market changes, then, when it comes to the interpretation of this problem for taxpurposes the situation becomes much more contradictory and unusual. In addition, the differences between accountingand taxation rules concerning the determination of amortization amounts are so significant, that it seems, voluntarily orinvoluntarily, that there is a lack of a unique approach at the state level to solve this issue, and the unwillingness ofcompetent bodies to harmoniously combine the interests of society as a whole and partially those of economic agents.

Fiscal planning of private electricity production projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gauthier, R.

2002-01-01

Various fiscal considerations frequently encountered in the context of the planning of private electricity production projects were described. Two major themes were discussed: 1) the different jurisdictional vehicles that can be used during the planning of private electricity production projects and the associated fiscal considerations, and 2) the two main fiscal incentives of the Income Tax Act (Canada) which could impact on the financing and operation costs of such a project, namely the accelerated amortization and the possibility of deducting the costs associated to renewable energies and energy savings in Canada. This was a general presentation that did not go into specific details and did not represent a legal opinion. refs

Controversies Regarding Goodwill Evaluation, Depreciation and Recording Policies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liliana Feleaga

2006-08-01

Full Text Available In some of the continental European countries (e.g. France, there is a necessity to make a clear distinction between the legal issue of commerce fund (fonds de commerce, in French language, and the related accounting concept represented by goodwill. Fonds de commerce represents a set of movable and immovable goods with a common destination, therefore having a unique legal status. Goodwill is an intangible asset item that is placed within the Balance Sheet. It holds together all the fonds de commerce elements which finally form a subset containing the following: (i intangible assets; (ii not evaluated, nor separately recorded; (iii purchased, but not internally created; (iv which compete for the maintenance and further development of the company’s activity potential. The goodwill issue appears very often within the consolidated accounts. A commercial relationship between the parent of a group and one of its subsidiaries may appear either through the creation of a new enterprise (initiated by the group leader, or by acquisition of already existent business. In this second case, we are talking about a business combination. The acquired goodwill is mentioned in the Balance Sheet, amongst non-current intangible asset items. The internally generated goodwill is not recognised within the Balance Sheet. Goodwill may be stated as the difference between the acquisition cost and the percentage belonging to the buyer within the fair value of the assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities identifiable acquired. In the advanced accounting systems, goodwill is no longer amortized. His useful life is undefined, but not unlimited. The fact that is no longer amortized determines an annual depreciation test. Such a depreciation test is meant to evaluate the goodwill on the basis of present cash flows.

Investments in Renewable Energies. Eonomic, technical and fiscal funding opportunities; Investitionen in Erneuerbare Energien. Wirtschaftliche, technische und steuerliche Foerdermoeglichkeiten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drysch, Michael; Rosarius, Lothar

2013-02-01

The first part of the book under consideration analyses the actual market situation for renewable energies, presents alternative forms of use of renewable energies, summarizes decision-relevant criteria and points out possible promotions of investment. Specialist terms are explained understandable. The consciousness becomes aware of the renewable energy resources. The calculation of profitability is presented by means of a case example. The second part of the book establishes tax basics and presents individual problem areas such as turnover tax liability or commerciality. Fiscal funding opportunities with respect to decisions on investment are explained in detail such as tax-exempt income or special amortizations. Fiscal opportunities are discussed with a particular emphasis on tax pitfalls.

Control of surplus oxygen in the combustion zone reduces fuel costs and NO{sub x} emissions; Verringerung der Brennstoffkosten und NO{sub X}-Emissionen durch Regelung des Sauerstoffueberschusses in der Brennzone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boltz, Eric S. [Marathon Sensors Inc. (Germany); Baumann, Jens [Process Electronic GmbH (Germany)

2009-06-15

Real time in-situ measurement of oxygen content and temperature in the combustion zone of a heating boiler or furnace permits monitoring of combustion conditions at source. Measurements of oxygen surplus and of temperature at strategic points supply us with instantaneous information for optimum control of the combustion process. Accurate and rapid measurement of oxygen surplus is vital in view of the cost explosion in the case of fuels, and also for reduction of NO{sub x} emissions. Locally available commercial high-temperature oxygen sensors make it possible to solve problems of combustion control and burner regulation with only short amortization periods and high annual financial benefits in power generating plant, petrochemicals, refinery and glassworks applications. (orig.)

S.1234: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax relief to utilities installing acid rain reduction equipment, introduced in the Senate of the United States, One Hundred Second Congress, First Session, June 6, 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

The bill would allow a tax credit of 6 2/3% of a taxpayer's investment in qualified acid rain control equipment for each of the three years beginning the year the equipment is placed in service. Additionally, a tax credit would be allowed during two years of construction progress, the amount being 6 2/3% of construction expenditures. The bill describes qualified acid rain property', tax-exempt financing of acid rain control property, tax credit for minerals used to reduce the sulfur in coal, coal cleaning minerals credit, exclusion from gross income of receipt of qualified Clean Air allowance and proceeds of disposition thereof, qualified Clean Air allowances, and amortization of acid rain control property

PSYCHOLOGICAL AMORTIZATION FACTORS FOR MEDIA IMPACT IN DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN FROM DIFFERENT SOCIAL GROUPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga I. Makhovskaya

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this publication is to analyze the domestic and foreign psychological researches on influence of TV-programs on social, cognitive and emotional development of children. Methods. Methods involve a comparative historical and psychological analysis of papers, manuscripts and archival records of television companies. Results. The present study demonstrates that educational television, subsequently on-line resources for children, affect operative cognitive functions, increase cognitive motivation, and contribute to the formation of other important cognitive and social skills. However, the impact on children on-screen resources depends on the status and education level of the family. Scientific novelty. Much attention is given to the fact that it is the first attempt to provide historical and psychological analysis of world-wide studies of the effects of children’s television, from the main countries-producers of TV and video programs for children of different age – Russia, USA, Germany, France, Israel, etc. Criteria and matrix for comparison of heterogeneous researches, the domestic theory of child development, cultural-historical approach, the theory of stage formation of mental actions, activity theory had been chosen. Practical significance of the research is that these criteria can be used to assess any of the videos, their educational potential. Psychologists involved in the process of television production, this article will help to simulate the learning process taking into account the age of the children and their socio-cultural origin. 

Performance optimization of internet firewalls

Science.gov (United States)

Chiueh, Tzi-cker; Ballman, Allen

1997-01-01

Internet firewalls control the data traffic in and out of an enterprise network by checking network packets against a set of rules that embodies an organization's security policy. Because rule checking is computationally more expensive than routing-table look-up, it could become a potential bottleneck for scaling up the performance of IP routers, which typically implement firewall functions in software. in this paper, we analyzed the performance problems associated with firewalls, particularly packet filters, propose a good connection cache to amortize the costly security check over the packets in a connection, and report the preliminary performance results of a trace-driven simulation that show the average packet check time can be reduced by a factor of 2.5 at the least.

A cost comparison of nuclear and fossil power for the Alberta tar sands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sochaski, R.O.; Smith, D.W.

1977-04-01

One technique envisaged for commercial development of the Alberta tar sands is in-situ removal of bitumen by injection of steam into the formation at high temperature and pressure. The 3000 MW of thermal power required for a typical 20 Gg/d plant could be supplied by a nuclear reactor. Accordingly, an economic comparison was made between a CANDU organic-cooled reactor and a conventional coal-fired station, using a variety of financial ground rules. This analysis shows that for debt-financed cases, nuclear power has essentially no economic competition from coal. For equity cases, the competitive position of a coal-fired station is heavily dependent on the cost of coal delivered to the tar sands area, discount rate, amortization period and inflation rate. (author)

Cogeneration. Energy efficiency - Micro-cogeneration; La Cogeneration. Efficacite Energetique - Micro-cogeneration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boudellal, M.

2010-07-01

Depletion of natural resources and of non-renewable energy sources, pollution, greenhouse effect, increasing energy needs: energy efficiency is a major topic implying a better use of the available primary energies. In front of these challenges, cogeneration - i.e. the joint production of electricity and heat, and, at a local or individual scale, micro-cogeneration - can appear as interesting alternatives. This book presents in a detailed manner: the present day and future energy stakes; the different types of micro-cogeneration units (internal combustion engines, Stirling engine, fuel cell..), and the available models or the models at the design stage; the different usable fuels (natural gas, wood, biogas..); the optimization rules of a facility; the costs and amortizations; and some examples of facilities. (J.S.)

Ideal energy self-sufficient bioclimatic house

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Talamo, C.

1990-04-01

This paper points out some of the interesting architectural features of a conceptual house being designed to be self-sufficient relative to the use of conventional energy sources. Brief notes are given on the following special design characteristics: the house's orientation and form - essentially a V - shaped two storey design with an orientation such as to maximize the surface area exposed to winter insolation; its special low emissivity glazing equipped with nightfall insulating screens; the adoption of maximized insulation, in which case cost benefits were assessed based on amortization over the entire life span of the house; hybrid space heating and ventilation systems involving the integration of pumps and ventilators for air circulation, and the use of a varied mix of active and passive solar heating and cooling systems.

Valve combination permits more cost-efficient commissioning of drinking-water pipelines; Armaturenkombination ermoeglicht wirtschaftlichere Inbetriebnahme von Trinkwasserleitungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stock, W. [Schmieding Armaturen GmbH, Heusenstamm (Germany); Geske, M. [Stadtwerke Memmingen (Germany)

2005-03-01

The classical, and probably most widely-used, method of cleaning a newly installed water pipeline is that of flushing using drinking water. The target taken for the development of the valve combination designated 'R2D-Stueck' was therefore that of significantly increasing flushing performance and, therefore, cleaning efficiency. In addition, all operations associated with the commissioning of a drinking-water pipeline were to be made possible using one single component (in particular, cleaning, disinfection and pressure-testing, resulting in the abbreviation R2D [from German 'Reinigung, Desinfizieren, Druckprobe']). Reconnection and conversion work between the individual operations have been simplified or, in some cases, can even be omitted. Investment in an R2D-Stueck can thus be amortized after as few as five deployments, depending on DN. (orig.)

Advanced model for expansion of natural gas distribution networks based on geographic information systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramirez-Rosado, I.J.; Fernandez-Jimenez, L.A.; Garcia-Garrido, E.; Zorzano-Santamaria, P.; Zorzano-Alba, E. [La Rioja Univ., La Rioja (Spain). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Miranda, V.; Montneiro, C. [Porto Univ., Porto (Portugal). Faculty of Engineering]|[Inst. de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores do Porto, Porto (Portugal)

2005-07-01

An advanced geographic information system (GIS) model of natural gas distribution networks was presented. The raster-based model was developed to evaluate costs associated with the expansion of electrical networks due to increased demand in the La Rioja region of Spain. The model was also used to evaluate costs associated with maintenance and amortization of the already existing distribution network. Expansion costs of the distribution network were modelled in various demand scenarios. The model also considered a variety of technical factors associated with pipeline length and topography. Soil and slope data from previous pipeline projects were used to estimate real costs per unit length of pipeline. It was concluded that results obtained by the model will be used by planners to select zones where expansion is economically feasible. 4 refs., 5 figs.

The History of Romania’s Relations with the International Monetary Fund

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheorghe Stefan

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The International Monetary Fund aims primarily at ensuring the stability of theinternational monetary system more specifically the international payment system which allowscountries and their citizens to buy, sell goods and services between them. This is essential forsustainable economic growth, improvement of life standards and reducing poverty all around theworld. The goals of Romania’s agreements with IMF subscribe these parameters, mostly the currentone, this being emphasized by the economic recession and the necessity of reducing fiscal imbalancein order to attain a deficit with normal values acceptable in the EU. These include: maintaining theinflation at the range aimed by RNB, ensuring a sufficient external financing and improvingcredibility, the attempt to amortize the effects of severe capital absorption and resolution forRomania’s external and fiscal imbalances and consolidation of the financial area.

Law no. 2003-8 from January 3, 2003 relative to the gas and electricity markets and to the energy public utilities; Loi no. 2003-8 du 3 janvier 2003 relative aux marches du gaz et de l'electricite et au service public de l'energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-01-01

This law adopted by the French house of commons and senate defines the conditions of opening of the French natural gas market to the international competition. In particular it defines: the conditions of access to the natural gas distribution networks (eligible clients, suppliers, assignees, contracts, right of access, derogations..); the transparency and the regulation of the natural gas sector (tariffing, book keeping, controls..); the gas public utility (obligations, conventions, national observatory of the gas and electric utilities); natural gas transport and distribution (network safety and maintenance, technical specifications, concessions, authorizations etc..); the underground storage (facilities, concessions, exploitation, safety, permits); the controls and sanctions; the dispositions relative to the electric public utility (funds of amortization, electrification charges, competition, contracts, renewable energy sources); the fees for electricity and gas transportation and distribution. (J.S.)

Energy analysis of power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Next to economic viability, the holistic energy balance of electricity generation options' is a factor of major importance. All aspects of the energy balance, i. e. all expenditures and all revenues, are compared in a life cycle analysis. This turns out to be a complex task, especially because of the large number of input quantities to be determined, including the balancing limits to be taken into account. The article presents in detail the findings of analyses of energy balances for various types of nuclear power plants as well as electricity generation in fossil-fired power plants, and for renewable energies. The analyses and their databases are discussed. Moreover, the findings are presented for the energetic amortization periods and the amounts of CO 2 emissions specific to the respective generating technologies. (orig.)

Investigating the drivers of deforestation in Indonesia and their role in REDD+ policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Rosa, Michele; Knudsen, Marie Trydeman; Hermansen, John Erik

GHG targets; with the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions countries are simply expected to set a non-binding target, including a no-action option. De facto, GHG cuts are highly controversial because strictly related to economic activity. Reducing deforestation remains the most feasible...... strategy to achieve a quick GHG reduction, obtaining also other non-carbon benefits. Yet, net deforestation is increasing in forest rich countries such as Indonesia and Brazil. Taking as a starting point the Indonesian experience with the REDD+ (Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation) program...... modelled in LCA with an arbitrary amortization time. A new challenge posed by emerging plantations is their flexibility to supply alternatively different markets, depending on the highest market prices (flex-crop). Land occupation by palm oil plantations in Indonesia increased by more than 400% in the last...

The assets of nuclear energy on the European market of energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlier, P.

2000-01-01

This article presents the industrial strategy of EDF. The French production of electricity is essentially based on nuclear energy. The costs of the installations are partially amortized and the investment represent no more than 28% of the production cost, this percentage is due to decrease by half by 2005. The cost of nuclear KWh covers the future charges such as dismantlement, reprocessing or waste storage, so EDF can propose to its customers a long term stability of prices. Today, on a world scale the trend is to favour combined cycle gas mode for electricity production. The cost of gas is low but the price of gas-produced KWh does not take into account the impact on environment, new regulations following from Kyoto agreement might change that. (A.C.)

26 CFR 1.168A-6 - Depreciation of portion of emergency facility not subject to amortization.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Depreciation of portion of emergency facility... for Individuals and Corporations § 1.168A-6 Depreciation of portion of emergency facility not subject... in lieu of any deduction for depreciation which would otherwise be allowable under section 167 is...

CORRELATED ANALYSIS OF CLIENT-CREDIT COST WITH THE ONE OF SUPPLIER - CREDIT COST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIRELA MONEA

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The given client-credit has associated several types of costs. If a company gives client-credit for a certain period of time, then it will have to finance its activity from other sources. Another aspect is the one related to the size of allotted sum. The sum that must be covered does not equal the turnover. The impact on financing the operating cycle is found usually only under the form of expenses which are made up of variable costs (because amortization must not be paid, the profit is included in the price. Thus, the sum which must be covered is not related to the non-cashed turnover from the client-credit, but only to variable costs. This will be the sum that must be covered from the financing sources. Supplier-credit is a source attracted, usually it has no cost.

Total 2004 results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-02-01

This document presents the 2004 results of Total Group: consolidated account, special items, number of shares, market environment, adjustment for amortization of Sanofi-Aventis merger-related intangibles, 4. quarter 2004 results (operating and net incomes, cash flow), upstream (results, production, reserves, recent highlights), downstream (results, refinery throughput, recent highlights), chemicals (results, recent highlights), Total's full year 2004 results (operating and net income, cash flow), 2005 sensitivities, Total SA parent company accounts and proposed dividend, adoption of IFRS accounting, summary and outlook, main operating information by segment for the 4. quarter and full year 2004: upstream (combined liquids and gas production by region, liquids production by region, gas production by region), downstream (refined product sales by region, chemicals), Total financial statements: consolidated statement of income, consolidated balance sheet (assets, liabilities and shareholder's equity), consolidated statements of cash flows, business segments information. (J.S.)

A comparison of land use change accounting methods: seeking common grounds for key modeling choices in biofuel assessments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Bikuna Salinas, Koldo Saez; Hamelin, Lorie; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

2018-01-01

Five currently used methods to account for the global warming (GW) impact of the induced land-use change (LUC) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been applied to four biofuel case studies. Two of the investigated methods attempt to avoid the need of considering a definite occupation -thus...... amortization period by considering ongoing LUC trends as a dynamic baseline. This leads to the accounting of a small fraction (0.8%) of the related emissions from the assessed LUC, thus their validity is disputed. The comparison of methods and contrasting case studies illustrated the need of clearly...... distinguishing between the different time horizons involved in life cycle assessments (LCA) of land-demanding products like biofuels. Absent in ISO standards, and giving rise to several confusions, definitions for the following time horizons have been proposed: technological scope, inventory model, impact...

Slaughterhouse sewage treatment using gamma radiation - economical feasibility study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melo, Rita; Botelho, M. Luisa; Branco, Joaquim

2005-01-01

This paper presents preliminary results of a financial viability study for the implementation of gamma radiation technology on a slaughterhouse wastewater treatment industry. Five scenarios were studied, including the current practice, representing different types of treatments and goals, e.g.: water reuse and/or sludge add value as agriculture fertilizers. Cost-benefit analysis, including the net present value (NPV) of each scenario, was used as a technique to compare the relative value of various strategies. Taking in account that the initial investment is amortized after 20 years, the implementation of Co-60 treatment with 20% water reuse and sludge application as agriculture fertilizers represents the most profitable project with the highest NPV. Therefore, the implementation of gamma radiation technology on a slaughterhouse wastewater treatment industry is not only technically viable as well as economically feasible. (author)

Using a Cray Y-MP as an array processor for a RISC Workstation

Science.gov (United States)

Lamaster, Hugh; Rogallo, Sarah J.

1992-01-01

As microprocessors increase in power, the economics of centralized computing has changed dramatically. At the beginning of the 1980's, mainframes and super computers were often considered to be cost-effective machines for scalar computing. Today, microprocessor-based RISC (reduced-instruction-set computer) systems have displaced many uses of mainframes and supercomputers. Supercomputers are still cost competitive when processing jobs that require both large memory size and high memory bandwidth. One such application is array processing. Certain numerical operations are appropriate to use in a Remote Procedure Call (RPC)-based environment. Matrix multiplication is an example of an operation that can have a sufficient number of arithmetic operations to amortize the cost of an RPC call. An experiment which demonstrates that matrix multiplication can be executed remotely on a large system to speed the execution over that experienced on a workstation is described.

Micro-Grids for Colonias (TX)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dean Schneider; Michael Martin; Renee Berry; Charles Moyer

2012-07-31

This report describes the results of the final implementation and testing of a hybrid micro-grid system designed for off-grid applications in underserved Colonias along the Texas/Mexico border. The project is a federally funded follow-on to a project funded by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office in 2007 that developed and demonstrated initial prototype hybrid generation systems consisting of a proprietary energy storage technology, high efficiency charging and inverting systems, photovoltaic cells, a wind turbine, and bio-diesel generators. This combination of technologies provided continuous power to dwellings that are not grid connected, with a significant savings in fuel by allowing power generation at highly efficient operating conditions. The objective of this project was to complete development of the prototype systems and to finalize and engineering design; to install and operate the systems in the intended environment, and to evaluate the technical and economic effectiveness of the systems. The objectives of this project were met. This report documents the final design that was achieved and includes the engineering design documents for the system. The system operated as designed, with the system availability limited by maintenance requirements of the diesel gensets. Overall, the system achieved a 96% availability over the operation of the three deployed systems. Capital costs of the systems were dependent upon both the size of the generation system and the scope of the distribution grid, but, in this instance, the systems averaged $0.72/kWh delivered. This cost would decrease significantly as utilization of the system increased. The system with the highest utilization achieved a capitol cost amortized value of $0.34/kWh produced. The average amortized fuel and maintenance cost was $0.48/kWh which was dependent upon the amount of maintenance required by the diesel generator. Economically, the system is difficult to justify as an alternative to grid

Potential of Rainwater Harvesting and Greywater Reuse for Water Consumption Reduction and Wastewater Minimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Ángel López Zavala

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Northeastern Mexico is a semiarid region with water scarcity and a strong pressure on water sources caused by the rapid increase of population and industrialization. In this region, rainwater harvesting alone is not enough to meet water supply demands due to the irregular distribution of rainfall in time and space. Thus, in this study the reliability of integrating rainwater harvesting with greywater reuse to reduce water consumption and minimize wastewater generation in the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey Campus, was assessed. Potable water consumption and greywater generation in main facilities of the campus were determined. Rainwater that can be potentially harvested in roofs and parking areas of the campus was estimated based on a statistical analysis of the rainfall. Based on these data, potential water savings and wastewater minimization were determined. Characterization of rainwater and greywater was carried out to determine the treatment necessities for each water source. Additionally, the capacity of water storage tanks was estimated. For the selected treatment systems, an economic assessment was conducted to determine the viability of the alternatives proposed. Results showed that water consumption can be reduced by 48% and wastewater generation can be minimized by 59%. Implementation of rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse systems in the Monterrey Campus will generate important economic benefits to the institution. Amortization of the investments will be achieved in only six years, where the net present value (NPV will be on the order of US $50,483.2, the internal rate of return (IRR of 4.6% and the benefits–investment ratio (B/I of 1.7. From the seventh year, the project will present an IRR greater than the minimum acceptable rate of return (MARR. In a decade, the IRR will be 14.4%, more than twice the MARR, the NPV of US $290,412.1 and the B/I of 3.1, denoting economic feasibility. Based on these results, it is clear that

Priority Queues Resilient to Memory Faults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Allan Grønlund; Moruz, Gabriel; Mølhave, Thomas

2007-01-01

In the faulty-memory RAM model, the content of memory cells can get corrupted at any time during the execution of an algorithm, and a constant number of uncorruptible registers are available. A resilient data structure in this model works correctly on the set of uncorrupted values. In this paper we...... introduce a resilient priority queue. The deletemin operation of a resilient priority queue returns either the minimum uncorrupted element or some corrupted element. Our resilient priority queue uses $O(n)$ space to store $n$ elements. Both insert and deletemin operations are performed in $O(\\log n......+\\delta)$ time amortized, where $\\delta$ is the maximum amount of corruptions tolerated. Our priority queue matches the performance of classical optimal priority queues in the RAM model when the number of corruptions tolerated is $O(\\log n)$. We prove matching worst case lower bounds for resilient priority...

Qualification of laser based additive production for manufacturing of forging Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junker Daniel

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Mass customization leads to very short product life cycles, so the costs of a tool have to be amortized with a low number of workpieces. Especially for highly loaded tools, like those for forging, that leads to expensive products. Therefore more economical production processes for tool manufacturing have to be investigated. As laser additive manufacturing is already used for the production of moulds for injection moulding, this technology maybe could also improve the forging tool production. Within this paper laser metal deposition, which is industrially used for tool repair, will be investigated for the use in tool manufacturing. Therefore a mechanical characterization of parts built with different laser process parameters out of the hot work tool steel 1.2709 is made by upsetting tests and hardness measurements. So the influence of the additive manufacturing process on the hardness distribution is analysed.

Worst Case Efficient Data Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting

, FINDMIN, FINDMAX and PRED (predecessor query) on a unit cost RAM with word size w bits. The RAM operations used are addition, left and right bit shifts, and bit-wise boolean operations. For any function f(n) satisfying , we present a data structure supporting FINDMIN and FINDMAX in worst case constant......We study the design of efficient data structures. In particular we focus on the design of data structures where each operation has a worst case efficient implementations. The concrete problems we consider are partial persistence, implementation of priority queues, and implementation of dictionaries....... The first problem we consider is how to make bounded in-degree and out-degree data structures partially persistent, i.e., how to remember old versions of a data structure for later access. A node copying technique of Driscoll et al. supports update steps in amortized constant time and access steps in worst...

Analysis of material recovery facilities for use in life-cycle assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pressley, Phillip N.; Levis, James W.; Damgaard, Anders

2015-01-01

Insights derived from life-cycle assessment of solid waste management strategies depend critically on assumptions, data, and modeling at the unit process level. Based on new primary data, a process model was developed to estimate the cost and energy use associated with material recovery facilities...... (MRFs), which are responsible for sorting recyclables into saleable streams and as such represent a key piece of recycling infrastructure. The model includes four modules, each with a different process flow, for separation of single-stream, dual-stream, pre-sorted recyclables, and mixed-waste. Each MRF...... type has a distinct combination of equipment and default input waste composition. Model results for total amortized costs from each MRF type ranged from $19.8 to $24.9 per Mg (1 Mg = 1 metric ton) of waste input. Electricity use ranged from 4.7 to 7.8 kWh per Mg of waste input. In a single-stream MRF...

1-GWh diurnal load-leveling superconducting magnetic energy storage system reference design. Appendix B: cost study, high-purity aluminum production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cochran, C.N.; Dawless, R.K.; Whitchurch, J.B.

1979-09-01

Cost information is supplied for aluminum with purities of 200, 2000, and 5000 residual resistivity ratio. Two production situations were used for each purity: (1) 1 x 10 6 kg/yr production rate with a 30-yr sustaining market and (2) 1 x 10 6 kg/yr production rate for 2 yrs only. These productions and purities are of interest for manufacturing devices for Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage. The cost study results are presented as a range and include (1) the selling price of the aluminum for each case, (2) the cost of facilities including construction, engineering, and related costs, (3) the cost of money and depreciation (interest/amortization), and (4) the energy costs - the total of power and fuel. The range is affected by possible production variations and other uncertainties. Information is also given on plant location options and the preferred feed to the purification facility

THE ACCOUNTING TREATMENT OF ASSET DEPRECIATION AND THE IMPACT ON RESULT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARILENA ROXANA ZUCA

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The users of the financial statements have long been limited to perusing the loss and profit account to find out information about the accounting result. It has been considered the most significant indicator to measure the performance of a company, without taking into account, however, the relevance of such information. The accounting result is the result of the free choice on accounting policies of companies and leads to an increase or decrease of this result. It is difficult to select the most relevant policy of the multiple accounting policies provided by the International Financial Reporting Standards with impact on a company’s financial performance. Such various accounting practices make an accurate evaluation of the performance and financial situation of companies of different nationalities difficult. It is certain, though, that different accounting solutions used for re-evaluations, amortizations and adjustments lead to different financial results for identical exploitation conditions.

A comparison of molding procedures - Contact, injection and vacuum injection

Science.gov (United States)

Cathiard, G.

1980-06-01

The technical and economic aspects of the contact, injection and vacuum injection molding of reinforced plastic components are compared for the example of a tractor roof with a gel-coated surface. Consideration is given to the possibility of reinforcement, number of smooth faces, condition of the gel-coated surface, reliability, and labor and workplace requirements of the three processes, and advantages of molding between the mold and a countermold in smooth faces, reliability, labor requirements, working surface and industrial hygiene are pointed out. The times and labor requirements of each step in the molding cycles are examined, and material requirements and yields, investment costs, amortization and product cost prices of the processes are compared. It is concluded that, for the specific component examined, the processes of vacuum injection and injection molding appear very interesting, with injection molding processes resulting in lower cost prices than contact molding for any production volume.

Total 2004 results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-02-01

This document presents the 2004 results of Total Group: consolidated account, special items, number of shares, market environment, adjustment for amortization of Sanofi-Aventis merger-related intangibles, 4. quarter 2004 results (operating and net incomes, cash flow), upstream (results, production, reserves, recent highlights), downstream (results, refinery throughput, recent highlights), chemicals (results, recent highlights), Total's full year 2004 results (operating and net income, cash flow), 2005 sensitivities, Total SA parent company accounts and proposed dividend, adoption of IFRS accounting, summary and outlook, main operating information by segment for the 4. quarter and full year 2004: upstream (combined liquids and gas production by region, liquids production by region, gas production by region), downstream (refined product sales by region, chemicals), Total financial statements: consolidated statement of income, consolidated balance sheet (assets, liabilities and shareholder's equity), consolidated statements of cash flows, business segments information. (J.S.)

Ventilation cost and air cleaning

Science.gov (United States)

Goodfellow, H. D.

The components associated with the costs of the purchase of pollution control equipment are discussed. These include the capital cost to purchase the equipment and installation, and the costs incurred to operate the control device on an annual basis. Although the capital costs can represent a significant outlay of money, typically these costs are spread out over the life of the equipment. In general, this amortized cost is combined with the operating cost and is referred to as an 'annualized cost'. The annualized cost is a commonly used indicator to demonstrate the actual year to year cost that the equipment and operation will represent. Values and methods used to estimate costs, typical cost indicators, and sources of computerized costing models are presented. A comparison of the capital cost expenditure required for a model case (a cement kiln operation), using three control device alternatives is made.

Unconditionally Secure Protocols

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meldgaard, Sigurd Torkel

This thesis contains research on the theory of secure multi-party computation (MPC). Especially information theoretically (as opposed to computationally) secure protocols. It contains results from two main lines of work. One line on Information Theoretically Secure Oblivious RAMS, and how....... We construct an oblivious RAM that hides the client's access pattern with information theoretic security with an amortized $\\log^3 N$ query overhead. And how to employ a second server that is guaranteed not to conspire with the first to improve the overhead to $\\log^2 N$, while also avoiding...... they are used to speed up secure computation. An Oblivious RAM is a construction for a client with a small $O(1)$ internal memory to store $N$ pieces of data on a server while revealing nothing more than the size of the memory $N$, and the number of accesses. This specifically includes hiding the access pattern...

Stability of a radial immiscible drive

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bataille, J

1968-11-01

The stability of the displacement front between 2 immiscible fluids of radial flow between 2 parallel plates (Hele-Shaw model) is studied mathematically by superposing onto the circular displacement front a sinusoidal perturbation. The equations are reduced to dimensionless variables, and it is shown that the stable and unstable domains in a plot: dimensionless viscosity vs. dimensionless time are separated by a polygonal contour, each side of the contour being characterized by the (integer) number of perturbations along the circumference. There is a critical reduced time below which the perturbations are amortized but beyond which they are amplified. Experimental results have been in fair general agreement with theoretical results, the divergence between them being attributable to neglecting capillary phenomena, which may become very important at large radial distances. One test with miscible fluids has shown that even in this case, there is a critical time or an equivalent critical radius.

Automatic control by natural gamma radiation emitted by coal; Control Automatico mediante Radiometria Gamma Natural de la Cenizas de los Carbones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-07-01

Due to the characteristics of its coal and orebody, Monsacro shaft was chosen to host the test. The ash percentage of the different coal seams was carried out by two different methods: Traditional analysis in laboratory. Analysis by means of natural gamma radiation emitted by coal. The following conclusions were obtained after the test: Neither during the mounting nor during the test, a problem was encountered in the working of the radioactive methods. The absolute error between the two methods was minimum. The radioactive analysis is total (this means that the whole coal is analysed) and it is carried out in short period of time. The traditional one is just partial, and could take a few hours to accomplish it. The radioactive one is done in the wagon or in the belt conveyor directly, meanwhile the traditional one needs sample takers permanently. The investment cost of the radioactivity method is amortized within two years. (Author)

Simulation of the impact of financial incentives on solar energy utilization for space conditioning and water heating: 1985

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petersen, H C

1979-01-01

Financial incentives designed to accelerate the use of solar energy for heating, cooling, and water heating of buildings have been proposed by both state and federal legislative bodies in the U.S.A. Among the most frequently mentioned incentives are sales and property tax exemptions, tax deductions and credits, rapid amortization provisions, and interest rate subsidies. At the present time there is little available information regarding the ability of such incentives to advance the rate of solar energy utilization. This paper describes the derivation and use of a computer simulation model designed to estimate solar energy use for space conditioning and water heating for given economic, climatic, and technological conditions. When applied to data from the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area, the simulation model predicts that sales tax exemptions would have little impact over the next decade, interest rate subsidies could more than double solar energy use, and the other proposed incentives would have an intermediate impact.

Considerations related to the Analysis of the Financial Balance of the Trading Company Interlink Group SRL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton C.

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the financial balance in the company’s activity implies the amortization of the resources with the needs, reflected as the functional balance sheet. The information transmitted by means of the accounting balance sheet as a synthesis document, is processed and grouped so that the view on the company appears from the functional point of view and the functional presentation of the balance sheet highlights financial, structural aspects that best respond to the requirements of the company managers. According to the functional point of view, the company is the economic entity whose essential objective is the production of goods and services, its activity implying the exertion of the production, trade, investments and financing functions. The paper aims at establishing a financial diagnosis allowing the appreciation of the conditions in which financial balance is made for the continuity of INTERLINK GROUP SRL company’s activity and attaining the proposed intend.

Semiconductors enable efficient solutions in electric vehicles; Halbleiter ermoeglichen effiziente Loesungen in Elektrofahrzeugen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adlkofer, Hans [Infineon Technologies AG, Muenchen (Germany)

2010-07-01

The automotive industry currently enters a new phase of the competition. The successful addressing of vehicles with electric motors is in the focus of he competition. Electric vehicles which save the electrical energy in batteries may not replace immediately all fuel-powered vehicles in the given transport infrastructure. The semiconductor industry needs to provide solutions and technologies in order to increase the efficiency of electric vehicles and further to reduce the operating costs. Thus, the author of the contribution under consideration reports on possible ways to this target using a battery balancing system considering the amortization of such a system. The presented active battery cell management system may monitor the charging and discharging of the battery by means of a software monitor so that an energy recovery system is supported optimally. It ensures a reliable operation, prevents accidental premature battery failure and enables cost savings of about 10 % for the whole set of batteries.

FUNDOS DE PENSÃO, CAPITAL ESTATAL E NEODESENVOLVIMENTISMO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Menezes Gomes

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the limits of conception of economic development arising from the change of the international scenery, since 2003, with the alteration of the international flux of capitals to the sub-developed countries, accompanied of chinese expansion and commodities’ appreciation. It highlights the assigned role to the pension funds by Lula da Silva’s government to justify the counter-reform of the Provident Funds. It approaches the role of BNDES and the subsidy to the grand capital. Demarcates the fall of the basic tax in the USA and its impacts on the Brazilian economy. Argues that the payment of taxes and the amortization of the public debt was converted in the mechanism through which the State withdraw resources from workers, through the direct and indirect taxes and refer those to the bankers and pension funds. Emphasizes the generalization of neoliberalism, seeking to resolve the capitalist crisis through the renegotiation of external debt, of the commercial and financial openings, and of privatizations.

Photovoltaic Self-Consumption; Autoconsumo fotovoltaico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alonso Abella, M.; Chenlo Romero, F.

2013-02-01

This paper analyzes the photovoltaic (PV) self consumption, or the option of using photovoltaic systems connected to the electric grid for the purpose of consuming the PV generated energy in the own installation (homes, small industries, office buildings, etc.) in order to reduce the external demand and the electric bill. At this time there is a legal vacuum regarding the installation of these generation systems for self-consumption, and the PV business sector and society are calling for the establishment of a legal and economic framework. Assuming that what can be saved with a photovoltaic system for domestic self-consumption is the cost of the kWh consumed currently 15c/kWh that there are no additional charges and that the cost of the turnkey photovoltaic system currently ranges from 1.8/Wp to 2.5/Wp, the resulting amortization period would be between 8 and 11 years for the condition of annual net metering. (Author) 31 refs.

The SIGMA plants economic behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivarola, Martin E.; Bergallo, Juan E.

1999-01-01

In this work, the economical behavior of the Uranium Enrichment Plants, built using the Gaseous Isotopic Separation using Advanced Methods (SIGMA) (Separacion Isotopica Gaseosa por Metodos Avanzados) technology is analyzed. The calculations were made using an integrated computer code, where the cost of each main component of the plant is estimated. The program computes the production cost for several configurations of enrichment cascades, each one corresponding to a production rate. The program also includes a numerical optimizer and it seeks the SIGMA optimal configuration for a given set of design parameters. The present work does not contemplate the model and calculation of the auxiliary system costs. The total amortization cost is obtained by using the cascade capital cost and assuming that the auxiliary system represents a fixed part of the total cost.The results obtained show that the SIGMA technology for Enrichment Uranium Plants could achieve economical competition in a much lower production scale than the conventional Gaseous Diffusion Enrichment Plants. (author)

Infrastructure improvement project for rationalization of international energy use. Survey project on energy conservation in chief industries in ASEAN countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-03-01

With objectives to understand ASEAN countries for their current situation in energy consumption in the typical factories and businesses in their chief industries, prepare appropriate advices on energy saving methods, and establish energy inspection means, surveys were carried out working with experts in the ASEAN countries. In the workshop held in Singapore in November 2000, the textile factory, Arab-Malaysia Development Berhad was selected for Malaysia, on which the survey was performed from January 15 through 19, 2001. Energy saving proposals were submitted based on the survey results. For Indonesia, the paper and pulp mill, P.T. Kertas Leces (Persoro) Pulp Paper Mill was selected, on which the survey was performed from January 22 through 26, 2001. Based on the survey results, the energy saving means and their effects, necessary investment amount, and amortization period were prepared. For Brunei, the cement factory, Butra Djajanti Cement SDN BHD was surveyed, whereas improvements of the facilities were proposed. (NEDO)

Optimization of the exploitation system of a low enthalpy geothermal aquifer with zones of different transmissivities and temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tselepidou, K.; Katsifarakis, K.L.

