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Sample records for lowest cost fgd

  1. Key issues for low-cost FGD installations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DePriest, W.; Mazurek, J.M. [Sargent & Lundy LLC, Chicago, IL (United States)

    1995-12-01

    This paper will discuss various methods for installing low-cost FGD systems. The paper will include a discussion of various types of FGD systems available, both wet and dry, and will compare the relative cost of each type. Important design issues, such as use of spare equipment, materials of construction, etc. will be presented. An overview of various low-cost construction techniques (i.e., modularization) will be included. This paper will draw heavily from Sargent & Lundy`s database of past and current FGD projects together with information we gathered for several Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) studies on the subject.

  2. Cost effective treatment for wet FGD scrubber bleedoff

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Janecek, K.F. [EIMCO Process Equipment Company, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Kim, J.Y. [Samkook Corporation, Seoul (Korea, Democratic People`s Republic of)

    1994-12-31

    The dewatering of scrubber bleedoff gypsum is a thoroughly proven technology, whether for production of wallboard grade gypsum or environmentally responsible land fill. Careful review of the technology options will show which one is the most effective for the specific plant site. Likewise, a recipe for wastewater treatment for heavy metals removal can be found that will meet local regulatory limits. EIMCO has worldwide experience in FGD gypsum sludge dewatering and wastewater treatment. Contacting EIMCO can be the most important step toward a practical cost effective system for handling FGD scrubber bleed slurries.

  3. Sparing analysis for FGD systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dene, C.E.; Weiss, J.; Twombly, M.A.; Witt, J.

    1992-01-01

    With the passage of federal clean air legislation, utilities will be evaluating the capability of various flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system design configurations and operating scenarios to meet sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) removal goals. The primary goal in reviewing these alternatives will be to optimize SO 2 removal capability in relation to power production costs. The Electric Power Research institute (EPRI) and its contractor, ARINC Research Corporation, have developed an automated FGD Analysis System that can evaluate competing FGD design alternatives in terms of their SO 2 removal capability and operating costs. The FGD Analysis System can be used to evaluate different design configurations for new systems or to calculate the effect of changes in component reliability for existing FGD systems. The system is based on the EPRI UNIRAM methodology and evaluates the impact of alternative FGD component configurations on the expected unit emission rates. The user interactively enters FGD design data, unit SO 2 generation-level data, and FGD chemical additive-level data for the design configuration to be evaluated. The system then calculates expected SO 2 removal capability and operating cost data for operation of the design configuration over a user specified time period. This paper provides a brief description of the FGD Analysis System and presents sample results for three typical design configurations with different redundancy levels

  4. Low water FGD technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-11-15

    Conventional flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems require large supplies of water. Technologies which reduce water usage are becoming more important with the large number of FGD systems being installed in response to ever tightening emission regulations. Reducing water loss is particularly important in arid regions of the world. This report reviews commercial and near commercial low water FGD processes for coal-fired power plants, including dry, semi-dry and multi-pollutant technologies. Wet scrubbers, the most widely deployed FGD technology, account for around 10–15% of the water losses in power plants with water cooling systems. This figure is considerably higher when dry/air cooling systems are employed. The evaporative water losses can be reduced by some 40–50% when the flue gas is cooled before it enters the wet scrubber, a common practice in Europe and Japan. Technologies are under development to capture over 20% of the water in the flue gas exiting the wet scrubber, enabling the power plant to become a water supplier instead of a consumer. The semi-dry spray dry scrubbers and circulating dry scrubbers consume some 60% less water than conventional wet scrubbers. The commercial dry sorbent injection processes have the lowest water consumption, consuming no water, or a minimal amount if the sorbent needs hydrating or the flue gas is humidified to improve performance. Commercial multi-pollutant systems are available that consume no water.

  5. Electric utility engineer`s FGD manual -- Volume 2: Major mechanical equipment; FGD proposal evaluations; Use of FGDPRISM in FGD system modification, proposal, evaluation, and design; FGD system case study. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-03-04

    Part 2 of this manual provides the electric utility engineer with detailed technical information on some of the major mechanical equipment used in the FGD system. The objectives of Part 2 are the following: to provide the electric utility engineer with information on equipment that may be unfamiliar to him, including ball mills, vacuum filters, and mist eliminators; and to identify the unique technique considerations imposed by an FGD system on more familiar electric utility equipment such as fans, gas dampers, piping, valves, and pumps. Part 3 provides an overview of the recommended procedures for evaluating proposals received from FGD system vendors. The objectives are to provide procedures for evaluating the technical aspects of proposals, and to provide procedures for determining the total costs of proposals considering both initial capital costs and annual operating and maintenance costs. The primary objective of Part 4 of this manual is to provide the utility engineer who has a special interest in the capabilities of FGDPRISM [Flue Gas Desulfurization PRocess Integration and Simulation Model] with more detailed discussions of its uses, requirements, and limitations. Part 5 is a case study in using this manual in the preparation of a purchase specification and in the evaluation of proposals received from vendors. The objectives are to demonstrate how the information contained in Parts 1 and 2 can be used to improve the technical content of an FGD system purchase specification; to demonstrate how the techniques presented in Part 3 can be used to evaluate proposals received in response to the purchase specification; and to illustrate how the FGDPRISM computer program can be used to establish design parameters for the specification and evaluate vendor designs.

  6. Electric utility engineer`s FGD manual -- Volume 1: FGD process design. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-03-04

    Part 1 of the Electric Utility Engineer`s Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Manual emphasizes the chemical and physical processes that form the basis for design and operation of lime- and limestone-based FGD systems applied to coal- or oil-fired steam electric generating stations. The objectives of Part 1 are: to provide a description of the chemical and physical design basis for lime- and limestone-based wet FGD systems; to identify and discuss the various process design parameters and process options that must be considered in developing a specification for a new FGD system; and to provide utility engineers with process knowledge useful for operating and optimizing a lime- or limestone-based wet FGD system.

  7. Nitrogen speciation in FGD waste water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fogh, F. [Elsam A/S, Skaerbaekvaerket, Fredericia (Denmark); Smitshuysen, E.F. [Elsam A/S, Esbjergvaerket, Esbjerg (Denmark)

    2003-07-01

    Elsam operates six flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units (2590 MWe): three wet FGD units (1440 MWe) and three semi-dry FGD units (1150 MWe). The paper presents the results of Elsam investigations covering nitrogen analysis of selected aqueous and solid streams together with nitrogen source and sink considerations in wet and semi-dry FGD plants. (orig.)

  8. Land application uses for dry FGD by-products. Phase 2 report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stehouwer, R.; Dick, W.; Bigham, J. [Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)] [and others

    1996-03-01

    A study was initiated in December 1990 to demonstrate large volume beneficial uses of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by-products. A Phase 1 report provided results of an extensive characterization of chemical, physical, mineralogical and engineering properties of 58 dry FGD by-product samples. The Phase 1 report concluded that high volume beneficial reuses will depend on the economics related to their ability to substitute for existing materials for various types of applications (e.g. as an agricultural liming material, soil borrow for highway embankment construction, and reclamation of active and abandoned surface coal mine lands). Phase 2 objectives were (1) to conduct laboratory and greenhouse studies of FGD and soil (spoil) mixtures for agronomic and engineering applications, (2) to initiate field studies related to high volume agronomic and engineering uses, and (3) to develop the basic methodological framework for estimation of the financial and economic costs and benefits to society of several FGD reuse options and to make some preliminary runs of economic models. High volume beneficial reuses of dry FGD by-products have been successfully demonstrated. Adverse environmental impacts have been negligible. Although few sources of dry FGD by-products currently exist in Ohio and the United States there is potential for smaller coal-fired facilities to adopt S0{sub 2} scrubbing technologies that produce dry FGD material. Also much of what we have learned from studies on dry FGD by-products is applicable to the more prevalent wet FGD by-products. The adaptation of the technologies demonstrated in this project seem to be not only limited by economic constraints, but even more so, by the need to create awareness of the market potential of using these FGD by-products.

  9. Factors involved in the selection of limestone reagents for use in wet FGD systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jarvis, J.B.; Roothaan, E.S.; Meserole, F.B.; Owens, D.R.

    1992-01-01

    With recent activity in the design and construction of retrofit flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems, many utilities are faced with the task of selecting limestones which will allow FGD systems to function as designed, and at the same time, provide cost-effective operation. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has sponsored research to identify factors which should be considered in the reagent selection process. A set of capabilities has been developed which is currently being employed to assist six utilities in selecting cost-effective reagent sources. The major elements in the selection package consist of an analytical characterization of candidate limestones; grindability, reactivity, and magnesium availability testing; and performance modeling utilizing EPRI's FGD PRocess Integration and Simulation Model (FGDPRISM). The results from these measurements are used to perform a site-specific economic analysis which can be used to rank the candidate limestones and quantify the impact of various limestone properties on plant operating costs. This paper includes a description of each element in the selection package along with a review of current research activities aimed at improving predictions of limestone reactivity and magnesium availability. An example is presented which illustrates how reactivity and magnesium availability affect both the performance of an FGD system and plant operating costs

  10. Utility FGD survey, January--December 1988

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hance, S.L.; McKibben, R.S.; Jones, F.M. (IT Corp., Cincinnati, OH (United States))

    1991-09-01

    The Utility FGD Survey report, which is generated by a computerized data base management system, represents a survey of operational and planned domestic utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. It summarizes information contributed by the utility industry, system and equipment suppliers, systems designers, research organizations, and regulatory agencies. The data cover system design, fuel characteristics, operating history, and actual system performance. Also included is a unit-by-unit discussion of problems and solutions associated with the boilers, scrubbers, and FGD systems. The development status (operational, under construction, or in the planning stages), system supplier, process, waste disposal practice, and regulatory class are tabulated alphabetically by utility company. Simplified process flow diagrams of FGD systems, definitions, and a glossary of terms are attached to the report. Current data for domestic FGD systems show systems in operation, systems under construction, and systems planned. The current total FGD-controlled capacity in the United States is 67,091 MW.

  11. Utility FGD survey, January--December 1988

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hance, S.L.; McKibben, R.S.; Jones, F.M. (IT Corp., Cincinnati, OH (United States))

    1991-09-01

    The Utility FGD Survey report, which is generated by a computerized data base management system, represents a survey of operational and planned domestic utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. It summarizes information contributed by the utility industry, system and equipment suppliers, system designers, research organizations, and regulatory agencies. The data cover system design, fuel characteristics, operating history, and actual system performance. Also included is a unit-by-unit discussion of problems and solutions associated with the boilers, scrubbers, and FGD systems. The development status (operational, under construction, or in the planning stages), system supplier, process, waste disposal practice, and regulatory class are tabulated alphabetically by utility company. Simplified process flow diagrams of FGD systems, definitions, and a glossary of terms are attached to the report. Current data for domestic FGD systems show systems in operation, systems under construction, and systems planned. The current total FGD-controlled capacity in the United States is 67,091 MW.

  12. Compaction of FGD-gypsum

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stoop, B.T.J.; Larbi, J.A.; Heijnen, W.M.M.