2010-01-01

Market penetration of renewable energy sources, such as geothermal energy, could be promoted even by small cost reductions, achieved through improved development design. This paper deals with optimization of the exploitation system of a low enthalpy geothermal aquifer, by means of the method of genetic algorithms, which has been successfully used in similar problems of groundwater resources management. With respect to water flow, the aquifer consists of two zones of different transmissivities, while from the thermal point of view it may bear any number of zones with different temperatures. The optimization process comprises the annual pumping cost of the required flow and the amortization cost of the pipe network, which carries the hot water from the wells to a central water tank, situated at the border of the geothermal field. Results show that application of the proposed methodology allows better planning of low enthalpy geothermal heating systems, which may be crucial in cases of marginal financial viability. (author)

Principais indicadores e ferramentas utilizados pelos gestores: uma análise estatística da percepção dos alunos de MBA da Fundação Getúlio Vargas Management indicators and tools: perceptions of MBA students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Cauduro de Castro

2007-09-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar a relevância de indicadores e ferramentas de gestão na percepção dos alunos de MBA da Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV. Para isso, utilizou-se um questionário com 26 quesitos definidos a partir de pesquisas anteriores e uma escala de variação de importância do tipo Likert. A amostra foi composta de um total de 425 alunos. Desses, 97 entrevistados não selecionaram nenhum indicador ou ferramenta de gestão. Assim, 328 respostas foram analisadas e interpretadas. Os resultados demonstraram que o Fluxo de Caixa Projetado é o indicador de gestão mais relevante, seguido da Margem Líquida de Vendas. Os dados também apontaram, entre as cinco primeiras posições, indicadores considerados mais sofisticados, como, por exemplo, o Balanced Scorcard (BSC, o Earnings before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA e o Economic Value Added (EVA®. Verificou-se também que as exigências relativas à informação contábil variavam de acordo com o perfil dos respondentes. Os resultados demonstram também que não existe um indicador ou ferramenta de gestão que seja considerado ótimo. Finalmente, há indícios apontados pela pesquisa de que, apesar de a contabilidade gerencial ser considerada uma disciplina global, suas especificidades e características podem ser locais ou regionais.The relevance of management indicators and tools, according to perception of 425 MBA students of the Fundação Getulio Vargas, was identified using a questionnaire with 26 queries based on previous surveys. Results from only 328 respondents were analyzed because 97 did not select any management indicator or tool. Project Cash Flow was the most relevant indicator followed by Net Revenues. In addition the three more sophisticated indicators of Balanced Scorecard (BSC, Earnings before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA and Economic Value Added (EVA® were among the first five ranked. Since it was noted

26 CFR 1.188-1 - Amortization of certain expenditures for qualified on-the-job training and child care facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... qualified on-the-job training and child care facilities. 1.188-1 Section 1.188-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL... qualified on-the-job training and child care facilities. (a) Allowance of deduction—(1) In general. Under... operation of a qualified on-the-job training or child care facility or are integrally related facilities...

Exploration of automatic optimization for CUDA programming

KAUST Repository

Al-Mouhamed, Mayez; Khan, Ayaz ul Hassan

2012-01-01

Graphic processing Units (GPUs) are gaining ground in high-performance computing. CUDA (an extension to C) is most widely used parallel programming framework for general purpose GPU computations. However, the task of writing optimized CUDA program is complex even for experts. We present a method for restructuring loops into an optimized CUDA kernels based on a 3-step algorithm which are loop tiling, coalesced memory access, and resource optimization. We also establish the relationships between the influencing parameters and propose a method for finding possible tiling solutions with coalesced memory access that best meets the identified constraints. We also present a simplified algorithm for restructuring loops and rewrite them as an efficient CUDA Kernel. The execution model of synthesized kernel consists of uniformly distributing the kernel threads to keep all cores busy while transferring a tailored data locality which is accessed using coalesced pattern to amortize the long latency of the secondary memory. In the evaluation, we implement some simple applications using the proposed restructuring strategy and evaluate the performance in terms of execution time and GPU throughput. © 2012 IEEE.

Fast Lagrangian relaxation for constrained generation scheduling in a centralized electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ongsakul, Weerakorn; Petcharaks, Nit

2008-01-01

This paper proposes a fast Lagrangian relaxation (FLR) for constrained generation scheduling (CGS) problem in a centralized electricity market. FLR minimizes the consumer payment rather than the total supply cost subject to the power balance, spinning reserve, transmission line, and generator operating constraints. FLR algorithm is improved by new initialization of Lagrangian multipliers and adaptive adjustment of Lagrangian multipliers. The adaptive subgradient method using high quality initial feasible multipliers requires much less number of iterations to converge, leading to a faster computational time. If congestion exists, the alleviating congestion index is proposed for congestion management. Finally, the unit decommitment is performed to prevent excessive spinning reserve. The FLR for CGS is tested on the 4 unit and the IEEE 24 bus reliability test systems. The proposed uniform electricity price results in a lower consumer payment than system marginal price based on uniformly fixed cost amortized allocation, non-uniform price, and electricity price incorporating side payment, leading to a lower electricity price. In addition, observations on objective functions, pricing scheme comparison and interpretation of Lagrangian multipliers are provided. (author)

Prefeasibility of the project for repowering the Nachi Cocom thermal station in Merida, Yucatan state; Prefactibilidad del proyecto de repotenciacion de la central termoelectrica de Nachi- Cocom, en Merida estado de Yucatan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez Perez, J.L. [Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) (Mexico)

1995-12-31

This paper presents an alternative to the solution of the more efficient use of energy and for the solution on environmental pollution at a reduced cost, satisfying the electric energy demand with additional capacity three times as much greater than the installed capacity and utilizing evaluation of projects techniques for the prefeasibility analysis of the project. The investment for this type of projects results are feasible and attractive because of the short amortization term. The summary of results is given in Table 4. [Espanol] El presenta trabajo da una alternativa de solucion al uso mas eficiente de la energia y solucion a los problemas de contaminacion ambiental a un costo reducido, satisfaciendo la demanda de energia electrica con capacidad adicional de tres veces mayor a la capacidad instalada. Empleando tecnicas de evaluacion de proyectos para analisis de la prefactibilidad del proyecto. La inversion para este tipo de proyectos resulta factible y atractiva por el corto tiempo de amortizacion. El resumen de los resultados se muestra en la tabla 4.

PERI - auto-tuning memory-intensive kernels for multicore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, S; Carter, J; Oliker, L; Shalf, J; Yelick, K; Bailey, D; Datta, K

2008-01-01

We present an auto-tuning approach to optimize application performance on emerging multicore architectures. The methodology extends the idea of search-based performance optimizations, popular in linear algebra and FFT libraries, to application-specific computational kernels. Our work applies this strategy to sparse matrix vector multiplication (SpMV), the explicit heat equation PDE on a regular grid (Stencil), and a lattice Boltzmann application (LBMHD). We explore one of the broadest sets of multicore architectures in the high-performance computing literature, including the Intel Xeon Clovertown, AMD Opteron Barcelona, Sun Victoria Falls, and the Sony-Toshiba-IBM (STI) Cell. Rather than hand-tuning each kernel for each system, we develop a code generator for each kernel that allows us identify a highly optimized version for each platform, while amortizing the human programming effort. Results show that our auto-tuned kernel applications often achieve a better than 4x improvement compared with the original code. Additionally, we analyze a Roofline performance model for each platform to reveal hardware bottlenecks and software challenges for future multicore systems and applications

New Technology for Microfabrication and Testing of a Thermoelectric Device for Generating Mobile Electrical Power

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, Narasimha S.; Taylor, Patrick J.; Trivedi, Sudhir B.; Kutcher, Susan

2012-01-01

Thermoelectric (TE) power generation is an increasingly important power generation technology. Major advantages include: no moving parts, low-weight, modularity, covertness/silence, high power density, low amortized cost, and long service life with minimum or no required maintenance. Despite low efficiency of power generation, there are many specialized needs for electrical power that TE technologies can uniquely and successfully address. Recent advances in thermoelectric materials technology have rekindled acute interest in thermoelectric power generation. We have developed single crystalline n- and p- type PbTe crystals and are also, developing PbTe bulk nanocomposites using PbTe nano powders and emerging filed assisted sintering technology (FAST). We will discuss the materials requirements for efficient thermoelectric power generation using waste heat at intermediate temperature range (6500 to 8500 K). We will present our recent results on production of n- and p- type PbTe crystals and their thermoelectric characterization. Relative characteristics and performance of PbTe bulk single crystals and nano composites for thermoelectric power generation will be discussed.

Prefeasibility of the project for repowering the Nachi Cocom thermal station in Merida, Yucatan state; Prefactibilidad del proyecto de repotenciacion de la central termoelectrica de Nachi- Cocom, en Merida estado de Yucatan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez Perez, J L [Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) (Mexico)

1996-12-31

This paper presents an alternative to the solution of the more efficient use of energy and for the solution on environmental pollution at a reduced cost, satisfying the electric energy demand with additional capacity three times as much greater than the installed capacity and utilizing evaluation of projects techniques for the prefeasibility analysis of the project. The investment for this type of projects results are feasible and attractive because of the short amortization term. The summary of results is given in Table 4. [Espanol] El presenta trabajo da una alternativa de solucion al uso mas eficiente de la energia y solucion a los problemas de contaminacion ambiental a un costo reducido, satisfaciendo la demanda de energia electrica con capacidad adicional de tres veces mayor a la capacidad instalada. Empleando tecnicas de evaluacion de proyectos para analisis de la prefactibilidad del proyecto. La inversion para este tipo de proyectos resulta factible y atractiva por el corto tiempo de amortizacion. El resumen de los resultados se muestra en la tabla 4.

Effect of drop jump technique on the reactive strength index.

Science.gov (United States)

Struzik, Artur; Juras, Grzegorz; Pietraszewski, Bogdan; Rokita, Andrzej

2016-09-01

The basic drill of plyometric training aimed at improving lower limb power and jump height is a drop jump. This exercise can be performed using different techniques, which substantially affects jump variables. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the values of the reactive strength index (RSI) for countermovement drop jumps (CDJs) and bounce drop jumps (BDJs). The study was carried out in a group of 8 male youth basketball players. The tests were conducted using the AMTI BP600900 force plate to measure ground reaction forces and the Noraxon MyoMotion system to record kinematic data. Each player performed two CDJs and two BDJs from the height of 15, 30, 45 and 60 cm. The RSI was calculated as a ratio of jump height and contact time. Moreover, the RSI was determined for the amortization and take-off phases separately. Significant differences (p jumps from 30, 45 and 60 cm. Differences in RSI values for jumps from 15 cm were not significant. Furthermore, CDJ height values were significantly higher (p jump technique that is commonly performed by basketball players.

Analysis of the feasibility of solar heating systems composite for packaging recyclable for use in rural low income; Analise da viabilidade economica de sistemas de aquecedores solares compostos por embalagens reciclaveis para utilizacao em comunidades rurais de baixa renda

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gabriel Filho, Luis Roberto Almeida; Maiochi, Tamara; Pereira, Danilo F.; Magalhaes, Marcelo M. de [Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Tupa, SP (Brazil)], email: gabrielfilho@tupa.unesp.br; Cremasco, Camila P. [Faculdade de Tecnologia (FATEC), Presidente Prudente, SP (Brazil); Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), Botucatu, SP (Brazil). Dept. de Bioestatistica

2011-07-01

Solar heaters are an appropriate technology for tropical and sub tropical to warm bath water through the energy in sunlight. The development of conventional solar heaters is in the market and its acceptance is still low due to high cost. However, low-cost solar heaters have been developed in recent years to meet a consumer demand that currently do not have access to this technology, especially low-income rural communities. The aim of this study was to analyze the economic feasibility of solar water heaters built with recyclable materials (plastic bottles and milk cartons) through the consequent reduction of sales of electricity. For development work, a heater was built with recyclable materials in accordance with the manuals provided by the Department of the Environment of Parana (SEMA) and found time to use electric showers by families of rural properties in order to determine the costs and billing of electricity. By spending on materials, we concluded that the system was feasible, with amortization over 13 months in fixed installments of R$ 23.79. (author)

Optimal Time-Space Trade-Offs for Non-Comparison-Based Sorting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pagh, Rasmus; Pagter, Jacob Illeborg

2002-01-01

We study the problem of sorting n integers of w bits on a unit-cost RAM with word size w, and in particular consider the time-space trade-off (product of time and space in bits) for this problem. For comparison-based algorithms, the time-space complexity is known to be Θ(n2). A result of Beame...... shows that the lower bound also holds for non-comparison-based algorithms, but no algorithm has met this for time below the comparison-based Ω(nlgn) lower bound.We show that if sorting within some time bound &Ttilde; is possible, then time T = O(&Ttilde; + nlg* n) can be achieved with high probability...... using space S = O(n2/T + w), which is optimal. Given a deterministic priority queue using amortized time t(n) per operation and space nO(1), we provide a deterministic algorithm sorting in time T = O(n(t(n) + lg* n)) with S = O(n2/T + w). Both results require that w ≤ n1-Ω(1). Using existing priority...

Experimental Method for Analyzing Friction Phenomenon Related to Drum Brake Squeal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. GLIŠOVIĆ

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Automobile brakes have been intensively developed during past few decades, but the maximum motor’s power, that should amortized in vehicle brakes, has been significantly increased also. Most of the kinetic energy of the moving vehicles is transforming into heat through friction. But the small part of kinetic energy transforms into sound pressure and makes noise. Low frequency squeal of drum brakes is very intense and can lead to customers’ complain. The interaction between the brake system and the vehicle framework and suspension is often very substantial during occurrence of brake noise. Unfortunately, to solve this type of squeal problem is also difficult because of the large number of components involved. The other cause is attributed to self-excited vibration that is induced when the friction material has a negative slope in relation to the relative velocity. This paper illustrates an approach to experimental studies of drum brakes in road conditions in order to monitor changes in the coefficient of friction that can generate drum brake squeal at low frequencies.

Questions of energy saving measures in the fruit juice industry. Pt. 5

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weissenbach, M.J.

1981-09-01

Water-cooled air compressors, in which most of the waste heat is available in the form of heated cooling water, long-distance heat transfer to room heating systems or heat exchangers is more favourable than in air-cooled compressors. 80 to 90% of the heat generated is transferred to the cooling water which has a temperature of 50 to 60/sup 0/C. The high water cost, of course, usually necessitates closed cooling circuits which are more complex but on the other hand can be combined with heat recovery systems in order to save oil and water costs and amortize the plant within a short period of time. In water-cooled air compressors, heat recovery would be profitable even if heating oil prices were far below the present level. The thermal capacity of the cooling water of a stationary compressor system may be used in various ways, depending on what temperature gradient is to be used for what purpose. For sanitary purposes, heat exchangers are sufficient. Examples are cited to illustrate the practical side of heat recovery in compressed-air drieres.

Innovation management in renewable energy sector

Science.gov (United States)

Ignat, V.

2017-08-01

As a result of the globalization of knowledge, shortening of the innovation cycle and the aggravation of the price situation, the diffusion of innovation has accelerated. The protection of innovation has become even more important for companies in technologyintensive industries. Legal and actual patent right strategies complement one another, in order to amortize the investment in product development. Climate change is one of today’s truly global challenges, affecting all aspects of socio-economic development in every region of the world. Technology development and its rapid diffusion are considered crucial for tackling the climate change challenge. At the global level, the last decades have seen a continuous expansion of inventive activity in renewable energy technologies. The growth in Renewable Energy (RE) inventions has been much faster than in other technologies, and RE today represents nearly 6% of global invention activity, up from 1.5% in 1990. This paper discusses about global innovation activity in the last five years in the renewable energy sector and describes the Innovation and Technology Management process for supporting managerial decision making.

The financial lease after the tax reform in the Slovak republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ján Derco

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the calculations of leasing economics, derived from recently valid laws, mainly the income tax law. According to § 19 paragraph 3 letter a of the income tax law /ZDP/, the tax expenses represent a depreciation charge of tangible and intangible properties. The new law about the income tax allowed in precisely determined cases to claim depreciation charge not only to tax-payer, having the proprietorship or the administration right (if it relates to the state, village or the higher regional unit, but also to tax-payers who do not have this right if they count this property, incl. they count their property being rented by the form of financial leasing (§24 paragraph 1 letter. e. ZDP. The lessee by this way has the right the leasing object amortizes; despite he is not its owner. This represents a very advantageous, so-called leasing form of depreciation, when the lessees depreciates the property much earlier than using the balanced or accelerated depreciation.

Exploration of automatic optimization for CUDA programming

KAUST Repository

Al-Mouhamed, Mayez

2012-12-01

Graphic processing Units (GPUs) are gaining ground in high-performance computing. CUDA (an extension to C) is most widely used parallel programming framework for general purpose GPU computations. However, the task of writing optimized CUDA program is complex even for experts. We present a method for restructuring loops into an optimized CUDA kernels based on a 3-step algorithm which are loop tiling, coalesced memory access, and resource optimization. We also establish the relationships between the influencing parameters and propose a method for finding possible tiling solutions with coalesced memory access that best meets the identified constraints. We also present a simplified algorithm for restructuring loops and rewrite them as an efficient CUDA Kernel. The execution model of synthesized kernel consists of uniformly distributing the kernel threads to keep all cores busy while transferring a tailored data locality which is accessed using coalesced pattern to amortize the long latency of the secondary memory. In the evaluation, we implement some simple applications using the proposed restructuring strategy and evaluate the performance in terms of execution time and GPU throughput. © 2012 IEEE.

Power and cogeneration technology environomic performance typification in the context of CO2 abatement part II: Combined heat and power cogeneration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Hongtao; Marechal, Francois; Favrat, Daniel

2010-01-01

This is the second of a series of two articles, dealing with a new approach of environomic (thermodynamic, economic and environmental) performance 'Typification' and optimization of power generation technologies. This part treats specifically of combined heat and power (CHP) cogeneration technologies in the context of CO 2 abatement and provides a methodology for a flexible and fast project based CHP system design evaluation. One of the aspect of the approach is the post-optimization integration of the operating and capital costs, in order to effectively deal with the uncertainty of the project specific design and operation conditions (fuel, electricity and heat selling prices, project financial conditions such as investment amortization periods, annual operating hours, etc). In addition the approach also allows to efficiently evaluate the influence of the external cost such as the CO 2 tax level under a tax scheme or the CO 2 permit price in the emission trading market. Application examples, including gas turbine and combined cycles are treated with the proposed methodology, by using superstructure based generic environomic models and a multi-objective optimizer.

Energy balance, greenhouse gas emissions, and profitability of thermobarical pretreatment of cattle waste in anaerobic digestion.

Science.gov (United States)

Budde, Jörn; Prochnow, Annette; Plöchl, Matthias; Suárez Quiñones, Teresa; Heiermann, Monika

2016-03-01

In this study modeled full scale application of thermobarical hydrolysis of less degradable feedstock for biomethanation was assessed in terms of energy balance, greenhouse gas emissions, and economy. Data were provided whether the substitution of maize silage as feedstock for biogas production by pretreated cattle wastes is beneficial in full-scale application or not. A model device for thermobarical treatment has been suggested for and theoretically integrated in a biogas plant. The assessment considered the replacement of maize silage as feedstock with liquid and/or solid cattle waste (feces, litter, and feed residues from animal husbandry of high-performance dairy cattle, dry cows, and heifers). The integration of thermobarical pretreatment is beneficial for raw material with high contents of organic dry matter and ligno-cellulose: Solid cattle waste revealed very short payback times, e.g. 9 months for energy, 3 months for greenhouse gases, and 3 years 3 months for economic amortization, whereas, in contrast, liquid cattle waste did not perform positive replacement effects in this analysis. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Decision support system for exploiting local renewable energy sources: A case study of the Chigu area of southwestern Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yue, C.-D.; Yang, G.G.-L.

2007-01-01

The topic of climate and energy policy has drawn new attention since the Kyoto Protocol has now come into force. It is hoped that strengthened use of renewable energy sources can meet new international environmental requirements and provide self-sufficient domestic energy supplies. The decision support system established in this study integrates potential evaluations, cost analyses, legal incentives, and analysis of returns on investments with the aid of a geographic information system (GIS). This system can provide insights for policymakers into where and the extent of the potentials, for lawmakers into whether the current legal incentives are sufficient to encourage private investment, and for investors into whether investments in exploiting local renewable energy sources are economically feasible. Under the current incentive framework in Taiwan, the amortization periods of investment on renewable energy are generally longer than the period over which the investment is to be recovered. This presents an unfavorable condition for attracting investments to and for developing renewable energy. An increase in remuneration through legal revisions is needed before domestic investment in renewable energy will actively expand

A local initiative for energy efficiency improvements in motor driven systems in public and private companies - case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tamm, G. [Behoerde fuer Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt, Hamburg (Germany)

2005-07-01

In the free and hanseatic town Hamburg reduction potentials in public buildings are developed systematically in the context of the energy management by standardised efficiency programs. The City has had special means ready for financing energy saving measures for many years, because the investments amortize themselves by the operation cost reduction. Examples of efficient electrical motor systems in public buildings: ventilation facilities and air conditioning, heating pumps energy saving program. The city of Hamburg also offers a promotional program ''enterprises for resource protection'' for private investors from the Hamburg economy. With this program voluntary investment measures are initiated in private enterprises by financial subsidies to conserving resources. Examples of efficient electrical motor driven systems in enterprises: mill: speed controlled exhauster drives, spice mill: speed controlled mill drives, printer: efficient ventilation techniques at a paper exhaust system, wastewater treatment: adjustable fans for pressure aerators, hazardous waste incineration plant: optimisation of the SO{sub 2}-gas scrubbing system by mass flow controlled pumps. With these programs efforts to climate protection can be realised more economically. (orig.)

PERI - Auto-tuning Memory Intensive Kernels for Multicore

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bailey, David H; Williams, Samuel; Datta, Kaushik; Carter, Jonathan; Oliker, Leonid; Shalf, John; Yelick, Katherine; Bailey, David H

2008-06-24

We present an auto-tuning approach to optimize application performance on emerging multicore architectures. The methodology extends the idea of search-based performance optimizations, popular in linear algebra and FFT libraries, to application-specific computational kernels. Our work applies this strategy to Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication (SpMV), the explicit heat equation PDE on a regular grid (Stencil), and a lattice Boltzmann application (LBMHD). We explore one of the broadest sets of multicore architectures in the HPC literature, including the Intel Xeon Clovertown, AMD Opteron Barcelona, Sun Victoria Falls, and the Sony-Toshiba-IBM (STI) Cell. Rather than hand-tuning each kernel for each system, we develop a code generator for each kernel that allows us to identify a highly optimized version for each platform, while amortizing the human programming effort. Results show that our auto-tuned kernel applications often achieve a better than 4X improvement compared with the original code. Additionally, we analyze a Roofline performance model for each platform to reveal hardware bottlenecks and software challenges for future multicore systems and applications.

Lattice Boltzmann Simulation Optimization on Leading Multicore Platforms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Samuel; Carter, Jonathan; Oliker, Leonid; Shalf, John; Yelick, Katherine

2008-02-01

We present an auto-tuning approach to optimize application performance on emerging multicore architectures. The methodology extends the idea of search-based performance optimizations, popular in linear algebra and FFT libraries, to application-specific computational kernels. Our work applies this strategy to a lattice Boltzmann application (LBMHD) that historically has made poor use of scalar microprocessors due to its complex data structures and memory access patterns. We explore one of the broadest sets of multicore architectures in the HPC literature, including the Intel Clovertown, AMD Opteron X2, Sun Niagara2, STI Cell, as well as the single core Intel Itanium2. Rather than hand-tuning LBMHD for each system, we develop a code generator that allows us identify a highly optimized version for each platform, while amortizing the human programming effort. Results show that our auto-tuned LBMHD application achieves up to a 14x improvement compared with the original code. Additionally, we present detailed analysis of each optimization, which reveal surprising hardware bottlenecks and software challenges for future multicore systems and applications.

Lattice Boltzmann simulation optimization on leading multicore platforms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Carter, J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Oliker, L. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Shalf, J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Yelick, K. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2008-01-01

We present an auto-tuning approach to optimize application performance on emerging multicore architectures. The methodology extends the idea of searchbased performance optimizations, popular in linear algebra and FFT libraries, to application-specific computational kernels. Our work applies this strategy to a lattice Boltzmann application (LBMHD) that historically has made poor use of scalar microprocessors due to its complex data structures and memory access patterns. We explore one of the broadest sets of multicore architectures in the HPC literature, including the Intel Clovertown, AMD Opteron X2, Sun Niagara2, STI Cell, as well as the single core Intel Itanium2. Rather than hand-tuning LBMHD for each system, we develop a code generator that allows us identify a highly optimized version for each platform, while amortizing the human programming effort. Results show that our autotuned LBMHD application achieves up to a 14 improvement compared with the original code. Additionally, we present detailed analysis of each optimization, which reveal surprising hardware bottlenecks and software challenges for future multicore systems and applications.

Domotics Project Housing Block.

Science.gov (United States)

Morón, Carlos; Payán, Alejandro; García, Alfonso; Bosquet, Francisco

2016-05-23

This document develops the study of an implementation project of a home automation system in a housing placed in the town of Galapagar, Madrid. This house, which is going to be occupied by a four-member family, consists of 67 constructed square meters distributed in lounge, kitchen, three bedrooms, bath, bathroom and terrace, this being a common arrangement in Spain. Thus, this study will allow extracting conclusions about the adequacy of the home automation in a wide percentage of housing in Spain. In this document, three house automation proposals are developed based on the requirements of the client and the different home automation levels that the Spanish House and Building Automation Association has established, besides two parallel proposals relating to the safety and the technical alarms. The mentioned proposed systems are described by means of product datasheets and descriptions, distribution plans, measurements, budgets and flow charts that describe the functioning of the system in every case. An evaluation of each system is included, based on other studies conclusions on this matter, where expected energy savings from each design, depending on the current cost of lighting, water and gas, as well as the expected economic amortization period is evaluated.

An Empirical Study on the Determinants of Management’s De cision for Reporting Long Term Non - Financial Assets at Fair Value in Companies Listed on Borsa Istanbul Equity Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hikmet Ulusan

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study is to examine the determinants of management’s fair value choice decision for reporting long term non-financial assets in companies listed on “Borsa Istanbul Equity Market” whose financial statements have to be prepared under International Accounting Standards / Inte rnational Financial Reporting Standards and thus Turkey Accounting Standards / Turkey Financial Reporting Standards. In this study, Watts and Zimmerman’s Positive Accounting Theory methodology is adopted, and Mann -Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis have been used to analyze data. As a result of analysis, it has been identified that companies reporting property, plant and equipment at revalued amount are funded by more debtand to besmaller companies than companies reporting those assets at amortized historical cost. However, the results indicate that debt contracting, political cost and information asymmetry factors are not the determinants of management’s decision for reporting long term non-financial assets at fair value. The company size explains the management’s decision for reporting property, plant and equipment at revalued amount,but contrary to what is predicted, the evaluation method is chosen by small companies

Report for fiscal 2001 investigations on energy saving assistance institutions in different countries; 2001 nendo kakkoku no sho energy shien seido ni kansuru chosa hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-03-01

Taking up China, India, Indonesia and Thailand as the object, investigations were performed on political financing measures that can be used for installing energy saving facilities, and on applicable preferential taxation systems that are applied in each country. Indonesia has no aid measures such as subsidies and political financing directly purposed for energy conservation. Import duty exemption is applied for the purpose of promoting investments. Three kinds of funds are available through IFCT to implement fund aid to protect the environment. Energy saving fund has been established as an energy saving policy to provide subsidies. Energy saving machineries recognized by the investment committee are exempted from the import duties. India has no political financing measures directly purposed for energy conservation. Its preferential taxation system for energy conservation includes the 100% accelerated amortization system for energy saving machineries and facilities, and the preferential import duty system. In China, the financing from the China National Development Bank is considered utilizable in installing energy saving facilities. The country has no aid measures in the taxation system, but fund aid and subsidy by supplementing interest are provided. (NEDO)

The Acquisition and Valuation of Goodwill: a Comparison of the Regulations of Albania and the IFRS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa ÜÇ

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study examines whether there are differences in accounting of goodwill among IFRS, SKK (Albanian Accounting Standards which it is an adoption of IFRS and Albanian tax regulations. The study first presents general theory of intangible assets. This is followed by an elaborate explanation of goodwill which includes a deeper discussion about estimation and valuation and accounting treatment of goodwill. The accounting treatment of goodwill regarding to IFRS and local regulations is analyzed by a real case of purchased goodwill of Albtelecom Sh.A, a telecommunication company which provides fix telephony and internet service. The results of the case study indicate differences between IFRS and Albanian tax legislation in accounting treatment of goodwill, while between IFRS 3 and SKK 9 there is not any difference. According to both standards, goodwill is recognized by purchase method and it is subject to annual impairment test. However, instruction "On Income Tax" requires that, intangible assets such as purchased goodwill, amortized at a rate to allow for the fiscal effect of 15% which is applied on historical costs which may be added the costs of upgrading and renewal of the assets.

Efficient postal service and respectful with the environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vera Lopez, J.A.

2016-07-01

The postal service is suffering an adaptation to the new markets opened by the users. The traditional post, letters and postcards, is being used less and is substituted by mail and packaging. To adequate to this new market it's important for the postal sector companies. In Spain, the operator of the Universal Postal Service has taken example from other companies of the sector, national and international, implanting electrical bicycle mail and packaging service in the centre of big cities. This is due to the fact that there are more the cities that are forbidding vehicle access to it's historical centres and the volume of packaging to deliver is greater. But, is it viable to deliver using hybrid and electrical vehicles in cities? This study intends to improve the distribution in cities with the implantation of these vehicles. It takes into account the characteristics of populations between 50.000 and 100.000 inhabitants, in which it will be analysed the advantages and inconvenience, doing special emphasis in the economic cost, conducting studies of the costs of implantation and amortization time. (Author)

Synthesis of Trigeneration Systems: Sensitivity Analyses and Resilience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Carvalho

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents sensitivity and resilience analyses for a trigeneration system designed for a hospital. The following information is utilized to formulate an integer linear programming model: (1 energy service demands of the hospital, (2 technical and economical characteristics of the potential technologies for installation, (3 prices of the available utilities interchanged, and (4 financial parameters of the project. The solution of the model, minimizing the annual total cost, provides the optimal configuration of the system (technologies installed and number of pieces of equipment and the optimal operation mode (operational load of equipment, interchange of utilities with the environment, convenience of wasting cogenerated heat, etc. at each temporal interval defining the demand. The broad range of technical, economic, and institutional uncertainties throughout the life cycle of energy supply systems for buildings makes it necessary to delve more deeply into the fundamental properties of resilient systems: feasibility, flexibility and robustness. The resilience of the obtained solution is tested by varying, within reasonable limits, selected parameters: energy demand, amortization and maintenance factor, natural gas price, self-consumption of electricity, and time-of-delivery feed-in tariffs.

MANAGEMENT EARNINGS FORECAST DISCLOSURE: A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EBITDA FORECAST AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

André Folster

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The creation of overly optimistic information can compromise the decision-making process on part of shareholders and other stakeholders. Considering that this type of information can create problems and additional costs stemming from erroneous choices made by users, the present work sought to identify financial indicators associated with the disclosure of Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA estimates in Management Earnings Forecasts (Guidance reporting. The sample examined was composed of 42 companies and analyses were carried out using logistic and multiple linear regression techniques. The results showed that larger (as per total assets and more-leveraged companies show a higher level of disclosure. Companies with higher return on equity (ROE and Current Liquidity ratios, as well as lower Net Margins, present less precise earnings forecast. The companies providing more timely forecasts are also the ones that show higher ROE and Current Liquidity ratios, as well as lower Net Margins. These results indicate that users must take caution when basing decisions on such information, given that the possibility exists that companies bearing these characteristics are more likely to better-timed albeit less-accurate disclosure.

ERA: Efficient serial and parallel suffix tree construction for very long strings

KAUST Repository

Mansour, Essam

2011-09-01

The suffix tree is a data structure for indexing strings. It is used in a variety of applications such as bioinformatics, time series analysis, clustering, text editing and data compression. However, when the string and the resulting suffix tree are too large to fit into the main memory, most existing construction algorithms become very inefficient. This paper presents a disk-based suffix tree construction method, called Elastic Range (ERa), which works efficiently with very long strings that are much larger than the available memory. ERa partitions the tree construction process horizontally and vertically and minimizes I/Os by dynamically adjusting the horizontal partitions independently for each vertical partition, based on the evolving shape of the tree and the available memory. Where appropriate, ERa also groups vertical partitions together to amortize the I/O cost. We developed a serial version; a parallel version for shared-memory and shared-disk multi-core systems; and a parallel version for shared-nothing architectures. ERa indexes the entire human genome in 19 minutes on an ordinary desktop computer. For comparison, the fastest existing method needs 15 minutes using 1024 CPUs on an IBM BlueGene supercomputer.

Accelerated plan to develop magnetic fusion energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fowler, T.K.

1986-01-01

We have shown that, despite funding delays since the passage of the Magnetic Fusion Engineering Act of 1980, fusion development could still be carried to the point of a demonstration plant by the year 2000 as called for in the Act if funding, now about $365 million per year, were increased to the $1 billion range over the next few years (see Table I). We have also suggested that there may be an economic incentive for the private sector to become in accelerating fusion development on account of the greater stability of energy production costs from fusion. Namely, whereas fossil fuel prices will surely escalate in the course of time, fusion fuel will always be abundantly available at low cost; and fusion technology poses less future risk to the public and the investor compared to conventional nuclear power. In short, once a fusion plant is built, the cost of generating electricity mainly the amortization of the plant capital cost - would be relatively fixed for the life of the plant. In Sec. V, we found that the projected capital cost of fusion plants ($2000 to $4000 per KW/sub e/) would probably be acceptable if fusion plants were available today

Intelligent Agents for Design and Synthesis Environments: My Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Norvig, Peter

1999-01-01

This presentation gives a summary of intelligent agents for design synthesis environments. We'll start with the conclusions, and work backwards to justify them. First, an important assumption is that agents (whatever they are) are good for software engineering. This is especially true for software that operates in an uncertain, changing environment. The "real world" of physical artifacts is like that: uncertain in what we can measure, changing in that things are always breaking down, and we must interact with non-software entities. The second point is that software engineering techniques can contribute to good design. There may have been a time when we wanted to build simple artifacts containing little or no software. But modern aircraft and spacecraft are complex, and rely on a great deal of software. So better software engineering leads to better designed artifacts, especially when we are designing a series of related artifacts and can amortize the costs of software development. The third point is that agents are especially useful for design tasks, above and beyond their general usefulness for software engineering, and the usefulness of software engineering to design.

Financing of nuclear projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diel, R.

1983-01-01

Delays in the completion of nuclear power plants aggravate the financing of such ventures because the contractual sums to be paid for interest and amortization are not generated. Moreover, economic feasibility analyses by the banks are rendered ineffective by changes in the underlying data, such as the structure of electricity rates and the supply monopoly held by utilities. The German nuclear power plants at present in operation or under construction were financed mainly through subsidiares of the participating utilities outside the balance sheets of the parent companies. The banks have developed a number of financing concepts to adapt funding to the specific needs of practice. Future nuclear power plants make-up one third of the present capacity of the participating utilities. However, they will require three to four times the previous volume of capital investments. Yet it is certain that the expansion of nuclear power in the Federal Republic of Germany will not be hampered by financial problems. The funding models developed for nuclear power plants have already proved their qualities. However, the problems of nuclear power have not become less. Attention must also be drawn to some weak spots in the financial sector. (orig.) [de

Using 340B drug discounts to provide a financially sustainable medication discharge service.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Timothy; Williams, Carla; Vranek, Kathryn; Mattingly, T Joseph

2018-03-27

The 340B Drug Pricing Program was intended to stretch federal resources by providing significant discounts to covered entities providing care to underserved populations. Program implementation and evidence of expanding services to higher income patients has brought more scrutiny and calls for elimination of the program. While additional review and reform may be warranted, profitability from 340B discounts enables covered entities to provide additional services that may not be feasible in absence of the program. This case report demonstrates one institution's use of 340B discounts to financially justify providing bedside medication delivery services for patients at the time of discharge from an inpatient admission. A simple financial model was developed using hospital data and inputs from available literature to estimate gross profit and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) with and without 340B discounts. Without the 340B drug price discounts, the service would operate at a financial loss, and further investigation must be done to determine whether other clinical or economic benefits would warrant discharge medication delivery at the institution. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a hydroelectric power station to the public water supply of St-Jean; Projet de construction d'une centrale hydraulique sur le reservoir principal de la commune de St-Jean. Etude d'avant projet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perruchoud, A. [Sierre Energie SA, Sierre (Switzerland); Denis, V. [MHyLab, Montcherand (Switzerland)

2005-07-01

Drinking water for the community of St-Jean, southwestern Switzerland is collected at three different locations with altitudes of 2004, 1998 and 1958 m respectively, and is fed into a common chamber at 1933 m. The project foresees the construction of an intermediate reservoir at the elevation of 1460 m, the total hydraulic head of 473 m being used to drive a Pelton turbine of 110 kW nominal power. The useful net height difference after deduction of the pressure drop in the piping is 373 meters at a typical water flow rate of 0.034 m{sup 3}/s. At this flow rate the turbine efficiency is estimated to 0.89. The asynchronous generator rotates at 1500 rpm and has a nominal electric power output of 125 kW. The estimated annual production amounts to 450,000 kWh and the investment costs to 449,000 Swiss francs. Depending on the time of amortization assumed (20 to 40 years), the production cost is estimated to 0.0615 to 0.0845 Swiss francs/kWh, a value considered favorable for the realization of the project.

Optimization of a Lattice Boltzmann Computation on State-of-the-Art Multicore Platforms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Samuel; Carter, Jonathan; Oliker, Leonid; Shalf, John; Yelick, Katherine

2009-04-10

We present an auto-tuning approach to optimize application performance on emerging multicore architectures. The methodology extends the idea of search-based performance optimizations, popular in linear algebra and FFT libraries, to application-specific computational kernels. Our work applies this strategy to a lattice Boltzmann application (LBMHD) that historically has made poor use of scalar microprocessors due to its complex data structures and memory access patterns. We explore one of the broadest sets of multicore architectures in the HPC literature, including the Intel Xeon E5345 (Clovertown), AMD Opteron 2214 (Santa Rosa), AMD Opteron 2356 (Barcelona), Sun T5140 T2+ (Victoria Falls), as well as a QS20 IBM Cell Blade. Rather than hand-tuning LBMHD for each system, we develop a code generator that allows us to identify a highly optimized version for each platform, while amortizing the human programming effort. Results show that our auto-tuned LBMHD application achieves up to a 15x improvement compared with the original code at a given concurrency. Additionally, we present detailed analysis of each optimization, which reveal surprising hardware bottlenecks and software challenges for future multicore systems and applications.

Shorter amortization and more return on investment revive the market segment; Kuerzere Amortisation und mehr Rendite. Innovative PV-Nachfuehrungen beleben das Marktsegment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Theiss, Eric

2012-09-15

There is a growing demand for PV systems with opportunities for own consumption in Germany. Due to the fluctuating price stability many plant operators want to become independent from electrical suppliers. Right here, the advantages of tracked PV modules are becoming interesting: innovations and increasing earnings while compensating the investment costs simultaneously. In the medium term, most product manufacturers see good market opportunities for the use of tracked PV modules in Germany.

Domotics Project Housing Block

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Morón

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This document develops the study of an implementation project of a home automation system in a housing placed in the town of Galapagar, Madrid. This house, which is going to be occupied by a four-member family, consists of 67 constructed square meters distributed in lounge, kitchen, three bedrooms, bath, bathroom and terrace, this being a common arrangement in Spain. Thus, this study will allow extracting conclusions about the adequacy of the home automation in a wide percentage of housing in Spain. In this document, three house automation proposals are developed based on the requirements of the client and the different home automation levels that the Spanish House and Building Automation Association has established, besides two parallel proposals relating to the safety and the technical alarms. The mentioned proposed systems are described by means of product datasheets and descriptions, distribution plans, measurements, budgets and flow charts that describe the functioning of the system in every case. An evaluation of each system is included, based on other studies conclusions on this matter, where expected energy savings from each design, depending on the current cost of lighting, water and gas, as well as the expected economic amortization period is evaluated.

Domotics Project Housing Block

Science.gov (United States)

Morón, Carlos; Payán, Alejandro; García, Alfonso; Bosquet, Francisco

2016-01-01

This document develops the study of an implementation project of a home automation system in a housing placed in the town of Galapagar, Madrid. This house, which is going to be occupied by a four-member family, consists of 67 constructed square meters distributed in lounge, kitchen, three bedrooms, bath, bathroom and terrace, this being a common arrangement in Spain. Thus, this study will allow extracting conclusions about the adequacy of the home automation in a wide percentage of housing in Spain. In this document, three house automation proposals are developed based on the requirements of the client and the different home automation levels that the Spanish House and Building Automation Association has established, besides two parallel proposals relating to the safety and the technical alarms. The mentioned proposed systems are described by means of product datasheets and descriptions, distribution plans, measurements, budgets and flow charts that describe the functioning of the system in every case. An evaluation of each system is included, based on other studies conclusions on this matter, where expected energy savings from each design, depending on the current cost of lighting, water and gas, as well as the expected economic amortization period is evaluated. PMID:27223285

Redesign of a supply network by considering stochastic demand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Camilo Paz

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the problem of redesigning a supply network of large scale by considering variability of the demand. The central problematic takes root in determining strategic decisions of closing and adjusting of capacity of some network echelons and the tactical decisions concerning to the distribution channels used for transporting products. We have formulated a deterministic Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model (MILP and a stochastic MILP model (SMILP whose objective functions are the maximization of the EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. The decisions of Network Design on stochastic model as capacities, number of warehouses in operation, material and product flows between echelons, are determined in a single stage by defining an objective function that penalizes unsatisfied demand and surplus of demand due to demand changes. The solution strategy adopted for the stochastic model is a scheme denominated as Sample Average Approximation (SAA. The model is based on the case of a Colombian company dedicated to production and marketing of foodstuffs and supplies for the bakery industry. The results show that the proposed methodology was a solid reference for decision support regarding to the supply networks redesign by considering the expected economic contribution of products and variability of the demand.

Carrying out of the ''carbon status'' of DGEMP; Realisation du ''bilan carbone'' de la DGEMP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-10-01

The French direction of energy and raw materials (DGEMP) of the Ministry of economy, finances and industry, wished to estimate its own direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gases in order to evaluate: the time required for this kind of investigation, the different solutions and their relative difficulties of implementation, and the feeling of the personnel with respect to some possible measures of abatement of these emissions. The method used has been developed by Manicore for the French agency of environment and energy mastery (Ademe). This document describes the approach retained and the estimation of the emissions of greenhouse gases directly and indirectly generated by the DGEMP activities: internal energy consumption (electricity, space heating, air-conditioning), energy consumed by sub-contractors, emissions from transportation systems (personnel home-work trips, other trips for work purposes, visitors, fret), incoming materials (paper, toner cartridges..), end of life of direct wastes and DGEMP publications, waste waters, amortization (building, vehicles, office materials and equipments, computer equipment), services. It suggests also some actions for the abatement of greenhouse gases emissions: space heating (insulation, solar systems), electricity (lighting systems, hot water..), air conditioning, trips (limitation, favouring train trips), paper (reduction of the number of photocopies etc..). The details relative to the method used are given in appendixes. (J.S.)

Performance Analysis of Memory Transfers and GEMM Subroutines on NVIDIA Tesla GPU Cluster

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allada, Veerendra, Benjegerdes, Troy; Bode, Brett

2009-08-31

Commodity clusters augmented with application accelerators are evolving as competitive high performance computing systems. The Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) with a very high arithmetic density and performance per price ratio is a good platform for the scientific application acceleration. In addition to the interconnect bottlenecks among the cluster compute nodes, the cost of memory copies between the host and the GPU device have to be carefully amortized to improve the overall efficiency of the application. Scientific applications also rely on efficient implementation of the BAsic Linear Algebra Subroutines (BLAS), among which the General Matrix Multiply (GEMM) is considered as the workhorse subroutine. In this paper, they study the performance of the memory copies and GEMM subroutines that are critical to port the computational chemistry algorithms to the GPU clusters. To that end, a benchmark based on the NetPIPE framework is developed to evaluate the latency and bandwidth of the memory copies between the host and the GPU device. The performance of the single and double precision GEMM subroutines from the NVIDIA CUBLAS 2.0 library are studied. The results have been compared with that of the BLAS routines from the Intel Math Kernel Library (MKL) to understand the computational trade-offs. The test bed is a Intel Xeon cluster equipped with NVIDIA Tesla GPUs.

Soft Asphalt and Double Otta Seal—Self-Healing Sustainable Techniques for Low-Volume Gravel Road Rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Audrius Vaitkus

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Increased traffic flow on low-volume gravel roads and deficiencies of national road infrastructure, are increasingly apparent in Lithuania. Gravel roads do not comply with requirements, resulting in low driving comfort, longer travelling time, faster vehicle amortization, and dustiness. The control of dustiness is one of the most important road maintenance activities on gravel roads. Another important issue is the assurance of required driving comfort and safety. Soft asphalt and Otta Seal technologies were proposed as a sustainable solution for the improvement of low-volume roads in Lithuania. Five gravel roads were constructed with soft asphalt, and 13 gravel roads were sealed with double Otta Seal, in 2012. The main aim of this research was to check soft asphalt and double Otta Seal’s ability to self-heal, on the basis of the results of the qualitative visual assessment of pavement defects and distress. The qualitative visual assessment was carried out twice a year following the opening of the rehabilitated road sections. The results confirmed soft asphalt and double Otta Seal’s ability to self-heal. The healing effect was more than 13% and 19% on roads with soft asphalt and double Otta Seal, respectively. In addition, on some roads, all cracks observed in spring self-healed during summer.

The Effect of External Debt on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernardin Senadza

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper examines the effect of external debt on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA in view of an upsurge in the level of external debt in many countries on the continent. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses annual data for 39 SSA countries from 1990 to 2013 and employs the System Generalised Methods of Moments (GMM estimation technique. Findings: The paper finds that external debt negatively affects economic growth in SSA. Categorization of countries based on per capita income however does not affect the external debt-growth nexus, neither does there exist a non-linear relationship between external debt and economic growth. Research limitations/implications: The finding of a negative relationship between external debt and growth does not necessarily imply that SSA countries should cut back on foreign borrowing in other to boost growth. Rather, given the huge savings gaps in some of the countries, what governments in SSA must do is to ensure that the foreign loans are invested in projects that would eventually generate enough returns to amortize the debt. Originality/value: Not only does the present paper extend to more recent data but we also apply one of the frontier econometric techniques - the system GMM approach - to unravel the external debt-economic growth dynamics in SSA.

Performance Analysis of Memory Transfers and GEMM Subroutines on NVIDIA Tesla GPU Cluster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allada, Veerendra; Benjegerdes, Troy; Bode, Brett

2009-01-01

Commodity clusters augmented with application accelerators are evolving as competitive high performance computing systems. The Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) with a very high arithmetic density and performance per price ratio is a good platform for the scientific application acceleration. In addition to the interconnect bottlenecks among the cluster compute nodes, the cost of memory copies between the host and the GPU device have to be carefully amortized to improve the overall efficiency of the application. Scientific applications also rely on efficient implementation of the BAsic Linear Algebra Subroutines (BLAS), among which the General Matrix Multiply (GEMM) is considered as the workhorse subroutine. In this paper, they study the performance of the memory copies and GEMM subroutines that are critical to port the computational chemistry algorithms to the GPU clusters. To that end, a benchmark based on the NetPIPE framework is developed to evaluate the latency and bandwidth of the memory copies between the host and the GPU device. The performance of the single and double precision GEMM subroutines from the NVIDIA CUBLAS 2.0 library are studied. The results have been compared with that of the BLAS routines from the Intel Math Kernel Library (MKL) to understand the computational trade-offs. The test bed is a Intel Xeon cluster equipped with NVIDIA Tesla GPUs.

Strategic Performance Measurement Using Balanced Scorecard: A Case of Machine Tool Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kshatriya Anil

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on implementation, monitoring, and application of balanced scorecard (BSC techniques in an organization involved in providing machine tool solutions to the industrial sector. The growth of the company considered in real time constituted improvements of both top and bottom lines. In the industry under consideration, it was observed that in our company, the top line was steadily growing but not the bottom line. This is when we started getting down to brass tacks and strategically focusing on growth in overall profits of the company. This included growing revenues by improving of EBITDA (earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation, and amortization and by increasing efficiency (i.e., cutting costs. These improvements were implemented by chalking out a comprehensive BSC designed to suit the machine tool industry. The four perspectives of the management, namely, internal business process, organizational learning, financial perspective, and customer perspective, have been considered lucidly and enunciate the parameters that affect the BSC very aptly. The BSC designed considered 9 objectives and 27 relative measures of these factors to quantify the various quantitative and qualitative dimensions that affect the company’s performance. A Balanced Lean Index (BL Score was used to measure the results for company X.

Practices of performance measurement in companies in the Republic of Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miroslav Todorovic

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A large number of acronyms which indicate diff erent performance metrics, such as EBIT (Earnings Before Interest And Taxes, EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, And Amortization, ROIC (Return On Invested Capital, NPV (Net Present Value, EVA (Economic Value Added, IRR (Internal Rate Of Return, ROE (Return On Equity, ROA (Return On Assets etc. are in use nowadays. In practice, managers cannot and do not want to apply all of these metrics and managers’ choice does not necessarily rely on what theory emphasizes as their advantages and disadvantages. We surveyed 64 CFOs in order to explore the corporate practice in the Republic of Serbia. The DCF-based capital budgeting metrics are dominant compared to the traditional metrics, and the one that is used the most is the profi tability index, only to be followed by the IRR and the NPV. The Payback Period is yet frequently used. The earnings-based corporate performance metrics are still the most important. However, the presence of EVA and balanced scorecard is not negligible. Large companies use them signifi cantly more than small companies. The orientation towards EVA and balanced scorecard increases with the internationalization of a fi rm as well. Finally, companies using sophisticated capital budgeting metrics are prone to using sophisticated corporate performance metrics.

Real world financing opportunities for energy conservation projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tramonte, D.J.

1988-01-01

Do you have the resources, dollars, people expertise and general know-how to do all the energy conservation measures. If you have the funds, do it yourself. Historically you would save more if you hired a private concern because that is the only job the contractor does for you. You have other hats to wear and fires to put out. Using third-party financing can be a good decision based on your specific needs. Procrastination is not the answer - the cost of delay is extensive. Financing energy conservation measures is no different from financing your automobile or home. If the benefits outweigh the negatives, the answer is obvious. Remember, in any case of using private sector financing, your are joining a partnership arrangement. The only way to succeed is to be honest with each other on the front end. There need not be any surprises. Any reputable company will gladly have your attorney evaluate all agreements, amortization schedules, and attachments. Real world financing alternatives will continue to change as the market matures. It's not too good to be true. It is no more than a vehicle to make the efforts of capital improvements streamlined. The money or financing is the catalyst to the project and makes the other areas meld.

The cost of developing a computerized tailored interactive multimedia intervention vs. a print based Photonovella intervention for HPV vaccine education.

Science.gov (United States)

Karanth, Siddharth S; Lairson, David R; Savas, Lara S; Vernon, Sally W; Fernández, María E

2017-08-01

Mobile technology is opening new avenues for healthcare providers to create and implement tailored and personalized health education programs. We estimate and compare the cost of developing an i-Pad based tailored interactive multimedia intervention (TIMI) and a print based (Photonovella) intervention to increase human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization. The development costs of the interventions were calculated using a societal perspective. Direct cost included the cost of planning the study, conducting focus groups, and developing the intervention materials by the research staff. Costs also included the amount paid to the vendors who produced the TIMI and Photonovella. Micro cost data on the staff time and materials were recorded in logs for tracking personnel time, meeting time, supplies and software purchases. The costs were adjusted for inflation and reported in 2015 USD. The total cost of developing the Photonovella was $66,468 and the cost of developing the TIMI was $135,978. The amortized annual cost for the interventions calculated at a 3% discount rate and over a 7-year period was $10,669 per year for the Photonovella and $21,825 per year for the TIMI intervention. The results would inform decision makers when planning and investing in the development of interactive multimedia health interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE/NETL's phase II mercury control technology field testing program: preliminary economic analysis of activated carbon injection.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Andrew P; Hoffmann, Jeffrey W; Smith, Dennis N; Feeley, Thomas J; Murphy, James T

2007-02-15

Based on results of field testing conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL), this article provides preliminary costs for mercury control via conventional activated carbon injection (ACI), brominated ACI, and conventional ACI coupled with the application of a sorbent enhancement additive (SEA) to coal prior to combustion. The economic analyses are reported on a plant-specific basis in terms of the cost required to achieve low (50%), mid (70%), and high (90%) levels of mercury removal "above and beyond" the baseline mercury removal achieved by existing emission control equipment. In other words, the levels of mercury control are directly attributable to ACI. Mercury control costs via ACI have been amortized on a current dollar basis. Using a 20-year book life, levelized costs for the incremental increase in cost of electricity (COE), expressed in mills per kilowatt-hour (mills/kWh), and the incremental cost of mercury control, expressed in dollars per pound of mercury removed ($/lb Hg removed), have been calculated for each level of ACI mercury control. For this analysis, the increase in COE varied from 0.14 mills/kWh to 3.92 mills/kWh. Meanwhile, the incremental cost of mercury control ranged from $3810/lb Hg removed to $166000/lb Hg removed.

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR Economics for Wastewater Reuse in Low Population Wadi Communities, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas M. Missimer

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Depletion of water supplies for potable and irrigation use is a major problem in the rural wadi valleys of Saudi Arabia and other areas of the Middle East and North Africa. An economic analysis of supplying these villages with either desalinated seawater or treated wastewater conveyed via a managed aquifer recharge (MAR system was conducted. In many cases, there are no local sources of water supply of any quality in the wadi valleys. The cost per cubic meter for supplying desalinated water is $2–5/m3 plus conveyance cost, and treated wastewater via an MAR system is $0–0.50/m3 plus conveyance cost. The wastewater reuse, indirect for potable use and direct use for irrigation, can have a zero treatment cost because it is discharged to waste in many locations. In fact, the economic loss caused by the wastewater discharge to the marine environment can be greater than the overall amortized cost to construct an MAR system, including conveyance pipelines and the operational costs of reuse in the rural environment. The MAR and associated reuse system can solve the rural water supply problem in the wadi valleys and reduce the economic losses caused by marine pollution, particularly coral reef destruction.

The application of ground source heat pumps to a subdivision-wide district heating system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciavaglia, L.

2005-01-01

Design guidelines for economic ground source heat pumps (GSHP) in district energy systems were presented. The broad economics of using central GSHP in a community district energy system were examined. Design parameters needed to utilize GSHP in district energy system were outlined. The sensitivity of energy prices and the costs of major capital were reviewed. District heating load duration curves were outlined. It was suggested that varying GSHP capacity from 0 to 100 per cent of load was advisable. In addition, capacity should be balanced with gas boiler technology. The amortizing of capital within energy costs was recommended. It was suggested that the best scenario was a minimum of 50 per cent ground energy. Details of pipings and heat exchanger costs were presented, along with costs for gas boilers and gas costs for the district energy system. Charts of current costing and reduction of piping capital were included. It was concluded that GSHP can be a viable component of a district energy system, as a GSHP based district energy system can provide more stable energy prices than conventional fossil fuel systems. It was suggested that sizing of GSHP at, or near, 40 per cent of peak demand provided optimal conditions with respect to energy cost and use of earth energy. tabs., figs

On the Feasibility and Limitations of Just-in-Time Instruction Set Extension for FPGA-Based Reconfigurable Processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariusz Grad

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Reconfigurable instruction set processors provide the possibility of tailor the instruction set of a CPU to a particular application. While this customization process could be performed during runtime in order to adapt the CPU to the currently executed workload, this use case has been hardly investigated. In this paper, we study the feasibility of moving the customization process to runtime and evaluate the relation of the expected speedups and the associated overheads. To this end, we present a tool flow that is tailored to the requirements of this just-in-time ASIP specialization scenario. We evaluate our methods by targeting our previously introduced Woolcano reconfigurable ASIP architecture for a set of applications from the SPEC2006, SPEC2000, MiBench, and SciMark2 benchmark suites. Our results show that just-in-time ASIP specialization is promising for embedded computing applications, where average speedups of 5x can be achieved by spending 50 minutes for custom instruction identification and hardware generation. These overheads will be compensated if the applications execute for more than 2 hours. For the scientific computing benchmarks, the achievable speedup is only 1.2x, which requires significant execution times in the order of days to amortize the overheads.

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) economics for wastewater reuse in low population wadi communities, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

KAUST Repository

Missimer, T.M.

2014-08-07

Depletion of water supplies for potable and irrigation use is a major problem in the rural wadi valleys of Saudi Arabia and other areas of the Middle East and North Africa. An economic analysis of supplying these villages with either desalinated seawater or treated wastewater conveyed via a managed aquifer recharge (MAR) system was conducted. In many cases, there are no local sources of water supply of any quality in the wadi valleys. The cost per cubic meter for supplying desalinated water is $2-5/m3 plus conveyance cost, and treated wastewater via an MAR system is $0-0.50/m3 plus conveyance cost. The wastewater reuse, indirect for potable use and direct use for irrigation, can have a zero treatment cost because it is discharged to waste in many locations. In fact, the economic loss caused by the wastewater discharge to the marine environment can be greater than the overall amortized cost to construct an MAR system, including conveyance pipelines and the operational costs of reuse in the rural environment. The MAR and associated reuse system can solve the rural water supply problem in the wadi valleys and reduce the economic losses caused by marine pollution, particularly coral reef destruction. 2014 by the authors.

Worst-case-efficient dynamic arrays in practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Katajainen, Jyrki

2016-01-01

The basic operations of a dynamic array are operator[], push back, and pop back. This study is an examination of variations of dynamic arrays that support these operations at O(1) worst-case cost. In the literature, many solutions have been proposed, but little information is available on their m......The basic operations of a dynamic array are operator[], push back, and pop back. This study is an examination of variations of dynamic arrays that support these operations at O(1) worst-case cost. In the literature, many solutions have been proposed, but little information is available...... on their mutual superiority. Most library implementations only guarantee O(1) amortized cost per operation. Four variations with good worst-case performance were benchmarked: (1) resizable array relying on doubling, halving, and incremental copying; (2) level-wiseallocated pile; (3) sliced array with fixed......-capacity slices; and (4) blockwise-allocated pile. Let |V| denote the size of the values of type V and |V*| the size of the pointers to values of type V, both measured in bytes. For an array of n values and a slice of S values, the space requirements of the considered variations were at most 12|V|n+O(|V*|), 2|V...

EDF group - Reference Document 2004

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

The EDF Group is an integrated energy supplier operating in a wide range of electricity-related businesses: generation, transmission, distribution, sale and trading of energy. It is the main operator in the French electricity market and one of the leading electricity groups in Europe. With an installed capacity of 125,4 GW, it contributes to the supply of energy and services to more than 42 million customers throughout the world (with approximately 36 million customers in Europe, more than 28 million of whom are in France). The EDF Group has built a business model balanced between deregulated and regulated operations in France and an international presence. In 2004, the Group recorded consolidated sales of euros 46,928 million, net income (Group share) of euros 1,341 million, and it achieved earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization of euros 12,127 million. This document is EDF Group's Reference Document for the year 2004. It contains information about: the Group activities, capital, relations with Gaz de France utility, strategy, industrial environment, history, activity in France, international activity, transverse activities and functions, disputes, arbitration and risk factors, Property, Plants and Equipment, Operating and Financial Review, Administrative, Management, and Supervisory Bodies and Senior Management, Remuneration and Benefits, recent trends and perspectives

DEPRECIATION AS THE SOURCE OF REPLENISHMENT OF ENTERPRISE CURRENT ASSETS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KAFKA Sofiіa

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Along with the classical approach to understanding the meaning of such economic category as depreciation, we have considered the issues if the amortization is the source of the fixed assets renewal. For the purposes of the study we used methods of analysis and synthesis, systematic approach - to study the processes of working capital enterprises, logical method and simulation - to systematize information security of these processes. Results of investigations to determine the characteristics of the economic substance of depreciation established: depreciation is a compensation of working capital, which at one time was removed from circulation for the purchase of fixed assets, so you cannot treat depreciation as a source of investment in fixed assets. The source of the formation of the working capital of own funds is certainly profits and depreciation - only if profitable economic activity. So when it comes to sources of funding something, including the acquisition (creation of fixed assets, only the working capital can be the source that’s why it is important to use them efficiently and the conditions of the limited resources. The practical significance is to develop scientifically based recommendations on formation and sources of working capital enterprises and reproduction of fixed assets, which provide methodological support to forming the depreciation policy of enterprises

Automatic optimized reload and depletion method for a pressurized water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, D.H.; Levene, S.H.

1985-01-01

A new method has been developed to automatically reload and deplete a pressurized water reactor (PWR) so that both the enriched inventory requirements during the reactor cycle and the cost of reloading the core are minimized. This is achieved through four stepwise optimization calculations: (a) determination of the minimum fuel requirement for an equivalent three-region core model, (b) optimal selection and allocation of fuel assemblies for each of the three regions to minimize the reload cost, (c) optimal placement of fuel assemblies to conserve regionwise optimal conditions, and (d) optimal control through poison management to deplete individual fuel assemblies to maximize end-of-cycle k /SUB eff/ . The new method differs from previous methods in that the optimization process automatically performs all tasks required to reload and deplete a PWR. In addition, the previous work that developed optimization methods principally for the initial reactor cycle was modified to handle subsequent cycles with fuel assemblies having burnup at beginning of cycle. Application of the method to the fourth reactor cycle at Three Mile Island Unit 1 has shown that both the enrichment and the number of fresh reload fuel assemblies can be decreased and fully amortized fuel assemblies can be reused to minimize the fuel cost of the reactor

The effect of tax reporting in financial reporting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shqipe Xhaferri

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the importance of building financial statements and their compliance with the activities by running an entity, primarily for micro units. Main objective of this paper is to present the necessity of the implementation of legal frameworks in the field of accounting and the application of accounting standards for financial reporting. National Accounting Standards are significant factors to increase the quality of financial information, bringing new technologies, increased competition and culture of service etc. National Accounting Standards help in the sustainable economic development of the country and integration into the EU. This paper analyzes a series of articles in the field of research in the field of accounting. This paper presents the theoretical and practical aspects of a company’s long-term assets, treating the amortization calculated according to accounting standards. An important point is the appearance of these items in the balance sheet. According to the empirical viewpoint, various studies give different results. Also, the entities as a primary source of economic development are part of this paper. The application of accounting standards began in Albania on 1 January 2009. From these date all the units are obliged to draw up financial statements according to national and international standards of accounting. Actually nowadays (starting from the fiscal year 2014 the submission of balance sheet is made electronically.

Equihash: Asymmetric Proof-of-Work Based on the Generalized Birthday Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex Biryukov

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Proof-of-work is a central concept in modern cryptocurrencies and denial-ofservice protection tools, but the requirement for fast verification so far has made it an easy prey for GPU-, ASIC-, and botnet-equipped users. The attempts to rely on memory-intensive computations in order to remedy the disparity between architectures have resulted in slow or broken schemes. In this paper we solve this open problem and show how to construct an asymmetric proof-of-work (PoW based on a computationally-hard problem, which requires a great deal of memory to generate a proof (called a ”memory-hardness” feature but is instant to verify. Our primary proposal, Equihash, is a PoW based on the generalized birthday problem and enhanced Wagner’s algorithm for it. We introduce the new technique of algorithm binding to prevent cost amortization and demonstrate that possible parallel implementations are constrained by memory bandwidth. Our scheme has tunable and steep time-space tradeoffs, which impose large computational penalties if less memory is used. Our solution is practical and ready to deploy: a reference implementation of a proof-of-work requiring 700 MB of RAM runs in 15 seconds on a 2.1 GHz CPU, increases the computations by a factor of 1000 if memory is halved, and presents a proof of just 120 bytes long.

Nuevos hallazgos exhumados en una necrópolis romana del sector septentrional de Córdoba (España

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Salinas Pleguezuelo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo presentamos brevemente los resultados de una excavación arqueológica de un solar para la construcción de un centro de salud en la ciudad de Córdoba. Los resultados obtenidos corresponden a un claro ejemplo de superposición urbana, en el que el espacio ha sido utilizado con distintas funciones desde época romana a contemporánea. Destaca la fase romana de este yacimiento con la documentación de un área de necrópolis y una vía funeraria de época altoimperial. Dicha área quedará amortizada en época tardoimperial por enterramientos y una zona artesanal, que contaba con un horno y dos vertederos. In this article, we present the results of an archaeological excavation carried out in an urban plot in Córdoba (Andalucía, Spain for the construction of a new Health Centre. The results obtained provide a clear example related to the urban superposition, in which this space has been used with different functions, from Roman to the Contemporary period. The Early Roman phase of this site is interesting, where a necropolis area and a funerary path stand out within the findings. This area was amortized in Late Roman centuries by burials and a pottery workshop, which had a pottery kiln and two pottery waste dumps.

Solar power satellite life-cycle energy recovery consideration

Science.gov (United States)

Weingartner, S.; Blumenberg, J.

The construction, in-orbit installation and maintenance of a solar power satellite (SPS) will demand large amounts of energy. As a minimum requirement for an energy effective power satellite it is asked that this amount of energy be recovered. The energy effectiveness in this sense resulting in a positive net energy balance is a prerequisite for cost-effective power satellite. This paper concentrates on life-cycle energy recovery instead on monetary aspects. The trade-offs between various power generation systems (different types of solar cells, solar dynamic), various construction and installation strategies (using terrestrial or extra-terrestrial resources) and the expected/required lifetime of the SPS are reviewed. The presented work is based on a 2-year study performed at the Technical University of Munich. The study showed that the main energy which is needed to make a solar power satellite a reality is required for the production of the solar power components (up to 65%), especially for the solar cell production. Whereas transport into orbit accounts in the order of 20% and the receiving station on earth (rectenna) requires about 15% of the total energy investment. The energetic amortization time, i.e. the time the SPS has to be operational to give back the amount of energy which was needed for its production installation and operation, is about two years.

Solar power satellite—Life-cycle energy recovery considerations

Science.gov (United States)

Weingartner, S.; Blumenberg, J.

1995-05-01

The construction, in-orbit installation and maintenance of a solar power satellite (SPS) will demand large amounts of energy. As a minimum requirement for an energy effective power satellite it is asked that this amount of energy be recovered. The energy effectiveness in this sense resulting in a positive net energy balance is a prerequisite for a cost-effective power satellite. This paper concentrates on life-cycle energy recovery instead of monetary aspects. The trade-offs between various power generation systems (different types of solar cells, solar dynamic), various construction and installation strategies (using terrestrial or extra-terrestrial resources) and the expected/required lifetime of the SPS are reviewed. The presented work is based on a 2-year study performed at the Technical University of Munich. The study showed that the main energy which is needed to make a solar power satellite a reality is required for the production of the solar power plant components (up to 65%), especially for the solar cell production. Whereas transport into orbit accounts in the order of 20% and the receiving station on Earth (rectenna) requires in the order of 15% of the total energy investment. The energetic amortization time, i.e. the time the SPS has to be operational to give back the amount of energy which was needed for its production, installation and operation, is in the order of two years.

Active or passive systems? The EPR approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonhomme, N.; Py, J.P.

1996-01-01

In attempting to review how EPR is contemplated to meet requirements applicable to future nuclear power plants, the authors indicate where they see the markets and the corresponding unit sizes for the EPR which is a generic key factor for competitiveness. There are no reason in industrialized countries, other than USA (where the investment and amortizing practices under control by Public Utility Commission are quite particular), not to build future plants in the 1000 to 1500 MWe range. Standardization, which has been actively applied all along the French program and for the Konvoi plants, does not prevent evolution and allows to concentrate large engineering effort in smooth realization of plants and achieve actual construction and commissioning without significant delays. In order to contribute to public trust renewal, a next generation of power reactors should be fundamentally less likely to incur serious accidents. To reach this goal the best of passive and active systems must be considered without forgetting that the most important source of knowledge is construction and operating experience. Criteria to assess passive systems investigated for possible implementation in the EPR, such as simplicity of design, impact on plant operation, safety and cost, are discussed. Examples of the principal passive systems investigated are described and reasons why they have been dropped after screening through the criteria are given. (author). 11 figs

Costs of Robotic-Assisted Versus Traditional Laparoscopy in Endometrial Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Vuorinen, Riikka-Liisa K; Mäenpää, Minna M; Nieminen, Kari; Tomás, Eija I; Luukkaala, Tiina H; Auvinen, Anssi; Mäenpää, Johanna U

2017-10-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the costs of traditional laparoscopy and robotic-assisted laparoscopy in the treatment of endometrial cancer. A total of 101 patients with endometrial cancer were randomized to the study and operated on starting from 2010 until 2013, at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland. Costs were calculated based on internal accounting, hospital database, and purchase prices and were compared using intention-to-treat analysis. Main outcome measures were item costs and total costs related to the operation, including a 6-month postoperative follow-up. The total costs including late complications were 2160 &OV0556; higher in the robotic group (median for traditional 5823 &OV0556;, vs robot median 7983 &OV0556;, P costs for instruments and equipment as well as to more expensive operating room and postanesthesia care unit time. Traditional laparoscopy involved higher costs for operation personnel, general costs, medication used in the operation, and surgeon, although these costs were not substantial. There was no significant difference in in-patient stay, laboratory, radiology, blood products, or costs related to complications. According to this study, robotic-assisted laparoscopy is 37% more expensive than traditional laparoscopy in the treatment of endometrial cancer. The cost difference is mainly explained by amortization of the robot and its instrumentation.

Solar drying in sludge management in Turkey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamil Salihoglu, Nezih; Pinarli, Vedat; Salihoglu, Guray [Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Environmental Engineering Department, Uludag University, 16059, Bursa (Turkey)

2007-08-15

Two main wastewater treatment plants in Bursa city in Turkey will start to operate and produce at least 27,000 tons of dry solids per year by the end of 2006. The purpose of this study was to investigate an economical solution to the sludge management problem that Bursa city would encounter. The general trend in Turkey is mechanical dewatering to obtain a dry solid (DS) content of 20%, and liming the mechanically dewatered sludge to reach the legal land filling requirement, 35% DS content. This study recommends limited liming and solar drying as an alternative to only-liming the mechanically dewatered sludge. Open and covered solar sludge drying plants were constructed in pilot scale for experimental purposes. Dry solids and climatic conditions were constantly measured. Faecal coliform reduction was also monitored. The specially designed covered solar drying plant proved to be more efficient than the open plant in terms of drying and faecal coliform reduction. It was found that, if the limited liming and solar drying method was applied after mechanical dewatering instead of only-liming method, the total amount of the sludge to be disposed would be reduced by approximately 40%. This would lead to a reduction in the transportation, handling, and land filling costs. The covered drying system would amortize itself in 4 years. (author)

Active or passive systems? The EPR approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonhomme, N [Nuclear Power International, Cedex (France); Py, J P [FRAMATOME, Cedex (France)

1996-12-01

In attempting to review how EPR is contemplated to meet requirements applicable to future nuclear power plants, the authors indicate where they see the markets and the corresponding unit sizes for the EPR which is a generic key factor for competitiveness. There are no reason in industrialized countries, other than USA (where the investment and amortizing practices under control by Public Utility Commission are quite particular), not to build future plants in the 1000 to 1500 MWe range. Standardization, which has been actively applied all along the French program and for the Konvoi plants, does not prevent evolution and allows to concentrate large engineering effort in smooth realization of plants and achieve actual construction and commissioning without significant delays. In order to contribute to public trust renewal, a next generation of power reactors should be fundamentally less likely to incur serious accidents. To reach this goal the best of passive and active systems must be considered without forgetting that the most important source of knowledge is construction and operating experience. Criteria to assess passive systems investigated for possible implementation in the EPR, such as simplicity of design, impact on plant operation, safety and cost, are discussed. Examples of the principal passive systems investigated are described and reasons why they have been dropped after screening through the criteria are given. (author). 11 figs.

Managing costs at Ginna Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mecredy, R.C.

1990-01-01

A nuclear power plant with a capital cost of $88 million and an annual operations and maintenance (O and M) cost of $3.2 million that is operated by a plant staff of 59 people? The Ginna nuclear power plant was indeed such a plant in 1970, its first full year of operation. Today that same plant has a total invested capital cost of $400 million with an annual capital cost, including upgrade projects which are being amortized, of $37 million. The annual O and M expenditure is nearly $60 million, and the total staffing, both plant and corporate support, is nearly 600 people. The result of this increased cost has been a dramatic narrowing of the cost margin between Ginna and coal units in the rochester Gas and Electric system. While increased expenditures have resulted in improved reliability and operability, and have increased the margins of safety, it is becoming necessary to implement cost monitoring and control measures so that each dollar spent provides maximum value. The factors which have contributed to the increased capital and O and M expenditures are well known. They include a broad range of safety, reliability, and operating projects and activities. Current upward pressures on cost include initiatives such as procurement control, procedure upgrades, configuration management, enhanced maintenance activities, and equipment replacements and upgrades

Profitability analysis of a femtosecond laser system for cataract surgery using a fuzzy logic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Trigueros, José Antonio; Piñero, David P; Ismail, Mahmoud M

2016-01-01

To define the financial and management conditions required to introduce a femtosecond laser system for cataract surgery in a clinic using a fuzzy logic approach. In the simulation performed in the current study, the costs associated to the acquisition and use of a commercially available femtosecond laser platform for cataract surgery (VICTUS, TECHNOLAS Perfect Vision GmbH, Bausch & Lomb, Munich, Germany) during a period of 5y were considered. A sensitivity analysis was performed considering such costs and the countable amortization of the system during this 5y period. Furthermore, a fuzzy logic analysis was used to obtain an estimation of the money income associated to each femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (G). According to the sensitivity analysis, the femtosecond laser system under evaluation can be profitable if 1400 cataract surgeries are performed per year and if each surgery can be invoiced more than $500. In contrast, the fuzzy logic analysis confirmed that the patient had to pay more per surgery, between $661.8 and $667.4 per surgery, without considering the cost of the intraocular lens (IOL). A profitability of femtosecond laser systems for cataract surgery can be obtained after a detailed financial analysis, especially in those centers with large volumes of patients. The cost of the surgery for patients should be adapted to the real flow of patients with the ability of paying a reasonable range of cost.