    1996-01-01

    It is shown that it is possible to produce compacted gypsum with a low porosity and a high strength on a laboratory scale by uniaxial compaction of flue gas desulphurization (FGD-) gypsum powder. Compacted FGD-gypsum cylinders were produced at a compaction pres-sure between 50 and 500 MPa yielding

  13. Selenium Speciation and Management in Wet FGD Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Searcy, K; Richardson, M; Blythe, G; Wallschlaeger, D; Chu, P; Dene, C

    2012-02-29

    rapidly than it sorbs to ferric solids. Though it was not possible to demonstrate a decrease in selenium concentrations to levels below the project'ale testing were evident at the pilot scale. Specifically, reducing oxidation air rate and ORP tends to either retain selenium as selenite in the liquor or shift selenium phase partitioning to the solid phase. Oxidation air flow rate control may be one option for managing selenium behavior in FGD scrubbers. Units that cycle load widely may find it more difficult to impact ORP conditions with oxidation air flow rate control alone. Because decreasing oxidation air rates to the reaction tank showed that all new selenium reported to the solids, the addition of ferric chloride to the pilot scrubber could not show further improvements in selenium behavior. Ferric chloride addition did shift mercury to the slurry solids, specifically to the fine particles. Several competing pathways may govern the reporting of selenium to the slurry solids: co-precipitation with gypsum into the bulk solids and sorption or co-precipitation with iron into the fine particles. Simultaneous measurement of selenium and mercury behavior suggests a holistic management strategy is best to optimize the fate of both of these elements in FGD waters. Work conducted under this project evaluated sample handling and analytical methods for selenium speciation in FGD waters. Three analytical techniques and several preservation methods were employed. Measurements of selenium speciation over time indicated that for accurate selenium speciation, it is best to conduct measurements on unpreserved, filtered samples as soon after sampling as possible. The capital and operating costs for two selenium management strategies were considered: ferric chloride addition and oxidation air flow rate control. For ferric chloride addition, as might be expected the reagent makeup costs dominate the overall costs, and range from 0.22 to 0.29 mills/kWh. For oxidation air flow rate

  14. Application study of Bio-FGD based on environmental safety during the coal combustion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Pin

    2018-05-01

    Coal combustion produces a large amount of acidic gas, which is the main cause of acid rain and other natural disasters. Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) is a necessary requirement for clean coal combustion. Compared with the traditional chemical desulfurization technology, biological desulfurization has the advantages of low operating cost, without secondary pollution, low carbon emission and the additional economic benefits. The process and structure of BioDeSOx which as one of Bio-FGD technology is introduced. The major factors that influent BioDeSOx Bio- FGD system is the pH, oxidation reduction potential (-300 MV to -400MV), electrical conductivity, the adding amount of nutrient and temperature (30°C-40°C). Taking the Bio- FGD project of Yixing xielian thermal power plant as an example, the BioDeSOx technology was applied in this project. The environmental and economic benefits of the project were greater than the traditional desulfurization technology. With the continuous improvement of environmental safety standards, Bio- FGD technology will have broad application prospects.

  15. Development of advanced retrofit FGD designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dene, C.E.; Boward, W.L.; Noblett, J.G.; Keeth, R.J.

    1992-01-01

    The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment is a dramatic departure from previous legislation in that it affords the electric utility industry the flexibility to achieve their portion of the sulfur dioxide reduction in a myriad of ways. Each utility must look at its system overall. One strategy which may prove beneficial is to remove as much SO 2 as possible at facilities where there is an existing flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system or where one is planned. In response to this need EPRI is developing a family of advanced retrofit FGD designs that incorporate recent advances in FGD technology. A range of design options are being investigated to determine both the SO 2 collection capability and the relative cost impacts of each option. Some of the design options considered include the use of trays, packing, additional liquid flow rate, and additives to boost the removal efficiency. These options are being investigated for limestone, and magnesium-enhanced lime systems. The sensitivity of these designs to changes in coal sulfur content, chloride content, unit size, gas velocity, and other factors are being investigated to determine how the performance of a designs is changed and the ability to meet compliance. This paper illustrates the type of analysis used to develop the advanced designs and presents the sensitivity of a Countercurrent spray tower design using limestone and forced oxidation to changes in specific design input parameters such as boiler load, tower height, and gas velocity

  16. 48 CFR 47.306-2 - Lowest overall transportation costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... transportation costs. 47.306-2 Section 47.306-2 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION CONTRACT MANAGEMENT TRANSPORTATION Transportation in Supply Contracts 47.306-2 Lowest overall transportation costs. (a) For the evaluation of offers, the transportation officer shall give to the contracting...

  17. Utility FGD Survey, January--December 1989

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hance, S.L.; McKibben, R.S.; Jones, F.M. (IT Corp., Cincinnati, OH (United States))

    1992-03-01

    The Utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) Survey report, which is generated by a computerized data base management system, represents a survey of operational and planned domestic utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. It summarizes information contributed by the utility industry, system and equipment suppliers, system designers, research organizations, and regulatory agencies. The data cover system design, fuel characteristics, operating history, and actual system performance. Also included is a unit-by-unit discussion of problems and solutions associated with the boilers, scrubbers, and FGD systems. The development status (operational, under construction, or in the planning stages), system supplier, process, waste disposal practice, and regulatory class are tabulated alphabetically by utility company.

  18. Pricing strategies for combination pediatric vaccines based on the lowest overall cost formulary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behzad, Banafsheh; Jacobson, Sheldon H; Sewell, Edward C

    2012-10-01

    This paper analyzes pricing strategies for US pediatric combination vaccines by comparing the lowest overall cost formularies (i.e., formularies that have the lowest overall cost). Three pharmaceutical companies compete pairwise over the sale of monovalent and combination vaccines. Particular emphasis is placed on examining the price of Sanofi Pasteur's DTaP-IPV/HIb under different conditions. The main contribution of the paper is to provide the lowest overall cost formularies for different prices of DTaP-IPV/HIb and other Sanofi Pasteur vaccines. The resulting analysis shows that DTaP-IPV/HIb could have been more competitively priced compared with the combination vaccine DTaP-HepB-IPV, for federal contract prices in 2009, 2010 and 2011. This study also proposes the lowest overall cost formularies when shortages of monovalent vaccines occur.

  19. Utility FGD Survey, January--December 1989. Volume 2, Design performance data for operating FGD systems, Part 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hance, S.L.; McKibben, R.S.; Jones, F.M. [IT Corp., Cincinnati, OH (United States)

    1992-03-01

    The Utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) Survey report, which is generated by a computerized data base management system, represents a survey of operational and planned domestic utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. It summarizes information contributed by the utility industry, system and equipment suppliers, system designers, research organizations, and regulatory agencies. The data cover system design, fuel characteristics, operating history, and actual system performance. Also included is a unit-by-unit discussion of problems and solutions associated with the boilers, scrubbers, and FGD systems. The development status (operational, under construction, or in the planning stages), system supplier, process, waste disposal practice, and regulatory class are tabulated alphabetically by utility company.

  20. Land application uses for dry FGD by-products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bigham, J.; Dick, W.; Forster, L.; Hitzhusen, F.; McCoy, E.; Stehouwer, R.; Traina, S.; Wolfe, W. (Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)); Haefner, R. (Geological Survey, Columbus, OH (United States). Water Resources Div.)

    1993-04-01

    The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act have spurred the development of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes, several of which produce a dry, solid by-product material consisting of excess sorbent, reaction products containing sulfates and sulfites, and coal fly ash. Presently FGD by-product materials are treated as solid wastes and must be landfilled. However, landfill sites are becoming more scarce and tipping fees are constantly increasing. It is, therefore, highly desirable to find beneficial reuses for these materials provided the environmental impacts are minimal and socially acceptable. Phase 1 results of a 4 and 1/2 year study to demonstrate large volume beneficial uses of FGD by-products are reported. The purpose of the Phase 1 portion of the project was to characterize the chemical, physical, mineralogical and engineering properties of the FGD by-product materials obtained from various FGD technologies being developed in the state of Ohio. Phase 1 also involved the collection of baseline economic data related to the beneficial reuse of these FGD materials. A total of 58 samples were collected and analyzed. In summary Phase 1 results revealed that FGD by-product materials are essentially coal fly ash materials diluted with unreacted sorbent and reaction products. High volume beneficial reuses will depend on the economics of their substituting for existing materials for various types of applications (e.g. as an agricultural liming material, soil borrow for highway embankment construction, and reclamation of active and abandoned surface coal mines). Environmental constraints to the beneficial reuse of dry FGD byproduct materials, based on laboratory and leachate studies, seem to be less than for coal fly ash.

  1. Bench-scale Kinetics Study of Mercury Reactions in FGD Liquors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gary Blythe; John Currie; David DeBerry

    2008-03-31

    This document is the final report for Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-04NT42314, 'Kinetics Study of Mercury Reactions in FGD Liquors'. The project was co-funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory and EPRI. The objective of the project has been to determine the mechanisms and kinetics of the aqueous reactions of mercury absorbed by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems, and develop a kinetics model to predict mercury reactions in wet FGD systems. The model may be used to determine optimum wet FGD design and operating conditions to maximize mercury capture in wet FGD systems. Initially, a series of bench-top, liquid-phase reactor tests were conducted and mercury species concentrations were measured by UV/visible light spectroscopy to determine reactant and byproduct concentrations over time. Other measurement methods, such as atomic absorption, were used to measure concentrations of vapor-phase elemental mercury, that cannot be measured by UV/visible light spectroscopy. Next, a series of bench-scale wet FGD simulation tests were conducted. Because of the significant effects of sulfite concentration on mercury re-emission rates, new methods were developed for operating and controlling the bench-scale FGD experiments. Approximately 140 bench-scale wet FGD tests were conducted and several unusual and pertinent effects of process chemistry on mercury re-emissions were identified and characterized. These data have been used to develop an empirically adjusted, theoretically based kinetics model to predict mercury species reactions in wet FGD systems. The model has been verified in tests conducted with the bench-scale wet FGD system, where both gas-phase and liquid-phase mercury concentrations were measured to determine if the model accurately predicts the tendency for mercury re-emissions. This report presents and discusses results from the initial laboratory kinetics measurements, the bench-scale wet FGD tests, and the kinetics modeling

  2. Large-Scale Mercury Control Technology Testing for Lignite-Fired Utilities - Oxidation Systems for Wet FGD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steven A. Benson; Michael J. Holmes; Donald P. McCollor; Jill M. Mackenzie; Charlene R. Crocker; Lingbu Kong; Kevin C. Galbreath

    2007-03-31

    Mercury (Hg) control technologies were evaluated at Minnkota Power Cooperative's Milton R. Young (MRY) Station Unit 2, a 450-MW lignite-fired cyclone unit near Center, North Dakota, and TXU Energy's Monticello Steam Electric Station (MoSES) Unit 3, a 793-MW lignite--Powder River Basin (PRB) subbituminous coal-fired unit near Mt. Pleasant, Texas. A cold-side electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubber are used at MRY and MoSES for controlling particulate and sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) emissions, respectively. Several approaches for significantly and cost-effectively oxidizing elemental mercury (Hg{sup 0}) in lignite combustion flue gases, followed by capture in an ESP and/or FGD scrubber were evaluated. The project team involved in performing the technical aspects of the project included Babcock & Wilcox, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), the Electric Power Research Institute, and URS Corporation. Calcium bromide (CaBr{sub 2}), calcium chloride (CaCl{sub 2}), magnesium chloride (MgCl{sub 2}), and a proprietary sorbent enhancement additive (SEA), hereafter referred to as SEA2, were added to the lignite feeds to enhance Hg capture in the ESP and/or wet FGD. In addition, powdered activated carbon (PAC) was injected upstream of the ESP at MRY Unit 2. The work involved establishing Hg concentrations and removal rates across existing ESP and FGD units, determining costs associated with a given Hg removal efficiency, quantifying the balance-of-plant impacts of the control technologies, and facilitating technology commercialization. The primary project goal was to achieve ESP-FGD Hg removal efficiencies of {ge}55% at MRY and MoSES for about a month.

  3. Incorporating full-scale experience into advanced limestone wet FGD designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rader, P.C.; Bakke, E.

    1992-01-01

    Utilities choosing flue gas desulfurization as a strategy for compliance with Phase I of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments will largely turn to limestone wet scrubbing as the most cost-effective, least-risk option. State-of-the-art single absorber wet scrubbing systems can be designed to achieve: SO 2 removal efficiencies in excess of 95 %, system availabilities in excess of 98%, and byproducts which can be marketed or land filled. As a result of varying fuel characteristics, site considerations, and owner preferences, FGD plants for large central power stations are typically custom-designed. To avoid the risks associated with new, first-of-a-kind technologies, utilities have preferred to purchase FGD systems from suppliers with proven utility experience and reference plants as close as possible to the design envisioned. As the market for FGD systems is regulatory driven, the demand has shifted geographically in response to national environmental policies. Although limestone wet scrubbing has emerged as the overwhelming choice for SO 2 emission control in coal-fired power stations, the technology has evolved and been adapted to suit local and regional technical and economic situations. Global suppliers are able to benefit from experience and technological advances in the world market. With market units in the U.S., Denmark, Italy, Sweden, and Germany active in the design and supply of wet FGD plants, ABB has a unique ability to incorporate knowledge and experience gained throughout the industrialized world to acid rain retrofit projects in the U.S. This paper describes the design of advanced limestone wet scrubbing systems for application to acid rain retrofits. Specifically, the evolution of advanced design concepts from a global experience base is discussed

  4. Sustainable Uses of FGD Gypsum in Agricultural Systems: Introduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Dexter B; Dick, Warren A

    2014-01-01

    Interest in using gypsum as a management tool to improve crop yields and soil and water quality has recently increased. Abundant supply and availability of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum, a by-product of scrubbing sulfur from combustion gases at coal-fired power plants, in major agricultural producing regions within the last two decades has attributed to this interest. Currently, published data on the long-term sustainability of FGD gypsum use in agricultural systems is limited. This has led to organization of the American Society of Agronomy's Community "By-product Gypsum Uses in Agriculture" and a special collection of nine technical research articles on various issues related to FGD gypsum uses in agricultural systems. A brief review of FGD gypsum, rationale for the special collection, overviews of articles, knowledge gaps, and future research directions are presented in this introductory paper. The nine articles are focused in three general areas: (i) mercury and other trace element impacts, (ii) water quality impacts, and (iii) agronomic responses and soil physical changes. While this is not an exhaustive review of the topic, results indicate that FGD gypsum use in sustainable agricultural production systems is promising. The environmental impacts of FGD gypsum are mostly positive, with only a few negative results observed, even when applied at rates representing cumulative 80-year applications. Thus, FGD gypsum, if properly managed, seems to represent an important potential input into agricultural systems. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

  5. High-efficiency SO2 removal in utility FGD systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, J.L.; Gray, S.; Dekraker, D.

    1995-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have contracted with Radian Corporation to conduct full-scale testing, process modeling, and economic evaluations of six existing utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The project objective is to evaluate low capital cost upgrades for achieving up to 98% sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) removal efficiency in a variety of FGD system types. The systems include dual-loop, packed absorbers at Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Station; cocurrent, packed absorbers at Hoosier Energy's Merom Station; dual-loop absorbers with perforated-plate trays at Southwestern Electric Power Company's Pirkey Station; horizontal spray absorbers at PSI Energy's Gibson Station; venturi scrubbers at Duquesne Light's Elrama Station; and open stray absorbers at New york State Electric and Gas Corporations's (NYSEG's) Kintigh Station. All operate in an inhibited-oxidation mode except the system at Big Bend (forced oxidation), and all use limestone reagent except the Elrama system (Mg-lime). The program was conducted to demonstrate that upgrades such as performance additives and/or mechanical modifications can increase system SO 2 removal at low cost. The cost effectiveness of each upgrade has been evaluated on the basis of test results and/or process model predictions for upgraded performance and utility-specific operating and maintenance costs. Results from this upgraded performance and utility-specific operating and maintenance costs. Results from this program may lead some utilities to use SO 2 removal upgrades as an approach for compliance with phase 2 of Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990. This paper summarizes the results of testing, modeling, and economic evaluations that have been completed since July, 1994

  6. Use of wet FGD material for revegetation of an abandoned acidic coal refuse pile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mafi, S.; Stehouwer, R.C.

    1996-01-01

    Wet FGD material has a neutralizing potential of 15% CaCO 3 . These properties may make it a beneficial amendment for revegetation of hyper-acidic coal refuse. In greenhouse and field experiments, coal refuse (pH = 2.5) was amended with wet FGD (300, 500, and 700 tons/acre). Amendment with FGD was as effective as agricultural lime (AL) in increasing refuse pH and decreasing soluble Al and Fe. Addition of compost to the FGD further increased pH and decreased soluble Al and Fe. Downward transport of Ca was greater with FGD than AL, but FGD did not increase leachate concentrations of S. Amendment with FGD increased refuse, leachate and plant tissue concentrations of B. Other trace elements were not increased by FGD. In the greenhouse, plant growth was similar with AL and FGD except during the first three months when AL produced more growth than FGD. The initial growth suppression by FGD was likely due to high soluble salts, and possibly by high B concentrations. During the first year of the field experiment plant growth was greater with FGD than with AL. In both the field and greenhouse experiments compost increased plant growth when combined with FGD. These experiments show revegetation of toxic coal refuse and improvement in drainage water quality is possible by amendment with FGD. Revegetation success will be improved by combined amendment with FGD and compost

  7. Synthesis on research results of FGD gypsum briquetting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kosturkiewicz Bogdan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available FGD gypsum products can be characterized by significant solubility in water and dusting in dry state. These characteristics can cause a considerable pollution of air, water and soil. Among many approaches of preparing utilization of this waste, the process of compaction using briquetting has proved to be very effective. Using FGD gypsum products a new material of fertilizers characteristics has been acquired and this material is resistant to the conditions of transportation. This paper presents results of experimental briquetting of flue gas desulphurisation products in a roll press. The experiments were conducted in a laboratory roll presses LPW 450 and LPW 1100 equipped with two interchangeable forming rings that form material into saddle-shaped briquettes with volume 6,5 cm3 and 85 cm3. The experiments were conducted with various percentage amounts of FGD gypsum moisture. The results provided information regarding influence of moisture and roll press configuration on quality of briquettes. On the basis of obtained results, technological process and a general outline of technological line for FGD gypsum were developed. Two roll presses of own construction with different outputs were identified as appropriate for this purpose. A range of necessary works related to their adaptation for the FGD gypsum briquetting were pointed out.

  8. Land application uses for dry FGD by-products, Phase 1 report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bigham, J.; Dick, W.; Forster, L.; Hitzhusen, F.; McCoy, E.; Stehouwer, R.; Traina, S.; Wolfe, W.

    1993-04-01

    The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act have spurred the development of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes, several of which produce a dry, solid by-product material consisting of excess sorbent, reaction products containing sulfates and sulfites, and coal fly ash. FGD by-product materials are treated as solid wastes and must be landfilled. It is highly desirable to find beneficial reuses for these materials provided the environmental impacts are minimal and socially acceptable. Phase 1 results of a 4 and 1/2 year study to demonstrate large volume beneficial uses of FGD by-products are reported. The purpose of the Phase 1 portion of the project was to characterize the chemical, physical, mineralogical and engineering properties of the FGD by-product materials obtained from various FGD technologies being developed in the state of Ohio. Phase 1 also involved the collection of baseline economic data related to the beneficial reuse of these FGD materials. A total of 58 samples were collected and analyzed. The results indicated the chemical composition of the FGD by-product materials were dominated by Ca, S, Al, and Si. Many of the elements regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency reside primarily in the fly ash. Phase 1 results revealed that FGD by-product materials are essentially coal fly ash materials diluted with unreacted sorbent and reaction products. High volume beneficial reuses will depend on the economics of their substituting for existing materials for various types of applications (e.g. as an agricultural liming material, soil borrow for highway embankment construction, and reclamation of active and abandoned surface coal mines). Environmental constraints to the beneficial reuse of dry FGD by-product materials, based on laboratory and leachate studies, seem to be less than for coal fly ash.

  9. Pathways of low carbon transition at the lowest cost. Pathways of low carbon transition in France at the lowest cost - Dynamics and average abatement costs (MACC)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perrissin Fabert, Baptiste; Foussard, Alexis

    2016-11-01

    The objective to divide greenhouse gas emissions in France by a factor four by 2050 implies the mobilisation at the lowest cost of the whole set of known sources of reduction of emissions in all economic sectors. In this context, this report is based on a methodology (D-CAM in French for dynamics - average abatement costs, MACC in English for Medium Abatement Cost Curves) which relies on a theoretical business-as-usual scenario, on a database on the potential, rate of development, and cost of mobilizable sources, and on a dynamic model of cost minimisation. The MACC tool is used to explore, for each sector, scenarios of de-carbonation which allow objectives of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be reached at different time horizons. An aggregated approach of this tool modifies the distribution of efforts of emission reduction between sectors with respect to a sector-based approach. Thus, a macro-assessment of low carbon transition does not reveal any obvious over-cost with respect to the business-as-usual scenario. A second document is a Power Point presentation which contains the same information, curves and graphs

  10. Predicting mercury retention in utility gas cleaning systems with SCR/ESP/FGD combinations or activated carbon injection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krishnakumar, Balaji; Naik, Chitralkumar V.; Niksa, Stephen [Niksa Energy Associates LLC, Belmont, CA (United States); Fujiwara, Naoki [Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd, Chiba (Japan). Coal and Environment Research Lab.

    2013-07-01

    This paper presents validations of the Hg speciation predicted by NEA's MercuRator trademark package with an American field test database for 28 full-scale utility gas cleaning systems. It emphasizes SCR/ESP/FGD combinations and activated carbon injection because these two applications present the best long- term prospects for Hg control by coal-burning utilities. Validations of the extents of Hg{sup 0} oxidation across SCRs and of Hg retention in wet FGDs gave correlation coefficients greater than 0.9 for both units. A transport-based FGD analysis correctly assessed the potential for Hg{sup 0} re-emission in one limestone wet FGD. Among the ten stations in the SCR/ESP/FGD validations, the simulations correctly identified 3 of 4 of the relatively high Hg emissions rates; all four of the sites with moderate emissions rates; and both sites with the lowest emission rates. The validations for ACI applications demonstrated that Hg removals can be accurately estimated for the full domain of coal quality, LOI, and ACI rates for both untreated and brominated carbon sorbents. The predictions for ACI depict the test-to-test variations in most cases, and accurately describe the impact of ACI configuration and sorbent type. ACI into FFs is the most effective configuration, although ACI into ESPs often removes 90% or more Hg, provided that there is sufficient residence time and Cl in the flue gas. Brominated sorbents perform better than untreated carbons, unless SO{sub 3} condensation inhibits Hg adsorption.

  11. High-efficiency SO{sub 2} removal in utility FGD systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Phillips, J.L.; Gray, S.; Dekraker, D. [Radian Corporation, Austin, TX (United States)] [and others

    1995-11-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have contracted with Radian Corporation to conduct full-scale testing, process modeling, and economic evaluations of six existing utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The project objective is to evaluate low capital cost upgrades for achieving up to 98% sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) removal efficiency in a variety of FGD system types. The systems include dual-loop, packed absorbers at Tampa Electric Company`s Big Bend Station; cocurrent, packed absorbers at Hoosier Energy`s Merom Station; dual-loop absorbers with perforated-plate trays at Southwestern Electric Power Company`s Pirkey Station; horizontal spray absorbers at PSI Energy`s Gibson Station; venturi scrubbers at Duquesne Light`s Elrama Station; and open stray absorbers at New york State Electric and Gas Corporations`s (NYSEG`s) Kintigh Station. All operate in an inhibited-oxidation mode except the system at Big Bend (forced oxidation), and all use limestone reagent except the Elrama system (Mg-lime). The program was conducted to demonstrate that upgrades such as performance additives and/or mechanical modifications can increase system SO{sub 2} removal at low cost. The cost effectiveness of each upgrade has been evaluated on the basis of test results and/or process model predictions for upgraded performance and utility-specific operating and maintenance costs. Results from this upgraded performance and utility-specific operating and maintenance costs. Results from this program may lead some utilities to use SO{sub 2} removal upgrades as an approach for compliance with phase 2 of Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990. This paper summarizes the results of testing, modeling, and economic evaluations that have been completed since July, 1994.

  12. Regional disparity and cost-effective SO2 pollution control in China: A case study in 5 mega-cities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanada, Momoe; Dong, Liang; Fujita, Tsuyoshi; Fujii, Minoru; Inoue, Tsuyoshi; Hirano, Yujiro; Togawa, Takuya; Geng, Yong

    2013-01-01

    With rapid development, increasing sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emission becomes a key environmental issue in China. To respond to this challenge, the Chinese government established a top-down scheme to reduce its SO 2 emissions. However, regional disparity and the associated cost differences brought uncertainties to the policy effectiveness and efficiency. Few studies focus on this field. Therefore, this study tries to fill such a gap by investigating the differences of SO 2 emissions, reduction potential, and cost-effectiveness through use of the GAINS-China model in five mega-cities in China, namely, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, and Hong Kong. A scenario analysis approach is employed, focusing on two technologies named flue gas desulfurization (FGD) and limestone injection (LINJ). Results demonstrated that a large SO 2 reduction potential exists, as well as a great disparity, among the five mega-cities. Chongqing had the largest reduction potential with lowest unit cost, while Beijng and Hong Kong showed the lowest reduction potential with higher unit cost. In Beijing and Shanghai, FGD and LINJ in the power generation sector had the larger reduction potential with the highest cost-effectiveness. However, in Chongqing, the industry sectors also had large reduction potentials. Finally, appropriate SO 2 control strategies and policies are raised by considering the local realities. - Highlights: • The cost-effectiveness of SO 2 control policy was analyzed in five mega-cities in China. • Reduction potential and cost-effectiveness were closely linked to regional disparity. • Beijing and Hong Kong showed lower reduction potential and higher marginal reduction cost. • Chongqing showed the largest reduction potential and the lowest marginal reduction cost

  13. Production development and utilization of Zimmer Station wet FGD by-products. Final report. Volume 2, Product development of magnesium hydroxide, Phase 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith, Kevin [Dravo Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Beeghly, Joel H. [Dravo Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    2000-11-30

    In the way of background information about 30 electric utility units with a combined total of 15,000 MW utilize magnesium enhanced lime flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The first generation process begun in 1973, called the Thiosorbic® Process, was a technical breakthrough that offered significantly improved operating and performance characteristics compared with competing FGD technologies. The process is described as Flow Diagram "A" in figure 1. A disadvantage of this and other inhibited or natural oxidation wet FGD systems is the capital and operating cost associated with landfill disposal of the calcium sulfite based solids. Fixation to stabilize the sludge solids for compaction in a landfill also consumes fly ash that otherwise may be marketable.