SUBSTANTIATION OF THE COST OF HOUSING CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING THE FACTOR OF INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS OF TERRITORIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZAIATS Yi. I.

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Problem statement. For planning and organization of urban construction is necessary to analyze the use of areas. Territorial resources of the city, being used for construction and other urban purposes, consists of plots of land: disposable, reserved and undeveloped in previous years of construction in progress; residential districts and blocks of obsolete housing fund; industrial and municipal and warehouse enterprises being used irrationally or stopped to work; the defence department, where the amortized warehouses and other main funds are that are not used by purpose; agricultural enterprises where the obsolete industrial funds, haying, nurseries, greenhouses. The number of free areas suitable for future urban development is extremely limited. However a considerable part of the territories of almost all functional zones is used inefficiently. Purpose. Formalization of a factor of investment attractiveness of territories for the further identification and research of the connection between it and the cost of housing construction is necessary. Conclusion. The identification of regularities of influence of the factor of investment attractiveness of territories on the cost of construction of high-rise buildings allow to obtain a quantitative estimate of this effect and can be used in the development of the methodology of substantiation of the expediency and effectiveness of the implementation of highrise construction projects, based on organizational and technological aspects.

Application of preconditioned GMRES to the numerical solution of the neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patton, B.W.; Holloway, J.P.

2002-01-01

The generalized minimal residual (GMRES) method with right preconditioning is examined as an alternative to both standard and accelerated transport sweeps for the iterative solution of the diamond differenced discrete ordinates neutron transport equation. Incomplete factorization (ILU) type preconditioners are used to determine their effectiveness in accelerating GMRES for this application. ILU(τ), which requires the specification of a dropping criteria τ, proves to be a good choice for the types of problems examined in this paper. The combination of ILU(τ) and GMRES is compared with both DSA and unaccelerated transport sweeps for several model problems. It is found that the computational workload of the ILU(τ)-GMRES combination scales nonlinearly with the number of energy groups and quadrature order, making this technique most effective for problems with a small number of groups and discrete ordinates. However, the cost of preconditioner construction can be amortized over several calculations with different source and/or boundary values. Preconditioners built upon standard transport sweep algorithms are also evaluated as to their effectiveness in accelerating the convergence of GMRES. These preconditioners show better scaling with such problem parameters as the scattering ratio, the number of discrete ordinates, and the number of spatial meshes. These sweeps based preconditioners can also be cast in a matrix free form that greatly reduces storage requirements

Automated Reuse of Scientific Subroutine Libraries through Deductive Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, Michael R.; Pressburger, Thomas; VanBaalen, Jeffrey; Roach, Steven

1997-01-01

Systematic software construction offers the potential of elevating software engineering from an art-form to an engineering discipline. The desired result is more predictable software development leading to better quality and more maintainable software. However, the overhead costs associated with the formalisms, mathematics, and methods of systematic software construction have largely precluded their adoption in real-world software development. In fact, many mainstream software development organizations, such as Microsoft, still maintain a predominantly oral culture for software development projects; which is far removed from a formalism-based culture for software development. An exception is the limited domain of safety-critical software, where the high-assuiance inherent in systematic software construction justifies the additional cost. We believe that systematic software construction will only be adopted by mainstream software development organization when the overhead costs have been greatly reduced. Two approaches to cost mitigation are reuse (amortizing costs over many applications) and automation. For the last four years, NASA Ames has funded the Amphion project, whose objective is to automate software reuse through techniques from systematic software construction. In particular, deductive program synthesis (i.e., program extraction from proofs) is used to derive a composition of software components (e.g., subroutines) that correctly implements a specification. The construction of reuse libraries of software components is the standard software engineering solution for improving software development productivity and quality.

Historical plant cost and annual production expenses for selected electric plants, 1982

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

This publication is a composite of the two prior publications, Hydroelectric Plant Construction Cost and Annual Production Expenses and Thermal-Electric Plant Construction Cost and Annual Production Expenses. Beginning in 1979, Thermal-Electric Plant Construction Cost and Annual Production Expenses contained information on both steam-electric and gas-turbine electric plant construction cost and annual production expenses. The summarized historical plant cost described under Historical Plant Cost in this report is the net cumulative-to-date actual outlays or expenditures for land, structures, and equipment to the utility. Historical plant cost is the initial investment in plant (cumulative to the date of initial commercial operation) plus the costs of all additions to the plant, less the value of retirements. Thus, historical plant cost includes expenditures made over several years, as modifications are made to the plant. Power Production Expenses is the reporting year's plant operation and maintenance expenses, including fuel expenses. These expenses do not include annual fixed charges on plant cost (capital costs) such as interest on debt, depreciation or amortization expenses, and taxes. Consequently, total production expenses and the derived unit costs are not the total cost of producing electric power at the various plants. This publication contains data on installed generating capacity, net generation, net capability, historical plant cost, production expenses, fuel consumption, physical and operating plant characteristics, and other relevant statistical information for selected plants

Free Amortization of Environmental Investments (VAMIL) in combination with the new Energy Investment Allowance (EIA); VAMIL nu ook in combinatie met nieuwe EIA mogelijk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wondergem, J. [Wondergem Intermedium, (Netherlands)

1997-03-01

The new title financial incentives regulations of the Dutch government are outlined. VAMIL and EIA came into effect January 1, 1997. The regulations offer the tax payer a number of financial advantages when investments are made for energy saving capital goods. Also for installers and advisors the regulations offer new chances to realize energy saving measures in maintenance, replacement or extension of existing installations. In a second, supplementary article attention is paid to the practical possibilities of the VAMIL and EIA regulations for the installation sector. 2 tabs.

Investimento em unidades de cura para tabaco tipo Virginia = Investments in tobacco curing barn for Virginia variety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Luiz Boettcher

2017-01-01

farmers that want to make new investments. The decision on investing demands careful feasibility analysis by the farmers to minimize risks of bad debts. The objective of this paper was to determine the financial feasibility of tobacco cure units, with regular rural credit interest and subsidized rural credit interest. The financial tools used were Net Present Value [NPL], Internal Rate of Return [IRR], simple payback and sensitivity analysis for yield (kg ha-1 as the variable factor. Considering a hurdle rate of 7.16%, the investment did not demonstrate economic feasibility for the two interest rate models, considering historic yield, for the type of curing barn and amortizations period established.The sensitivity analysis confirmed the yield (kg ha-1 is the key element for the viability of the project. Increasing the yield in 10%, based on historic average, reverted the situation and the project turned out to be economically feasible for the two interest amortization rates.

Integration of remotely operated manipulator systems for the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blight, J.; Cornec, G.

2003-01-01

rectify the situation. The paper has the following structure: Methodology (choice of scenarios, initial status, final status); Phases preceding dismantling operations; Flux of wastes; Processes; Remotely operated manipulators; Development of scenarios; Involvement of CYBERNETIX in dismantling projects; Involvement in 'Upstream phasest'; Supply of remotely operated systems; Validation of processes and remotely operated systems prior to active work; Involvement at site. As a summary, CYBERNETIX recommends, in order to ensure the good development of a project: - to be actively involved in developing/validating processes and scenarios, in order to make sure that constraints from both the remotely operated systems and the environment are taken into consideration; - to amortize amortization of development, integration, refurbishing, maintenance and storage costs on a serial of works/projects; - to provision sufficient time to develop, adapt, fine-tune equipment and processes, as a function of the scenarios; - to validate equipment and processes and confirm operational performances of the system during prior tests in 'non-active' or 'slightly active' conditions before the operational phase; - to be actively involved in site operations, in order to trouble-shout, fine-tune and constantly improve equipment and processes, using their own operators, technicians and engineers in order to guarantee the availability of the system in all circumstances; - to establish with the prime contractor, or other participating companies 'partnering' or 'alliance' agreements during operational phases, in order to motivate all actors

Cost-effectiveness of open versus laparoscopic versus robotic-assisted laparoscopic cystectomy and urinary diversion.

Science.gov (United States)

Zehnder, Pascal; Gill, Inderbir S

2011-09-01

To provide insight into the recently published cost comparisons in the context of open, laparoscopic, and robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy and to demonstrate the complexity of such economic analyses. Most economic evaluations are from a hospital perspective and summarize short-term perioperative therapeutic costs. However, the contributing factors (e.g. study design, included variables, robotic amortization plan, supply contract, surgical volume, surgeons' experience, etc.) vary substantially between the institutions. In addition, a real cost-effective analysis considering cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained is not feasible because of the lack of long-term oncologic and functional outcome data with the robotic procedure. On the basis of a modeled cost analysis using results from published series, robotic-assisted cystectomy was - with few exceptions - found to be more expensive when compared with the open approach. Immediate costs are affected most by operative time, followed by length of hospital stay, robotic supply, case volume, robotic cost, and transfusion rate. Any complication substantially impacts overall costs. Economic cost evaluations are complex analyses influenced by numerous factors that hardly allow an interinstitutional comparison. Robotic-assisted cystectomy is constantly refined with many institutions being somewhere on their learning curve. Transparent reports of oncologic and functional outcome data from centers of expertise applying standardized methods will help to properly analyze the real long-term benefits of robotic surgery and successor technologies and prevent us from becoming slaves of successful marketing strategies.

Invited talk on ageing management of boiling water reactors (BWRs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, Y.S.R.; Srinivasan, V.S.

1994-01-01

A nuclear power plant is built with a certain design life but by managing the operation of the plant with a well designed in-service inspection, repair and replacement programme of the equipment as required we will be able to extend the operation of the plant well beyond it's design life. This is also economically a paying proposition in view of the astronomical cost of construction of a new plant of equivalent capacity. In view of this, there is a growing trend the world over to study the ageing phenomena, especially in respect of nuclear power plant equipment and system which will contribute towards the continued operation of the nuclear power plants beyond their economic life which is fixed mainly to amortize the investments over a period. Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) which consists of 2 nos. of Boiling Water Reactor (BWRs) with the presently rated capacity of 160 MWe each has been operating for the past 24 years and is completing its 25th year of service by the year 1994 which was considered as its economic life and the plant depreciation as well as fuel supply agreement were based on this period of 25 years. I will be discussing about the available residual life which is much more than the above (25 years) and the studies we have undertaken in respect of the assessment of this residual life. (author). 2 tabs., 6 figs

EDF group - Reference Document 2005

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

The EDF Group is an integrated energy supplier operating in a wide range of electricity-related businesses: generation, transmission, distribution, sale and trading of energy. It is the main operator in the French electricity market and one of the leading electricity groups in Europe. With an installed capacity of 130.8 GW (123.9 GW in Europe), it contributes to the supply of energy and services to more than 40 million customers throughout the world (with approximately 36.7 million customers in Europe, more than 28 million of whom are in France). The EDF Group has built a business model balanced between deregulated and regulated operations in France and an international presence. In 2005, the Group recorded consolidated sales of euros 51,051 million, net income (Group share) of euros 3,242 million, and it achieved earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization of euros 13,010 million. This document is EDF Group's Reference Document for the year 2005. It contains information about: the Group activities, risk factors, Business Overview, Organizational Structure, Property, Plants and Equipment, Operating and Financial Review, Capital Resources, Research and Development, Patents and Licences, Trend Information, Financial Prospects, Administrative, Management, and Supervisory Bodies and Senior Management, Remuneration and Benefits, Board Practices, Employees/Human Resources, Major Shareholders, Related Party Transactions, Financial Information Concerning the Company's Assets and Liabilities, Financial Position and Profits and Losses, Material Contracts, Information on Holdings etc

Uranium production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, J.Q.

1981-01-01

The domestic uranium industry is in a state of stagflation. Costs continue to rise while the market for the product remains stagnant. During the last 12 months, curtailments and closures of mines and mills have eliminated over 5000 jobs in the industry, plus many more in those industries that furnish supplies and services. By January 1982, operations at four mills and the mines that furnish them ore will have been terminated. Other closures may follow, depending on cost trends, duration of current contracts, the degree to which mills have been amortized, the feasibility of placing mines on standby, the grade of the ore, and many other factors. Open-pit mines can be placed on standby without much difficulty, other than the possible cost of restoration before all the ore has been removed. There are a few small, dry, underground mines that could be mothballed; however, the major underground producers are wet sandstone mines that in most cases could not be reopened after a prolonged shutdown; mills can be mothballed for several years. Figure 8 shows the location of all the production centers in operation, as well as those that have operated or are on standby. Table 1 lists the same production centers plus those that have been deferred, showing nominal capacity of conventional mills in tons of ore per calendar day, and the industry production rate for those mills as of October 1, 1981

Market Opportunity of Some Aluminium Silicon Alloys Materials through Changing the Casting Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delfim SOARES

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Fatigue is considered to be the most common mechanism by which engineering components fail, and it accounts for at least 90% of all service failures attributed to mechanical causes. Mechanical properties (tensile strength, tensile strain, Young modulus, etc as well as fatigue properties (fatigue life are very dependent on casting method. The most direct effects of casting techniques are on the metallurgical microstructure that bounds the mechanical properties. One of the important variables affected by the casting technique is the cooling rate which is well known to strongly restrict the microstructure. In the present research has been done a comparison of fatigue properties of two aluminum silicon alloys obtained by two casting techniques. It was observed that the fatigue life is increasing with 24% for Al12Si and 31% for AL18Si by using centrifugal casting process instead of gravity casting. This increasing in fatigue life means that a component tailored from materials obtained by centrifugal casting will stay longer in service. It was made an estimation of the time required to recover the costs of technology in order to use the centrifuge process that will allow to obtain materials with improved properties. The amortization can be achieved by using two different marketing techniques: through the release of the product at the old price and with much longer life of the component which means "same price - longer life", or increasing price, by highlighting new product performance which means "higher price - higher properties".

Electrodialysis reversal: Process and cost approximations for treating coal-bed methane waters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sajtar, E.T.; Bagley, D.M. [University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)

2009-02-15

Brackish waters with total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations less than 10,000 mg/L are extracted from coal-beds in the Wyoming Powder River basin to facilitate the production of coal-bed methane. These waters frequently require treatment before disposal or use. Electrodialysis reversal (EDR) has not yet been used to treat these waters but this technology should be suitable. The question is whether EDR would be cost-effective. The purpose of this work, then, was to develop models for predicting the cost of EDR for brackish waters. These models, developed from data available in the literature, were found to predict actual EDR costs as a function of TDS removal, influent flow rate, chemical rejection efficiency, water recovery, electricity use, and labor cost within 10% of reported values. The total amortized cost for removing 1,000 mg/L of TDS from 10,000 m{sup 3}/day of influent assuming no concentrate disposal costs was predicted to range from $0.23/m{sup 3} to $0.85/m{sup 3} and was highly dependent on capital cost and facility life. Concentrate disposal costs significantly affected total treatment cost, providing a total treatment cost range from $0.38/m{sup 3} to $6.38/m{sup 3}, depending on concentrate disposal cost and water recovery. Pilot demonstrations of EDR in the Powder River basin should be conducted to determine the achievable water recovery when treating these waters.

Accounting assessment

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Kafka S.М.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The proper evaluation of accounting objects influences essentially upon the reliability of assessing the financial situation of a company. Thus, the problem in accounting estimate is quite relevant. The works of home and foreign scholars on the issues of assessment of accounting objects, regulatory and legal acts of Ukraine controlling the accounting and compiling financial reporting are a methodological basis for the research. The author uses the theoretical methods of cognition (abstraction and generalization, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction and other methods producing conceptual knowledge for the synthesis of theoretical and methodological principles in the evaluation of assets accounting, liabilities and equity. The tabular presentation and information comparison methods are used for analytical researches. The article considers the modern approaches to the issue of evaluation of accounting objects and financial statements items. The expedience to keep records under historical value is proved and the articles of financial statements are to be presented according to the evaluation on the reporting date. In connection with the evaluation the depreciation of fixed assets is considered as a process of systematic return into circulation of the before advanced funds on the purchase (production, improvement of fixed assets and intangible assets by means of including the amount of wear in production costs. Therefore it is proposed to amortize only the actual costs incurred, i.e. not to depreciate the fixed assets received free of charge and surplus valuation of different kinds.

DIDA: Distributed Indexing Dispatched Alignment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Mohamadi

Full Text Available One essential application in bioinformatics that is affected by the high-throughput sequencing data deluge is the sequence alignment problem, where nucleotide or amino acid sequences are queried against targets to find regions of close similarity. When queries are too many and/or targets are too large, the alignment process becomes computationally challenging. This is usually addressed by preprocessing techniques, where the queries and/or targets are indexed for easy access while searching for matches. When the target is static, such as in an established reference genome, the cost of indexing is amortized by reusing the generated index. However, when the targets are non-static, such as contigs in the intermediate steps of a de novo assembly process, a new index must be computed for each run. To address such scalability problems, we present DIDA, a novel framework that distributes the indexing and alignment tasks into smaller subtasks over a cluster of compute nodes. It provides a workflow beyond the common practice of embarrassingly parallel implementations. DIDA is a cost-effective, scalable and modular framework for the sequence alignment problem in terms of memory usage and runtime. It can be employed in large-scale alignments to draft genomes and intermediate stages of de novo assembly runs. The DIDA source code, sample files and user manual are available through http://www.bcgsc.ca/platform/bioinfo/software/dida. The software is released under the British Columbia Cancer Agency License (BCCA, and is free for academic use.

Development of hybrid organic-inorganic optical coatings to prevent laser damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Compoint, Francois

2015-01-01

The optical devices (lents, mirrors, portholes...) that are set on the chains of the Laser Megajoule (LMJ) may be damaged by the high energy laser beam especially around the UV wavelength of 351 nm. The damages are micronic craters on the rear of the optics that grows exponentially after each laser shots. The study aims at developing some optical thin coatings on the rear of the optical substrates to prevent the growth of the damage by amortizing the laser shock wave, self-healing the craters that has appeared, or repairing the laser hole after the damage occurs. The thin coatings have been prepared by a sol-gel method by using silica precursor and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer. The two species reacted together to get a hybrid organic-inorganic Ormosil (organically modified silica) material, by creating a silica network linked to the PDMS species with covalent and hydrogen bounds. The thin layers are obtained from the sol-gel solution by using a dip and spin coating method. The coatings have an excellent optical transmission around the UV (351 nm) wavelength. They also have some self-healing properties by using mechanical (viscoelastic) mechanism and chemical reversible hydrogen bounds action in the materials. The silica-PDMS coatings prove to be resistant to the laser beam at 351 nm, despite some optimizations that still need to be done to reach the sought laser damage threshold. (author) [fr

The impact of intangibles on the value relevance of accounting information: Evidence from French companies

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Bilal Kimouche

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The paper aims to explore whether intangible items that recognised in financial statements are value-relevant to investors in the French context, and whether these items affect the value relevance of accounting information. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data were collected from a sample of French listed companies, over the nine-year period of 2005 to 2013. Starting of Ohlson’s (1995 model, the correlation analysis and the linear multiple regressions have been applied. Findings: We find that intangibles and traditional accounting measures as a whole are value relevant. However, the amortization and impairment charges of intangibles and cash flows do not affect the market values of French companies, unlike other variables, which affect positively and substantially the market values. Also goodwill and book values are more associated with market values than intangible assets and earnings respectively. Finally, we find that intangibles have improved the value relevance of accounting information. Practical implications: French legislators must give more interest for intangibles, in order to enrich the financial statements content and increasing the pertinence of accounting information. Auditors must give more attention for intangibles’ examination process, in order to certify the amounts related to intangibles in financial statements, and hence enrich their reliability, what provides adequacy guarantees for investors to use them in decision making. Originality/value: The paper used recently available financial data, and proposed an improvement concerning the measure of incremental value relevance of intangibles items.

Economics of recovering energy from wastes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, I. J.

1977-10-15

It is estimated that New Zealand produces about 3200 t/day of refuse from the eight main centres. If it is assumed that the composition of this is intermediate between that of the US and the UK, then a calorific value of approximately 11.6 GJ/t is obtained, which indicates a potential of 37 TJ/day of energy is theoretically available from wastes. Some of the possible processes that could be used, and the yield of either energy or fuel that could be obtained from the assumed raw material are illustrated. It must be emphasized that before much further progress can be achieved in this area, a better knowledge of the amounts and composition of our refuse is necessary. This data is considered as an indication of the potential. The remainder of this paper consists of a preliminary economic assessment of processes that are in a reasonable state of development, i.e. to the stage where a demonstration plant would be built, or better. The currency used is the $US, 1975. Capital is considered to be amortized at 6% over 20 years. Labor has been estimated at an average of $7000. Land and site development is not included as this will vary immensely. However, it must be added that the fermentation processes are most likely to require considerably more land. All processes are costed for a 500 t/day plant, and cost estimations are from published or manufacturer's data, following the six tenths rule.

Management Optimization of the Luminous Flux Regulation of a Lighting System in Road Tunnels. A First Approach to the Exertion of Predictive Control Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferdinando Salata

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Lighting very long road tunnels implies a high consumption of electrical energy since it requires a proper illumination during the whole day. In particular, in the daytime, the illuminance levels right at the tunnel entrance threshold and exit zones must be higher than those characterizing the inside of the tunnel; in this way, the eye of the driver is able to adapt and be safe while passing from a high natural illumination of the outside to the lighting conditions characterizing the inside of the tunnel. However this causes a high energy demand. Therefore, this case study investigates whether it is possible to minimize the energy demand through the exertion of an automatic new control system regulating the luminous fluxes of artificial sources (guaranteeing the parameters set by the regulation with respect to the variation of the natural light characterizing the outside. The innovative control systems must be characterized by high reliability levels in order to guarantee conditions which are not dangerous to the driver if an outage occurs and minimize their maintenance costs. To carry out this type of study, the software DIALux was used to simulate a tunnel with a dimming system (with lamps characterized by a high luminous efficiency regulated by a pre-programmed logic control system (with high Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF values. The savings obtained enabled the amortization of the solution here suggested in a time interval that makes it an advantageous choice economically speaking.

Electricity from waste heat

Science.gov (United States)

Larjola, Jaakko; Lindgren, Olli; Vakkilainen, Esa

In industry and in ships, large amounts of waste heat with quite a high release temperature are produced: examples are combustion gases and the exhaust gases of ceramic kilns. Very often they cannot be used for heating purposes because of long transport distances or because there is no local district heating network. Thus, a practical solution would be to convert this waste heat into electric power. This conversion may be carried out using an ORC-plant (Organic Rankine Cycle). There are probably some twenty ORC-plants in commercial use in the world. They are, however, usually based on conventional power plant technology, and are rather expensive, complicated and may have significant maintenance expenses. In order to obviate these problems, a project was started at Lappeenranta University of Technology at the beginning of 1981 to develop a high-speed, hermetic turbogenerator as the prime mover of the ORC. With this new technology the whole ORC-plant is quite simple, with only one moving part in the power system. It is expected to require very little maintenance, and the calculations made give for it significantly lower specific price than for the conventional technology ORC-plant. Two complete prototypes of the new technology ORC-plant have been built, one to the laboratory, other to industrial use. The nominal output of both is 100 kW electricity. Calculated amortization times for the new ORC-plant range from 2.1 to 6.

Outcomes of infants undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty compared to open repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Dangle, Pankaj P; Kearns, James; Anderson, Blake; Gundeti, Mohan S

2013-12-01

Robotic surgery has evolved from simple extirpative surgery to complex reconstructions even in infants. Data are lacking comparing surgical and direct costs to open approaches. We describe the feasibility, salient tips and outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty compared to an open approach. We evaluated patients undergoing open pyeloplasty or robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty. Ten patients in each group met inclusion criteria. Mean patient age was 3.31 months in the open group and 7.3 months in the robotic group (p=0.02). Postoperative outcomes including length of stay (2.2 vs 2.1 days), estimated blood loss (6.5 vs 7.6 ml), days to regular diet (1 vs 1.1) and days to Foley catheter removal (1.3 vs 1.3) were similar between the open and robotic groups. Total operating time (199 vs 242 minutes) was significantly longer in the robotic group. Postoperative improvement in hydronephrosis was identical in both groups. Direct costs, excluding amortization, robotic cost, maintenance and depreciation, were $4,410 in the open group and $4,979 in the robotic group (p=0.10). In our preliminary experience robotic pyeloplasty in infants is feasible and safe. The immediate outcomes are similar to those of an open approach. The robotic technique in infants currently has the benefits of improved esthetic appearance, improved pain control and similar direct costs compared to the traditional open approach. Copyright © 2013 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative technoeconomic analysis of a softwood ethanol process featuring posthydrolysis sugars concentration operations and continuous fermentation with cell recycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneiderman, Steven J; Gurram, Raghu N; Menkhaus, Todd J; Gilcrease, Patrick C

2015-01-01

Economical production of second generation ethanol from Ponderosa pine is of interest due to widespread mountain pine beetle infestation in the western United States and Canada. The conversion process is limited by low glucose and high inhibitor concentrations resulting from conventional low-solids dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Inhibited fermentations require larger fermentors (due to reduced volumetric productivity) and low sugars lead to low ethanol titers, increasing distillation costs. In this work, multiple effect evaporation (MEE) and nanofiltration (NF) were evaluated to concentrate the hydrolysate from 30 g/l to 100, 150, or 200 g/l glucose. To ferment this high gravity, inhibitor containing stream, traditional batch fermentation was compared with continuous stirred tank fermentation (CSTF) and continuous fermentation with cell recycle (CSTF-CR). Equivalent annual operating cost (EAOC = amortized capital + yearly operating expenses) was used to compare these potential improvements for a local-scale 5 MGY ethanol production facility. Hydrolysate concentration via evaporation increased EAOC over the base process due to the capital and energy intensive nature of evaporating a very dilute sugar stream; however, concentration via NF decreased EAOC for several of the cases (by 2 to 15%). NF concentration to 100 g/l glucose with a CSTF-CR was the most economical option, reducing EAOC by $0.15 per gallon ethanol produced. Sensitivity analyses on NF options showed that EAOC improvement over the base case could still be realized for even higher solids removal requirements (up to two times higher centrifuge requirement for the best case) or decreased NF performance. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Comparison of financial leasing according to the Czech accounting legislation and IAS/IFRS including taximplications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana Gláserová

2010-01-01

Full Text Available There is intensive effort of the harmonisation of accounting in the world. Primary sence of harmonisation is ensured that individual financial statements of all accounting units were comparable. Notwithstanding there are still significant differences in same areas. This contribution is aimed at define of posting and showing financial leasing according to Czech accounting legislation and international accounting standards IAS/IFRS, and determination of significant differences in these legislation.The leasing is one of the form of purchase of property. So International Accounting Standards require so that a tenant (leasee notices the subject of leasing in his assests and correlationally with obligation. After that the subject of leasing can be amortized. Argument for this way of billing is the fact, that the tenant (leasee obtaines economic gain from use of the subject of leasing during its essential economic lifetime. For it the tenant (leasee has to pay an amount that is about equal to real value and financial costs.The companies recording leasing according to czech legal form this fact do not record in accounting so value of their assests and obligations is lower than their actual (true value. This procedure dis­fi­gu­res financial indicators to be important for review of financial situation of company according to International accounting standardsBecause financial leasing is the most favourite form of leasing relation, the aim of this article is determination all changes in tax legislation to be related to financial leasing during three last years. And of course outline effect of these changes on the leasing market.

Economic considerations of plutonium utilization in the nuclear power strategy of Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silvennoinen, P.; Tusa, E.; Routti, J.T.

1977-01-01

Based on the current and predicted share of nuclear power in the national energy supply strategy, an optimal programme is developed for the exploitation of plutonium in both light-water and fast reactor systems. Assuming cost trends beyond the year 2000 for uranium, plutonium, uranium enrichment, fuel fabrication and assessing the availability of plutonium from domestic power plants and from abroad, the nuclear construction programme is optimized economically in view of the estimated development in the investment costs of various plant types. Given the expected nuclear share of the energy procurement this sector is covered by the alternative production schemes, i.e. light-water reactors with and without plutonium recycle, and fast reactors. Defining the objective function in terms of minimized revenue requirement in plant amortization and operation the generated scenarios are screened off and they finally converge to the optimal policy of nuclear power construction up to the year 2000. The established technology is associated with a larger share of the domestic manufacturing and the introduction of a new fuel or reactor type is taken to correspond to a reduced domestic investment share. In the investment costs the domestic fraction is regarded competitive up to a certain marginal excess. Plutonium recycle is seen to be competitive from 1985 or as soon as the required amount of fuel has been reprocessed. The domestic accumulation of plutonium will be able to support the introduction of the LMFBR in 1997. Owing to the uncertainties prevailing in the forecasts, sensitivity studies are performed as functions of the major economic parameters and their temporal development. (author)

Does introduction of a Patient Data Management System (PDMS) improve the financial situation of an intensive care unit?

Science.gov (United States)

Castellanos, Ixchel; Schüttler, Jürgen; Prokosch, Hans-Ulrich; Bürkle, Thomas

2013-09-16

Patient Data Management Systems (PDMS) support clinical documentation at the bedside and have demonstrated effects on completeness of patient charting and the time spent on documentation. These systems are costly and raise the question if such a major investment pays off. We tried to answer the following questions: How do costs and revenues of an intensive care unit develop before and after introduction of a PDMS? Can higher revenues be obtained with improved PDMS documentation? Can we present cost savings attributable to the PDMS? Retrospective analysis of cost and reimbursement data of a 25 bed Intensive Care Unit at a German University Hospital, three years before (2004-2006) and three years after (2007-2009) PDMS implementation. Costs and revenues increased continuously over the years. The profit of the investigated ICU was fluctuating over the years and seemingly depending on other factors as well. We found a small increase in profit in the year after the introduction of the PDMS, but not in the following years. Profit per case peaked at 1039 € in 2007, but dropped subsequently to 639 € per case. We found no clear evidence for cost savings after the PDMS introduction. Our cautious calculation did not consider additional labour costs for IT staff needed for system maintenance. The introduction of a PDMS has probably minimal or no effect on reimbursement. In our case the observed increase in profit was too small to amortize the total investment for PDMS implementation.This may add some counterweight to the literature, where expectations for tools such as the PDMS can be quite unreasonable.

Comparison of survival rates among different treatment methods of transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shim, Yong Woon; Lee, Jong Tae; Yoo, Hyung Sik; Lee, Do Yun; Jun, Pyoung Jun; Chang, So Yong [Yonsei Univ. College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1996-06-01

To compare the survival rates of patients with hepatoma using different methods of transcatheter arterial chemoemblization(THAE). Four hundred and eighty three patients with hepatoma diagnosed by biopsy, serum alpha-fetoprotein, abdominal CT scan, abdominal ultrasonography or hepatic angiography were included, but not all had received surgical treatment. They were divided onto two groups according to Child's classification and into subgroups according to different methods of THAE. Five-tear survival rates among these groups were retrospectively compared. The patients were aged between 24 and 85(mean, 58) ; male to female ratio was 324 : 61 for those who received THAE (369 : 87 when only hepatic angiography was considered.). In the group with more than a single episode of chemoembolization, regardless of Child's classification, a better survival rate compared to the other groups with or without concommitant radiotherapy or without chemoembolization was noted. There was no difference in the survival rate of patients with multiple chemoembolization. moreover, no difference in this rate was observed no matter what chemotherapeutic agents, including Adriamycin, Cis-Diaminedichloroplatinum of I-131-Lipiodol, were used. Amortization by gelfoam in conjuction with Adriamycin resulted in no difference in survival rate regardless of frequency of chemoembolization. An improved survival rate was seen when multiple episodes of chemoembolization were applied, but no difference was seen when there was concomitant application of either gelfoam or radiotherapy. Two different chemotherapeutic agents, Adriamycin and Cis-Diaminedichloroplatinum, were used, but there was no difference between them in their effect on survival rates.

Grouper: a compact, streamable triangle mesh data structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Luffel, Mark; Gurung, Topraj; Lindstrom, Peter; Rossignac, Jarek

2014-01-01

We present Grouper: an all-in-one compact file format, random-access data structure, and streamable representation for large triangle meshes. Similarly to the recently published SQuad representation, Grouper represents the geometry and connectivity of a mesh by grouping vertices and triangles into fixed-size records, most of which store two adjacent triangles and a shared vertex. Unlike SQuad, however, Grouper interleaves geometry with connectivity and uses a new connectivity representation to ensure that vertices and triangles can be stored in a coherent order that enables memory-efficient sequential stream processing. We present a linear-time construction algorithm that allows streaming out Grouper meshes using a small memory footprint while preserving the initial ordering of vertices. As a part of this construction, we show how the problem of assigning vertices and triangles to groups reduces to a well-known NP-hard optimization problem, and present a simple yet effective heuristic solution that performs well in practice. Our array-based Grouper representation also doubles as a triangle mesh data structure that allows direct access to vertices and triangles. Storing only about two integer references per triangle--i.e., less than the three vertex references stored with each triangle in a conventional indexed mesh format--Grouper answers both incidence and adjacency queries in amortized constant time. Our compact representation enables data-parallel processing on multicore computers, instant partitioning and fast transmission for distributed processing, as well as efficient out-of-core access. We demonstrate the versatility and performance benefits of Grouper using a suite of example meshes and processing kernels.

Basic study for promotion of joint implementation etc. Feasibility study report on the modernization of Tehran Cement Co., Islamic Republic of Iran

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

The project is to comply with the COP3 (Third Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) protocol. The proposition for modification consists of Phase I which covers the conversion of the No. 3 wet kiln into a leading-edge NSP (new suspension preheater) dry kiln, Phase II which covers the conversion of the No. 7 kiln in the same way as in Phase I, and Phase III in which No. 4 SP (suspended preheater) kiln is converted into a clinker cooler. Upon completion of these jobs, 322 kcal/kg/clinker occupying 29% will be saved in terms of energy. As for electric power, it will be saved by 15.9kWh/t/clinker occupying 13.5%. The project will be implemented phase by phase, to be completed in 5 years to follow 2 years of preparation. Seven years after the completion, there will be an accumulated amount of saved energy of 202,000 tons in terms of crude oil and, 15 years after the completion, there will be an accumulated amount of saved energy of 354,100 tons in terms of crude oil. Similarly, there will be reductions in greenhouse gas of 625,000 and 1,144,300 tons (accumulated), respectively. A total investment of US$170 million will be required. An IRR (internal rate of return) of 9.9% is expected for the 15th year after project initiation, and profitability will realize through amortization of modified facilities. (NEDO)

Equipartition of entropy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tondeur, D.

1990-01-01

This paper deals with the optimal design or operation of heat and mass transfer processes and develops the following conjecture: for a given duty, the best configuration of the process is that in which the entropy production rate is most uniformly distributed. This principle is first analyzed in detail on the simple example of tubular heat exchangers, and within the framework of linear irreversible thermodynamics. A main result is established, which states that the total entropy production is minimal when the local production is uniformly distributed (equipartition). Corollaries then result, which relate the entropy production and the variance of its distribution to economic factors such as the duty, the exchange area, the fluid flow-rates, and the temperature changes. The equipartition principle is then extended to multiple independent variables (time and space), multicomponent transfer, and non-linear but concave flux vs force relationship. Chemical Engineering examples are discussed, where the equipartition property has been applied implicitly or explicitly: design of distillation plates, cyclic distillation, optimal state of feed, and flow-sheets in chromatographic separations. Finally, a generalization of the equipartition principle is proposed, for systems with a distributed design variable (such as the size of the various elements of a system). The optimal distribution of investment is such that the investment in each element (properly amortized) is equal to the cost of irreversible energy degradation in this element. This is equivalent to saying that the ratio of these two quantities is uniformly distributed over the system, and reduces to equipartition of entropy production when the cost factors are constant over the whole system

Reduction of water losses by rehabilitation of water distribution network.