  14. Four Corners project experience - Applications to next generation FGD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wild, R.L.; Grimes, R.L.; Wiggins, D.S.

    1990-01-01

    In June 1984, Arizona Public Service Company started up the flue gas desulfurization system installed on Units 4 and 5 at the Four Corners Power Station. At the time, this represented the largest emissions control retrofit in the industry, and consisted of two 800 MWe units. These units burn a low sulfur subbituminous coal from the adjacent Navajo mine. The FGD system was designed for 72% overall removal, with partial bypass. The SO 2 absorbers were designed for 90% removal. This FGD system is considered to be a second generation design. At the time, it represented state-of-the-art of FGD technology, in terms of both process considerations and materials of construction. In the six years since startup, several modifications have been made in the areas of process chemistry, equipment configuration, and materials of construction. These modifications are applicable to the next generation of FGD systems which will be designed in response to Acid Rain Legislation. This paper presents the original plant design basis, summarizes the operating experience to date, and identifies the modifications and improvements which have been made since startup. In addition, recommendations for new installations are offered

  15. Properties of mortars made by uncalcined FGD gypsum-fly ash-ground granulated blast furnace slag composite binder

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong Shiyun; Ni Kun; Li Jinmei

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► The mortar with uncalcined FGD gypsum has suitable workability. ► The strength of mortar with uncalcined FGD gypsum is higher than that of mortar without uncalcined FGD gypsum. ► The dry shrinkage of mortar with uncalcined FGD gypsum is lower than that of mortar without uncalcined FGD gypsum. ► The leaching of sulfate ion of mortar is studied. - Abstract: A series of novel mortars were developed from composite binder of uncalcined FGD gypsum, fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) for the good utilization of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) gypsum. At a fixed ratio (20%) of GGBFS to the composite binder, keeping consistency of the mortar between 9.5 and 10.0 cm, the properties of the composite mortar were studied. The results show that higher water/binder (W/B) is required to keep the consistency when increasing the percentage of FGD gypsum. No obvious influences of the W/B and content of FGD gypsum on the bleeding of paste were observed which keeps lower than 2% under all experimental conditions tried. The highest compressive and flexural strengths (ratio is 20% FGD gypsum, 20% GGBFS and 60% FA) are 22.6 and 4.3 MPa at 28 days, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that massive ettringite crystals and C–S–H gels exist in the hydration products. At 90 days the mortars with FGD gypsum is dramatically smaller drying shrinkage (563–938 micro strain) than that without FGD gypsum (about 2250 micro strain). The release of the SO 4 2- from the mortar was analyzed, indicating that the dissolution of sulfate increases with FGD gypsum. The concentration of SO 4 2- releasing from the mortar with 10% FGD gypsum is almost equal to that obtained from the mortar without FGD gypsum. The release of SO 4 2- from the mortar with 20% FGD gypsum is 9200 mg·m −2 , which is lower than that from the mortar with 95% cement clinker and 5% FGD gypsum.

  16. Evaluation of Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Facilities with SCR and FGD Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J. A. Withum; S. C. Tseng; J. E. Locke

    2006-01-31

    CONSOL Energy Inc., Research & Development (CONSOL), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), is evaluating the effects of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) on mercury (Hg) capture in coal-fired plants equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP)--wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) combination or a spray dyer absorber--fabric filter (SDA-FF) combination. In this program CONSOL is determining mercury speciation and removal at 10 coal-fired facilities. The principal purpose of this work is to develop a better understanding of the potential mercury removal ''co-benefits'' achieved by NO{sub x}, and SO{sub 2} control technologies. It is expected that these data will provide the basis for fundamental scientific insights into the nature of mercury chemistry in flue gas, the catalytic effect of SCR systems on mercury speciation and the efficacy of different FGD technologies for mercury capture. Ultimately, this insight could help to design and operate SCR and FGD systems to maximize mercury removal. The objectives are (1) to evaluate the effect of SCR on mercury capture in the ESP-FGD and SDA-FF combinations at coal-fired power plants, (2) evaluate the effect of SCR catalyst degradation on mercury capture; (3) evaluate the effect of low load operation on mercury capture in an SCR-FGD system, and (4) collect data that could provide the basis for fundamental scientific insights into the nature of mercury chemistry in flue gas, the catalytic effect of SCR systems on mercury speciation and the efficacy of different FGD technologies for mercury capture. This document, the ninth in a series of topical reports, describes the results and analysis of mercury sampling performed on Unit 1 at Plant 7, a 566 MW unit burning a bituminous coal containing 3.6% sulfur. The unit is equipped with a SCR, ESP, and wet FGD to control NO{sub x}, particulate, and SO

  17. Properties of mortars made by uncalcined FGD gypsum-fly ash-ground granulated blast furnace slag composite binder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Shiyun; Ni, Kun; Li, Jinmei

    2012-07-01

    A series of novel mortars were developed from composite binder of uncalcined FGD gypsum, fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) for the good utilization of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) gypsum. At a fixed ratio (20%) of GGBFS to the composite binder, keeping consistency of the mortar between 9.5 and 10.0 cm, the properties of the composite mortar were studied. The results show that higher water/binder (W/B) is required to keep the consistency when increasing the percentage of FGD gypsum. No obvious influences of the W/B and content of FGD gypsum on the bleeding of paste were observed which keeps lower than 2% under all experimental conditions tried. The highest compressive and flexural strengths (ratio is 20% FGD gypsum, 20% GGBFS and 60% FA) are 22.6 and 4.3 MPa at 28 days, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that massive ettringite crystals and C-S-H gels exist in the hydration products. At 90 days the mortars with FGD gypsum is dramatically smaller drying shrinkage (563-938 micro strain) than that without FGD gypsum (about 2250 micro strain). The release of the SO(4)(2-) from the mortar was analyzed, indicating that the dissolution of sulfate increases with FGD gypsum. The concentration of SO(4)(2-) releasing from the mortar with 10% FGD gypsum is almost equal to that obtained from the mortar without FGD gypsum. The release of SO(4)(2-) from the mortar with 20% FGD gypsum is 9200 mg·m(-2), which is lower than that from the mortar with 95% cement clinker and 5% FGD gypsum. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Crystallisation of Gypsum and Prevention of Foaming in Wet Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) Plants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Brian Brun

    The aim of this project is to investigate two operational problems, which have been experienced during wet flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) operation, i.e. poor gypsum dewatering properties and foaming. The results of this work can be used for the optimization of wet FGD-plants in terms of reliabi......The aim of this project is to investigate two operational problems, which have been experienced during wet flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) operation, i.e. poor gypsum dewatering properties and foaming. The results of this work can be used for the optimization of wet FGD-plants in terms....... Experiments in a falling film wet FGD pilot plant have shown a strong non-linear behaviour (in a ln(n(l)) vs. l plot) at the lower end of the particle size range, compared to the well-known linear “mixed suspension mixed product removal (MSMPR)” model. A transient population balance model, fitted...

  19. FGD Additives to Segregate and Sequester Mercury in Solid Byproducts - Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Searcy, K; Bltyhe, G M; Steen, W A

    2012-02-28

    Many mercury control strategies for U.S. coal-fired power generating plants involve co-benefit capture of oxidized mercury from flue gases treated by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. For these processes to be effective at overall mercury control, the captured mercury must not be re-emitted to the atmosphere or into surface or ground water. The project sought to identify scrubber additives and FGD operating conditions under which mercury re-emissions would decrease and mercury would remain in the liquor and be blown down from the system in the chloride purge stream. After exiting the FGD system, mercury would react with precipitating agents to form stable solid byproducts and would be removed in a dewatering step. The FGD gypsum solids, free of most of the mercury, could then be disposed or processed for reuse as wallboard or in other beneficial reuse. The project comprised extensive bench-scale FGD scrubber tests in Phases I and II. During Phase II, the approaches developed at the bench scale were tested at the pilot scale. Laboratory wastewater treatment tests measured the performance of precipitating agents in removing mercury from the chloride purge stream. Finally, the economic viability of the approaches tested was evaluated.

  20. Land application uses of dry FGD by-products. [Quarterly] report, July 1, 1993--September 30, 1993

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dick, W.A.; Beeghly, J.H.

    1993-12-31

    Reclamation of mine-sites with acid overburden requires the use of alkaline amendments and represents a potential high-volume use of alkaline dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by products. In a greenhouse study, 25-cm columns of acid mine spoil were amended with two FGD by-products; lime injection multistage burners (LIMB) fly ash or pressurized fluidized bed (PFBC) fly ash at rates of 0, 4, 8, 16, and 32% by weight (0, 40, 80, 160, and 320 tons/acre). Amended spoil was covered with 20 cm of acid topsoil amended with the corresponding FGD by-product to pH 7. Column leachate pH increased with FGD amendment rate while leachate Fe, Mn, and Zn decreased, Leachate Ca, S, and Mg decreased with LIMB amendment rate and increased with PFBC amendment. Leachate concentrations of regulated metals were decreased or unaffected by FGD amendment except for Se which was increased by PFBC. Spoil pH was increased up to 8.9 by PFBC, and up to 9.2 by LIMB amendment. Spoil pH also increased with depth with FGD amendments of 16 and 32%, Yield of fescue was increased by FGD amendment of 4 to 8%. Plant tissue content of most elements was unaffected by FGD amendment rate, and no toxicity symptoms were observed. Plant Ca and Mg were increased by LIMB and PFBC respectively, while plant S, Mn and Sr were decreased. Plant Ca and B was increased by LIMB, and plant Mg and S by PFBC amendment. These results indicate dry FGD by-products are effective in ameliorating acid, spoils and have a low potential for creating adverse environmental impacts.

  1. Experienced materials in wet limestone-gypsum FGD system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hasegawa, S. [Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Hiroshima (Japan). Hiroshima Research and Development Center; Iwashita, K.; Ochi, E.; Higuchi, T. [Mitsubishi heavy Industry, Yokohama (Japan)

    1998-12-31

    individual plants as the characteristic flue gas composition, limestone constitution, make-up and wastewater mass balance etc., as well as field test results. In consideration of the construction cost, resin-lined carbon steel is generally used in single-loop process absorbers. But, during particular selection of materials for the single-loop process where there is high concentration of Cl{sup {minus}}, superstainless steel or nickel alloys having high resistivity to pitting corrosion and deposit attack are largely used. However, depending on the process condition, such austenite stainless steels as Type 304L, Type 316L (S31603), Type 317L (S31703) Type 317LM (S31725), Alloy 904L (NOS904), 254SM0 (S31254), Alloy C276 (N10276) etc., are applied as appropriate materials. Even among these, superstainless steel or nickel alloys are largely used in inlet duct, FGD fan, and single-loop process absorber where Cl{sup {minus}} is high and SO{sub 4}{sup 2{minus}} is low.

  2. Value-Added Products from FGD Sulfite-Rich Scrubber Materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vivak Malhotra

    2010-01-31

    According to the American Coal Ash Association, about 29.25 million tons of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) byproducts were produced in the USA in 2003. Out of 29.25 million tons, 17.35 million tons were sulfite-rich scrubber materials. At present, unlike its cousin FGD gypsum, the prospect for effective utilization of sulfite-rich scrubber materials is not bright. In fact, almost 16.9 million tons are leftover every year. In our pursuit to mitigate the liability of sulfite-rich FGD scrubber materials' disposal, we are attempting to develop value-added products that can commercially compete. More specifically, for this Innovative Concept Phase I project, we have the following objectives: to characterize the sulfite-rich scrubber material for toxic metals; to optimize the co-blending and processing of scrubber material and natural byproducts; to formulate and develop structural composites from sulfite-rich scrubber material; and to evaluate the composites' mechanical properties and compare them with current products on the market. After successfully demonstrating the viability of our research, a more comprehensive approach will be proposed to take these value-added materials to fruition.