Science.gov (United States)

Güngör, Mahmud; Yarar, Ufuk; Firat, Mahmut

2017-09-11

Physical or real losses may be indicated as the most important component of the water losses occurring in a water distribution network (WDN). The objective of this study is to examine the effects of piping material management and network rehabilitation on the physical water losses and water losses management in a WDN. For this aim, the Denizli WDN consisting of very old pipes that have exhausted their economic life is selected as the study area. The fact that the current network is old results in the decrease of pressure strength, increase of failure intensity, and inefficient use of water resources thus leading to the application of the rehabilitation program. In Denizli, network renewal works have been carried out since the year 2009 under the rehabilitation program. It was determined that the failure rate at regions where network renewal constructions have been completed decreased down to zero level. Renewal of piping material enables the minimization of leakage losses as well as the failure rate. On the other hand, the system rehabilitation has the potential to amortize itself in a very short amount of time if the initial investment cost of network renewal is considered along with the operating costs of the old and new systems, as well as water loss costs. As a result, it can be stated that renewal of piping material in water distribution systems, enhancement of the physical properties of the system, provide significant contributions such as increase of water and energy efficiency and more effective use of resources.

Indexation of Consumer and Mortgage Credit in Iceland in 2014: A Critical Battle between Legality, Fairness and Legitimacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Elvira Mendez Pinedo

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Six years after the financial crisis that led to the collapse of the banking system in 2008, the over-indebtedness of households is one of the most important problems in Iceland. This study aims to cast light on a specific feature of the Icelandic credit system in connection with the problem of over-indebtedness. The main research question is whether the end of indexation of credit is close or not. The author argues, in the first place, that indexation of credit ex-post to the consumer price index (CPI in negative amortization schemes is responsible for over-indebtedness. In the second place, the author describes the challenges ahead in the field of consumer and mortgage credit in Iceland in the light of European law (European Union EU and European Economic Area EEA. The incorporation of Directive 2008/48 on credit agreement for consumers to the Icelandic domestic order through the EEA Agreement allowed a preliminary legal review of the practice in light of EU/EEA consumer credit law, both at national and European level without a final conclusion. It has nevertheless led to the judicial review on the legality of some indexation alleged malpractices before national courts and to the EFTA Court for interpretation (mostly on Directives 93/13/EEC on unfair terms 87/102/EEC on consumer credit. A ruling from the Supreme Court is expected on several cases. A critical battle between the legality, the fairness and the legitimacy of indexation of credit is taking place in Iceland under the influence of European law.

LMSS SERVICES FINANCIAL REPORT PROGRAM

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlain, R. G.

1994-01-01

The objective of this Services Finance Report program is to provide a means for comparing alternative designs of LMSS systems or other services systems. This program is actually a Multiplan worksheet. The labels used in the worksheet were chosen for a satellite-based cellular communication service (LMSS - Land Mobile Satellite System) but the analysis is not restricted to such cases. A comprehensive financial model is used to calculate a 'figure of merit' which can be used to compare effects of equipment and operating costs, pricing strategy, and customer demand for different systems. The program also calculates the price that a company would have to charge customers to meet all its expenses and make a specified profit. A price estimate can be obtained for almost any service which is heavily dependent on capital investment and which has operating costs that depend on the amount of service sold. The economic analysis has two main components: supplier finances and customer finances. Supplier finances include amortization, interest, insurance, taxes, and operating and maintenance expenses. Customer finances include usage rate, subscription fees, equipment costs, and estimated traffic. Prices can defined as real or nominal to account for effects of escalation and inflation, and the profits can be regulated or unrestricted This program is written for interactive execution with Multiplan (version 1.2) and has been implemented on an IBM PC series computer operating under DOS (version 2.11). The LMSS worksheet has a space requirement of approximately 38K of 8 bit bytes. This worksheet was developed in 1984.

Analysis of binding delivery agreements in electricity supply contracts from the angle of German and EC antitrust law; Die Beurteilung von Bezugsbindungen in Elektrizitaetsliefervertraegen nach deutschem und EG-Kartellrecht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scholz, U.

1998-12-31

Binding delivery agreements in the form of contractual clauses determining exclusive total or partial coverage of electricity demand, take-or-pay contracts, or minimum purchase quota, are standard provisions of energy supply contracts concluded in order to ensure amortization of earlier commitments such as investment or other obligations. In the wake of the recent amendment of the German energy industry law for implementation of the deregulation of electricity markets in EU Member States, those agreements have become items of concern in the eyes of the cartel authority. In Germany, where utilities as from 1990 had to invest particularly strongly into the modernisation of existing power plants and distribution systems in the eastern parts of the country, review of the legality of those agreements touches upon vital interests of the electric power industry. The article here examines the situation with reference to EU legislation and the German law against restraints on competition (GWB). (orig./CB) [Deutsch] Bezugsbindungen in Gestalt von Gesamt- oder Teilbedarfsdeckungsklauseln, Take-or-Pay-Verpflichtungen oder Mindestbezugspflichten sind regelmaessig Bestandteile von Elektrizitaetsliefervertraegen, die zum einen der Amortisation bereits getaetigter Investitionen sowie eingegangener Verpflichtungen dienen. Insbesondere nach der Reform des deutschen Energiewirtschaftsrechts gewinnt die Frage der kartellrechtlichen Zulaessigkeit von Bezugsbindungen besondere Relevanz. Nicht zuletzt vor dem Hintergrund der besonders kapitalintensiven Investitionen zur Modernisierung der ostdeutschen Elektrizitaetsversorgung stellt sich daher die Frage, ob und inwieweit Bezugsbindungen nach der Aenderung des rechtlichen Ordnungsrahmens in der leitungsgebundenen Energieversorgung zulaessig sind. Der rechtliche Rahmen fuer die Beurteilung der Zulaessigkeit von Bezugsbindungen wird insbesondere durch die EU-Wettbewerbsregeln sowie die Bestimmungen des GWB gebildet. (orig.)

Analysis of foreign petroleum contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moran, S.S.

1991-01-01

Most foreign exploration and production contracts are of two basic types: Production-Sharing contracts in which a portion of oil revenues, 'cost oil,' is available to the contractor for recoupment of exploration and production costs with the remainder, 'profit oil,' being shared according to an agreed-upon formula, and the familiar Tax-Royalty contract in which a share of petroleum revenues goes to the host country 'off the top' as royalties, and operating profits are taxed at the going rate. Bottom line splits of profits between host governments and contractors, which are approximately 50-50 in the United States, are typically in the 60-40 to 85-15 range elsewhere, with lower profit shares being offset by the higher volume potential and lower costs that may be associated with less mature exploration areas. Foreign contract qualities can be grossly compared by walking typical field models through the contracts to arrive at the bottom line profit splits. Variations within the contract forms include government participation, sliding scale contract elements, special taxes related to rates of return, etc. Often, contract terms are subject to negotiation and the tradeoffs between contract elements must be understood. Contract life, amortization schedules, fund repatriation, currency exchange rates, and the interaction of foreign and United States tax regimens are among the other factors that must be considered. Final decisions on foreign ventures must combine consideration of contracts, economic projections, hydrocarbon volumes, exploration cost estimates, and the estimated probability of success into an overall project assessment

Grouper: A Compact, Streamable Triangle Mesh Data Structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luffel, Mark [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). Visualization and Usability Center (GVU); Gurung, Topraj [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). Visualization and Usability Center (GVU); Lindstrom, Peter [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Rossignac, Jarek [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). Visualization and Usability Center (GVU)

2014-01-01

Here, we present Grouper: an all-in-one compact file format, random-access data structure, and streamable representation for large triangle meshes. Similarly to the recently published SQuad representation, Grouper represents the geometry and connectivity of a mesh by grouping vertices and triangles into fixed-size records, most of which store two adjacent triangles and a shared vertex. Unlike SQuad, however, Grouper interleaves geometry with connectivity and uses a new connectivity representation to ensure that vertices and triangles can be stored in a coherent order that enables memory-efficient sequential stream processing. We also present a linear-time construction algorithm that allows streaming out Grouper meshes using a small memory footprint while preserving the initial ordering of vertices. In this construction, we show how the problem of assigning vertices and triangles to groups reduces to a well-known NP-hard optimization problem, and present a simple yet effective heuristic solution that performs well in practice. Our array-based Grouper representation also doubles as a triangle mesh data structure that allows direct access to vertices and triangles. Storing only about two integer references per triangle-i.e., less than the three vertex references stored with each triangle in a conventional indexed mesh format-Grouper answers both incidence and adjacency queries in amortized constant time. Our compact representation enables data-parallel processing on multicore computers, instant partitioning and fast transmission for distributed processing, as well as efficient out-of-core access. We demonstrate the versatility and performance benefits of Grouper using a suite of example meshes and processing kernels.

Telemedicine in the management of chronic pain: a cost analysis study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pronovost, Antoine; Peng, Philip; Kern, Ralph

2009-08-01

Telemedicine provides patients with easy and remote access to consultant expertise irrespective of geographic location. In a randomized controlled trial, this study has applied a rigorous costing methodology to the use of telemedicine in chronic pain management. We performed a randomized two-period crossover trial comparing in-person (IP) consultation with telemedicine (TM) consultation in the management of chronic pain. Over an 18-month period, 26 patients each completed two diaries capturing their direct and indirect travel costs, daily pain scores, and satisfaction with physician consultation. Costing models were developed to account for direct, indirect, fixed, and variable costs in order to perform break-even analyses. Sensitivity analysis was performed over a broad range of assumptions. Direct patient costs were significantly lower in the TM group than in the IP group, with median cost and interquartile range 133 dollars (28-377) vs 443 dollars (292-1075), respectively (P = 0.001). More patients were highly satisfied with the TM consultation than with the IP consultation (56 and 24%, respectively; P sensitivity analysis controlling for annual patient volume and round-trip distance indicated that TM remains cost-effective at volumes >50 patients/year or at round-trip distances >200 km. Telemedicine is cost-effective over a broad range of assumptions, including annual patient volumes, travel distance, fuel costs, amortization, and discount rates. This study provides data from a real-world setting to determine relevant thresholds and targets for establishing a TM program for patients who are undergoing chronic pain therapy.

Wireless remote radiation monitoring system (WRRMS). Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-12-01

The Science Application International Corporation (SAIC) RadStar trademark wireless remote radiation monitoring system (WRRMS) is designed to provide real-time monitoring of the radiation dose to workers as they perform work in radiologically contaminated areas. WRRMS can also monitor dose rates in a room or area. The system uses radio-frequency communications to transmit dose readings from the wireless dosimeters worn by workers to a remote monitoring station that can be located out of the contaminated area. Each base station can monitor up to 16 workers simultaneously. The WRRMS can be preset to trigger both audible and visual alarms at certain dose rates. The alarms are provided to the worker as well as the base station operator. This system is particularly useful when workers are wearing personal protective clothing or respirators that make visual observation of their self-reading dosimeters (SRDs), which are typically used to monitor workers, more difficult. The base station is an IBM-compatible personal computer that updates and records information on individual workers every ten seconds. Although the equipment costs for this improved technology are higher than the SRDs (amortized at $2.54/hr versus $1.02/hr), total operational costs are actually less ($639/day versus $851/day). This is because the WRRMS requires fewer workers to be in the contaminated zone than the traditional (baseline) technology. There are also intangible benefits associated with improved worker safety and as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) principles, making the WRRMS an attractive alternative to the baseline technology. The baseline technology measures only integrated dose and requires workers to check their own dosimeters manually during the task

Study of atmospheric emissions from liquid and solid fuels burning facilities and from raw phosphate chemical treatment in Sfax City (Tunisia); Etude des residus de combustion des fuels liquide et solide et de traitement chimique du phosphate brut dans la ville de Sfax (Tunisie)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Azri, Ch; Tili, A.; Serbaji, M.M. [Faculte des Sciences de Sfax, Dept. des Sciences de la Terre, Sfax (Tunisia); Medhioub, K. [Institut Preparatoire aux Etudes d' Ingenieurs de Sfax (IPEIS), Sfax (Tunisia)

2002-07-01

Study of atmospheric emissions from solid and liquid fuels burning facilities and from chemical treatment processes of raw phosphate in Sfax City (Tunisia) shows different forms of pollution concerning mainly sulfur oxides (SO{sub x}), sulfuric and phosphoric acid mists, fluorinated compounds and dust. Limited performances of amortized and/or over used de-pollution systems can explain high atmospheric emissions above emission limits. Gaseous pollution has been shown as coming mainly from phosphate treatment processes inside the chemical complex 'SIAPE' while particulate pollution is coming from all specific industries (SIAPE, charcoal facilities and weaving and soap factories). Calculated emission factors of these industries for some heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Ni, Cu, Zn) are very different. They are ranging from 0.3 to 9.5 g/t for phosphate treatment residues. Excepted Ni with 15.5 g/t, they are rather small for heavy fuels combustion residues. It, nevertheless, exceeds the emission factor of Ni for the phosphate treatment process. Volumes of emissions and calculated annual fluxes of metals are showing that 'SIAPE' could be a potential source of atmospheric pollution in the city. Its contribution to metal emissions is really exceeding emissions from well identified heavy fuels burning facilities in the city. Just to compare, Ni emissions from its processes are equal to emissions from 38 heavy fuels burning facilities of 4.8 t/day capacity (Ni 1 046 kg/year instead of 27 kg/year). Such a fact is clearly pointing out the high level of anthropogenic pollution from chemical processes adopted for primary matter transformation. They hence should be fitted with suitable de-pollution systems. (authors)

Computer-Aided Surgical Simulation in Head and Neck Reconstruction: A Cost Comparison among Traditional, In-House, and Commercial Options.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Sean S; Copeland-Halperin, Libby R; Kaminsky, Alexander J; Li, Jihui; Lodhi, Fahad K; Miraliakbari, Reza

2018-06-01

 Computer-aided surgical simulation (CASS) has redefined surgery, improved precision and reduced the reliance on intraoperative trial-and-error manipulations. CASS is provided by third-party services; however, it may be cost-effective for some hospitals to develop in-house programs. This study provides the first cost analysis comparison among traditional (no CASS), commercial CASS, and in-house CASS for head and neck reconstruction.  The costs of three-dimensional (3D) pre-operative planning for mandibular and maxillary reconstructions were obtained from an in-house CASS program at our large tertiary care hospital in Northern Virginia, as well as a commercial provider (Synthes, Paoli, PA). A cost comparison was performed among these modalities and extrapolated in-house CASS costs were derived. The calculations were based on estimated CASS use with cost structures similar to our institution and sunk costs were amortized over 10 years.  Average operating room time was estimated at 10 hours, with an average of 2 hours saved with CASS. The hourly cost to the hospital for the operating room (including anesthesia and other ancillary costs) was estimated at $4,614/hour. Per case, traditional cases were $46,140, commercial CASS cases were $40,951, and in-house CASS cases were $38,212. Annual in-house CASS costs were $39,590.  CASS reduced operating room time, likely due to improved efficiency and accuracy. Our data demonstrate that hospitals with similar cost structure as ours, performing greater than 27 cases of 3D head and neck reconstructions per year can see a financial benefit from developing an in-house CASS program. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Hand hygiene noncompliance and the cost of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Cummings, Keith L; Anderson, Deverick J; Kaye, Keith S

2010-04-01

Hand hygiene noncompliance is a major cause of nosocomial infection. Nosocomial infection cost data exist, but the effect of hand hygiene noncompliance is unknown. To estimate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-related cost of an incident of hand hygiene noncompliance by a healthcare worker during patient care. Two models were created to simulate sequential patient contacts by a hand hygiene-noncompliant healthcare worker. Model 1 involved encounters with patients of unknown MRSA status. Model 2 involved an encounter with an MRSA-colonized patient followed by an encounter with a patient of unknown MRSA status. The probability of new MRSA infection for the second patient was calculated using published data. A simulation of 1 million noncompliant events was performed. Total costs of resulting infections were aggregated and amortized over all events. Duke University Medical Center, a 750-bed tertiary medical center in Durham, North Carolina. Model 1 was associated with 42 MRSA infections (infection rate, 0.0042%). Mean infection cost was $47,092 (95% confidence interval [CI], $26,040-$68,146); mean cost per noncompliant event was $1.98 (95% CI, $0.91-$3.04). Model 2 was associated with 980 MRSA infections (0.098%). Mean infection cost was $53,598 (95% CI, $50,098-$57,097); mean cost per noncompliant event was $52.53 (95% CI, $47.73-$57.32). A 200-bed hospital incurs $1,779,283 in annual MRSA infection-related expenses attributable to hand hygiene noncompliance. A 1.0% increase in hand hygiene compliance resulted in annual savings of $39,650 to a 200-bed hospital. Hand hygiene noncompliance is associated with significant attributable hospital costs. Minimal improvements in compliance lead to substantial savings.

Wireless remote radiation monitoring system (WRRMS). Innovative technology summary report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1998-12-01

The Science Application International Corporation (SAIC) RadStar{trademark} wireless remote radiation monitoring system (WRRMS) is designed to provide real-time monitoring of the radiation dose to workers as they perform work in radiologically contaminated areas. WRRMS can also monitor dose rates in a room or area. The system uses radio-frequency communications to transmit dose readings from the wireless dosimeters worn by workers to a remote monitoring station that can be located out of the contaminated area. Each base station can monitor up to 16 workers simultaneously. The WRRMS can be preset to trigger both audible and visual alarms at certain dose rates. The alarms are provided to the worker as well as the base station operator. This system is particularly useful when workers are wearing personal protective clothing or respirators that make visual observation of their self-reading dosimeters (SRDs), which are typically used to monitor workers, more difficult. The base station is an IBM-compatible personal computer that updates and records information on individual workers every ten seconds. Although the equipment costs for this improved technology are higher than the SRDs (amortized at $2.54/hr versus $1.02/hr), total operational costs are actually less ($639/day versus $851/day). This is because the WRRMS requires fewer workers to be in the contaminated zone than the traditional (baseline) technology. There are also intangible benefits associated with improved worker safety and as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) principles, making the WRRMS an attractive alternative to the baseline technology. The baseline technology measures only integrated dose and requires workers to check their own dosimeters manually during the task.

High performance graphics processor based computed tomography reconstruction algorithms for nuclear and other large scale applications.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jimenez, Edward S. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Orr, Laurel J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Thompson, Kyle R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2013-09-01

The goal of this work is to develop a fast computed tomography (CT) reconstruction algorithm based on graphics processing units (GPU) that achieves significant improvement over traditional central processing unit (CPU) based implementations. The main challenge in developing a CT algorithm that is capable of handling very large datasets is parallelizing the algorithm in such a way that data transfer does not hinder performance of the reconstruction algorithm. General Purpose Graphics Processing (GPGPU) is a new technology that the Science and Technology (S&T) community is starting to adopt in many fields where CPU-based computing is the norm. GPGPU programming requires a new approach to algorithm development that utilizes massively multi-threaded environments. Multi-threaded algorithms in general are difficult to optimize since performance bottlenecks occur that are non-existent in single-threaded algorithms such as memory latencies. If an efficient GPU-based CT reconstruction algorithm can be developed; computational times could be improved by a factor of 20. Additionally, cost benefits will be realized as commodity graphics hardware could potentially replace expensive supercomputers and high-end workstations. This project will take advantage of the CUDA programming environment and attempt to parallelize the task in such a way that multiple slices of the reconstruction volume are computed simultaneously. This work will also take advantage of the GPU memory by utilizing asynchronous memory transfers, GPU texture memory, and (when possible) pinned host memory so that the memory transfer bottleneck inherent to GPGPU is amortized. Additionally, this work will take advantage of GPU-specific hardware (i.e. fast texture memory, pixel-pipelines, hardware interpolators, and varying memory hierarchy) that will allow for additional performance improvements.

Comparative financial analysis of electricity utilities in West Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fritsch, Remi

2011-01-01

Access to electricity is a major issue in West Africa. Governments have a difficult equation to solve. They naturally seek to offer their people a cheap kWh. But they are constrained by a production based largely on oil and therefore highly volatile production costs. How to fix an acceptable tariff, taking into account the investment needs required to expand the network and increase production? This analysis should provide some answers. The study presented in this paper provides a financial analysis of electricity utilities in West Africa. It allows a comparison of performances on a number of key financial ratios related to operations (Earning Before Interest Taxes Debt and Amortization/sales, working capital requirement/sales, days of receivables or payables), investment (net fixed assets/gross fixed assets), bank financing (financial structure, debt/EBITDA, interest expense/EBITDA) and economic and financial returns (Return On Capital Employed, Return On Equity). The conclusion focuses on the growth opportunity that the electricity sector could represent for each country. But this opportunity may only materialize if the EBITDA margins are restored. The available options appear limited and must be assessed taking into account the context of each country: tariff increase, improvement of technical losses or diversification into means of production no longer based primarily on oil or gas. - Highlights: → The study provides a financial analysis of electricity distribution companies in West Africa. → The study highlights generally insufficient EBITDA margins. → The study raises the question of tariffs and contribution to Gross Domestic Product of the electricity sector. → The conclusion focuses on the growth opportunity that the electricity sector could represent for each country.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program in critical care units.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Ramos, Jesus; Frasquet, Juan; Romá, Eva; Poveda-Andres, Jose Luis; Salavert-Leti, Miguel; Castellanos, Alvaro; Ramirez, Paula

2017-06-01

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of antimicrobial stewardship (AS) program implementation focused on critical care units based on assumptions for the Spanish setting. A decision model comparing costs and outcomes of sepsis, community-acquired pneumonia, and nosocomial infections (including catheter-related bacteremia, urinary tract infection, and ventilator-associated pneumonia) in critical care units with or without an AS was designed. Model variables and costs, along with their distributions, were obtained from the literature. The study was performed from the Spanish National Health System (NHS) perspective, including only direct costs. The Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) was analysed regarding the ability of the program to reduce multi-drug resistant bacteria. Uncertainty in ICERs was evaluated with probabilistic sensitivity analyses. In the short-term, implementing an AS reduces the consumption of antimicrobials with a net benefit of €71,738. In the long-term, the maintenance of the program involves an additional cost to the system of €107,569. Cost per avoided resistance was €7,342, and cost-per-life-years gained (LYG) was €9,788. Results from the probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that there was a more than 90% likelihood that an AS would be cost-effective at a level of €8,000 per LYG. Wide variability of economic results obtained from the implementation of this type of AS program and short information on their impact on patient evolution and any resistance avoided. Implementing an AS focusing on critical care patients is a long-term cost-effective tool. Implementation costs are amortized by reducing antimicrobial consumption to prevent infection by multidrug-resistant pathogens.

PLANNING OF IMPLANTO‐PROSTHETIC STRUCTURES IN TOTAL EDENTATION ACCORDING TO BIOMECHANICAL CRITERIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. VASILE

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Scope of the study: Analysis of the biomechanical aspects of the implanto‐prosthetic structures for planning the treatment in cases of total edentation.Materials and method: The study was performed in the Clinics of Prosthetics and Oral Implantology, Military Emergency Hospital of Sibiu, on a group of mandibularly totally edentated patients. Planning of the implanto‐pros‐ thetic treatment had in view the peculiarities of total man‐ dibular edentation and observance of the biomechanical principles. Selection of the type of occlusion restoration considered the presence of parafunctions and the nature of the antagonistic arch. Special attention was paid to the direction and intensity of the forces acting in the region of the future prosthetic work. When bruxism was manifested, its preimplantary removal was compulsory.Results and discussion: In fixed prosthetic restaurati‐ ons applied on implants, distribuition of forces obviously depend on the quality of osteo‐acceptance, as well, and also on the elasticity degree of the prosthetic work. In the case of mobilized prosthetic restorations supported on implants, rigidization of implants from the anterior region of the mandible may be obtained by means of a bar. In decreasing order of their elasticity, the materials employed are: acrylate, composites, noble and seminoble alloys, other metals, ceramics. Ceramics confers maximum stability to implants, yet without redeeming the forces. For amortizing the forces and for a progressive charging of the implants, it is recommended that the first (temporary prosthetic restorations should be made of either acrylate or compo‐ sites.Conclusions. Observance of the occlusological princi‐ ples in cases of occlusal reconstruction represents the determining element which assures the osteo‐acceptance of implants and the integrity of prosthetic restaurations.

Efficient Server-Aided 2PC for Mobile Phones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohassel Payman

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Secure Two-Party Computation (2PC protocols allow two parties to compute a function of their private inputs without revealing any information besides the output of the computation. There exist low cost general-purpose protocols for semi-honest parties that can be efficiently executed even on smartphones. However, for the case of malicious parties, current 2PC protocols are significantly less efficient, limiting their use to more resourceful devices. In this work we present an efficient 2PC protocol that is secure against malicious parties and is light enough to be used on mobile phones. The protocol is an adaptation of the protocol of Nielsen et al. (Crypto, 2012 to the Server-Aided setting, a natural relaxation of the plain model for secure computation that allows the parties to interact with a server (e.g., a cloud who is assumed not to collude with any of the parties. Our protocol has two stages: In an offline stage - where no party knows which function is to be computed, nor who else is participating - each party interacts with the server and downloads a file. Later, in the online stage, when two parties decide to execute a 2PC together, they can use the files they have downloaded earlier to execute the computation with cost that is lower than the currently best semi-honest 2PC protocols. We show an implementation of our protocol for Android mobile phones, discuss several optimizations and report on its evaluation for various circuits. For example, the online stage for evaluating a single AES circuit requires only 2.5 seconds and can be further reduced to 1 second (amortized time with multiple executions.

Potential minability and economic viability of the Antaramut-Kurtan-Dzoragukh coal field, north-central Armenia; a prefeasibility study

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Douglas W.; Pierce, Brenda S.

2000-01-01

Russia, is required for auger mining. Although auger-mining coal reserves do exist, the necessary development work will further verify the extent of these reserves and all of the other indicated reserves. The following items are based on the detailed study reported in this publication. Initial investment.?Following an investment of US $85,000 over a 12-month period in mine development drilling and other activities, a decision must be taken regarding further investment in an ongoing mining operation. If the new data support the opening of the surface mine, __________________________ 1Consultant, 6024 Morning Dew Drive, Austin, TX 78749. 2 U.S. Geological Survey, 956 National Center, Reston, VA 20192 1 2 MINABILITY AND ECONOMIC VIABILITY, ANTARAMUT-KURTAN-DZORAGUKH COAL FIELD the $85,000 development cost is amortized over the first 10 years of mine production. If the new data do not support the opening of the mine, the $85,000 is considered a business development expense that may be written off against profits from other operations for income or other tax purposes or simply as a business loss. Total capital required.?The equipment costs will reach a total of $900,500 which will be amortized over a 7-year period to establish estimated coal mining costs. Estimated working capital costs are $300,000, which will be borrowed. Surface mining reserves.?Approximately 840,200 metric tonnes of surface minable coal reserves at 9.3 m3 of overburden per metric tonne of minable coal is indicated. Recovery of the minable coal at 85 percent will yield 714,000 recoverable metric tonnes of marketable as-mined coal. Auger mining reserves.?Auger-mining reserves of 576,000 metric tonnes are indicated. Recoverable auger-mining reserves of 202,000 metric tonnes (at 35-percent recovery) can be expected. Auger-mining production will vary according to the hole size being used, but, in either case, augering is a very profitable addition to the mining oper

Costs of cloud computing for a biometry department. A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Knaus, J; Hieke, S; Binder, H; Schwarzer, G

2013-01-01

"Cloud" computing providers, such as the Amazon Web Services (AWS), offer stable and scalable computational resources based on hardware virtualization, with short, usually hourly, billing periods. The idea of pay-as-you-use seems appealing for biometry research units which have only limited access to university or corporate data center resources or grids. This case study compares the costs of an existing heterogeneous on-site hardware pool in a Medical Biometry and Statistics department to a comparable AWS offer. The "total cost of ownership", including all direct costs, is determined for the on-site hardware, and hourly prices are derived, based on actual system utilization during the year 2011. Indirect costs, which are difficult to quantify are not included in this comparison, but nevertheless some rough guidance from our experience is given. To indicate the scale of costs for a methodological research project, a simulation study of a permutation-based statistical approach is performed using AWS and on-site hardware. In the presented case, with a system utilization of 25-30 percent and 3-5-year amortization, on-site hardware can result in smaller costs, compared to hourly rental in the cloud dependent on the instance chosen. Renting cloud instances with sufficient main memory is a deciding factor in this comparison. Costs for on-site hardware may vary, depending on the specific infrastructure at a research unit, but have only moderate impact on the overall comparison and subsequent decision for obtaining affordable scientific computing resources. Overall utilization has a much stronger impact as it determines the actual computing hours needed per year. Taking this into ac count, cloud computing might still be a viable option for projects with limited maturity, or as a supplement for short peaks in demand.

Construction and cost experience regarding the 2nd pool house for spent fuel storage facility in the Atucha Power Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbosa, C.A.

1980-01-01

The Atucha I second pool house storage for spent fuel is designed as an extension of the Atucha I power station. The two are linked by civil structure, controlling circuits, electrical and compressed air and water supplies, low level wastes disposal, ventilation under pressure maintenance, and, most important, the ability to transfer spent and new fuel in both directions. Because the second pool house is, by location and design, an extension of the existing installation, and since there is no design departure, regarding storage and transfer of fuel from that of the original installation, the rules and regulations applied for its construction were the same as those valid for the Atucha I construction. The requirement not to exceed a four-year period for construction and commissioning was determined by the need to have storage room for the Atucha I fuel. Argentina will meet the 1982 target by having the installation available during the second half of 1981. The second pool house is a wet storage location with a capacity of 1000 tons metallic uranium. It was designed by the Kraftwerk Union of West Germany along the same lines as the 440-ton storage location originally built with the station. The Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina has managed the construction and participated in project and design stages. As in the original pool, the 6 m long assemblies are stacked in double tiers. The cost figures which are mentioned differ from previously released figures and are not the final ones. With civil construction almost finished and mechanical erection started, the present estimates should not differ by more than 10% from the final figures. The installation has an investment cost of 61 million dollars, (1980), and, depending on the amortization time span considered, a total yearly cost per kg of capacity of metallic uranium, ranging between 5.5 and 9.3 dollars per kg

Agronomic and chemical characteristics of hybrid corn to ensiling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flávia Borges de Assis

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Our aim was to evaluate agronomic and chemical characteristics of corn hybrids to ensiling. It were evaluated nine corn hybrids (MX 300, RB 9308, 2B655, XB 6012, GNZ 2500, PL6890, PRE 32D10, PRE 22T10 e AG 1051, with three replicates. The higher fresh matter yield were observed in the hybrids PL6890 and PRE 32D10, while the dry matter yield was observed in the hybrid PRE 32D10 (13.43 t ha-1. The hybrids PRE 32D10 and PRE 22T10 stood out to present higher percent of leaf in relation to whole plant, while the lower percent of stems was found in the hybrids MX 300, 2B655 and XB 6012, however the higher leaves: stems relation was found in XB 6012 (0.49. There was higher CP content in the hybrid PRE 32D10 (9.10% of DM, while the lower NDF (57.78% of DM and cellulose content (24.27% of DM were observed in the hybrid GNZ 2500. The hybrid PL6890 presented higher ADF and lignin contents, the others hybrids had values lower. The lower NDIN content was observed in the hybrid RB 9308, while the lower AIDN content occurred on the hybrid 2B655. The lower buffer capacity was observed in the hybrid 2B655 (0.29. There are some differences on chemical composition among the corn hybrids used in this study, however, it is recommended to use the hybrids MX 300, PL6890 and PRE 32D10 for showing higher dry matter yield, which may reflect in the amortization of silage production costs.

Economic considerations of plutonium utilization in the nuclear power strategy of Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silvennoinen, P.; Tusa, E.; Routti, J.T.

1977-01-01

Based on the current and prospected share of nuclear power in the national energy supply strategy an optimal programme is developed for exploitation of plutonium in both light water and fast reactor systems. Assuming cost trends until and beyond the year 2000 for uranium, plutonium, uranium enrichment, fuel fabricaton and assessing the availability of plutonium from the domestic power plants and from abroad the nuclear construction programme is optimized economically in view of the estimated development in the investment costs of various plant types. Given the expected nuclear share of the energy procurement this sector is covered by the alternative production schemes, i.e. light water reactors with and without plutonium recycle and fast reactors. The plant sizes are allowed to be either 500 MWe or 1000 MWe. The installation dates are fixed manually with a minor flexibility of time but with all the three degrees of freedom in the plant types. Defining the objective function in terms of minimized revenue requirement in plant amortization and operation the generated scenarios are screened off and they finally converge to the optimal policy of nuclear power construction up to the year 2000. Special attention is placed on the constraints which eliminate excessive proliferation of reactor types. This is mainly implemented by the criterion of increasing the domestic share in the investments. The established technology is associated with a larger share of the Finnish manufacturing and the introduction of new fuel or reactor type is taken to correspond to a reduced domestic investment share. The results yield the time schedule and installed capacity of the three different production means. Due to the uncertainties prevailing in the forecasts sensitivity studies are performed as functions of the major economic parameters and their temporal development

Expensing stock options: a fair-value approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Robert S; Palepu, Krishna G

2003-12-01

Now that companies such as General Electric and Citigroup have accepted the premise that employee stock options are an expense, the debate is shifting from whether to report options on income statements to how to report them. The authors present a new accounting mechanism that maintains the rationale underlying stock option expensing while addressing critics' concerns about measurement error and the lack of reconciliation to actual experience. A procedure they call fair-value expensing adjusts and eventually reconciles cost estimates made at grant date with subsequent changes in the value of the options, and it does so in a way that eliminates forecasting and measurement errors over time. The method captures the chief characteristic of stock option compensation--that employees receive part of their compensation in the form of a contingent claim on the value they are helping to produce. The mechanism involves creating entries on both the asset and equity sides of the balance sheet. On the asset side, companies create a prepaid-compensation account equal to the estimated cost of the options granted; on the owners'-equity side, they create a paid-in capital stock-option account for the same amount. The prepaid-compensation account is then expensed through the income statement, and the stock option account is adjusted on the balance sheet to reflect changes in the estimated fair value of the granted options. The amortization of prepaid compensation is added to the change in the option grant's value to provide the total reported expense of the options grant for the year. At the end of the vesting period, the company uses the fair value of the vested option to make a final adjustment on the income statement to reconcile any difference between that fair value and the total of the amounts already reported.

Combined Reverse-Brayton Joule Thompson Hydrogen Liquefaction Cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shimko, Martin A. [Gas Equipment Engineering Corporation, Milford, CT (United States); Dunn, Paul M. [Gas Equipment Engineering Corporation, Milford, CT (United States)

2011-12-31

The following is a compilation of Annual Progress Reports submitted to the DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office by Gas Equipment Engineering Corp. for contract DE-FG36-05GO15021. The reports cover the project activities from August 2005 through June 2010. The purpose of this project is to produce a pilot-scale liquefaction plant that demonstrates GEECO’s ability to meet or exceed the efficiency targets set by the DOE. This plant will be used as a model to commercialize this technology for use in the distribution infrastructure of hydrogen fuel. It could also be applied to markets distributing hydrogen for industrial gas applications. Extensive modeling of plant performance will be used in the early part of the project to identify the liquefaction cycle architecture that optimizes the twin goals of increased efficiency and reduced cost. The major challenge of the project is to optimize/balance the performance (efficiency) of the plant against the cost of the plant so that the fully amortized cost of liquefying hydrogen meets the aggressive goals set by DOE. This project will design and build a small-scale pilot plant (several hundred kg/day) that will be both a hardware demonstration and a model for scaling to larger plant sizes (>50,000 kg/day). Though an effort will be made to use commercial or near-commercial components, key components that will need development for either a pilot- or full-scale plant will be identified. Prior to starting pilot plant fabrication, these components will be demonstrated at the appropriate scale to demonstrate sufficient performance for use in the pilot plant and the potential to achieve the performance used in modeling the full-scale plant.

The economic impact of giving up nuclear power in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnot, N.; Gallon, St.

2001-01-01

French nuclear plants will have to be shut down in the 2020's. Electricite de France (EDF) could replace them by either nuclear or gas-fired plants. Choosing the latter would lead to an increase in Green House Gases (GHG) emissions and to a rise of EDF's generation costs. In 2020, the price of electricity in Europe will be determined by a competitive market. Therefore, a rise of EDF's generation costs will mainly depress its operating profit (and slightly increase the market's price). Giving up nuclear power in 2020 would consequently lead to a fall of EDF's value and would penalize its shareholders, the State. On a macro-economic scale, the shock on the production cost of electricity would lead to a 0,5 to 1,0 percentage point drop of GDP (depending on the hypotheses). Structural unemployment would rise by 0,3 to 0,6 percentage point. The model used to find these results does not take into account the risk of nuclear accidents nor the uncertainty on the costs of nuclear waste disposal. On the other hand, gas-price is assumed to be low, and the costs of gas-fired generation do not integrate the risk premium due to gas-price volatility. In conclusion, the best choice on both micro and macro scales, consists in extending the life of current nuclear plants (if such an extension is authorised by safety regulators). These plants would be financially-amortized, produce electricity at a very competitive cost and emit no GHG. Furthermore, extending the life of current nuclear plants will defer any irreversible commitment on their replacement. The necessary decision could therefore be taken later on, with more information on the cost of alternative generation technologies and their efficiency. (author)

Ground source heat pumps versus high efficiency natural gas furnaces in Alberta

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, J.

2003-02-02

For the past twenty years or so, the heating and cooling of numerous buildings in northern Europe has been accomplished using ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), while in North America they have been in use for approximately ten years. In the Prairies, natural gas furnaces dominate, while GSHP are more popular in eastern Canada. The author noted that natural gas furnaces have an efficiency of 80 per cent or less, while high efficiency natural gas (HENG) furnaces, more expensive, have an efficiency in the 90 per cent range. A brief outline of the principles behind GSHPs was provided. The Coefficient of Performance (COP) of GSHP reaches up to 500 per cent depending whether the unit is cooling or heating. The amount of heat produced by a heating system expressed as a percentage of the energy input required to operate the system is the definition used for the efficiency. In those cases where it is possible to amortize the initial costs, pay now or obtain a subsidy, the installation of GSHP is advantageous. Several factors affect the total cost of heating a building, such as the airtightness of the building and its insulation, the coldness of the climate, and the inside controlled temperature setting. The author then examined the cost of operating a GSHP versus a natural gas furnace. In most examples studied, the cost of operating a GSHP was less than the cost of operating a natural gas furnace. The Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) of GSHPs and HENG furnaces was examined. The author concluded that the cost of heating by GSHP in Alberta will be lower than the cost of heating by HENG which requires a separate air conditioning unit for the summer months, with additional improvements in efficiency and insulation. 7 refs., 4 tabs.

Digital and conventional radiology techniques: comparison of dosage and costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arranza, L.; Albornoz, C. de

1996-01-01

To compare the radiation dosage and costs in conventional and digital technologies. The study dealt with transverse sections. The dosage applied with conventional technology was measured in 254 patients who intertwined 402 explorations of 6 anatomic regions in 4 Radiodiagnostic Services. The dosage applied with digital technology was measured in 57 patients who underwent 95 explorations of the same anatomic region in one Radiodiagnostic Service. The costs of the 6 types of conventional and digital explorations performed were calculated for two Radiodiagnostic Service. The doses administered (mGy) using convectional/digital technology were as follows: chest PA 0.2/0.1; chest LAT 0.7/0.3; breast CC 7.0/8.4; breast LAT 7.0/7.8; breast OB 7.0/10.5; cervical spine AP 9.6/9.0; cervical spine LAT 21.9/29.6; pelvis AP 7.3/7.1; plain abdominal 6.5/2.2. The costs incurred (1992 pesetas) with the convectional/digital technologies: chest AP and LAT 1,393/2,973; portable chest 2,027/3,714; mammography 2,357/3,486; phlebography 12,718/14,023; hysterosalpingography 4,876/6,701; bone scientigraphy 1,633/2,839. Compared with conventional technology, digital imaging reduces the radiation doses received by the patients, except in the case of mammography. The costs associated with the use of digital technology are greater than those incurred with conventional technology, mainly due to the costs of amortization. the use of digital technology is more justified when: 1) it is very necessary to reduce the dosage; 2) studies of chest and abdomen predominant; 3) the volume of utilization is high; 4) staff management is flexible , and 5) the cost of purchasing the equipment is lower. (Author) 10 refs

Cambios en la Normativa sobre Fondo de Comercio: Algunas Evidencias Empíricas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Carlos Navarro García

2004-12-01

Full Text Available El fondo de comercio constituye una de las partidas más controvertidas entre la doctrina contable. En la actualidad, tras el cambio en la normativa norteamericana, el IASE ha efectuado modificaciones en la misma línea, de forma que, en vez de amortizar este bien, se deberá evaluar anualmente un eventual deterioro del mismo. En el presente trabajo hemos investigado las consecuencias que para determinados ratios hubiera tenido utilizar un criterio semejante al establecido en la actualidad en las NIIF, utilizando para ello una muestra de 177 sociedades españolas durante el periodo 1998-2000. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los ratios de endeudamiento, rentabilidad económica y rentabilidad financiera del periodo analizado se hubieran visto afectados de forma estadísticamente significativa por la eliminación de la amortización sistemática del fondo de comercio. Sin embargo, de cara a la normalización contable, creemos que también se deben tener en cuenta otros factores que se señalan en el estudio. Accounting for goodwill has been controversial for a-long time. As a result of a new regulation in USA, the IASE has also modified its regulation so that goodwill must be tested for impairment annually instead of being amortised. This paper have used accounting information of 177 Spanish group companies for the period 1998-2000. In this respect, we have analysed the consequences of excluding goodwill amortization on several important ratios. The empirical evidence presented indicated that certain ratios as debt-to-equity, return on assets and return on equity, are affected by new IFRS accounting treatment for goodwill. However, we consider that standard-setters must take into account other factors.

Regulatory review - on the brink of renewal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braunstein, L.A.

1993-01-01

Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, US commercial nuclear energy plants are licensed to operate for 40 years each. Congress selected the 40-year term not on the basis of safety, technical, or environmental issues, but on the basis of the 40-year amortization period generally used by electric utilities for large capital investments. And nuclear power plants may apply to have their licenses renewed. Licenses for about 47 plants - totalling about 34,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity - will expire between 2000 and 2014. By 2000, 63 reactors will be more than 20 years old. Without license renewal, utilities would have to retire about 5,000 MW of capacity every year between 2010 and 2030. Moreover, the Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that renewing licenses of existing nuclear plants for 20 years would save the nation's consumers about $350 billion. The NRC has concluded that the current safety of plants, as they operate today, is adequate. Therefore, in promulgating the final rule, the commission wanted to ensure that the applicants address those technical matters that are unique to the period of plant operation beyond the initial 40 years. For this reason, the rule includes language stating that the relicensing process would examine age-related degradation unique to license renewal. Interpretation of this language is adding regulatory uncertainty to the license renewal process. NRC is reviewing its interpretation; it also has indicated that it would like to smooth out the process through the review of an actual renewal application. Utility executives, however, seem unwilling to make proposals to their boards to commit large capital investments without a clear end-point in sight. It appears that the industry is now hesitating at the renewal office door - with NRC waiting for an application, and the industry holding back

Artificial intelligence, regression model, and cost estimation for removal of chlorothalonil pesticide by activated carbon prepared from casuarina charcoal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Gar Alalm

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Chlorothalonil is a pesticide that can contaminate water bodies, detriment aquatic organisms, and cause cancers of the forestomach and kidney. In this study, a powdered activated carbon prepared from casuarina wood was used for the adsorption of chlorothalonil from aqueous solutions. Based on Scanning Electron microscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analyses, the adsorbent material comprised pores and multiple functional groups that favored the entrapment of chlorothalonil onto its surface. At initial chlorothalonil concentration of 480 mg L−1, the equilibrium uptake capacity was 187 mg g−1 at pH: 7, adsorbent dosage: 0.5 g L−1, contact time: 40 min, and room temperature (25 ± 4 °C. The kinetic and isotherm studies indicated that the rate constant of pseudo-second-order model (k2 was 0.003 g mg−1 min−1, and the monolayer adsorption capacity was 192 mg g−1. Results from a quadratic model demonstrated that the plot of adsorption capacity versus pH, chlorothalonil concentration, adsorbent dosage, and contact time caused quadratic-concave, linear-up, flat, and quadratic-linear concave up curves, respectively. An artificial neural network with a structure of 4–5–1 was able to predict the adsorption capacity (R2: 0.982, and the sensitivity analysis using connection weights showed that pH was the most influential factor. An economic estimation using amortization and operating costs revealed that an adsorption unit subjected to 100 m3 d−1 containing chlorothalonil concentration of 250 ± 50 mg L−1 could cost 1.18 $ m−3. Keywords: Activated carbon, Artificial neural network, Chlorothalonil pesticide, Cost estimation, Kinetics and isotherms

Optimum power yield for bio fuel fired combined heat and power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Broden, Henrik; Nystroem, Olle; Joensson, Mikael

2012-05-15

Plant owners, suppliers, research institutions, industry representatives and (supporting) authorities are continuing to question the viability of what can be expected by increasing the steam data and the efficiency of cogeneration plants. In recent years, the overall conditions for investment in CHP have changed. Today, there is access to new materials that allow for more advanced steam data while maintaining availability. Although the financial environment with rising prices of electricity, heating and fuel along with the introduction of energy certificates and the interest in broadening the base of fuel has changed the situation. At the same time as the increased interest in renewable energy production creates competition among energy enterprises to find suppliers, increased prices for materials and labor costs have also resulted in increased investment and maintenance costs. Research on advanced steam data for biomass-fired power cogeneration plants has mainly emphasized on technical aspects of material selection and corrosion mechanisms based on performance at 100 % load looking at single years. Reporting has rarely been dealing with the overall economic perspective based on profitability of the CHP installations throughout their entire depreciation period. In the present report studies have been performed on how the choice of steam data affects the performance and economy in biomass-fired cogeneration plants with boilers of drum type and capacities at 30, 80 and 160 MWth with varied steam data and different feed water system configurations. Profitability is assessed on the basis of internal rate of return (IRR) throughout the amortization period of the plants. In addition, sensitivity analyses based on the most essential parameters have been carried out. The target group for the project is plant owners, contractors, research institutions, industry representatives, (supporting) authorities and others who are faced with concerns regarding the viability of what

The cost of myrmecophytism: insights from allometry of stem secondary growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Blatrix, Rumsaïs; Renard, Delphine; Djieto-Lordon, Champlain; McKey, Doyle

2012-10-01

Plant defence traits against herbivores incur production costs that are usually difficult to measure. However, estimating these costs is a prerequisite for characterizing the plant defence strategy as a whole. Myrmecophytes are plants that provide symbiotic ants with specialized nesting cavities, called domatia, in exchange for protection against herbivores. In the particular case of stem domatia, production of extra wood seems to be the only associated cost, making this indirect defence trait a particularly suitable model for estimating the cost of defence. Measurements were made of growth pattern and cumulative production cost of domatia over secondary growth in the myrmecophyte Leonardoxa africana subsp. africana, whose internodes display both a solid basal segment and a hollow distal part (the domatium), thus allowing paired comparison of investment in wood. Previous studies showed that 'overconstruction' of the hollow part of internodes during primary growth is needed for mechanical support. In this study, it is shown that the relationship between the woody cross-sectional area of the solid and hollow parts of internodes is negatively allometric at the beginning of secondary growth and nearly isometric later on. Thus, in hollow stems, the first phase of slow secondary growth compensates for the 'overconstruction' of the ring of wood during primary growth. Moreover, the cumulative production cost of a domatium (estimated as the additional volume of wood required for a hollow stem compared with a solid one) is very high at the beginning of secondary growth and then quickly tends to zero. Making domatia incurs high costs early in ontogeny, costs that are then amortized later in development of stems and of individual plants. Characterizing ontogenetic variation of the net cost of this peculiar defence mechanism will help us build more accurate theoretical models of resource allocation in myrmecophytes.

Attributing land-use change carbon emissions to exported biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saikku, Laura; Soimakallio, Sampo; Pingoud, Kim

2012-01-01

In this study, a simple, transparent and robust method is developed in which land-use change (LUC) emissions are retrospectively attributed to exported biomass products based on the agricultural area occupied for the production. LUC emissions account for approximately one-fifth of current greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing agricultural exports are becoming an important driver of deforestation. Brazil and Indonesia are used as case studies due to their significant deforestation in recent years. According to our study, in 2007, approximately 32% and 15% of the total agricultural land harvested and LUC emissions in Brazil and Indonesia respectively were due to exports. The most important exported single items with regard to deforestation were palm oil for Indonesia and bovine meat for Brazil. To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions effectively worldwide, leakage of emissions should be avoided. This can be done, for example, by attributing embodied LUC emissions to exported biomass products. With the approach developed in this study, controversial attribution between direct and indirect LUC and amortization of emissions over the product life cycle can be overcome, as the method operates on an average basis and annual level. The approach could be considered in the context of the UNFCCC climate policy instead of, or alongside with, other instruments aimed at reducing deforestation. However, the quality of the data should be improved and some methodological issues, such as the allocation procedure in multiproduct systems and the possible dilution effect through third parties not committed to emission reduction targets, should be considered. - Highlights: ► CO 2 emissions from land use changes are highly important. ► Attribution of land use changes for products is difficult. ► Simple and robust method is developed to attribute land use change emissions.

A Primer on Recent Canadian Defence Budgeting Trends and Implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Perry

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Faced with a dangerous world, the federal government has made recapitalizing and updating Canada’s armed forces a priority. Unfortunately, fiscal pressures obliged the government to deviate from its Canada First Defence Strategy, cutting staff and delaying military hardware acquisitions. However, the introduction this year of the Defence Procurement Strategy should allow Ottawa to use improved approaches to buy equipment that would otherwise have been purchased already under the DND’s opaque capital expenditure system. At present, DND capital funds are mostly subject to accrual accounting. Capital costs are charged against the defence budget as annual amortization expenses over equipment lifecycles. While this enables multiple capital projects to go ahead simultaneously, not all of the money covering capital costs is treated this way. Traditional A-Base Vote 5 expenses are still charged to the budget the year the expenditure is made — and the DND consistently underspends the Vote 5 funds available by as much as 28 percent. Since 2007/8, an estimated $6.42 billion wasn’t used as intended. While some of this can be carried forward, there are limits. Leftover funds exceeding them are returned to the Treasury and are thereby lost. It’s up to the DND to make up losses out of future funding. Just as bad, the accrual method doesn’t fully account for inflation, so when schedules slip, project purchasing power diminishes by hundreds of millions of dollars. Ambitious initiatives like the Joint Support Ship and (likely the Canadian Surface Combatant end up taking hits to reflect harsh budgetary realities; the capabilities of Canada’s soldiers suffer. This policy brief draws on research and confidential interviews to highlight the pressing need for reform in Canadian defence procurement.

The economical impact of a nuclear renunciation in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnot, N.; Gallon, St.

2001-11-01

French nuclear plants will have to be shut down in the 2020's. Electricite De France (EDF) could replace them by either nuclear or gas-fired plants. Choosing the latter would lead to an increase in Green House Gases (GHG) emissions and to a rise of EDF's generation costs. In 2020, the price of electricity in Europe will be determined by a competitive market. Therefore, a rise of EDF's generation costs will mainly depress its operating profit (and slightly increase the market's price). Giving up nuclear power in 2020 would consequently lead to a fall of EDF's value for its shareholders. On a macro-economic scale, the shock on the production cost of electricity would lead to a 0,5 to 1,0 percentage point drop of GDP (depending on the hypotheses). Structural unemployment would rise by 0,3 to 0,6 percentage point. The model used to find these results does not take into account the risk of nuclear accidents nor the uncertainty on the costs of nuclear waste disposal. On the other hand, gas-price is assumed to be low, and the costs of gas-fired generation do not integrate the risk premium due to gas price volatility. In conclusion, the best choice on both micro and macro scales, consists in extending the life of current nuclear plants (if such an extension is authorised by safety regulators). These plants would be financially amortized, produce electricity at a very competitive cost and emit no GHG. Furthermore, extending the life of current nuclear plants will defer any irreversible commitment on their replacement. The necessary decision could therefore be taken later on, with more information on the cost of alternative generation technologies and their efficiency. (authors)

A method for calculating a land-use change carbon footprint (LUC-CFP) for agricultural commodities - applications to Brazilian beef and soy, Indonesian palm oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Persson, U Martin; Henders, Sabine; Cederberg, Christel

2014-11-01

The world's agricultural system has come under increasing scrutiny recently as an important driver of global climate change, creating a demand for indicators that estimate the climatic impacts of agricultural commodities. Such carbon footprints, however, have in most cases excluded emissions from land-use change and the proposed methodologies for including this significant emissions source suffer from different shortcomings. Here, we propose a new methodology for calculating land-use change carbon footprints for agricultural commodities and illustrate this methodology by applying it to three of the most prominent agricultural commodities driving tropical deforestation: Brazilian beef and soybeans, and Indonesian palm oil. We estimate land-use change carbon footprints in 2010 to be 66 tCO2 /t meat (carcass weight) for Brazilian beef, 0.89 tCO2 /t for Brazilian soybeans, and 7.5 tCO2 /t for Indonesian palm oil, using a 10 year amortization period. The main advantage of the proposed methodology is its flexibility: it can be applied in a tiered approach, using detailed data where it is available while still allowing for estimation of footprints for a broad set of countries and agricultural commodities; it can be applied at different scales, estimating both national and subnational footprints; it can be adopted to account both for direct (proximate) and indirect drivers of land-use change. It is argued that with an increasing commercialization and globalization of the drivers of land-use change, the proposed carbon footprint methodology could help leverage the power needed to alter environmentally destructive land-use practices within the global agricultural system by providing a tool for assessing the environmental impacts of production, thereby informing consumers about the impacts of consumption and incentivizing producers to become more environmentally responsible. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Implications of competitive markets for operation and funds flow at nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bright, R.N.; Leigh, R.W.; Mubayi, V.

1997-01-01

The authors employ a detailed electric utility production costing and capacity planning model to examine the use of nuclear power plants under the current (utility-owned) arrangements and under situations which may arise in a competitive market for electric service. The modeling is carried out for a synthetic but realistic power pool based on components of actual utilities in the northeast United States. Under the current arrangements, the costs of nuclear power plant operation are subsumed under capital costs and entered into the open-quotes raw base,close quotes the totality of which determines customer charges. A future competitive environment may be characterized by the absence of a open-quotes rate base,close quotes at least for generation. In this environment, all generation units are in effect independently owned. The authors examine this possibility by estimating the revenue which would flow to nuclear plants at competitive market prices and compare that revenue, to anticipated expenses for fuel, O ampersand M and amortization of capital (where appropriate), and for potential additional expenses such as safety requirements and payments to decommissioning funds. They also incorporate financial relief for the portion of these costs which can be considered open-quotes stranded investmentsclose quotes based on FERC and prospective state regulatory policies. In this competitive environment some nuclear plants may not remain economically viable. Their replacement by newly constructed fossil-fueled units will require substantial capital and lead to increased emissions and fuel use, which are calculated. The authors calculations show that while it may be clearly economically advantageous for individual owners to shut down unviable nuclear capacity, such early retirements may result in significant economic losses to the power pool as a whole

Hydro-Quebec 2005 annual report : people with energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

Hydro-Quebec generates, transmits and distributes electricity mainly produced by renewable energy sources. Its sole shareholder is the Quebec government. This annual report reviewed the operations of Hydro-Quebec, and provided data on energy sales, production and details of the utility's environmental programs. Information on Hydro-Quebec subsidiaries in 2005 was presented in the following separate sections: Hydro-Quebec Production; Hydro-Quebec TransEnergie; Hydro-Quebec Distribution; Hydro-Quebec Equipement; and the Societe d'energie de la Baie James. In 2005, Hydro-Quebec Distribution signed contracts for an initial block of 990 MW of wind power and issued a tender call for an additional 2000 MW of wind power. A generator balancing service was created and authorized by the Regie de l'energie. Hydro-Quebec customers have achieved energy savings of nearly 450 GWh in 2005. The commissioning of Toulnustouc generating station was achieved 5 months ahead of schedule. The 526 MW facility will generate 2.7 TWh annually. Work at the Chute-Allard and Rapide-des-Coeurs sites has continued, as well as construction at Mercier and Peribonka and Eastmain-1. Income from continuing operations came to $2.25 billion, a $124 million increase that was attributed to a rise in domestic sales and net short-term exports. The income was offset by higher pension expenses, depreciation and amortization, as well as by cost of supply on external markets and financial expenses. All other operating expenses were lower than in 2004. Capital spending for the transmission system reached its highest level since 1997, with $793 million invested, including $336 million to meet growth. Data on the company's financial performance, executive changes and reorganization were provided. Financial statements included a review and analysis of financial transactions, an auditor's report, as well as customary notes to the consolidated financial statement including balance sheets, assets, liabilities and

Thermal design and technical economical and environmental analyses of a hydrogen fired multi-objective cogeneration system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durmaz, A; Yilmazoglu, M. Z.; Pasoglu, A.

2007-01-01

Approximately 85% of rapidly increasing world energy demand is supplied by fossil fuels. Extreme usage of fossil fuels causes serious global warming and environmental problems in form of air, soil and water pollutions. The period, in which fossil fuel reserves are decreasing, energy costs are increasing rapidly and new energy sources and technologies do not exist on the horizon, can be called as the expensive and critical energy period. Hydrogen becomes a matter of primary importance as a candidate energy source and carrier in the critical energy period and beyond to solve the energy and environmental problems radically. In this respect, the main obstacle for the use of hydrogen is the high cost of hydrogen production, which is expected to be decreased in the feature. The aim of this study is to examine how hydrogen energy will be able to be integrated with the existing energy substructure with technical and economical dimensions. In this sense, a multi objective hydrogen fired gas turbine cogeneration system is designed and optimized. Technical and economical analyses depending on the load conditions and different hydrogen production cost are carried out. It is possible that the co-generated heat is to be marketed for residence and industrial plants in the surrounding at or under market prices. The produced electricity however can only be sold to the public grid at a high unit support price which is only obtainable in case of the development of new energy technologies. This price should however be kept within the nowadays supportable energy price range. The main mechanism to be used during the design stage of the system to achieve this goal is to decrease the amortization and operational costs which lead to decrease investment and fuel costs and to increase the system load factor and co-generated heat revenues

Cost implications of implementation of pathogen-inactivated platelets.

Science.gov (United States)

McCullough, Jeffrey; Goldfinger, Dennis; Gorlin, Jed; Riley, William J; Sandhu, Harpreet; Stowell, Christopher; Ward, Dawn; Clay, Mary; Pulkrabek, Shelley; Chrebtow, Vera; Stassinopoulos, Adonis

2015-10-01

Pathogen inactivation (PI) is a new approach to blood safety that may introduce additional costs. This study identifies costs that could be eliminated, thereby mitigating the financial impact. Cost information was obtained from five institutions on tests and procedures (e.g., irradiation) currently performed, that could be eliminated. The impact of increased platelet (PLT) availability due to fewer testing losses, earlier entry into inventory, and fewer outdates with a 7-day shelf life were also estimated. Additional estimates include costs associated with managing (1) special requests and (2) test results, (3) quality control and proficiency testing, (4) equipment acquisition and maintenance, (5) replacement of units lost to positive tests, (6) seasonal or geographic testing, and (7) health department interactions. All costs are mean values per apheresis PLT unit in USD ($/unit). The estimated test costs that could be eliminated are $71.76/unit and a decrease in transfusion reactions corresponds to $2.70/unit. Avoiding new tests (e.g., Babesia and dengue) amounts to $41.80/unit. Elimination of irradiation saves $8.50/unit, while decreased outdating with 7-day storage can be amortized to $16.89/unit. Total potential costs saved with PI is $141.65/unit. Costs are influenced by a variety of factors specific to institutions such as testing practices and the location in which such costs are incurred and careful analysis should be performed. Additional benefits, not quantified, include retention of some currently deferred donors and scheduling flexibility due to 7-day storage. While PI implementation will result in additional costs, there are also potential offsetting cost reductions, especially after 7-day storage licensing. © 2015 The Authors Transfusion published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of AABB.

Attributing land-use change carbon emissions to exported biomass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saikku, Laura, E-mail: laura.saikku@helsinki.fi [University of Helsinki, P.O Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki (Finland); Soimakallio, Sampo, E-mail: sampo.soimakallio@vtt.fi [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT (Finland); Pingoud, Kim, E-mail: kim.pingoud@vtt.fi [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT (Finland)

2012-11-15

In this study, a simple, transparent and robust method is developed in which land-use change (LUC) emissions are retrospectively attributed to exported biomass products based on the agricultural area occupied for the production. LUC emissions account for approximately one-fifth of current greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing agricultural exports are becoming an important driver of deforestation. Brazil and Indonesia are used as case studies due to their significant deforestation in recent years. According to our study, in 2007, approximately 32% and 15% of the total agricultural land harvested and LUC emissions in Brazil and Indonesia respectively were due to exports. The most important exported single items with regard to deforestation were palm oil for Indonesia and bovine meat for Brazil. To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions effectively worldwide, leakage of emissions should be avoided. This can be done, for example, by attributing embodied LUC emissions to exported biomass products. With the approach developed in this study, controversial attribution between direct and indirect LUC and amortization of emissions over the product life cycle can be overcome, as the method operates on an average basis and annual level. The approach could be considered in the context of the UNFCCC climate policy instead of, or alongside with, other instruments aimed at reducing deforestation. However, the quality of the data should be improved and some methodological issues, such as the allocation procedure in multiproduct systems and the possible dilution effect through third parties not committed to emission reduction targets, should be considered. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CO{sub 2} emissions from land use changes are highly important. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Attribution of land use changes for products is difficult. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simple and robust method is developed to attribute land use change emissions.

Capital Cost Optimization for Prefabrication: A Factor Analysis Evaluation Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Xue

2018-01-01

Full Text Available High capital cost is a significant hindrance to the promotion of prefabrication. In order to optimize cost management and reduce capital cost, this study aims to explore the latent factors and factor analysis evaluation model. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore potential variables and then questionnaire survey was employed to collect professionals’ views on their effects. After data collection, exploratory factor analysis was adopted to explore the latent factors. Seven latent factors were identified, including “Management Index”, “Construction Dissipation Index”, “Productivity Index”, “Design Efficiency Index”, “Transport Dissipation Index”, “Material increment Index” and “Depreciation amortization Index”. With these latent factors, a factor analysis evaluation model (FAEM, divided into factor analysis model (FAM and comprehensive evaluation model (CEM, was established. The FAM was used to explore the effect of observed variables on the high capital cost of prefabrication, while the CEM was used to evaluate comprehensive cost management level on prefabrication projects. Case studies were conducted to verify the models. The results revealed that collaborative management had a positive effect on capital cost of prefabrication. Material increment costs and labor costs had significant impacts on production cost. This study demonstrated the potential of on-site management and standardization design to reduce capital cost. Hence, collaborative management is necessary for cost management of prefabrication. Innovation and detailed design were needed to improve cost performance. The new form of precast component factories can be explored to reduce transportation cost. Meanwhile, targeted strategies can be adopted for different prefabrication projects. The findings optimized the capital cost and improved the cost performance through providing an evaluation and optimization model, which helps managers to

Parabolic Trough Collector Cost Update for the System Advisor Model (SAM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurup, Parthiv [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Turchi, Craig S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-11-01

This report updates the baseline cost for parabolic trough solar fields in the United States within NREL's System Advisor Model (SAM). SAM, available at no cost at https://sam.nrel.gov/, is a performance and financial model designed to facilitate decision making for people involved in the renewable energy industry. SAM is the primary tool used by NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for estimating the performance and cost of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies and projects. The study performed a bottom-up build and cost estimate for two state-of-the-art parabolic trough designs -- the SkyTrough and the Ultimate Trough. The SkyTrough analysis estimated the potential installed cost for a solar field of 1500 SCAs as $170/m² +/- $6/m². The investigation found that SkyTrough installed costs were sensitive to factors such as raw aluminum alloy cost and production volume. For example, in the case of the SkyTrough, the installed cost would rise to nearly $210/m² if the aluminum alloy cost was $1.70/lb instead of $1.03/lb. Accordingly, one must be aware of fluctuations in the relevant commodities markets to track system cost over time. The estimated installed cost for the Ultimate Trough was only slightly higher at $178/m², which includes an assembly facility of $11.6 million amortized over the required production volume. Considering the size and overall cost of a 700 SCA Ultimate Trough solar field, two parallel production lines in a fully covered assembly facility, each with the specific torque box, module and mirror jigs, would be justified for a full CSP plant.

Challenges with the public policy of measuring assets to set tariffs in the electricity sector: should someone benefit and someone be sacrificed?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Elisabeth Moreira Carvalho Andrade

2017-07-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This paper contributes by encouraging discussions about the public policy of setting tariffs for public services based on the value of the investment made by the providers of these services. The purpose of this study was, in an unprecedented way and by combining theories of equity valuation and finance, to identify the asset valuation method that can lead to a fair value and balance between an affordable price for the consumer and an adequate return on investment for the concessionaires. The value assigned to these assets affects the tariff in two ways: (i via depreciation/amortization, which affects the cost of service; (ii via the return on investment, which is the portion that corresponds to the investor’s profit. We analyzed the Brazilian electricity sector, in which the rates set by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL currently use the new replacement value (NRV approach. We carried out empirical tests using data available on the ANEEL website from the second cycle periodic tariff review and information obtained in financial statements from 1995 onwards. The analysis included the NVR and restated historical cost (RHC methods, the latter being updated by the extended consumer price index (IPCA. After the descriptive and statistical analyses, we used the test of means to verify the differences between the variables in terms of NRV vs. RHC. The first conclusion was the absence of a significant difference between the NRV and RHC methods; that is, on average, the replacement price showed no significant difference to what would be the pure and simple restatement of assets. But this was found to hide something relevant, the fact that this average is derived from two main groups: that of the consumers who are paying more for energy services than they should, which constitutes a visible benefit to investors and loss for these consumers, and that of the consumers who are paying less than they should, which benefits them but

EDF group - Reference Document 2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

The EDF Group is an integrated energy supplier operating in a wide range of electricity-related businesses: generation, transmission, distribution, sale and trading of energy. It is the main operator in the French electricity market and holds strong positions in the other three principal European markets (Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy) making it one of the leading electricity groups in Europe, and a recognized actor in the gas market. With an installed capacity of 123.7 GW in Europe (128.2 GW worldwide) it holds, among the major European energy specialists, the largest production fleet and the one emitting the least CO 2 , owing to the share of nuclear technology and hydropower in its generation mix. The EDF group supplies electricity, gas and associated services to more than 37.8 million customers throughout the world and in Europe (more than 28 million of whom are in France). The EDF Group has built a business model balanced between France and the international markets, and between deregulated and regulated operations. In 2006, the Group recorded consolidated sales of euros 58,932 million, net income (Group share) of euros 5,605 million, and it achieved earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of euros 13,930 million. From July 1, 2007, the EDF group will carry out its trading activities in a European energy market fully open to competition. This document is EDF Group's Reference Document for the year 2006. It contains information about: the Group activities, risk factors, Business overview, Organizational structure, Property, plants and equipment, Operating and financial review, Capital resources and cash flows, Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, Trend information, Financial forecasts or estimates, Administrative, management and supervisory bodies and senior management, Remuneration and benefits, Board practices, Employees/Human resources, Major shareholders, Related party transactions, Financial information

Attribution of CO2 emissions from Brazilian deforestation to domestic and international drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Karstensen, J.; Peters, G.

2011-12-01

Efforts to address extensive deforestation to reduce climate change and save primary forests are taking place on a global scale. Whilst several studies have estimated the emissions occurring from deforestation in large rainforests, few studies have investigated the domestic and international drivers sustaining and increasing the deforestation rates. Brazil, having the largest rainforest in the world and one of the highest deforestation rates, is also currently one of the world's largest exporters of soybeans and beef. In this case study we establish the link between Brazilian deforestation and cattle and soybean production, and further attribute emissions to countries and economic sectors through export and import of Brazilian commodities. The emissions from deforestation can therefore be allocated to the countries and sectors consuming goods and services produced on deforested land in Brazil. A land-use change model and deforestation data is coupled with a carbon cycle model to create yearly emission estimates and different emission allocation schemes, depending on emission amortizations and discounting functions for past deforestation. We use an economic multi-regional input-output model (with 112 regions and 57 sectors) to distribute these emissions along agricultural trade routes, through domestic and international consumption in 2004. With our implementation we find that around 80 % of emissions from deforested land is due to cattle grazing, while agricultural transition effects suggests soy beans are responsible for about 20 % of the emissions occurring in 2004. Nearly tree quarters of the soy beans are consumed outside Brazil, of which China, Germany and France are the biggest consumers. Soy beans are consumed by a variety of sectors in the food industry. Brazil exports about 30 % of the cattle it produces, where Russia, USA and Germany are among the largest consumers. Cattle consumption mainly occurs in the meat sectors. In this study we estimate the CO2

A reactor/receiver-concept for liquid-phase high-temperature processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt-Traub, H.; Hahm, T. [Dortmund Univ. (Germany). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

1997-12-31

Besides the conversion of solar light to electricity solar energy can be used directly in photo- and thermochemistry. In the temperature range from 1000 to 2000 K there is a high demand for industrial process heat offering a variety of possibilities for solar thermal applications. Especially in the field of liquid-phase high-temperature processes there are hardly no solar thermal applications which exceed the stage of laboratory experiments. It was therefore the aim of two projects financed by the AG Solar of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, to develop concepts for commercial scale solar thermal plants and to judge them economically and ecologically. Some general problems have to be overcome to realize a commercial scale solar thermal plant for liquid-phase processes. The concept developed consists of a heliostat field, a tower reflector and an open receiver with a closed reaction chamber. The feasibility of a solar thermal plant for high-temperature liquid-phase processes has been shown in principle. The projected plant consists of a 4400 m{sup 2} heliostat field, a tower plus reflecting mirrors with a total area of 220 m{sup 2} and an open receiver with a closed annular reaction zone. For temperatures below 1700 K the overall efficiency is high enough to yield energetic amortization times of less than 1 year. For a further improvement and a verification of the calculation a closer look at the reactor/receiver and its heat transfer processes is necessary. This is done by using a mixed strategy of experiments and simulation. First experiments were carried out with a semitransparent salt and an opaque metal. The first stage of the experiments will end during the next weeks and their results have to be compared with the simulation. The simulation will then be extended to transparent melts. The second stage of the experiments which include the reaction chamber will start in 1997. An improvement of the reactor might be achieved using nonimaging concentrators to further

EDF group - Reference Document 2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The EDF group is an integrated energy company with a presence in a wide range of electricity-related businesses: generation, transmission, distribution, supply and energy trading. It is France's leading electricity operator and has a strong position in the three other main European markets (Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy), making it one of Europe's leading electrical players as well as a recognized player in the gas industry. With worldwide installed power capacity totaling 136.3 GW as of December 31, 2009 (134.0 GW in Europe) and global energy generation of 618.5 TWh, it has the largest generating capacity of all the major European energy corporations with the lowest level of CO 2 emissions due to the significant proportion of nuclear and hydroelectric power in its generation mix. The EDF group supplies gas, electricity, and associated services to more than 37.9 million customer accounts worldwide (including approximately 27.7 million in France). The EDF group's businesses reflect its adoption of a model aimed at finding the best balance between French and international activities, competitive and regulated operations and based on an upstream-downstream integration. In 2009, the Group's consolidated revenues were euros 66.3 billion, the net income (Group share) was euros 3.9 billion, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization was euros 17.5 billion. This document is EDF Group's Reference Document and Annual Financial Report for the year 2009. It contains information about: the Group activities, risk factors, Business, Organizational structure, Property plant and equipment, Operating and financial review, Capital resources and cash flows, Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, Information on trends, Financial outlook, Administrative, management, and supervisory bodies and senior management, Compensation and benefits, Functioning of the administration and management bodies, Employees/Human resources

The Use of Biofuel for Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Tsang, J.

2014-12-01

The biofuel industry is divided into four categories comprising of feedstocks used in 1st and 2nd generation bioethanol and biodiesel. In order to identify and quantify each biofuel feedstock's potential for sustainable growth, each were evaluated according to self-developed social, financial, and environmental criteria. From the investigation and analysis carried out, 1st generation biodiesel and bioethanol were determined to be feedstocks not capable of facilitating sustainable growth. Results showed low earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of -0.5 to 1 USD per gallon for biodiesel and 0.25 to 0.5 USD per gallon for bioethanol. Results also showed a poor return on asset (ROA). The energy required to produce one MJ of 1st generation biofuel fuel was at least 0.4 MJ, showing poor energy balance. Furthermore, high land, water, pesticide, and fertilizer requirements strained surrounding ecosystems by affecting the food web, thus reducing biodiversity. Over 55% of land used by the biodiesel industry in Indonesia and Malaysia involved the deforestation of local rainforests. This not only displaced indigenous organisms from their habitat and decreased their scope of nutrition, but also contributed to soil erosion and increased the probability of flooding. If left unregulated, imbalances in the ecosystem due to unsustainable growth will result in a permanent reshaping of tropical rainforest ecosystems in Southeast Asia. Algae, an example of 2nd generation biodiesel feedstock, was concluded to be the biofuel feedstock most capable of supporting sustainable growth. This is due to its low production costs of $1-1.5/gal, high biological productivity of 5000 gallons of biodiesel per acre per year, and high ROA of 25-35%. Additionally, algae's adaptability to varying environmental conditions also makes it an appealing candidate for businesses in developing countries, where access to resource supplies is unstable. Additionally, its reduced net

Analysis of the environmental issues concerning the deployment of an OTEC power plant in Martinique.