  3. Use of FGD gypsum on a bermudagrass pasture in the Appalachian Plateau Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Addition of industrial by-products from coal fired power plants (FGD gypsum and FGD gypsum + fly ash) are thought to increase plant production. Thus, a study was conducted to evaluate the effects of industrial by-products as a soil amendment on bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.) yield. The study was...

  4. Enhanced Control of Mercury and other HAPs by Innovative Modifications to Wet FGD Processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hargrove, O.W.; Carey, T.R.; Richardson, C.F.; Skarupa, R.C.; Meserole, F.B.; Rhudy, R.G.; Brown, Thomas D.

    1997-01-01

    The overall objective of this project was to learn more about controlling emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from coal-fired power plants that are equipped with wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The project was included by FETC as a Phase I project in its Mega-PRDA program. Phase I of this project focused on three research areas. These areas in order of priority were: (1) Catalytic oxidation of vapor-phase elemental mercury; (2) Enhanced particulate-phase HAPs removal by electrostatic charging of liquid droplets; and (3) Enhanced mercury removal by addition of additives to FGD process liquor. Mercury can exist in two forms in utility flue gas--as elemental mercury and as oxidized mercury (predominant form believed to be HgCl 2 ). Previous test results have shown that wet scrubbers effectively remove the oxidized mercury from the gas but are ineffective in removing elemental mercury. Recent improvements in mercury speciation techniques confirm this finding. Catalytic oxidation of vapor-phase elemental mercury is of interest in cases where a wet scrubber exists or is planned for SO 2 control. If a loW--cost process could be developed to oxidize all of the elemental mercury in the flue gas, then the maximum achievable mercury removal across the existing or planned wet scrubber would increase. Other approaches for improving control of HAPs included a method for improving particulate removal across the FGD process and the use of additives to increase mercury solubility. This paper discusses results related only to catalytic oxidation of elemental mercury

  5. EVALUATION OF MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM COAL-FIRED FACILITIES WITH SCR AND FGD SYSTEMS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J.A. Withum; S.C. Tseng; J.E. Locke

    2005-11-01

    CONSOL Energy Inc., Research & Development (CONSOL), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), is evaluating the effects of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) on mercury (Hg) capture in coal-fired plants equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP)--wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) combination or a spray dryer absorber--fabric filter (SDA-FF) combination. In this program CONSOL is determining mercury speciation and removal at 10 coal-fired facilities. The objectives are (1) to evaluate the effect of SCR on mercury capture in the ESP-FGD and SDA-FF combinations at coal-fired power plants, (2) evaluate the effect of catalyst degradation on mercury capture; (3) evaluate the effect of low load operation on mercury capture in an SCR-FGD system, and (4) collect data that could provide the basis for fundamental scientific insights into the nature of mercury chemistry in flue gas, the catalytic effect of SCR systems on mercury speciation and the efficacy of different FGD technologies for mercury capture. This document, the seventh in a series of topical reports, describes the results and analysis of mercury sampling performed on a 1,300 MW unit burning a bituminous coal containing three percent sulfur. The unit was equipped with an ESP and a limestone-based wet FGD to control particulate and SO2 emissions, respectively. At the time of sampling an SCR was not installed on this unit. Four sampling tests were performed in September 2003. Flue gas mercury speciation and concentrations were determined at the ESP outlet (FGD inlet), and at the stack (FGD outlet) using the Ontario Hydro method. Process stream samples for a mercury balance were collected to coincide with the flue gas measurements. The results show that the FGD inlet flue gas oxidized:elemental mercury ratio was roughly 2:1, with 66% oxidized mercury and 34% elemental mercury. Mercury removal, on a coal

  6. Evaluation of Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Facilities with SCR and FGD Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J. A. Withum; J. E. Locke

    2006-02-01

    CONSOL Energy Inc., Research & Development (CONSOL), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), is evaluating the effects of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) on mercury (Hg) capture in coal-fired plants equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP)--wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) combination or a spray dyer absorber--fabric filter (SDA-FF) combination. In this program CONSOL is determining mercury speciation and removal at 10 coal-fired facilities. The principal purpose of this work is to develop a better understanding of the potential mercury removal ''co-benefits'' achieved by NO{sub x}, and SO{sub 2} control technologies. It is expected that this data will provide the basis for fundamental scientific insights into the nature of mercury chemistry in flue gas, the catalytic effect of SCR systems on mercury speciation and the efficacy of different FGD technologies for mercury capture. Ultimately, this insight could help to design and operate SCR and FGD systems to maximize mercury removal. The objectives are (1) to evaluate the effect of SCR on mercury capture in the ESP-FGD and SDA-FF combinations at coal-fired power plants, (2) evaluate the effect of SCR catalyst degradation on mercury capture; (3) evaluate the effect of low load operation on mercury capture in an SCR-FGD system, and (4) collect data that could provide the basis for fundamental scientific insights into the nature of mercury chemistry in flue gas, the catalytic effect of SCR systems on mercury speciation and the efficacy of different FGD technologies for mercury capture. This document, the tenth in a series of topical reports, describes the results and analysis of mercury sampling performed on two 468 MW units burning bituminous coal containing 1.3-1.7% sulfur. Unit 2 is equipped with an SCR, ESP, and wet FGD to control NO{sub x}, particulate, and SO{sub 2} emissions

  7. Land application uses for dry FGD by-products. Phase 1, [Annual report], December 1, 1991--November 30, 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bigham, J.; Dick, W.; Forster, L.; Hitzhusen, F.; McCoy, E.; Stehouwer, R.; Traina, S.; Wolfe, W. [Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Haefner, R. [Geological Survey, Columbus, OH (United States). Water Resources Div.

    1993-04-01

    The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act have spurred the development of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes, several of which produce a dry, solid by-product material consisting of excess sorbent, reaction products containing sulfates and sulfites, and coal fly ash. Presently FGD by-product materials are treated as solid wastes and must be landfilled. However, landfill sites are becoming more scarce and tipping fees are constantly increasing. It is, therefore, highly desirable to find beneficial reuses for these materials provided the environmental impacts are minimal and socially acceptable. Phase 1 results of a 4 and 1/2 year study to demonstrate large volume beneficial uses of FGD by-products are reported. The purpose of the Phase 1 portion of the project was to characterize the chemical, physical, mineralogical and engineering properties of the FGD by-product materials obtained from various FGD technologies being developed in the state of Ohio. Phase 1 also involved the collection of baseline economic data related to the beneficial reuse of these FGD materials. A total of 58 samples were collected and analyzed. In summary Phase 1 results revealed that FGD by-product materials are essentially coal fly ash materials diluted with unreacted sorbent and reaction products. High volume beneficial reuses will depend on the economics of their substituting for existing materials for various types of applications (e.g. as an agricultural liming material, soil borrow for highway embankment construction, and reclamation of active and abandoned surface coal mines). Environmental constraints to the beneficial reuse of dry FGD byproduct materials, based on laboratory and leachate studies, seem to be less than for coal fly ash.

  8. Lowest cost due to highest productivity and highest quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenk, Daniel

    2003-03-01

    Since global purchasing in the automotive industry has been taken up all around the world there is one main key factor that makes a TB-supplier today successful: Producing highest quality at lowest cost. The fact that Tailored Blanks, which today may reach up to 1/3 of a car body weight, are purchased on the free market but from different steel suppliers, especially in Europe and NAFTA, the philosophy on OEM side has been changing gradually towards tough evaluation criteria. "No risk at the stamping side" calls for top quality Tailored- or Tubular Blank products. Outsourcing Tailored Blanks has been starting in Japan but up to now without any quality request from the OEM side like ISO 13919-1B (welding quality standard in Europe and USA). Increased competition will automatically push the quality level and the ongoing approach to combine high strength steel with Tailored- and Tubular Blanks will ask for even more reliable system concepts which enables to weld narrow seams at highest speed. Beside producing quality, which is the key to reduce one of the most important cost driver "material scrap," in-line quality systems with true and reliable evaluation is going to be a "must" on all weld systems. Traceability of all process related data submitted to interfaces according to customer request in combination with ghost-shift-operation of TB systems are tomorrow's state-of-the-art solutions of Tailored Blank-facilities.

  9. Extension of the possibilities for disposal of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum by the development of a process for the production of FGD gypsum. Final report. Erweiterung der Entsorgungsmoeglichkeiten von REA-Gips durch Entwicklung eines Verfahrens zur Herstellung von REA-Anhydrit aus REA-Gips. Schlussbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Limmer, B.; Hueller, R.

    1990-01-01

    In the course of this research project a completly new transformation of FGD-gypsum into FGD-anhydrite has been studied. The reaction is catalysed by small quantities of sulphuric acid resulting in a FGD-anhydrite without combined water and with an orthorhombic crystal lattice. The course of reaction was thoroughly investigated by laboratory test and hypothesis have been put forward. The process engineering has been developed from laboratory to pilot plant scale. The FGD-anhydrite is technologically a novel product. The idea was to create it for cement industry as well as to put it on the filler market as a raw product. In principle, FGD-anhdrite will be suitable for the use in the cement industry due to its characteristics. However, it is not interesting for this market in this moment. With respect to the filler industry, this application will enable a further-reaching usability of the FGD-gypsum than the traditional scope of the gypsum industry. First experiments show that the specific properties of processed FGD-anhydrite may qualify it as a high-grade filler. (orig.) With 18 refs., 21 tabs., 41 figs.

  10. PILOT TESTING OF MERCURY OXIDATION CATALYSTS FOR UPSTREAM OF WET FGD SYSTEMS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gary M. Blythe

    2002-01-01

    The objective of this project is to demonstrate at pilot scale the use of solid honeycomb catalysts to promote the oxidation of elemental mercury in the flue gas from coal combustion. The project is being funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-01NT41185. EPRI, Great River Energy (GRE), and City Public Service (CPS) of San Antonio are project co-funders. URS Group is the prime contractor. The mercury catalytic oxidation process under development uses catalyst materials applied to honeycomb substrates to promote the oxidation of elemental mercury in the flue gas from coal-fired power plants that have wet lime or limestone flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. Oxidized mercury is removed in the wet FGD absorbers and co-precipitates in a stable form with the byproducts from the FGD system. The co-precipitated mercury does not appear to adversely affect the disposal or reuse properties of the FGD byproduct. The current project will test previously identified, effective catalyst materials at a larger, pilot scale and in a commercial form, so as to provide engineering data for future full-scale designs. The pilot-scale tests will continue for up to 14 months at each of two sites to provide longer-term catalyst life data. This is the first full reporting period for the subject Cooperative Agreement. During this period, most of the project efforts were related to project initiation and planning. There is no significant technical progress to report for the current period

  11. Production development and utilization of Zimmer Station wet FGD by-products. Final report. Volume 1, Executive summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith, Kevin [Dravo Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Beeghly, Joel H. [Dravo Technology Center, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    2000-11-30

    About 30 electric utility units with a combined total of 15,000 MW utilize magnesium enhanced lime flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. A disadvantage of this and other inhibited or natural oxidation wet FGD systems is the capital and operating cost associated with landfill disposal of the calcium sulfite based solids. Fixation to stabilize the solids for compaction in a landfill also consumes fly ash that otherwise may be marketable. This Executive Summary describes efforts to dewater the magnesium hydroxide and gypsum slurries and then process the solids into a more user friendly and higher value form. To eliminate the cost of solids disposal in its first generation Thiosorbic® system, the Dravo Lime Company developed the ThioClear® process that utilizes a magnesium based absorber liquor to remove S02 with minimal suspended solids. Magnesium enhanced lime is added to an oxidized bleed stream of thickener overflow (TOF) to produce magnesium hydroxide [Mg(OH)2] and gypsum (CaS04 • 2H20), as by-products. This process was demonstrated at the 3 to 5 MW closed loop FGD system pilot plant at the Miami Fort Station of Cinergy, near Cincinnati, Ohio with the help of OCDO Grant Agreement CDO/D-91-6. A similar process strictly for'recovery and reuse of Mg(OH)2 began operation at the Zimmer Station of Cinergy in late 1994 that can produce 900 pounds of Mg(OH)2 per hour and 2,600 pounds of gypsum per hour. This by-product plant, called the Zimmer Slipstream Magnesium Hydroxide Recovery Project Demonstration, was conducted with the help of OCDO Grant Agreement CDO/D-921-004. Full scale ThioClear® plants began operating in 1997 at the 130 MW Applied Energy Services plant, in Monaca, PA, and in year 2000 at the 1,330 MW Allegheny Energy Pleasants Station at St. Marys, WV.