Science.gov (United States)

Devault, Damien A; Péné-Annette, Anne

2017-11-01

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a form of power generation, which exploits the temperature difference between warm surface seawater and cold deep seawater. Suitable conditions for OTEC occur in deep warm seas, especially the Caribbean, the Red Sea and parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The continuous power provided by this renewable power source makes a useful contribution to a renewable energy mix because of the intermittence of the other major renewable power sources, i.e. solar or wind power. Industrial-scale OTEC power plants have simply not been built. However, recent innovations and greater political awareness of power transition to renewable energy sources have strengthened the support for such power plants and, after preliminary studies in the Reunion Island (Indian Ocean), the Martinique Island (West Indies) has been selected for the development of the first full-size OTEC power plant in the world, to be a showcase for testing and demonstration. An OTEC plant, even if the energy produced is cheap, calls for high initial capital investment. However, this technology is of interest mainly in tropical areas where funding is limited. The cost of innovations to create an operational OTEC plant has to be amortized, and this technology remains expensive. This paper will discuss the heuristic, technical and socio-economic limits and consequences of deploying an OTEC plant in Martinique to highlight respectively the impact of the OTEC plant on the environment the impact of the environment on the OTEC plant. After defining OTEC, we will describe the different constraints relating to the setting up of the first operational-scale plant worldwide. This includes the investigations performed (reporting declassified data), the political context and the local acceptance of the project. We will then provide an overview of the processes involved in the OTEC plant and discuss the feasibility of future OTEC installations. We will also list the extensive marine

Single-Use Energy Sources and Operating Room Time for Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Holloran-Schwartz, M Brigid; Gavard, Jeffrey A; Martin, Jared C; Blaskiewicz, Robert J; Yeung, Patrick P

2016-01-01

To compare the intraoperative direct costs of a single-use energy device with reusable energy devices during laparoscopic hysterectomy. A randomized controlled trial (Canadian Task Force Classification I). An academic hospital. Forty-six women who underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy from March 2013 to September 2013. Each patient served as her own control. One side of the uterine attachments was desiccated and transected with the single-use device (Ligasure 5-mm Blunt Tip LF1537 with the Force Triad generator). The other side was desiccated and transected with reusable bipolar forceps (RoBi 5 mm), and transected with monopolar scissors using the same Covidien Force Triad generator. The instrument approach used was randomized to the attending physician who was always on the patient's left side. Resident physicians always operated on the patient's right side and used the converse instruments of the attending physician. Start time was recorded at the utero-ovarian pedicle and end time was recorded after transection of the uterine artery on the same side. Costs included the single-use device; amortized costs of the generator, reusable instruments, and cords; cleaning and packaging of reusable instruments; and disposal of the single-use device. Operating room time was $94.14/min. We estimated that our single use-device cost $630.14 and had a total time savings of 6.7 min per case, or 3.35 min per side, which could justify the expense of the device. The single-use energy device had significant median time savings (-4.7 min per side, p energy device that both desiccates and cuts significantly reduced operating room time to justify its own cost, and it also reduced total intraoperative direct costs during laparoscopic hysterectomy in our institution. Operating room cost per minute varies between institutions and must be considered before generalizing our results. Copyright © 2016 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Heading towards the nZEB through CHP+HP systems. A comparison between retrofit solutions able to increase the energy performance for the heating and domestic hot water production in residential buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salata, Ferdinando; Golasi, Iacopo; Domestico, Umberto; Banditelli, Matteo; Lo Basso, Gianluigi; Nastasi, Benedetto; Lieto Vollaro, Andrea de

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Energy optimization measures to increase the energy class of buildings. • Analysis of the demands related to the space-heating season and the production of annual DHW. • Case study related to a residential building of medium size located in Rome (Italy). • Improvements on building envelope and on systems (traditional technologies or CHP+HP). • Energy and economic analysis to achieve the performance of a nZEB. - Abstract: Optimizing consumptions in the field of civil construction led to define energy labels for residential buildings. To calculate the building energy demand the EPgl was determined, i.e. the annual consumption per m"2 of primary energy. This paper examines the technical solutions useful to optimize the energy demands for heating during space-heating season and domestic hot water production (thanks to energy analysis softwares as MC11300 and TRNSYS) and, at the same time, to take into account the financial issues those interventions implied. The total inside heated surface of the building case study is 1204.00 m"2, hence the inside heated volume is about 3250.80 m"3. Besides the more traditional interventions concerning the building envelope and its systems, the paper examined the performance of a system obtained through the combination of a cogenerator (CHP) and a heat pump (HP), thus, substituting the conventional boilers of the buildings. CHP+HP solution increases the most the energy label of the building (from a D class with EPgl = 59.62 kW h m"−"2 year"−"1, to an A class, with EPgl = 25.64 kW h m"−"2 year"−"1), determining an annual energy cost saving of 3,114 € year"−"1, allowing to amortize installation costs (54,560 €) in a reasonable payback period, i.e. 15.4 years. This innovative solution in the residential sector can be realized through retrofit interventions on existing buildings, hence it leads the current dwelling towards nZEB with a remarkable benefits for the environment.

Cooling system at the compressors air inlet of the gas turbines from the Tula`s combined cycle central; Sistema de enfriamiento en la succion del compresor de las turbinas de gas de la central de ciclo combinado de Tula

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez F, Oscar [Comision Federal de Electricidad, Tula (Mexico); Romero Paredes, Hernando; Vargas, Martin; Gomez, Jose Francisco [Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Mexico, D. F. (Mexico)

1996-12-31

It has been formerly evaluated that it is possible to enhance notably the electric power generation in gas turbine power plants by cooling the air at the compressor inlet. It has been pointed out that provided a source of waste heat is available it can be very attractive the use of absorption refrigeration systems. In this paper the technical and the economical benefits of bringing the air inlet temperature down 8 Celsius degrees of the four gas turbines of the Combined Cycle Central of Tula, in the State of Hidalgo (combined cycle central-Tula) are evaluated. The results show that it is possible to achieve an efficiency enhancement of at least 1%, and that in very warm days up to 48 additional Megawatts can be generated, or about 10% of the installed capacity. The final economic result is very encouraging and an annual economical benefit in the order of 50 million pesos can be obtained and the refrigeration units can be amortized in approximately one year. [Espanol] Se ha evaluado anteriormente que es posible mejorar notablemente la capacidad de generacion electrica en plantas que utilizan turbinas de gas, mediante el enfriamiento del aire de succion del compresor. Se ha senalado que en la medida en que se encuentre disponible una fuente termica de desecho puede ser muy atractivo el uso de sistemas de refrigeracion por absorcion. En el presente trabajo se evaluan los beneficios tecnicos y economicos que puede tener el llevar el aire de succion hasta una temperatura de 8 grados Celsius, de las cuatro unidades de gas de la Central de Ciclo Combinado de Tula, Hidalgo (CCC-Tula). Los resultados muestran que es posible alcanzar un aumento en la eficiencia de al menos 1% y que se pueden generar, en dias muy calurosos, hasta 48 MW extras, equivalente al 10% de la capacidad instalada. El resultado economico final es muy alentador y puede llegar a tenerse un beneficio economico del orden de los 50 millones de pesos anuales y las unidades de refrigeracion podran pagarse en

Cooling system at the compressors air inlet of the gas turbines from the Tula`s combined cycle central; Sistema de enfriamiento en la succion del compresor de las turbinas de gas de la central de ciclo combinado de Tula

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez F, Oscar [Comision Federal de Electricidad, Tula (Mexico); Romero Paredes, Hernando; Vargas, Martin; Gomez, Jose Francisco [Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Mexico, D. F. (Mexico)

1997-12-31

It has been formerly evaluated that it is possible to enhance notably the electric power generation in gas turbine power plants by cooling the air at the compressor inlet. It has been pointed out that provided a source of waste heat is available it can be very attractive the use of absorption refrigeration systems. In this paper the technical and the economical benefits of bringing the air inlet temperature down 8 Celsius degrees of the four gas turbines of the Combined Cycle Central of Tula, in the State of Hidalgo (combined cycle central-Tula) are evaluated. The results show that it is possible to achieve an efficiency enhancement of at least 1%, and that in very warm days up to 48 additional Megawatts can be generated, or about 10% of the installed capacity. The final economic result is very encouraging and an annual economical benefit in the order of 50 million pesos can be obtained and the refrigeration units can be amortized in approximately one year. [Espanol] Se ha evaluado anteriormente que es posible mejorar notablemente la capacidad de generacion electrica en plantas que utilizan turbinas de gas, mediante el enfriamiento del aire de succion del compresor. Se ha senalado que en la medida en que se encuentre disponible una fuente termica de desecho puede ser muy atractivo el uso de sistemas de refrigeracion por absorcion. En el presente trabajo se evaluan los beneficios tecnicos y economicos que puede tener el llevar el aire de succion hasta una temperatura de 8 grados Celsius, de las cuatro unidades de gas de la Central de Ciclo Combinado de Tula, Hidalgo (CCC-Tula). Los resultados muestran que es posible alcanzar un aumento en la eficiencia de al menos 1% y que se pueden generar, en dias muy calurosos, hasta 48 MW extras, equivalente al 10% de la capacidad instalada. El resultado economico final es muy alentador y puede llegar a tenerse un beneficio economico del orden de los 50 millones de pesos anuales y las unidades de refrigeracion podran pagarse en

Transit experience with hydrogen fueled hybrid electric buses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, P.B.; Mazaika, D.M. [ISE Corp., Poway, CA (United States)

2006-07-01

Mass transit buses are ideal candidates for hydrogen implementation due to their capability of carrying 30 to 60 kg of hydrogen. ISE Corporation is a supplier of hydrogen fueled buses, including the first hybrid electric fuel cell bus which was commercialized in 2002, the hybrid electric fuel cell bus, and the hybrid hydrogen internal combustion engine (HHICE) bus which was commercialized in 2004. The configuration of a HHICE bus was illustrated with reference to its engine, control system, energy storage, generator, drive motor, inverter and accessories. Although these vehicles are expensive, the cost is amortized over a large base of hours used and passengers carried. The buses are operated primarily in urban areas where quiet and clean operation is needed the most. ISE has established a joint venture with Thor industries to develop a series of fuel cell buses equipped with a 60 kW PEM fuel cell. A schematic illustrating the energy flow in HHICE bus was also presented. It was shown that regenerative braking recovers the energy of motion. When using regenerative braking, most of the braking energy is saved in the battery. ISE drive systems convert 30 per cent or more of the bus energy to electrical energy to be used in later acceleration. Reduced fuel consumption also reduces the vehicle emissions. Testing of HHICE buses in both summer and winter operating conditions have shown that the range needs to be improved along with engine component reliability and durability. Fuel supply is also a major issue. A comparison with a fuel cell hybrid system was also presented. In the United States, more than 100,000 miles have been logged for the use of hydrogen hybrid buses, fuel cell buses and HHICE buses. The HHICE bus offers low capital cost, familiar technologies, but some NOx. CAT absorber technology offers the possibility of near zero emission capability. The fuel cell bus was found to be more fuel efficient, and can travel nearly twice as far per unit energy as

Activities of Gaz de France Group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2003-01-01

activities (-2.1%). It also includes internal services (delivery services, notably) for a total of euro 4,957 m, eliminated in consolidation. Growth in net income - Group share (+14.9%): The Group improved its financial performance in 2004. Net income - Group share totalled euro 1,046 m, up 14.9% compared with the 2003 figure (euro 910 m). Return on capital employed (ROCE) rose to 8.4% from 7.5% in 2003 while Return on equity (ROE) increased to 10.1%, up from 9.5% the previous year. Changes in the other financial results are as follows: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA): EBITDA stands at euro4,093 m, marginally down by euro 41 m (-1%) compared with 2003. Group operating income: Owing to the exceptional provisions and amortization booked for a total of euro448 m, operating income fell to euro 1,598 m in 2004 (-15 %). This reflects the Group's decision to speed up its grey-iron replacement programme, which will be completed at the end of 2007 instead of late 2008, and to provide for the full cost of this work immediately. Cash flow stands at euro 3,418 m, up 7.3% thanks, in particular, to the good performance achieved by the Exploration Production activity. Total investments amount to euro 1,763 m, including euro 983 m devoted to the infrastructures sector in France. Exploration and development investments related to projects managed by the Exploration and Production segment came to a total of euro374 m during the 2004 financial year. In addition, euro156 m were invested in external growth operations, the financial concretization of a number of the projects examined in 2004 - including Distrigaz Sud in Rumania - to be pursued in 2005. All in all, the Group enjoys a solid financial structure: - Shareholders' equity, up +7.5%, has now risen to a total of euro 10,593 m. - Net debt has been trimmed by 14.6% compared with its 2003 level to a total of euro 4,411 m. - Following the implementation on January 1, 2005 of the financial reform of the

Avaliação da produtividade de ativos: estudo de caso em fábrica de produtos descartáveis = Asset productivity assessment: a case study in a disposable product factory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodney Wernke

2017-04-01

Full Text Available O artigo relata estudo de caso que objetivou mensurar o desempenho da empresa pesquisada por intermédio de quatro indicadores contábeis. Pretendeu-se responder questão relacionada à tendência da evolução desses indicadores no contexto da empresa pesquisada durante o segundo semestre de 2014. Para tanto, inicialmente são evidenciados os conceitos inerentes aos parâmetros de análise mencionados. Em seguida são abordados os aspectos metodológicos do estudo de caso (descritivo e qualitativo, são descritas as etapas percorridas para calcular os indicadores citados e apresentados e comentados os resultados apurados. Concluiu-se que a tendência verificada foi inadequada quanto à produtividade dos ativos, pois os valores obtidos indicaram baixa produtividade dos ativos utilizados. Além disso, apurou-se trajetória evolutiva divergente dos parâmetros mensurados, indicando cenários conflitantes. Finalizando o texto foram ressaltadas algumas limitações e mencionadas as conclusões do estudo efetuado. This article reports a case study on the comparative measurement of factory assets’ productivity of a disposable plastic products’ factory within four indicators: ROI (Return on Investments, ROA (Return on Assets, EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization and EVA (Economic Value Added. It was intended to answer a question related to the evolution trend of these indicators in the context of the company researched during the second half of 2014. Thus, the inherent concepts to the mentioned analysis parameters are initially disclosed. After that, the methodological aspects of the case study (descriptive and qualitative are discussed. Then, the steps taken to calculate the above indicators are described. Finally, the results obtained are presented and discussed. It was concluded that the trend was inadequate on the productivity of assets, because the values obtained indicate low productivity of the used assets

Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline: a study on the economic viability; Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil: um estudo sobre a viabilidade economica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Fabiano Ionta Andrade; Almeida, Isaque da Silva [Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo Andre, SP (Brazil); Guerra, Sinclair Mallet Guy [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil)

2008-07-01

In the year of 2003 the Brazilian government, as form of to stimulate the demand for natural gas in the country and to promote the success of the investment accomplished in the construction of the pipe line Bolivia-Brazil, it lowered the price of the Bolivian commodity' in US$0,85/MMBTU. In the end of 2005 and mainly in 2006, the current Bolivian president Evo Morales nationalized the energy reservations of your country. To main change it is related to the price of sale of the Bolivian input. The values stipulated in contract they were broken and new negotiations are in process. The maximum capacity of transport of natural gas was reached in 2007. However, before the crisis established due to the measure taken by the government from Bolivia, Brazil suspended the investments in compressors and the projections of increase of this capacity were stagnated. One of the forecasts was to increase in at least more 50% of the current capacity or even in 100% in a more promising scenery. Before this context this research makes the analysis of economical viability regarding the construction of the pipe line Bolivia-Brazil in agreement with three sceneries. The first of them suggests that the investments foreseen in compressors it was stopped and, this way, the pipe line will operate it ties the end of the amortization with your current maximum capacity. The second scenery already suggests that the investments were not interrupted, in other words, the current maximum capacity was overcome in 50%. Similarly to the previous ones, the third scenery makes reference the overrun of the current capacity in 100%. The methodology used for such an analysis it was lent of the financial mathematics and it is treated of the calculation of TIR and of VPL. Both studies show that in agreement with TIR (15%) and VPL the economical viability is satisfactory. The president of PETROBRAS is renegotiating the contract and the investments will probably be retaken. This measured it seeks to

EDF group - Reference Document, Annual Financial Report 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

The EDF group is an integrated energy company with a presence in a wide range of electricity-related businesses: nuclear, renewable and fossil-fuel fired energy production, transmission, distribution, marketing as well as energy management and efficiency services, along with energy trading. It is France's leading electricity operator and has a strong position in Europe (United Kingdom, Italy, countries in Central and Eastern Europe), making it one of the world's leading electrical providers as well as a recognized player in the gas industry. With a worldwide net installed capacity of 134.6 GWe as of 31 December 2011 (124.2 GWe in Europe) and global energy generation of 628.2 TWh, the Group has one of the largest generating capacities of all the major worldwide energy corporations with the lowest level of CO 2 emissions per KWh generated due to the proportion of nuclear, hydroelectric power and other renewable energies in its generation mix. The EDF group supplies electricity, gas and associated services to more than 37.7 million customer accounts worldwide (including nearly 27.9 million in France). The Group's businesses reflect its adoption of a model aimed at finding the best balance between French and international activities, competitive and regulated operations and based on an upstream-downstream integration. In 2011, the Group's consolidated sales revenues was 65.3 billion Euros, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization came to 14.8 billion Euros, and net income excluding non-recurring items stood at 3.5 billion Euros. This document is EDF Group's Reference Document and Annual Financial Report for the year 2012. It contains information about: the Group activities, risk factors, Investments, Business, Strategy, Organisational charts, Property, plant and equipment, Operating and financial review, Cash flows and capital, Research and development, patents and licenses, Information on trends, Financial outlook

EDF group - Reference Document 2008. Leading the energy change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The EDF group is an integrated energy company with a presence in a wide range of electricity-related businesses: generation, transmission, distribution, supply and energy trading. It is France's leading electricity operator and has a strong position in the three other main European markets (Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy), making it one of Europe's leading electrical players as well as a recognized player in the gas industry. With worldwide installed power capacity totaling 127.1 GW (124.8 GW in Europe) and global energy generation of 609.9 TWh, it has the largest generating capacity of all the major European energy corporations with the lowest level of CO 2 emissions due to the significant proportion of nuclear and hydroelectric power in its generation mix. The EDF group supplies gas, electricity, and associated services to more than 38 million customer accounts worldwide (including approximately 28 million in France). The EDF group's businesses reflect its adoption of a model aimed at finding the best balance between French and international activities, and between competitive and regulated operations. In 2008, the Group's consolidated revenues were euros 64.3 billion, the net income (Group share) was euros 3.4 billion, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization was euros 14.2 billion. Since July 1, 2007, the EDF group conducts its business in a European market that is completely open to competition. Since January 1, 2008, ERDF, a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF, has assumed responsibility for all distribution in France, while RTE-EDF Transport is responsible for all transmission activities. This document is EDF Group's Reference Document for the year 2008. It contains information about: the Group activities, risk factors, Business overview, Organizational structure, Property plant and equipment, Operating and financial review, Capital resources and cash flows, Research and development, patents and licenses

Value-based assessment of robotic pancreas and liver surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Patti, James C; Ore, Ana Sofia; Barrows, Courtney; Velanovich, Vic; Moser, A James

2017-08-01

must incorporate (I) quality of life, survival, and return to independent function alongside data such as (II) intent-to-treat analysis of minimally-invasive surgery accounting for conversions to open, (III) surgeon and institution experience and operative time as surrogates for the learning curve; and (IV) amortization and maintenance costs as well as direct costs of disposables and instruments.

Costing in Radiotherapy. Chapter 18

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zubizarreta, E.; Lievens, Y.; Levin, V.C.; Van Der Merwe, D.

2017-01-01

represents only part of the total cost involved in running the department over a period of ten years. Training of personnel, salaries, maintenance and amortization can represent three times the initial investment in that period. But even when including all these costs, radiotherapy is a relatively inexpensive treatment modality, which can, as discussed later, be extremely cost effective.

Enabling the First Interstellar Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Lubin, P.

2017-12-01

All propulsion systems that leave the Earth are based on chemical reactions. Chemical reactions, at best, have an efficiency compared to rest mass of 10-10 (or about 1eV per bond). All the mass in the universe converted to chemical reactions would not propel even a single proton to relativistic speeds. While chemistry will get us to Mars it will not allow interstellar capability in any reasonable mission time. Barring new physics we are left with few realistic solutions. None of our current propulsion systems, including nuclear, are capable of the relativistic speeds needed for exploring the many nearby stellar systems and exo-planets. However recent advances in photonics and directed energy systems now allow us to realize what was only a decade ago, simply science fiction, namely the ability to seriously conceive of and plan for relativistic flight. From fully-functional gram-level wafer-scale spacecraft capable of speeds greater than c/4 that could reach the nearest star in 20 years to spacecraft for large missions capable of supporting human life with masses more than 105 kg (100 tons) for rapid interplanetary transit that could reach speeds of greater than 1000 km/s can be realized. With this technology spacecraft can be propelled to speeds currently unimaginable. Photonics, like electronics, and unlike chemical propulsion is an exponential technology with a current double time of about 20 months. This is the key. The cost of such a system is amortized over the essentially unlimited number of launches. In addition, the same photon driver can be used for many other purposes including beamed energy to power high Isp ion engines, remote asteroid composition analysis and planetary defense. This would be a profound change in human capability with enormous implications. Known as Starlight we are now in a NASA Phase II study. The FY 2017 congressional appropriations request directs NASA to study the feasibility of an interstellar mission to coincide with the 100th

Energy conservation by single room control in public buildings dedicated to teaching, e.g. schools, vocational schools, technical universities and universities. Final report; Energieeinsparung durch Einzelraumregelung in oeffentlichen Liegenschaften mit Lehrbetrieb z.B. Schulen, Berufsschulen, Fachhochschulen und Universitaeten. Abschlussbericht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nordmann, D.

2000-07-01

The energy-saving effect of single-room control of heating systems was investigated. For this purpose, a single-room control system was installed in a university building of 1961, and energy savings were monitored for a 2-year period, with the following results: 1. The potential savings amounted to 28% in both test years. 2. Different operating strategies were used in order to assess the contribution of heating system components. 3. The amortization period is less than 8 years, i.e. much less than the expected life of the systems. 4. Appropriate technical facilities improve the operation and control of a heat supply system in large buildings. 5. Proposals for improving the functionality of single room control systems were developed. 6. Recommendations were given on how to best modernize the control systems of large buildings. 7. The results can be applied to similar buildings as well. [German] Das Forschungsprojekt hatte folgende Ziele: 1. Die Ermittlung des Energie-Einsparpotentials 2. die daraus resultierende Wirtschaftlichkeit 3. die Optimierung der Regelstrategien 4. Erstellung von Handlungsempfehlungen bei der Sanierung mittels Einzelraumregelung. Es wurde in einem Trakt eines aus dem Jahre 1961 stammenden Hochschulgebaeudes, dessen Gebaeudehuelle sich noch in einem unveraenderten Zustand befindet, ein Einzelraumregelsystem mit zugehoeriger Gebaeudeleittechnik (GLT) installiert. Im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts wurde ueber zwei Heizperioden die damit erreichte Einsparung an Heizenergie untersucht. Im Rahmen des Projektes konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass besonders bei Gebaeuden mit diskontinuierlicher Nutzung die regelungstechnische Sanierung sowohl oekonomisch als auch oekologisch sinnvoll ist. Im Einzelnen konnten die folgenden Ergebnisse ermittelt werden: 1. Es konnte in beiden Heizperioden des Untersuchungszeitraums ein Einsparpotential von ca. 28% nachgewiesen werden. 2. Es wurden unterschiedliche Strategien zum Betrieb des Einzelraumregelsystems

Direct costs of emergency medical care: a diagnosis-based case-mix classification system.

Science.gov (United States)

Baraff, L J; Cameron, J M; Sekhon, R

1991-01-01

To develop a diagnosis-based case mix classification system for emergency department patient visits based on direct costs of care designed for an outpatient setting. Prospective provider time study with collection of financial data from each hospital's accounts receivable system and medical information, including discharge diagnosis, from hospital medical records. Three community hospital EDs in Los Angeles County during selected times in 1984. Only direct costs of care were included: health care provider time, ED management and clerical personnel excluding registration, nonlabor ED expense including supplies, and ancillary hospital services. Indirect costs for hospitals and physicians, including depreciation and amortization, debt service, utilities, malpractice insurance, administration, billing, registration, and medical records were not included. Costs were derived by valuing provider time based on a formula using annual income or salary and fringe benefits, productivity and direct care factors, and using hospital direct cost to charge ratios. Physician costs were based on a national study of emergency physician income and excluded practice costs. Patients were classified into one of 216 emergency department groups (EDGs) on the basis of the discharge diagnosis, patient disposition, age, and the presence of a limited number of physician procedures. Total mean direct costs ranged from $23 for follow-up visit to $936 for trauma, admitted, with critical care procedure. The mean total direct costs for the 16,771 nonadmitted patients was $69. Of this, 34% was for ED costs, 45% was for ancillary service costs, and 21% was for physician costs. The mean total direct costs for the 1,955 admitted patients was $259. Of this, 23% was for ED costs, 63% was for ancillary service costs, and 14% was for physician costs. Laboratory and radiographic services accounted for approximately 85% of all ancillary service costs and 38% of total direct costs for nonadmitted patients

Cost Savings of Nuclear Power with Total Fuel Reprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solbrig, Charles W.; Benedict, Robert W.

2006-01-01

The cost of fast reactor (FR) generated electricity with pyro-processing is estimated in this article. It compares favorably with other forms of energy and is shown to be less than that produced by light water reactors (LWR's). FR's use all the energy in natural uranium whereas LWR's utilize only 0.7% of it. Because of high radioactivity, pyro-processing is not open to weapon material diversion. This technology is ready now. Nuclear power has the same advantage as coal power in that it is not dependent upon a scarce foreign fuel and has the significant additional advantage of not contributing to global warming or air pollution. A jump start on new nuclear plants could rapidly allow electric furnaces to replace home heating oil furnaces and utilize high capacity batteries for hybrid automobiles: both would reduce US reliance on oil. If these were fast reactors fueled by reprocessed fuel, the spent fuel storage problem could also be solved. Costs are derived from assumptions on the LWR's and FR's five cost components: 1) Capital costs: LWR plants cost $106/MWe. FR's cost 25% more. Forty year amortization is used. 2) The annual O and M costs for both plants are 9% of the Capital Costs. 3) LWR fuel costs about 0.0035 $/kWh. Producing FR fuel from spent fuel by pyro-processing must be done in highly shielded hot cells which is costly. However, the five foot thick concrete walls have the advantage of prohibiting diversion. LWR spent fuel must be used as feedstock for the FR initial core load and first two reloads so this FR fuel costs more than LWR fuel. FR fuel costs much less for subsequent core reloads ( 6 /MWe. The annual cost for a 40 year licensed plant would be 2.5 % of this or less if interest is taken into account. All plants will eventually have to replace those components which become radiation damaged. FR's should be designed to replace parts rather than decommission. The LWR costs are estimated to be 2.65 cents/kWh. FR costs are 2.99 cents/kWh for the first

Cost/CYP: a bottom line that helps keep CSM projects cost-efficient.

Science.gov (United States)

1985-01-01

In contraceptive social marketing (CSM), the objective is social good, but project managers also need to run a tight ship, trimming costs, allocating scarce funds, and monitoring their program's progress. 1 way CSM managers remain cost-conscious is through the concept of couple-years-of-protection (CYP). Devised 2 decades ago as an administrative tool to compare the effects of different contraceptive methods, CYP's uses have multiplied to include assessing program output and cost effectiveness. Some of the factors affecting cost/CYP are a project's age, sales volume, management efficiency, and product prices and line. These factors are interconnected. The cost/CYP figures given here do not include outlays for commodities. While the Agency for International Development's commodity costs alter slightly with each new purchase contrast, the agency reports that a condom costs about 4 cents (US), an oral contraceptive (OC) cycle about 12 cents, and a spermicidal tablet about 7 cents. CSM projects have relatively high start-up costs. Within a project's first 2 years, expenses must cover such marketing activities as research, packaging, warehousing, and heavy promotion. As a project ages, sales should grow, producing revenues that gradually amortize these initial costs. The Nepal CSM project provides an example of how cost/CYP can improve as a program ages. In 1978, the year sales began, the project's cost/CYP was about $84. For some time the project struggled to get its products to its target market and gradually overcome several major hurdles. The acquisition of jeeps eased distribution and, by adding another condom brand, sales were increased still more, bringing the cost/CYP down to $8.30 in 1981. With further sales increases and resulting revenues, the cost/CYP dropped to just over $7 in 1983. When the sales volume becomes large enough, CSM projects can achieve economies of scale, which greatly improves cost-efficiency. Fixed costs shrink as a proportion of total

Bioeconomy analysis in Aesthetic Dentistry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea Dana Tudose

2015-12-01

technical report of treatment ( labor - price, average duration, satisfaction, relative to direct restoration techniques versus indirect techniques . In conclusion, SWOT analysis can be successfully applied to a better targeting of treatments, applying a plan lines for management in dental treatment units. None of direct techniques can not fit the bioeconomy principles (saves time, money, dental tissue in the short term. All maneuvers efficient in terms of functional aesthetics dentistry win at time saving and lost tooth structure chapter to the cost issue. In the long run costs can be amortized, especially since the restoration increases predictability.

Analysis of the growth poles in esthetic dentistry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea Dana Tudose

2015-05-01

presented a report on the economic analysis - term labor - cost - average degree of patient satisfaction . In order to establish an economic plan to make a technical report of treatment ( labor - price, average duration, satisfaction, relative to direct restoration techniques versus indirect techniques.In conclusion, SWOT analysis can be successfully applied to a better targeting of treatments, applying a plan lines for management in dental treatment units. None of direct techniques can not fit the bioeconomy principles (saves time, money, dental tissue in the short term. All maneuvers efficient in terms of functional aesthetics dentistry win at time saving and lost tooth structure chapter to the cost issue. In the long run costs can be amortized, especially since the restoration increases predictability.

Development of a solar-assisted curing process for cigar tobacco; Entwicklung eines solargestuetzten Trocknungsverfahrens fuer Zigarrentabak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bux, M.

1996-12-31

The newly developed solar-assisted drying plant permitted to reduce drying time from between 30 and 40 days to between 18 and 22 days, and to increase the amount filled in from approximately 27 to 67 kilogrammes per square metre. Leaf loss during drying was cut down from between 4 and 6 per cent as previously to about 0.2 per cent. Specific energy demand was by a factor of 12 lower than the demand of conventional driers: the actual demand was 4.8 MJ per kilogramme of tobacco as compared to 58 MJ per kilogramme previously. Taking into account capital, labour, energy and repair costs, a rise in proceeds from solar-dried tobacco of about US $ 1.50 per kilogramme, and the cost involved by higher leaf loss using the conventional technique, drying cost using the solar-assisted method was US $ 2.16 per kilogramme of tobacco. For the conventional method, drying cost was US $ 4.74 per kilogramme. Accordingly, the amortization period of the solar-assisted plant is only two to three years. The solar-assisted method would only cease to be economical if investment costs were increased by 64 per cent, if the interest rate went up to 44 per cent or if the costs arising from leaf loss dropped to US $ 0.8. (orig./HW) [Deutsch] Durch den Einsatz der neu entwickelten solargestuetzten Trocknungsanlage konnte die Trocknungsdauer von bislang 30 bis 40 auf 18 bis 22 Tage reduziert und die Fuellmenge von ca. 27 auf 67 kg/m{sup 2} gesteigert werden. Die Blattverluste waehrend der Trocknung wurden von bislang 4 bis 6% auf ca. 0,2% gesenkt. Der spezifische Energiebedarf war mit 4,8 gegenueber 58 MJ/kg Tabak um den Faktor 12 geringer als der Bedarf konventionller Trockner. Unter Beruecksichtigung von Kapital-, Arbeits-, Energie- und Reparaturkosten, des im Mittel um 1,5 US Dollar/kg hoeheren Stueckerloeses solargetrockneten Tabaks, sowie der Kosten aufgrund der hoeheren Blattverluste beim konventionellen Verfahren, betrugen die Trocknungsstueckkosten des solargestuetzten Verfahrens 2,16 US

Novel Adaptive Fixturing for Thin Walled Aerospace Parts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merlo, Angelo; Ricciardi, Donato; Salvi, Edoardo; Fantinati, Dario; Iorio, Ernesto

2011-01-01

In the aerospace industry the monolithic structures have been introduced to reduce the costs of assembling large numbers of components. The expected benefit of using thin walled monolithic parts is given by a large reduction in the overall manufacturing costs, nevertheless this kind of component encounters a critical phase in fixturing. Fixtures are used to locate and hold workpieces during manufacturing. Because workpiece surface errors and fixture set-up errors (called source errors) always exist, the fixtured workpiece will consequently have position and/or orientation errors (called resultant errors) that will definitely affect the final machining accuracy. Most often the current clamping procedure is not straightforward, it implies several steps and the success of the operation hardly depends by the skill of the human operator. It is estimated that fixturing could constitute 10-20% of the total manufacturing costs, assuming that the fixtures are amortized over relatively small batches. Fixturing devices must satisfy two requisites, which, in some terms, are opposite: - to provide relatively high forces in order to guarantee that the workpiece will be maintained in position under the maximum cutting forces; - to reduce as much as possible strains induced in the workpiece. Limiting the strains induced in the workpiece is crucial because of elastic strain recovery: releasing the clamped workpiece would result in an unwanted final deformation. In this paper a novel adaptive fixturing based on active clamping forces (supplied by piezoelectric actuators) is presented: a real aerospace part case study, - a Nozzle Guide Vane (NGV) -, is introduced, the related problems are identified, and the adopted solutions shown. The proposed adaptive fixturing device can lead to the following advantages: - to perform an automatic errors-free workpiece clamping and then drastically reduce the overall fixturing set up time; - to recover unwanted strains induced to the workpiece, in

Phytoremediation of spoil coal dumps in Western Donbass (Ukraine)

Science.gov (United States)

Klimkina, Iryna; Kharytonov, Mykola; Wiche, Oliver; Heilmeier, Hermann

2017-04-01

At the moment, in Ukraine about 150 thousand hectares of fertile land are occupied by spoil dumps. Moreover, this figure increases every year. According to the technology used about 1500 m3 of adjacent stratum is dumped at the surface per every 1000 tons of coal mined. Apart from land amortization, waste dumps drastically change the natural landscape and pollute air, soil and water sources as the result of water and wind erosion, as well as self-ignition processes. A serious concern exists with respect to the Western Donbass coal mining region in Ukraine, where the coal extraction is made by the subsurface way and solid wastes are represented by both spoil dumps and wastes after coal processing. Sulphides, mostly pyrite (up to 4% of waste material), are widely distributed in the waste heaps freshly removed due to coal mining in Western Donbass.The oxidation of pyrite with the presence of oxygen and water is accompanied by a sharp drop in the pH from the surface layer to the spoil dumps(from 5.2-6.2 to 3.9-4.2 in soil substrates with chernozen and from 8.3-8.4 to 6.7-7.2 in soil substrates with red-brown clay, stabilizing in dump material in both cases at 2.9-3.2). Low pH generates the transformation of a number of toxic metals and other elementspresent in waste rock (e.g. Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Mo, Co, As, Cd, Bi, Pb, U) into mobile forms. To stabilize and reduce metal mobility the most resistant plants that occur naturally in specified ecosystems can be used. On coal spoil dumpsin Western Donbas the dominant species are Bromopsis inermis, subdominant Artemisia austriaca; widespread are also Festucas pp., Lathyrus tuberosus, Inula sp., Calamagrostis epigeios, Lotus ucrainicus, and Vicias pp. Identification of plants tolerant to target metals is a key issue in phytotechnology for soil restoration. It is hypothesized that naturally occurring plants growing on coal spoil dumps can be candidates for phytostabilization, phytoextraction (phytoaccumulation) and phytomining

Nuclear power plant life management. Proceedings of a symposium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

Presently, an area of major interest of the IAEA is the management of the nuclear power plant (NPP) life cycle from concept development to decommissioning and disposal, with the primary objective of maximising the return on investment in nuclear facilities through efficient operation of NPPs. 441 NPPs, with a capacity of about 350GW(e) supplied 16% of global electricity in 2002. Of these, about 300 NPPs have been in operation for 15 years or more and these older units with partially or fully amortized capital costs have proven to be the most profitable. Moreover, there are no significant safety or economic reasons not to continue the operation of well managed NPPs over a longer period and consequently the issues of plant life management and license extension are receiving increasing emphasis in many countries. Forecasts of nuclear power growth over the next two decades range from 350GW(e) in the worst case to 500GW(e) in the best case. This will need additional personnel and expansion of the infrastructure in the developing countries, particularly as much of the new demand growth is forecast to take place outside the countries where most of the existing infrastructure resides. All aspects of NPP life cycle management are addressed by the IAEA and are briefly described in these proceedings. The IAEA Technical Working Group on Life Management of Nuclear Power Plants (TWG-LMNPP) recommended, during its regular meeting in February 1999, that the IAEA should consider holding a symposium on this subject area in 2002. This TWG-LMNPP Proposal was approved and, this symposium was held, attended by 138 participants from 32 Member States and 2 international organizations. The objectives of the symposium were as follows: Emphasise the role of NPP life management programmes in assuring a safe and reliable NPP operating cycle; Identify progress in methodological and technological developments for managing ageing processes and understanding ageing mechanisms; Provide a forum for

Estimation of 18FDG doses's cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamza, Fatma; Amouri, W.; Jardak, I.; Kallel, F.; Charfeddine, S.; Guermazi, F.