  12. Epoxy resin systems for FGD units

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brytus, V.; Puglisi, J.S.

    1984-01-01

    This paper discusses ongoing research work which is directed towards epoxy resins and curing agents which are designed to withstand aggressive environments. This work includes not only a chemical description of the materials involved, but the application testing necessary to verify the usefulness of these systems. It demonstrates that new high performance epoxy systems are superior to those which traditionally come to mind when one thinks epoxy. Finally, it discusses the results of testing designed specifically to screen candidates for use in FGD units

  13. Strategies for enhancing the co-removal of mercury in FGD-scrubbers of power plants. Operating parameters and additives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schuetze, Jan; Koeser, Heinz [Magdeburg Univ. (Germany). Chair of Environmental Technology; Halle-Wittenberg Univ., Halle (Germany). Centre of Engineering Services

    2012-07-01

    Co-combustion of waste fuels, coals with variable mercury content and lower regulatory emission limits are drivers for the optimisation of the co-removal of mercury in flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) scrubbers. The paper explains some new features of the system performance of FGD scrubbers for the co-removal of mercury in coal-fired power plants. Results on their efficiency under standardised laboratory conditions are presented. The effect of these measures on the quality of the FGD by-product gypsum will be covered as well. (orig.)

  14. EVALUATION OF MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM COAL-FIRED FACILITIES WITH SCR AND FGD SYSTEMS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J. A. Withum; S.C. Tseng; J. E. Locke

    2004-10-31

    CONSOL Energy Inc., Research & Development (CONSOL), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE) is evaluating the effects of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) on mercury (Hg) capture in coal-fired plants equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) - wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) combination or a spray dyer absorber--fabric filter (SDA-FF) combination. In this program CONSOL is determining mercury speciation and removal at 10 coal-fired facilities. The objectives are (1) to evaluate the effect of SCR on mercury capture in the ESP-FGD and SDA-FF combinations at coal-fired power plants, (2) evaluate the effect of catalyst degradation on mercury capture; (3) evaluate the effect of low load operation on mercury capture in an SCR-FGD system, and (4) collect data that could provide the basis for fundamental scientific insights into the nature of mercury chemistry in flue gas, the catalytic effect of SCR systems on Hg speciation and the efficacy of different FGD technologies for Hg capture. This document, the second in a series of topical reports, describes the results and analysis of mercury sampling performed on a 330 MW unit burning a bituminous coal containing 1.0% sulfur. The unit is equipped with a SCR system for NOx control and a spray dryer absorber for SO{sub 2} control followed by a baghouse unit for particulate emissions control. Four sampling tests were performed in March 2003. Flue gas mercury speciation and concentrations were determined at the SCR inlet, air heater outlet (ESP inlet), and at the stack (FGD outlet) using the Ontario Hydro method. Process stream samples for a mercury balance were collected to coincide with the flue gas measurements. Due to mechanical problems with the boiler feed water pumps, the actual gross output was between 195 and 221 MW during the tests. The results showed that the SCR/air heater combination oxidized nearly 95% of the elemental mercury. Mercury removal, on a

  15. Beneficial reuse of FGD material in the construction of low permeability liners: Impacts on inorganic water quality constituents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheng, C.M.; Tu, W.; Zand, B.; Butalia, T.; Wolfe, W.; Walker, H. [Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)

    2007-05-15

    In this paper, we examine the water quality impacts associated with the reuse of fixated flue gas desulfurization (FGD) material as a low permeability liner for agricultural applications. A 0.457-m-thick layer of fixated FGD material from a coal-fired power plant was utilized to create a 708 m{sup 2} swine manure pond at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Western Branch in South Charleston, Ohio. To assess the effects of the fixated FGD material liner, water quality samples were collected over a period of 5 years from the pond surface water and a sump collection system beneath the liner. Water samples collected from the sump and pond surface water met all Ohio nontoxic criteria, and in fact, generally met all national primary and secondary drinking water standards. Furthermore it was found that hazardous constituents (i.e., As, B, Cr, Cu, and Zn) and agricultural pollutants (i.e., phosphate and ammonia) were effectively retained by the FGD liner system. The retention of As, B, Cr, Cu, Zn, and ammonia was likely due to sorption to mineral components of the FGD liner, while Ca, Fe, and P retention were a result of both sorption and precipitation of Fe- and Ca-containing phosphate solids.

  16. Implications of moisture content determination in the environmental characterisation of FGD gypsum for its disposal in landfills

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alvarez-Ayuso, E. [Department of Environmental Geology, Institute of Earth Sciences ' Jaume Almera' (CSIC), C/ Lluis Sole i Sabaris s/n, 08028 Barcelona (Spain)], E-mail: ealvarez@ija.csic.es; Querol, X. [Department of Environmental Geology, Institute of Earth Sciences ' Jaume Almera' (CSIC), C/ Lluis Sole i Sabaris s/n, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Tomas, A. [Endesa Generacion, S.A., C/ Ribera de Loira 60, 28042 Madrid (Spain)

    2008-05-01

    The leachable contents of elements of environmental concern considered in the Council Decision 2003/33/EC on waste disposal were determined in flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum. To this end, leaching tests were performed following the standard EN-12457-4 which specifies the determination of the dry mass of the material at 105 deg. C and the use of a liquid to solid (L/S) ratio of 10 l kg{sup -1} dry matter. Additionally, leaching tests were also carried out taking into account the dry mass of the material at 60 deg. C and using different L/S ratios (2, 5, 8, 10, 15 and 20 l kg{sup -1} dry matter). It was found that the dry mass determination at 105 deg. C turns out to be inappropriate for FGD gypsum since at this temperature gypsum transforms into bassanite, and so, in addition to moisture content, crystalline water is removed. As a consequence the moisture content is overvalued (about 16%), what makes consider a lower L/S ratio than that specified by the standard EN-12457-4. As a result the leachable contents in FGD gypsum are, in general, overestimated, what could lead to more strict environmental requirements for FGD gypsum when considering its disposal in landfills, specially concerning those elements (e.g., F) risking the characterisation of FGD gypsum as a waste acceptable at landfills for non-hazardous wastes.

  17. FGD Franchising Pilot Project of Thermal Power Plants

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2009-01-01

    According to the national policy on enhancing environmental protection,the five major power generation companies are required to carry out flue gas desulphurization(FGD) franchising pilot project in thermal power plants.This paper introduces the development of this pilot project,including the foundation,purpose,objects,demands and procedures.It also discusses some main problems encountered during implementation,involving the understanding,legislation,financing,taxation,pricing and management of franchise.At...

  18. Risk minimisation of FGD gypsum leachates by incorporation of aluminium sulphate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alvarez-Ayuso, E. [Department of Environmental Geology, Institute of Earth Sciences ' Jaume Almera' (CSIC), C/ Lluis Sole i Sabaris, s/n, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Department of Environmental Geochemistry, IRNASA, CSIC, Apto. 257, 37071 Salamanca (Spain)], E-mail: ealvarez@ija.csic.es; Querol, X. [Department of Environmental Geology, Institute of Earth Sciences ' Jaume Almera' (CSIC), C/ Lluis Sole i Sabaris, s/n, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Ballesteros, J.C.; Gimenez, A. [Endesa Generacion, S.A., C/ Ribera de Loira, 60, 28042 Madrid (Spain)

    2008-11-15

    The incorporation of aluminium sulphate to (flue gas desulphurisation) FGD gypsum before its disposal was investigated as a way to minimise the risk supposed by the high fluoride content of its leachates. Using a bath method the kinetic and equilibrium processes of fluoride removal by aluminium sulphate were studied at fluoride/aluminium molar concentration (F/Al) ratios in the range 1.75 10{sup -2}-1.75 under the pH conditions (about 6.5) of FGD gypsum leachates. It was found that fluoride removal was a very fast process at any of the (F/Al) ratios subject of study, with equilibrium attained within the first 15 min of interaction. High decreases in solution fluoride concentrations (50-80%) were found at the equilibrium state. The use of aluminium sulphate in the stabilization of FGD gypsum proved to greatly decrease its fluoride leachable content (in the range 20-90% for aluminium sulphate doses of 0.1-5%, as determined by the European standard EN 12457-4). Such fluoride leaching minimisation assures the characterization of this by-product as a waste acceptable at landfills for non-hazardous wastes according to the Council Decision 2003/33/EC on waste disposal. Furthermore, as derived from column leaching studies, the proposed stabilization system showed to be highly effective in simulated conditions of disposal, displaying fluoride leaching reduction values about 55 and 80% for aluminium sulphate added amounts of 1 and 2%, respectively.

  19. Coal Combustion Residual Beneficial Use Evaluation: Fly Ash Concrete and FGD Gypsum Wallboard

    Science.gov (United States)

    This page contains documents related to the evaluation of coal combustion residual beneficial use of fly ash concrete and FGD gypsum wallboard including the evaluation itself and the accompanying appendices

  20. Microbiological treatment for removal of heavy metals and nutrients in FGD wastewater

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shulder, Stephen J. [Structural Integrity Associates, Annapolis, MD (United States); Riffe, Michael R. [Siemens Water Technologies, General Industry Solutions, Warrendale, PA (United States); Walp, Richard J. [URS Corporation, Princeton, NJ (United States)

    2010-12-15

    In efforts to comply with the Clean Air Act many coal-fired fossil plants are installing wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) systems, also known as scrubbers, to remove sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}). Limestone slurry is injected into an absorber to promote the formation of calcium sulfate (CaSO{sub 4}) or gypsum. Chloride (chlorine in the fuel) becomes dissolved and increases in the absorber loop, which can lead to a more corrosive environment. Inert matter in the limestone also enters the absorber and must be reduced to meet the gypsum quality specification. To control the buildup of chloride and fines in the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system a continuous blowdown or purge stream is utilized. Environmental regulations on the discharge of treated FGD wastewater are becoming increasingly more stringent to control impacts on the receiving body of water (stream, lake, river, or ocean). These new limitations often focus on heavy metals such as selenium and nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. The FGD chloride purge stream is typically treated by chemical addition and clarification to remove excess calcium and heavy metals with pH adjustment prior to discharge. However this process is not efficient at selenium or nutrient removal. Information on a new approach using biological reactor systems or sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) to achieve reductions in selenium and nitrogen compounds (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) is discussed. A brief discussion on the physical/chemical pretreatment is also provided. (orig.)

  1. Leaching of FGD Byproducts Using a CSTX

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kairies, C.L.; Schroeder, K.T.; Cardone, C.R.

    2005-09-01

    Leaching studies of coal utilization byproducts (CUB) are often performed to determine the compatibility of the material in a particular end-use or disposal environment. Typically, these studies are conducted using either a batch or a fixed-bed column technique. Fixed-bed columns offer the advantage of a continuous flow of effluent that provides elution profiles with changing elution volume and pH. Unfortunately, clogs can form in fixed-bed leaching columns, either because of cementitious properties of the material itself, such as is seen for fluidized bed combustion (FBC) fly ash, or because of precipitate formation, such as can occur when a high-calcium ash is subjected to sulfate-containing leachates. Also, very fine-grained materials, such as gypsum, do not provide sufficient permeability for study in a fixed-bed column. A continuous, stirred-tank extractor (CSTX) is being used as an alternative technique that can provide the elution profile of column leaching but without the low permeability problems. The CSTX has been successfully employed in the leaching of flue gas desulfurization products that would not be sufficiently permeable under traditional column leaching conditions. The results indicate that the leaching behavior depends on a number of factors, including (but not limited to) solubility and neutralization capacity of the mineral phases present, sorption properties of these phases, behavior of the solubilized material in the tank, and the type of species in solution. In addition, leaching to near-exhaustion of a wallboard produced from FGD gypsum has allowed the isolation of a highly adsorptive phase. This phase appears to be present in at least some FGD gypsums and accounts for the immobilization of trace metals such as arsenic, cobalt, lead, and mercury.