2013-01-01

The cyclotron facility, essentially for medical use, is far from being a simple establishment of a dedicated device to accelerate particles producing a beta plus emitter radioelement. The cyclotron site encompasses more over all necessary equipments for the production and the quality control of considered radiotracer that 18 FDG is just one example. This facility is subject to strict standards in terms of radiopharmaceutical production, radiation level, pressure level and airflow resulting in the production of a drug submitted to the MA (Marketing Authorization). These multiple factors directly influence the final cost of the dose that remains to be reachable by the patient. The aim of this work is to estimate the cost of a dose of 18 FDG to ensure financial viability of the project while accessible to the patient. The cost of the facility will entail the following: buildings and utilities, equipment and operational cost. This calculation is possible only if we define in advance the type of cyclotron, which is bound to the market needs in particular the number of PET facilities, the number of scans per day and the radioactive decay of radioelement. Our study represents a simulation that considers some hypothesis. We assumed that the cyclotron is installed in Sousse and that the PET facilities number (positon emission tomography) is 6 in which 4 are located 2 hours away. For a PET scan, the average dose per patient is about 350 MBq (5 MBq/kg) and the exam duration is about 45 minutes. Each center performs 10 tests per day. In terms of fees, we considered device and building's cost, facility amortization, consumables (target, marking accessories), maintenance, remuneration expense and the annual electricity consumption. All our calculations have been reported to the number of working days per year. The estimates were made outside the customs duties and technical assistance that may last up to 2 years. Requirements and needs were estimated at 5.4 curies per day. For

The development of the Kozloduy NPP in the conditions of liberalized energy market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, A.

2003-01-01

The paper discusses specificities of the energy sector as a business system in the condition of liberalized energy market. The government influence the business system through the rate of economical stability and and possibility for prognosis, as well as through the direct influence of the field government institutions on the process of the development of the economical structures. The finance system influences the government ability to support and lead the industrial development. Two main system types are known: decentralized management (in countries with developed stock markets and a system for entrusting of activities on contract basis) and centralized (the success of the policy is connected with the success of the economical growth). Another aspect of the management in a business environment is the procedure of decision making for the firm policy formation and applying of a model for firm development. The transition to liberalized market means a significant limitation of the role of the government, which in the Bulgarian case should replace the state control system in real time and the state credit. Since the low amortization the electricity production has low cost price and possibility for generation of rehabilitation funds, i.e for extension of the service life on minimal cost. The funds can be used for improvement of the stability of the sector. For the purposes of the analysis made, system parameters are reviewed with regard of the market realities. The Balkan region is semi-closed energy system 40% of the electricity is imported from several countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Albania. The prices are greatly influenced by the moment conditions of the electricity production and industry in the region. The policy should be oriented in two directions: expectations for interests in the privatization of electric energy companies and appropriate strategy for preservation of the market positions. The analysis of the factors influencing nuclear energy

Culling from the actors' perspectives-Decision-making criteria for culling in Québec dairy herds enrolled in a veterinary preventive medicine program.

Science.gov (United States)

Haine, Denis; Cue, Roger; Sewalem, Asheber; Wade, Kevin; Lacroix, René; Lefebvre, Daniel; Rushton, Jonathan; Arsenault, Julie; Bouchard, Émile; Dubuc, Jocelyn

2017-12-01

The series of events leading to the decision to cull a cow is complex, involving both individual-level and herd-level factors. While the decision is guided by financial returns, it is also influenced by social and psychological factors. Research studies on the motivational and behavioural aspects of farmers' decision utility are sparse, and nonexistent regarding culling expectations and its decision process. Our goal was to identify shared criteria on culling decisions held by dairy producers and farm advisers, with the help of the Q-methodology. Forty-one dairy producers and 42 advisers (17 veterinarians, 13 feed mill advisers, and 12 dairy herd improvement (DHI) advisers) undertook a Q-sort with 40 statements that represented a range of views about cow and herd health, production performance, management issues, and material factors that might impact their culling decision-making process. The sorts were analysed by-person using factor analysis and oblimin rotation. A single view on culling could be identified among dairy producers that can be extended to dairy farm advisers, who showed two variations of the same well-structured, uni-dimensional decision-making process. Udder health, milk production performance, and milk quota management were the key criteria for the culling decision. Farm management parameters (debts, amortization, employees, milking parlour capacity, herd size) did not play any role in the decision process. Three key differences were, however, identified between producers and the two types of advisers. One group of advisers followed the recommendations from mathematical models, where pregnancy is a major determinant of a cow's value. They assessed the cow in a more abstract way than did the other participants, still taking into account udder health and milk production, but adding economic considerations, like the availability of financial incentives and an evaluation of the post-partum health of the cow. Dairy producers were also more concerned

License renewal in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brons, Jack

2002-01-01

license renewal applications, and virtually every reactor in the United States is now expected to apply. License renewal is economically beneficial since the plants are fully amortized and operating and maintenance costs of an efficiently-operating plant is low. Continued operation of nuclear plants, by far the largest source of emission-free electricity generation in the U.S., will also bring environmental benefits. Nuclear plant operations avoided emissions of nearly 175 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2000, in addition to millions of tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. NEI continues to work with the NRC on generic principles and streamlining regulations, with the aim of further reducing both the time and the cost of license renewal. (author)

Cost analysis of ground-water supplies in the North Atlantic region, 1970

Science.gov (United States)

Cederstrom, Dagfin John

1973-01-01

The cost of municipal and industrial ground water (or, more specifically, large supplies of ground water) at the wellhead in the North Atlantic Region in 1970 generally ranged from 1.5 to 5 cents per thousand gallons. Water from crystalline rocks and shale is relatively expensive. Water from sandstone is less so. Costs of water from sands and gravels in glaciated areas and from Coastal Plain sediments range from moderate to very low. In carbonate rocks costs range from low to fairly high. The cost of ground water at the wellhead is low in areas of productive aquifers, but owing to the cost of connecting pipe, costs increase significantly in multiple-well fields. In the North Atlantic Region, development of small to moderate supplies of ground water may offer favorable cost alternatives to planners, but large supplies of ground water for delivery to one point cannot generally be developed inexpensively. Well fields in the less productive aquifers may be limited by costs to 1 or 2 million gallons a day, but in the more favorable aquifers development of several tens of millions of gallons a day may be practicable and inexpensive. Cost evaluations presented cannot be applied to any one specific well or specific site because yields of wells in any one place will depend on the local geologic and hydrologic conditions; however, with such cost adjustments as may be necessary, the methodology presented should have wide applicability. Data given show the cost of water at the wellhead based on the average yield of several wells. The cost of water delivered by a well field includes costs of connecting pipe and of wells that have the yields and spacings specified. Cost of transport of water from the well field to point of consumption and possible cost of treatment are not evaluated. In the methodology employed, costs of drilling and testing, pumping equipment, engineering for the well field, amortization at 5% percent interest, maintenance, and cost of power are considered. The

Profitability of wood harvesting enterprises

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penttinen, M. email: markku.penttinen@metla.fi; Mikkola, J. email: jarmo.mikkola@metla.fi; Rummukainen, A. email: arto.rummukainen@metla.fi

2009-07-01

that period. The median net profit was best in limited companies and partnerships; about 6 percent. The annual reserve after debt amortization and investment was some 50 000 euro among the biggest enterprises, about 30 000 euro among the medium size groups and at most some 10 000 euro in the smallest ones. Return on capital varied only a little, showing a slight decrease towards the end of study period. In 2007, return on assets (ROA) was around 12%, except in enterprises with turnover of less than 75 000 euro, where ROA was two percent. Return on equity (ROE) varied between 15 and 25%, except for the smallest enterprises, with less than 10%. The harvesting business, with limited means of meeting the severe challenges of global recession, cease operations for several months. Finding a profitable growing formula and qualified operators is a challenge, even without these cuts. (orig.)

A importância do planejamento estratégico associado à utilização de ferramentas de controle para maximização da lucratividade em confinamento de gado de corte = Importance of strategic planning associated with the use of control tools for maximizing profitability in beef cattle feedlot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Braren Damato

2015-04-01

information of production and financial results in the year 2012 were obtained. Actual and simulated scenarios were compared to apply EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A brief explanation of factors that directly influenced the calculations was also presented. Studies show that the use of a strategic plan can contribute positively to profitability by showing the best time to confine, animals’ profile, and ideal period to keep animals in the fattening system. Due to business confidentiality, the source of the data was not allowed to be disclosed.

Availability of and access to orphan drugs: an international comparison of pharmaceutical treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension, Fabry disease, hereditary angioedema and chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Blankart, Carl Rudolf; Stargardt, Tom; Schreyögg, Jonas

2011-01-01

England. Although the prices of all of the included drugs were high compared with those of most non-orphan drugs, most of the insurance plans in our country sample provided coverage for authorized drugs after a certain threshold. Availability of and access to orphan drugs play a key role in determining whether patients will receive adequate and efficient treatment. Although the present study showed some variations between countries in selected indicators of availability and access to orphan drugs, virtually all of the drugs in question were available and accessible in our sample. However, substantial co-payments in the US and Canada represent important barriers to patient access, especially in the case of expensive treatments such as those analysed in this study. Market exclusivity is a strong instrument for fostering orphan drug development and drug availability. However, despite the positive effect of this instrument, the conditions under which market exclusivity is granted should be reconsidered in cases where the costs of developing an orphan drug have already been amortized through the use of the drug's active ingredient for the treatment of a common indication.

Facilitating NASA Earth Science Data Processing Using Nebula Cloud Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, A.; Pham, L.; Kempler, S.; Theobald, M.; Esfandiari, A.; Campino, J.; Vollmer, B.; Lynnes, C.

2011-12-01

better performance than the local machine. Much of the difference was due to newer equipment in the Nebula than the legacy computer, which is suggestive of a potential economic advantage beyond elastic power, i.e., access to up-to-date hardware vs. legacy hardware that must be maintained past its prime to amortize the cost. In addition to a trade study of advantages and challenges of porting complex processing to the cloud, a tutorial was developed to enable further progress in utilizing the Nebula for Earth Science applications and understanding better the potential for Cloud Computing in further data- and computing-intensive Earth Science research. In particular, highly bursty computing such as that experienced in the user-demand-driven Giovanni system may become more tractable in a Cloud environment. Our future work will continue to focus on migrating more GES DISC's applications/instances, e.g. Giovanni instances, to the Nebula platform and making matured migrated applications to be in operation on the Nebula.

Dry storage technologies: keys to choosing among metal casks, concrete shielded steel canister modules and vaults

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roland, V.; Solignac, Y.; Chiguer, M.; Guenon, Y.

2003-01-01

The current international trend towards expanding Spent Fuel Interim Dry Storage capabilities goes with an improvement of the performance of the proposed systems which have to accommodate Spent fuel Assemblies characterized by ever increasing burn-up, fissile isotopes contents, thermal releases, and total inventory. Due to heterogeneous worldwide reactor pools and specific local constraints the proposed solutions have also to cope with a wide fuel design variety. Moreover, the Spent fuel Assemblies stored temporarily for cooling may have to be transported either to reprocessing facilities or to interim storage facilities before direct disposal; it is the reason why the retrievability, including or not transportability of the proposed systems, is often specified by the Utilities for the design of their Storage systems and sometimes by law. This paper shows on examples developed within companies of AREVA Group the key parameters and elements that can direct toward the selection of a technology in a user specific context. Some of the constraints are ability to dry store at once a large number of spent fuel assemblies, readily available, on a given site. No urgent need for further move of the fuel is foreseen. Then clearly a Vault Type Storage system developed and implemented by SGN is an excellent solution: It combines passive safety with immediate large capacity, which allows quick amortization of fuel receiving equipment. In addition the versatile storage position can easily accept in the same facility different fuel types, and also intermediate and High Level Waste. This is the reason why a vault system is often a preferred solution for a long-term dry interim centralized storage, for a multiplicity of spent fuel. It can be also a choice solution when the ISFSI stands on a site that is dedicated permanently to many different nuclear activities.In most cases, the producers of spent fuel require a large capacity that is cumulated over many years, each reload at a

Academic Health Systems Management: The Rationale Behind Capitated Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Taheri, Paul A.; Butz, David A.; Greenfield, Lazar J.

2000-01-01

Objective To determine why hospitals enter into “capitated” contracts, which often generate accounting losses. The authors’ hypothesis is that hospitals coordinate contracts to keep beds full and that in principal, capitated contracts reflect sound capacity management. Summary Background Data In high-overhead industries, different consumers pay different prices for similar services (e.g., full-fare vs. advanced-purchase plane tickets, full tuition vs. financial aid). Some consumers gain access by paying less than total cost. Hospitals, like other high-overhead business enterprises, must optimize the use of their capacity, amortizing overhead over as many patients as possible. This necessity for enhanced throughput forces hospitals and health systems to discount empty beds, sometimes to the point where they incur accounting losses serving some payors. Methods The authors analyzed the cost accounting system at their university teaching hospital to compare hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) lengths of stay (LOS), variable direct costs (VDC), overhead of capitated patients, and reimbursement versus other payors for all hospital discharges (n = 29,036) in fiscal year 1998. The data were analyzed by diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), length of stay (LOS), insurance carrier, proximity to hospital, and discharge disposition. Patients were then distinguished across payor categories based on their resource utilization, proximity to the hospital, DRG, LOS, and discharge status. Results The mean cost for capitated patients was $4,887, less than half of the mean cost of $10,394 for the entire hospitalized population. The mean capitated reimbursement was $928/day, exceeding the mean daily VDC of $616 but not the total cost of $1,445/day. Moreover, the mean total cost per patient day of treating a capitated patient was $400 less than the mean total cost per day for noncapitated patients. The hospital’s capitated health maintenance organization (HMO) patients made up 16

Economic evaluation comparing intraoperative cone beam CT-based navigation and conventional fluoroscopy for the placement of spinal pedicle screws: a patient-level data cost-effectiveness analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Dea, Nicolas; Fisher, Charles G; Batke, Juliet; Strelzow, Jason; Mendelsohn, Daniel; Paquette, Scott J; Kwon, Brian K; Boyd, Michael D; Dvorak, Marcel F S; Street, John T

2016-01-01

Pedicle screws are routinely used in contemporary spinal surgery. Screw misplacement may be asymptomatic but is also correlated with potential adverse events. Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) has been associated with improved screw placement accuracy rates. However, this technology has substantial acquisition and maintenance costs. Despite its increasing usage, no rigorous full economic evaluation comparing this technology to current standard of care has been reported. Medical costs are exploding in an unsustainable way. Health economic theory requires that medical equipment costs be compared with expected benefits. To answer this question for computer-assisted spinal surgery, we present an economic evaluation looking specifically at symptomatic misplaced screws leading to reoperation secondary to neurologic deficits or biomechanical concerns. The study design was an observational case-control study from prospectively collected data of consecutive patients treated with the aid of CAS (treatment group) compared with a matched historical cohort of patients treated with conventional fluoroscopy (control group). The patient sample consisted of consecutive patients treated surgically at a quaternary academic center. The primary effectiveness measure studied was the number of reoperations for misplaced screws within 1 year of the index surgery. Secondary outcome measures included were total adverse event rate and postoperative computed tomography usage for pedicle screw examination. A patient-level data cost-effectiveness analysis from the hospital perspective was conducted to determine the value of a navigation system coupled with intraoperative 3-D imaging (O-arm Imaging and the StealthStation S7 Navigation Systems, Medtronic, Louisville, CO, USA) in adult spinal surgery. The capital costs for both alternatives were reported as equivalent annual costs based on the annuitization of capital expenditures method using a 3% discount rate and a 7-year amortization period

Actualización del coste de las inoculaciones accidentales en el personal sanitario hospitalario Update of the cost of needlestick injuries in hospital healthcare personnel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor M. Solano

2005-02-01

account for the main part of the cost. Methods: A cost analysis was carried out. The postexposure program was modeled on a decision tree combining probabilities (percentage of each type of source depending on positivity for the three viruses and immunization status of the health worker against hepatitis B and monetary costs (euros in 2002. Costs included salaries, laboratory, pharmacy (including postexposure prophylaxis, water, gas and electricity, cleaning, telephone, medical and office equipment, amortization and lost productivity. Results: The mean cost was 388 euros, ranging from 1,502 euros (source positive for hepatitis C and HIV to 172 euros (source negative for the three viruses. If the source was hepatitis B positive, the mean cost was 666 euros when the injured worker was not immunized and was 467 euros if the worker was immunized. Serologic tests and postexposure prophylaxis accounted for the main part of the cost. Conclusions: The high cost suggests the need for appropriate risk evaluation to avoid unnecessary follow-ups. The model used allows the cost of each potentially avoidable episode to be determined and could be used in any hospital to perform an economic evaluation of new preventive devices.

Semantic similarity estimation of tasks between telecommunications business processes Estimación de la similitud semántica de tareas entre procesos de negocio de telecomunicaciones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leandro Ordóñez Ante

2012-06-01

Full Text Available As a measure to improve competitiveness in the telecommunications market, currently companies in the sector create new value added services, in order to extend its services portfolio and to ensure either the retention of its customers or increase the number of its subscribers. These new services must rely on business processes defined by the Telecommunications Service Provider, which arecomposed of operation, management, maintenance and support tasks. Generally, Telco Architects reuse those tasks in order to optimize enterprise resourceand to ensure prompt return on investment, amortizing over the shortest possible time the outgoings due to creation and deployment of the new service.The reuse of Telco tasks involves constraints regarding the speed in selection, since usually, there are hundreds of tasks, and it requires the intervention of technical staff to carry out the recovery operations, based on their subjective interpretation of the business process to be implemented. There exist different approaches to automate the resources selection, generally focused on the semantic matching of concepts that describe their access interfaces (inputs and outputs; however, is shown that the application of these techniques omits relevant information contained in other attributes, such as identifiers. For this reason, this paper proposes a mechanism to determine the semantic similarityof tasks that make up telecommunications business processes, considering two perspectives: the inference on the tasks functionality specified in identifiers,and coverage analysis of inputs and outputs.Como una medida para mejorar la competitividad en el mercado de las telecomunicaciones, actualmente las empresas del sector crean nuevos servicios de valor agregado, con el fin de ampliar su portafolio de servicios y garantizar bien sea la permanencia de sus clientes o ampliar el número de suscriptores. Estos nuevos servicios deben estar soportados en los procesos de

Profitability and efficiency of Italian utilities: cluster analysis of financial statement ratios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linares, E.

2008-01-01

The last ten years have witnessed conspicuous changes in European and Italian regulation of public utility services and in the strategies of the major players in these fields. In response to these changes Italian utilities have made a variety of choices regarding size, presence in more or less capital-intensive stages of different value chains, and diversification. These choices have been implemented both through internal growth and by means of mergers and acquisitions. In this context it is interesting to try to establish whether there is a nexus between these choices and the performance of Italian utilities in terms of profitability and efficiency. Therefore statistical multivariate analysis techniques (cluster analysis and factor analysis) have been applied to several ratios obtained from the 2005 financial statement of 34 utilities. First, a hierarchical cluster analysis method has been applied to financial statement data in order to identify homogeneous groups based on several indicators of the incidence of costs (external costs, personnel costs, depreciation and amortization), profitability (return on sales, return on assets, return on equity) and efficiency (in the utilization of personnel, of total assets, of property, plant and equipment). Five clusters have been found. Then the clusters have been characterized in terms of the aforementioned indicators, the presence in different stages of the energy value chains (electricity and gas) and other descriptive variables (such as turnover, number of employees, assets, percentage of property, plant and equipment on total assets, sales revenues from electricity, gas, water supply and sanitation, waste collection and treatment and other services). In a second round cluster analysis has been preceded by factor analysis, in order to find a smaller set of variables. This procedure has revealed three not directly observable factors that can be interpreted as follows: i) efficiency in ordinary and financial management

Academic health systems management: the rationale behind capitated contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Taheri, P A; Butz, D A; Greenfield, L J

2000-06-01

To determine why hospitals enter into "capitated" contracts, which often generate accounting losses. The authors' hypothesis is that hospitals coordinate contracts to keep beds full and that in principal, capitated contracts reflect sound capacity management. In high-overhead industries, different consumers pay different prices for similar services (e.g., full-fare vs. advanced-purchase plane tickets, full tuition vs. financial aid). Some consumers gain access by paying less than total cost. Hospitals, like other high-overhead business enterprises, must optimize the use of their capacity, amortizing overhead over as many patients as possible. This necessity for enhanced throughput forces hospitals and health systems to discount empty beds, sometimes to the point where they incur accounting losses serving some payors. The authors analyzed the cost accounting system at their university teaching hospital to compare hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) lengths of stay (LOS), variable direct costs (VDC), overhead of capitated patients, and reimbursement versus other payors for all hospital discharges (n = 29,036) in fiscal year 1998. The data were analyzed by diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), length of stay (LOS), insurance carrier, proximity to hospital, and discharge disposition. Patients were then distinguished across payor categories based on their resource utilization, proximity to the hospital, DRG, LOS, and discharge status. The mean cost for capitated patients was $4,887, less than half of the mean cost of $10,394 for the entire hospitalized population. The mean capitated reimbursement was $928/day, exceeding the mean daily VDC of $616 but not the total cost of $1,445/day. Moreover, the mean total cost per patient day of treating a capitated patient was $400 less than the mean total cost per day for noncapitated patients. The hospital's capitated health maintenance organization (HMO) patients made up 16. 0% of the total admissions but only 9.4% of the total

The real cost of desalted water and how to reduce it further

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nisan, S.; Blank, J.E.; Tusel, G.F.

2007-01-01

Freshwater scarcity on a worldwide level is now a burning problem, widely discussed in media inter-views and in major newspapers. In this context, the majority of the media are underlining the importance of seawater desalination as an attractive and logical alternative source to fight the freshwater scarcity. Unfortunately the majority of all these discussions are providing a totally wrong picture of the real cost of freshwater production from seawater. Figures for desalted water costs from below 0.25 Euro/m 3 to over 0.6 Euro/m 3 for large-scale realisation are frequently quoted. In some media, however, the costs given for desalted water production are too prohibitive for large-scale applications. Many so-called experts are enhancing the confusion with incorrect or in incomplete statements. Even simple considerations, such as water cost ex desalination plant vs. water cost at consumer tap, are neglected. Yet another neglected point is that freshwater of any kind is either highly subsidized or overpriced to finance costs which are not water-related costs. Even in the EU Commission the real cost of seawater desalination is sometimes incorrectly perceived. In principle, the calculation of specific freshwater cost is simple and based on a few clear parameters such as investment cost for a given desalting capacity, energy cost, cost for distribution, amortization period and concept, financing cost, inflation rate, operation and maintenance cost and, last but not least, plant availability and lifetime. A typical example to illustrate the reigning confusion is the primary energy cost. Today, the barrel of crude oil costs in the world market approximately 70 US dollars or more. However, many tenders or BOT projects compare the water and energy cost on a 5 US dollars/barrel level. With this energy cost level and other unrealistic conditions even old-fashioned, low-GOR MSF plant can produce freshwater for a nominal cost of 0.60 Euro/m 3 . With today's world-market prices

The Time has come to Revisit Solvency Funding Rules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norma Nielson

2018-02-01

was small, and so the rules were not an unacceptable burden. Those rich returns are gone. Now, that gap between valuations has grown dramatically. In B.C., for example, a recent analysis found that when using a going-concern evaluation, 75 per cent of 143 defined-benefit plans registered in the province in 2015 had at least 100-per-cent funding, while the median funding ratio was 124 per cent. Using a solvency model, the median funding ratio was instead estimated to be a much lower 85 per cent. Closing that gap would require onerous pension contributions. More importantly, the contributions it triggers might never be needed to cover benefits. Quebec is the first province to recognize that pension-funding rules need to be revisited and made more responsive, with new rules coming in that will reduce the unnecessary burden on employers while also adapting to changes in the economic environment. Ontario is showing signs that it will take steps in the same direction. Regulators everywhere should be revisiting pension rules to: remove the solvency-valuation requirement for well-funded plans, while allowing the regulator to assume a worst-case scenario in the uncommon case where they believe it to be warranted; to develop a method to rate the credit risk of a plan; to be less stringent and more realistic about plan liabilities (by allowing some types of liabilities to use a longer amortization period; but still restricting plan changes for underfunded plans. The result would not only reduce the cost and work of over-regulating well-funded, well-run plans, while freeing up cash . By reducing pressure on the cash flow for sponsors, and adding more flexibility, the policymakers will ultimately make defined-benefit pension plans more sustainable. They might even see defined-benefit plans making a comeback among employers who found heavy contributions enough to drive them out of the DB world.

A Tariff for Reactive Power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kueck, John D [ORNL; Kirby, Brendan J [ORNL; Li, Fangxing [ORNL; Tufon, Christopher [Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Isemonger, Alan [California Independent System Operator

2008-07-01

reduce system losses, increase circuit capacity, increase reliability, and improve efficiency. Reactive power is theoretically available from any inverter-based equipment such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, fuel cells, microturbines, and adjustable-speed drives. However, the installation is usually only economical if reactive power supply is considered during the design and construction phase. In this report, we find that if the inverters of PV systems or the generators of combined heat and power (CHP) systems were designed with capability to supply dynamic reactive power, they could do this quite economically. In fact, on an annualized basis, these inverters and generators may be able to supply dynamic reactive power for about $5 or $6 per kVAR. The savings from the local supply of dynamic reactive power would be in reduced losses, increased capacity, and decreased transmission congestion. The net savings are estimated to be about $7 per kVAR on an annualized basis for a hypothetical circuit. Thus the distribution company could economically purchase a dynamic reactive power service from customers for perhaps $6/kVAR. This practice would provide for better voltage regulation in the distribution system and would provide an alternate revenue source to help amortize the cost of PV and CHP installations. As distribution and transmission systems are operated under rising levels of stress, the value of local dynamic reactive supply is expected to grow. Also, large power inverters, in the range of 500 kW to 1 MW, are expected to decrease in cost as they become mass produced. This report provides one data point which shows that the local supply of dynamic reactive power is marginally profitable at present for a hypothetical circuit. We expect that the trends of growing power flow on the existing system and mass production of inverters for distributed energy devices will make the dynamic supply of reactive power from customers an integral component of economical and reliable

Using the D-Wave 2X Quantum Computer to Explore the Formation of Global Terrorist Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ambrosiano, John Joseph [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Roberts, Randy Mark [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sims, Benjamin Hayden [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-05-15

simulate a collection of nodes with the required connectivity. This limits the size of a fully connected network in the D-Wave to about 50 simulated nodes, using all of the approximately 1150 qubits in the machine. In order to keep within this limitation, while exploring a problem of potential social relevance, we constructed time series of historical network snapshots from Stanford’s Mapping Militants Project, where nodes represent militant organizations, and edges represent either alliances or rivalries between organizations. We constructed two series from different theaters – Iraq and Syria – spanning timelines from about 2000 to 2016, each with networks whose maximum size was in the 20-30 node range. Computationally, our experience suggests D-Wave technology is promising, providing fast, nearly constant scaling of computational effort in the main part of the calculation that relies on the quantum annealing cycle. However, the cost of embedding an arbitrary network of interest in the D-Wave native topology scales poorly. If the embedding cost can be amortized relative to the annealing cycle, it may be possible to gain a substantial advantage over classical computing methods, provided a large enough network can be accommodated by partitioning into subnetworks or some similar strategy. In terms of our application to networks of militant organizations, we found a rise in network imbalance in the Syrian theater that appears to correspond roughly with the entrance of the Islamic State into a milieu already populated with other groups, a phenomenon we plan to explore in more detail. In these very preliminary results, we also noticed that during at least one period where both the size and imbalance of the network increased substantially, the imbalance per edge seemed to remain fairly steady. This may suggest some adaptive behavior among the participating factions, which may also warrant further exploration.

Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV or Range Extended Electric Vehicle (REEV? —Deciding Between Different Alternative Drives Based on Measured Individual Operational Profiles Véhicule électrique à batteries (BEV ou véhicule électrique à prolongateur d’autonomie (REEV ? — Choisir entre différents entraînements alternatifs sur la base de profils opérationnels individuels mesurés

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marker S.

2013-05-01

Full Text Available In recent years, a large number of concepts for drive train electrification and a corresponding broad variety of available drive train configurations were presented to the public. They all have their pros and cons for the customer. This paper discusses a tool enabling the customer to select the drive train which is best suited to his individual purposes. The presented approach focuses on BEV and REEV and is characterized by a three-step procedure: the customer’s individual driving behaviour is measured: individualized driving cycles and operational habits including the daily kilometrage are derived; numerical models of the alternative drive train concepts are run to simulate the energy consumption by applying these individualized cycles. The study reveals that battery sizing is the most important component. It would be more efficient to use a REEV with a smaller battery instead of a BEV: at a given range of 50 km the BEV covers 50% of the kilometers (corresponding to 90% of all daily distances while the REEV covers 100% of all daily distances, out of it 70% on electric driving. This leads to less CO2 emission compared to the combined use of BEV and conventional cars. The REEV with the smallest battery is amortized first referred to conventional cars. The influence of the individual usage pattern can be translated to operational costs. The REEV urban driver covers 85% by electric driving and has thus lower operational costs than the REEV inter-urban driver with 64% electric driving. Récemment, un grand nombre de concepts d’électrification des groupes motopropulseurs et une large variété correspondante de configurations disponibles ont été présentés au public. Tous possèdent des avantages et des inconvénients pour le client. Cet article traite d’un outil permettant au client de sélectionner le groupe motopropulseur le plus adapté à ses besoins individuels. L’approche présentée se focalise sur les véhicules BEV (Battery

Aging management review for license renewal and plant life management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rinckel, M.A.; Young, G.G.

2002-01-01

Full text: United States nuclear power plants are initially licensed for a period of 40-years. The 40-year term, which was established by the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1950s, is believed to be based on engineering judgement and is consistent with the typical amortization schedule for purchasing fossil power plants. Under 10 CFR Part 54, the license renewal rule, additional terms of 20-years may be obtained through the preparation of a license renewal application that must be reviewed and approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The license renewal rule requires that applicants perform ageing management reviews on passive long-lived structures and components to demonstrate that ageing will be managed during the period of extended operation (i.e., additional 20 years of operation). ageing of active components, which are excluded from 10 CFR Part 54, is accomplished through the Maintenance Rule, 10 CFR Part 65, using performance-based monitoring. The license renewal rule, 10 CFR Part 54, was initially published in 1991. After significant interaction with the nuclear industry from 1991 through 1994, the NRC revised the rule in 1995 to focus on passive long-lived structures and components. In 1998, the first two applications for license renewal were submitted to the NRC by Baltimore Gas and Electric for the two-unit Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant and by Duke Energy for the three-unit Oconee nuclear power plant. In March 2000, the NRC approved the application for the two-unit Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant for an additional 20 years. Two months later, the NRC approved the renewal of the operating licenses for the three-unit Oconee nuclear station. The NRC completed these reviews in a timely, predictable, and stable manner. As of February 2002, the NRC has approved renewal of operating licenses for eight nuclear units and has applications under review for 15 more units. Twelve additional companies have notified the NRC of their intention to seek

Environmentally Benign Stab Detonators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gash, A E

2006-07-07

implementation of energetic sol-gel coated metallic multilayers, as new small IIDs will result in dramatically reduced environmental risks and improved worker and user safety risks without any sacrifice in the performance of the device. The proposed effort is designed to field an IID that is free of toxic (e.g., tetrazene) and heavy metal constituents (e.g., lead styphnate, lead azide, barium nitrate, and antimony sulfides) present in the NOL-130 initiating mixture and in the lead azide transfer charge of current stab detonators. The preferred materials for this project are nanocomposites consisting of thin foils of metallic multilayers, composed of nanometer thick regions of different metals, coated with a sol-gel derived energetic material. The favored metals for the multilayers will be main-group and early transition metals such as, but not limited to, boron, aluminum, silicon, titanium, zirconium, and nickel. Candidate sol-gel energetic materials include iron (III) oxide/aluminum nanocomposites. It should be noted that more traditional materials than sol-gel might also be used with the flash metals. The metallic multilayers undergo an exothermic transition to a more stable intermetallic alloy with the appropriate mechanical or thermal stimulus. This exothermic transition has sufficient output energy to initiate the more energy dense sol-gel energetic material, or other candidate materials. All of the proposed initiation mix materials and their reaction by products have low toxicity, are safe to handle and dispose of, and provide much less environmental and health concerns than the current composition. We anticipate that the technology and materials proposed here will be produced successfully in production scale with very competitive costs with existing IIDs, when amortized over the production lifetime. The sol-gel process is well known and used extensively in industry for coatings applications. All of the proposed feedstock components are mass-produced and have relatively

BAELO CLAUDIA Y POLLENTIA: NUEVAS EVIDENCIAS SOBRE LAS FLUCTUACIONES ECONÓMICAS EN LA HISPANIA ROMANA DE LOS SIGLOS I-II D. C. (Baelo Claudia and Pollentia: new evidence on the economic fluctuations in Roman Spain during the first and second centuries AD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pascual Izquierdo-Egea

2012-06-01

siglo II por lo menos. En cuanto a la economía monetaria, se han aislado eventos tan singulares como la revalorización de la segunda mitad del siglo I d. C. en Pollentia, documentada anteriormente en Emporiae, o la devaluación en tiempos de Cómodo evidenciada en la Pollentia de la segunda mitad del siglo II de nuestra era. ENGLISH: The chronological review of the southeast necropolis from Baelo Claudia (Bolonia-Tarifa, Cadiz and the Can Fanals cemetery in Pollentia (Alcudia, Majorca, has expanded the understanding of economic fluctuations in Roman Spain during the first and second centuries AD, and of social changes associated with them. A further confirmation of the impact of Tiberius’ crisis has been obtained from the mortuary record of Baelo Claudia and Pollentia, previously detected in Emporiae (Ampurias, Gerona. The prosperity of Claudius’ reign is more apparent in Baelo Claudia than in Emporiae. Coincidence in economic evolution breaks throughout the second half of the first century AD, in particular during the period between Nero and the early Flavians. Then, compared with a decadent Ampurias, a thriving Pollentia follows in the footsteps of an opulent Baelo showing its greatest prosperity. However, these three cities of Roman Spain maintained a common bond based on the display of maximum social complexity during that period. There is always a direct proportion between the economic accumulation amortized in grave goods and the differentiation between individuals, except for two cases. One, already known, refers to the Ampurias of the second half of the first century AD, where the impoverishment that characterizes this period is associated with a increase of social distance. The other is the strange phenomenon documented in Pollentia during the second century AD. Here, funerary expenditure continues growing but social differentiation falls along the first half until abruptly descending in the second half of this century. At this point, the most important

Country nuclear power profiles. 2001 ed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-03-01

this publication is self-standing and contains information officially provided by the respective national authorities. It is planned to update the publication biannually and to expand its scope of coverage. In the past 20 years, new safety goals and requirements have generally been established for nuclear power plants, with little clear consideration of economic costs and benefits, or of alternative and perhaps more cost effective ways of achieving desired safety goals. This approach was encouraged by the fact that most nuclear plants operated in monopoly markets where costs were not necessarily a primary concern. But times and markets have changed, and regulatory approaches must also change, to permit a clear definition of when a plant is safe enough, and some degree of flexibility in achieving these goals. Of course, arguing for some consideration of economic consequences, for financial analysis of proposed safety requirements, and for background analysis of costs and benefits in the safety field does not in any way constitute a judgment about what is appropriate in terms of safety. There is also a need for the application of financial analysis and liability management for decommissioning and waste disposal, particularly in the face of increasingly stringent regulatory and political requirements. Economic common sense, efficient cost management, a degree of flexibility in meeting standards and an appreciation of the costs of uncertainty and of political and regulatory change must all be cultivated. Nuclear energy - worldwide - is able and ready to compete with other energy sources in an open, deregulated electricity market. Existing nuclear power plants are extremely well positioned to compete in deregulated markets, on the basis of their largely amortized capital costs and relatively low variable costs. Nuclear power offers considerable environmental advantages compared to alternative mainstream energy sources, and is the only energy source that has already

Present status of reactor physics in the United States and Japan-III. 2. Nuclear Fuel Management Optimization Capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karve, Atul A.; Keller, Paul M.; Turinsky, Paul J.; Maldonado, G. Ivan

2001-01-01

approach is that many histories, i.e., combinations of decision variables, must be evaluated, which implies that many core physics calculations are required to determine the family of near-optimum decisions. To reduce computer execution time, highly efficient, core physics models with only the fidelity required for the assigned task are utilized. Ideally, one would like to utilize the same core physics models for all nuclear problems for consistency and ease of usage, which may someday occur with increases in computational power and advances in computational reactor physics. In considering core physics models, a unique aspect for nuclear fuel management optimization applications is that many repetitive calculations need to be completed during the optimization search. This implies that considerable overhead can be tolerated to reduce the computational time per history since the overhead will be amortized over many histories. This feature can imply the employment of different solution approaches than normally utilized. How various suboptimum problems integrate in an attempt to address the global optimization problem is now explained. The out-of-core optimization OCEON-P code has a number of decision variables, but the only decision that carries-forward in the reload design process is the cycling scheme, i.e., batch sizes in each cycle of the planning horizon. Note that OCEON-P is the only optimization code within the suite that truly does multicycle optimization and so can meaningfully evaluate and minimize levelized fuel cycle cost. The FORMOSA-L code optimizes the lattice, normally constrained to follow a specified reactivity versus burnup. This constraint provides the linkage to the core-wide analysis but is problematic to obtain. There currently does not exist within the suite of codes one that addresses the suboptimum problem of bundle design, which other researchers have addressed to a limited extent. With our current capabilities, a number of different bundle designs