  2. Evaluation of potential for mercury volatilization from natural and FGD gypsum products using flux-chamber tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shock, Scott S; Noggle, Jessica J; Bloom, Nicholas; Yost, Lisa J

    2009-04-01

    Synthetic gypsum produced by flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) in coal-fired power plants (FGD gypsum) is put to productive use in manufacturing wallboard. FGD gypsum wallboard is widely used, accounting for nearly 30% of wallboard sold in the United States. Mercury is captured in flue gas and thus is one of the trace metals present in FGD gypsum; raising questions about the potential for mercury exposure from wallboard. Mercury is also one of the trace metals present in "natural" mined gypsum used to make wall board. Data available in the literature were not adequate to assess whether mercury in wallboard from either FGD or natural gypsum could volatilize into indoor air. In this study, mercury volatilization was evaluated using small-scale (5 L) glass and Teflon flux chambers, with samples collected using both iodated carbon and gold-coated sand traps. Mercury flux measurements made using iodated carbon traps (n=6) were below the detection limit of 11.5 ng/m2-day for all natural and synthetic gypsum wallboard samples. Mercury flux measurements made using gold-coated sand traps (n=6) were 0.92 +/- 0.11 ng/m2-day for natural gypsum wallboard and 5.9 +/- 2.4 ng/m2-day for synthetic gypsum wallboard. Room air mercury concentrations between 0.028 and 0.28 ng/m3 and between 0.13 and 2.2 ng/m3 were estimated based on the flux-rate data for natural and synthetic gypsum wallboard samples, respectively, and were calculated assuming a 3 m x 4 m x 5 m room, and 10th and 90th percentile air exchange rates of 0.18/hour and 1.26/hour. The resulting concentration estimates are well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reference concentration for indoor air elemental mercury of 300 ng/m3 and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry minimal risk level (MRL) of 200 ng/m3. Further, these estimates are below background mercury concentrations in indoor air and within or below the range of typical background mercury concentrations in outdoor air.

  3. Production development and utilization of Zimmer Station wet FGD by-products. Final report. Volume 4, A laboratory study conducted in fulfillment of Phase 2, Objective 1 titled. Inhibition of acid production in coal refuse amended with calcium sulfite and calcium sulfate - containing FGD solids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hao, Y. L. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States); Dick, W. A. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States); Stehouwer, R. C. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States); Bigham, J. M. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States)

    1998-06-30

    Control of S02 emission from coal combustion requires desulfurization of coal before its combustion to produce coal refuse. Alternatively, gaseous emissions from coal combustion may be scrubbed to yield flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by-products that include calcium sulfite (CaSO3∙0.5H2O or simply CaS03). Acid production in coal refuse due to pyrite oxidation and disposal of large amounts of FGD can cause environmental degradation. Addition of CaS03 and CaS03-containing FGD to coal refuse may reduce the amounts of oxygen and ferric ion available to oxidize pyrite because the sulfite moiety in CaS03 is a strong reductant and thus may mitigate acid production in coal refuse. In Chapter 1, it was shown that CaS03 efficiently scavenged dissolved oxygen and ferric ion in water under the conditions commonly encountered in a coal refuse disposal environment. In the presence ofCaS03, the concentration of dissolved oxygen in water exposed to the atmosphere declined to below 0.01 mg L"1 at pH <8.0. In Chapter 2, it was demonstrated that CaS03 prevented a pH drop in coal refuse slurry when 0.2 gCaS03 was added to a 2% fresh coal refuse slurry every three days. Calcium sulfite also inhibited acid leaching from fresh coal refuse in bench-scale columns under controlled conditions. During the initial 13 weeks of leaching, the total amounts of titratable acidity, soluble H\\ Fe, and Al from CaS03-treated refuse (6.4 gin 50 g fresh coal refuse) were only 26%,10%, 32%, and 39% of those of the control columns, respectively. A combination of CaS03 with CaC03 or fly ash enhanced the inhibitory effect of CaS03 on acid leaching. Calcium sulfite-containing FGD which combined CaS03, CaC03, fly ash, and gypsum showed a much stronger inhibitory effect on acid leaching than CaS03 alone. This

  4. Optimisation of a wet FGD pilot plant using fine limestone and organic acids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frandsen, Jan; Kiil, Søren; Johnsson, Jan Erik

    2001-01-01

    , but the residual limestone content in the gypsum increased to somewhere between 19 and 30 wt%, making this pH range unsuitable for use in a full-scale plant. The investigations have shown that both the addition of organic acids and the use of a limestone with a fine PSD can be used to optimise wet FGD plants. (C......The effects of adding an organic acid or using a limestone with a fine particle size distribution (PSD) have been examined in a wet flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) pilot plant. Optimisation of the plant with respect to the degree of desulphurisation and the residual limestone content of the gypsum...... has been the aim of the work. In contrast to earlier investigations with organic acids, all essential process parameters (i.e. gas phase concentration profiles of SO(2), slurry pH profiles. and residual limestone in the gypsum) were considered. Slurry concentrations of adipic acid in the range of 0...

  5. Value-Added Products From FGD Sulfite-Rich Scrubber Materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vivak M. Malhotra

    2006-09-30

    Massive quantities of sulfite-rich flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubber materials are produced every year in the USA. In fact, at present, the production of wet sulfite-rich scrubber cake outstrips the production of wet sulfate-rich scrubber cake by about 6 million tons per year. However, most of the utilization focus has centered on FGD gypsum. Therefore, we have recently initiated research on developing new strategies for the economical, but environmentally-sound, utilization of sulfite-rich scrubber material. In this exploratory project (Phase I), we attempted to ascertain whether it is feasible to develop reconstituted wood replacement products from sulfite-rich scrubber material. In pursuit of this goal, we characterized two different wet sulfite-rich scrubber materials, obtained from two power plants burning Midwestern coal, for their suitability for the development of value-added products. The overall strategy adopted was to fabricate composites where the largest ingredient was scrubber material with additional crop materials as additives. Our results suggested that it may be feasible to develop composites with flexural strength as high as 40 MPa (5800 psi) without the addition of external polymers. We also attempted to develop load-bearing composites from scrubber material, natural fibers, and phenolic polymer. The polymer-to-solid ratio was limited to {le} 0.4. The formulated composites showed flexural strengths as high as 73 MPa (10,585 psi). We plan to harness the research outcomes from Phase I to develop parameters required to upscale our value-added products in Phase II.

  6. Oxidation of FGD-CaSO{sub 3} and effect on soil chemical properties when applied to the soil surface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liming Chen; Cliff Ramsier; Jerry Bigham; Brian Slater; David Kost; Yong Bok Lee; Warren A. Dick [Ohio State University, Wooster, OH (United States). School of Environment and Natural Resources

    2009-07-15

    Use of high-sulfur coal for power generation in the United States requires the removal of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) produced during burning in order to meet clean air regulations. If SO{sub 2} is removed from the flue gas using a wet scrubber without forced air oxidation, much of the S product created will be sulfite (SO{sub 3}{sup 2-}). Plants take up S in the form of sulfate (SO{sub 2}{sup 2-}). Sulfite may cause damage to plant roots, especially in acid soils. For agricultural uses, it is thought that SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} in flue gas desulfurization (FGD) products must first oxidize to SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} in soils before crops are planted. However, there is little information about the oxidation of SO{sub 3}{sup 2-} in FGD product to SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} under field conditions. An FGD-CaSO{sub 3} was applied at rates of 0, 1.12, and 3.36 Mg ha{sup -1} to the surface of an agricultural soil (Wooster silt loam, Oxyaquic Fragiudalf). The SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} in the surface soil (0-10 cm) was analyzed on days 3, 7, 17, 45, and 61. The distribution of SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} and Ca in the 0-90 cm soil layer was also determined on day 61. Results indicated that SO{sub 3}{sup 2-} in the FGD-CaSO{sub 3} rapidly oxidized to SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} on the field surface during the first week and much of the SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} and Ca moved downward into the 0-50 cm soil layer during the experimental period of two months. It is safe to grow plants in soil treated with FGD-CaSO{sub 3} if the application is made at least three days to several weeks before planting. 20 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs.

  7. LARGE-SCALE MECURY CONTROL TECHNOLOGY TESTING FOR LIGNITE-FIRED UTILITIES-OXIDATION SYSTEMS FOR WET FGD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Michael J. Holmes; Steven A. Benson; Jeffrey S. Thompson

    2004-03-01

    The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is conducting a consortium-based effort directed toward resolving the mercury (Hg) control issues facing the lignite industry. Specifically, the EERC team--the EERC, EPRI, URS, ADA-ES, Babcock & Wilcox, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, SaskPower, and the Mercury Task Force, which includes Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Otter Tail Power Company, Great River Energy, Texas Utilities (TXU), Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Minnkota Power Cooperative, BNI Coal Ltd., Dakota Westmoreland Corporation, and the North American Coal Company--has undertaken a project to significantly and cost-effectively oxidize elemental mercury in lignite combustion gases, followed by capture in a wet scrubber. This approach will be applicable to virtually every lignite utility in the United States and Canada and potentially impact subbituminous utilities. The oxidation process is proven at the pilot-scale and in short-term full-scale tests. Additional optimization is continuing on oxidation technologies, and this project focuses on longer-term full-scale testing. The lignite industry has been proactive in advancing the understanding of and identifying control options for Hg in lignite combustion flue gases. Approximately 1 year ago, the EERC and EPRI began a series of Hg-related discussions with the Mercury Task Force as well as utilities firing Texas and Saskatchewan lignites. This project is one of three being undertaken by the consortium to perform large-scale Hg control technology testing to address the specific needs and challenges to be met in controlling Hg from lignite-fired power plants. This project involves Hg oxidation upstream of a system equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) followed by wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD). The team involved in conducting the technical aspects of the project includes the EERC, Babcock & Wilcox, URS, and ADA-ES. The host sites include Minnkota Power Cooperative Milton R. Young

  8. The Cdc42 guanine nucleotide exchange factor FGD6 coordinates cell polarity and endosomal membrane recycling in osteoclasts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steenblock, Charlotte; Heckel, Tobias; Czupalla, Cornelia; Espírito Santo, Ana Isabel; Niehage, Christian; Sztacho, Martin; Hoflack, Bernard

    2014-06-27

    The initial step of bone digestion is the adhesion of osteoclasts onto bone surfaces and the assembly of podosomal belts that segregate the bone-facing ruffled membrane from other membrane domains. During bone digestion, membrane components of the ruffled border also need to be recycled after macropinocytosis of digested bone materials. How osteoclast polarity and membrane recycling are coordinated remains unknown. Here, we show that the Cdc42-guanine nucleotide exchange factor FGD6 coordinates these events through its Src-dependent interaction with different actin-based protein networks. At the plasma membrane, FGD6 couples cell adhesion and actin dynamics by regulating podosome formation through the assembly of complexes comprising the Cdc42-interactor IQGAP1, the Rho GTPase-activating protein ARHGAP10, and the integrin interactors Talin-1/2 or Filamin A. On endosomes and transcytotic vesicles, FGD6 regulates retromer-dependent membrane recycling through its interaction with the actin nucleation-promoting factor WASH. These results provide a mechanism by which a single Cdc42-exchange factor controlling different actin-based processes coordinates cell adhesion, cell polarity, and membrane recycling during bone degradation. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  9. Reaction mechanism of reductive decomposition of FGD gypsum with anthracite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, Da; Lu, Hailin; Sun, Xiuyun; Liu, Xiaodong; Han, Weiqing; Wang, Lianjun

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • The reaction mechanism was different if the molar ratio of C/CaSO 4 was different. • The yield of CaO rises with an increase in temperature. • The optimal ratio of C/CaSO 4 = 1.2:1. • The decomposition process is mainly apparent solid–solid reaction with liquid-phase involved. - Abstract: The process of decomposition reaction between flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum and anthracite is complex, which depends on the reaction conditions and atmosphere. In this study, thermogravimetric analysis with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TGA-FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the experiment in a tubular reactor were used to characterize the decomposition reaction in a nitrogen atmosphere under different conditions. The reaction mechanism analysis showed that the decomposition reaction process and mechanism were different when the molar proportion of C/CaSO 4 was changed. The experiment results showed that appropriate increase in the C/CaSO 4 proportion and higher temperatures were suitable for the formation of the main production of CaO, which can help us to understand the solid state reaction mechanism better. Via kinetic analysis of the reaction between anthracite and FGD gypsum under the optimal molar ratio of C/CaSO 4 , the mechanism model of the reaction was confirmed and the decomposition process was a two-step reaction which was in accordance with apparent solid–solid reaction

  10. Use of Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Gypsum as a Heavy Metal Stabilizer in Contaminated Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) gypsum is a synthetic by-product generated from the flue gas desulfurization process in coal power plants. It has several beneficial applications such as an ingredient in cement production, wallboard production and in agricultural practice as a soil...

  11. The semidry acid-anhydrite process (the use of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) gypsum by development of a new process for the production of FGD anhydrite); Das quasitrockene Saeure-Anhydrit-Verfahren (Erweiterung der Verwendungsmoeglichkeiten von REA-Gips durch Entwicklung eines Verfahrens zur Herstellung von REA-Anhydrit aus REA-Gips)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wirsching, F. [Gebr. Knauf, Westdeutsche Gipswerke, Iphofen (Germany); Hueller, R. [Gebr. Knauf, Westdeutsche Gipswerke, Iphofen (Germany); Limmer, B. [Gebr. Knauf, Westdeutsche Gipswerke, Iphofen (Germany)

    1994-10-01

    A completely new reaction for conversion of FGD gypsum into FGD anhydrite was investigated in the research project which forms the basis for this article. The reaction takes place with moist, finely divided, FGD gypsum with the catalytic action of small quantities of sulphuric acid at temperatures around 100 to 200 C. Moisture-free FGD anhydrite with an orthorhombic crystalline structure ist obtained. The conversion of the crystalline lattice of calcium sulphate dihydrate into calcium anhydrite II takes place directly through neoformation. This conversion is developed into a new process called the `Semidry Acid-Anhydrite Process`. The reaction and its mechanism were first investigated in laboratory trials. Any finely divided calcium sulphate dihydrate is suitable as the starting material. The FGD gypsum with 10% residual moisture, which is already in a finely divided crystalline state when it is generated in the power station, is particularly advantageous as for this application it does not have to be dried or ground first. The process development was carried out up to a semi-industrial scale and the design principles were worked out for large-scale plants at power station sites. The directly heated rotary tube kiln proved to be a suitable reaction unit. The FGD anhydrite is obtained in this process as a dry, finely divided, product with reproducible properties. Investigations were carried out into its potential applications for the cement industry and as a raw material for producing fillers. In principle it is suitable for the cement industry. Applications as a filler allows the FGD gypsum to extend its uses outside the traditional areas of the gypsum industry. Initial trials indicate that after a processing procedure, which was also newly developed in the laborator, FGD anhydrite processes the characteristic features necessary for a high grade filler. (orig.) [Deutsch] In dem Forschungsprojekt wurde eine voellig neue Umwandlungsreaktion von REA-Gips in REA

  12. COMPARISON OF WEST GERMAN AND U.S. FLUE GAS DESULFURIZATION AND SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION COSTS

    Science.gov (United States)

    The report documents a comparison of the actual cost retrofitting flue gas desulfurization (FGD) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) on Federal Republic of German (FRG) boilers to cost estimating procedures used in the U.S. to estimate the retrofit of these controls on U.S. b...

  13. Successes and failures of Ni-Cr-Mo family alloys in FGD systems of coal-fired power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agarwal, D.C.

    1986-01-01

    At first glance, operation of a typical limestone FGD system seems deceptively simple. However, the first generation scrubbers of the early to mid 70's proved to be a financial and operational disaster due to metals corroding in a rather short time period and non-metallic linings failing by blistering, debonding, cracking, flaking and peeling. Extensive research programs at various institutions and utilities to find better construction materials led to higher alloys up the ladder of the Ni-Cr-Mo family, other materials and new non-metallic coatings. This paper describes case histories showing both success and failures of the various alloys in the Ni-Cr-Mo family. This information will not only be useful to the various scrubber system suppliers and A/E's, but should be of value to utility corrosion/scrubber engineers and maintenance personnel who, on a day-to-day basis, are involved in keeping their systems functional in a cost-effective manner

  14. Influence of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) installations on emission characteristics of PM2.5 from coal-fired power plants equipped with selective catalytic reduction (SCR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhen; Jiang, Jingkun; Ma, Zizhen; Fajardo, Oscar A; Deng, Jianguo; Duan, Lei

    2017-11-01

    Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies have been widely used to control the emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) and nitrogen oxides (NO X ) from coal-fired power plants (CFPPs). Field measurements of emission characteristics of four conventional CFPPs indicated a significant increase in particulate ionic species, increasing PM 2.5 emission with FGD and SCR installations. The mean concentrations of PM 2.5 from all CFPPs tested were 3.79 ± 1.37 mg/m 3 and 5.02 ± 1.73 mg/m 3 at the FGD inlet and outlet, respectively, and the corresponding contributions of ionic species were 19.1 ± 7.7% and 38.2 ± 7.8%, respectively. The FGD was found to enhance the conversion of NH 3 slip from the SCR to NH 4 + in the PM 2.5 , together with the conversion of SO 2 to SO 4 2- , and increased the primary NH 4 + and SO 4 2- aerosol emissions by approximately 18.9 and 4.2 times, respectively. This adverse effect should be considered when updating the emission inventory of CFPPs and should draw the attention of policy-makers for future air pollution control. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Developing low-cost carbon-based sorbents for Hg capture from flue gas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ron Perry; Janos Lakatos; Colin E. Snape; Cheng-gong Sun [University of Nottingham (United Kingdom). UK Nottingham Fuel and Energy Centre, School of Chemical, Environmental and Mining Engineering

    2005-07-01

    To help reduce the cost of Hg capture, a number of low-cost carbons are being investigated, including tyre char, PFA carbons and gasification residues. This contribution reports the breakthrough capacities in fixed-bed screening tests for these materials in relation to those for commercial active carbons, including Norit FGD and the extent to which breakthrough capacities can be improved by MnO{sub 2} impregnation. 7 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

  16. Injection of FGD Grout to Abate Acid Mine Drainage in Underground Coal Mines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mafi, S.; Damian, M.T.; Senita, R.E.; Jewitt, W.C.; Bair, S.; Chin, Y.C.; Whitlatch, E.; Traina, S.; Wolfe, W.

    1997-07-01

    Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) from abandoned underground coal mines in Ohio is a concern for both residents and regulatory agencies. Effluent from these mines is typically characterized by low pH and high iron and sulfate concentrations and may contaminate local drinking-water supplies and streams. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of injecting cementitious alkaline materials, such as Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) material to mitigate current adverse environmental impacts associated with AMD in a small, abandoned deep mine in Coshocton County Ohio. The Flue Gas Desulfurization material will be provided from American Electric Power`s (AEP) Conesville Plant. It will be injected as a grout mix that will use Fixated Flue Gas Desulfurization material and water. The subject site for this study is located on the border of Coshocton and Muskingum Counties, Ohio, approximately 1.5 miles south-southwest of the town of Wills Creek. The study will be performed at an underground mine designated as Mm-127 in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources register, also known as the Roberts-Dawson Mine. The mine operated in the mid-1950s, during which approximately 2 million cubic feet of coal was removed. Effluent discharging from the abandoned mine entrances has low pH in the range of 2.8-3.0 that drains directly into Wills Creek Lake. The mine covers approximately 14.6 acres. It is estimated that 26,000 tons of FGD material will be provided from AEP`s Conesville Power Plant located approximately 3 miles northwest of the subject site.

  17. Injection of FGD Grout to Abate Acid Mine Drainage in Underground Coal Mines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mafi, S.; Damian, M.T.; Senita, R.E.; Jewitt, W.C.; Bair, S.; Chin, Y.C.; Whitlatch, E.; Traina, S.; Wolfe, W.

    1997-07-01

    Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) from abandoned underground coal mines in Ohio is a concern for both residents and regulatory agencies. Effluent from these mines is typically characterized by low pH and high iron and sulfate concentrations and may contaminate local drinking-water supplies and streams. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of injecting cementitious alkaline materials, such as Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) material to mitigate current adverse environmental impacts associated with AMD in a small, abandoned deep mine in Coshocton County Ohio. The Flue Gas Desulfurization material will be provided from American Electric Power's (AEP) Conesville Plant. It will be injected as a grout mix that will use Fixated Flue Gas Desulfurization material and water. The subject site for this study is located on the border of Coshocton and Muskingum Counties, Ohio, approximately 1.5 miles south-southwest of the town of Wills Creek. The study will be performed at an underground mine designated as Mm-127 in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources register, also known as the Roberts-Dawson Mine. The mine operated in the mid-1950s, during which approximately 2 million cubic feet of coal was removed. Effluent discharging from the abandoned mine entrances has low pH in the range of 2.8-3.0 that drains directly into Wills Creek Lake. The mine covers approximately 14.6 acres. It is estimated that 26,000 tons of FGD material will be provided from AEP's Conesville Power Plant located approximately 3 miles northwest of the subject site

  18. Modeling the lowest-cost splitting of a herd of cows by optimizing a cost function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gajamannage, Kelum; Bollt, Erik M.; Porter, Mason A.; Dawkins, Marian S.

    2017-06-01

    Animals live in groups to defend against predation and to obtain food. However, for some animals—especially ones that spend long periods of time feeding—there are costs if a group chooses to move on before their nutritional needs are satisfied. If the conflict between feeding and keeping up with a group becomes too large, it may be advantageous for some groups of animals to split into subgroups with similar nutritional needs. We model the costs and benefits of splitting in a herd of cows using a cost function that quantifies individual variation in hunger, desire to lie down, and predation risk. We model the costs associated with hunger and lying desire as the standard deviations of individuals within a group, and we model predation risk as an inverse exponential function of the group size. We minimize the cost function over all plausible groups that can arise from a given herd and study the dynamics of group splitting. We examine how the cow dynamics and cost function depend on the parameters in the model and consider two biologically-motivated examples: (1) group switching and group fission in a herd of relatively homogeneous cows, and (2) a herd with an equal number of adult males (larger animals) and adult females (smaller animals).

  19. Theoretical study of the lowest-lying electronic states of Aluminium monoiodide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taher, F.; Kabbani, A.; Ani-El Houte, W.

    2004-01-01

    Full text.The spectroscopic study of Aluminium monohalides, especially the Aluminium monoiodide, is important for monitoring such species in high temperature fast-flow reactors. Theoretical calculations of AlI are not available, whereas several studies have been done for the other aluminium monohalides. In this work, CAS-SCF/MRCI calculations are performed for the lowest-lying electronic states of AlI in a range of internuclear distance between 2.30 A and 2.80 A. Ab-initio calculations have been effectuated by using the computational chemistry program Molpro. The basis set used in this study for aluminium atom is that used by Langhoff for aluminium monohalides, of contractions using atomic natural orbitals and a pseudopotential is used for iode. Accurate theoretical spectroscopic constants and potential curves are obtained for the ground state X 1 Σ + and the first excited states a 3 Π and A 1 Π. The calculated values of Te, ωe, ωexe and re of these states are compatible with the experimental results. An ordering of states is represented for the lowest five predicted singlet and lowest five predicted triplet states. These results provide a big support to determine the analogy in the ordering of the electronic states in AlF, AlBr and AlI respectively at lower energies. These theoretical results identify a set of electronic singlet and triplet states unobserved experimentally

  20. Non-synonymous FGD3 Variant as Positional Candidate for Disproportional Tall Stature Accounting for a Carcass Weight QTL (CW-3 and Skeletal Dysplasia in Japanese Black Cattle.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akiko Takasuga

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Recessive skeletal dysplasia, characterized by joint- and/or hip bone-enlargement, was mapped within the critical region for a major quantitative trait locus (QTL influencing carcass weight; previously named CW-3 in Japanese Black cattle. The risk allele was on the same chromosome as the Q allele that increases carcass weight. Phenotypic characterization revealed that the risk allele causes disproportional tall stature and bone size that increases carcass weight in heterozygous individuals but causes disproportionately narrow chest width in homozygotes. A non-synonymous variant of FGD3 was identified as a positional candidate quantitative trait nucleotide (QTN and the corresponding mutant protein showed reduced activity as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Cdc42. FGD3 is expressed in the growth plate cartilage of femurs from bovine and mouse. Thus, loss of FDG3 activity may lead to subsequent loss of Cdc42 function. This would be consistent with the columnar disorganization of proliferating chondrocytes in chondrocyte-specific inactivated Cdc42 mutant mice. This is the first report showing association of FGD3 with skeletal dysplasia.

  1. Economic assessment of advanced flue gas desulfurization processes. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bierman, G. R.; May, E. H.; Mirabelli, R. E.; Pow, C. N.; Scardino, C.; Wan, E. I.

    1981-09-01

    This report presents the results of a project sponsored by the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC). The purpose of the study was to perform an economic and market assessment of advanced flue gas desulfurization (FGD) processes for application to coal-fired electric utility plants. The time period considered in the study is 1981 through 1990, and costs are reported in 1980 dollars. The task was divided into the following four subtasks: (1) determine the factors affecting FGD cost evaluations; (2) select FGD processes to be cost-analyzed; (3) define the future electric utility FGD system market; and (4) perform cost analyses for the selected FGD processes. The study was initiated in September 1979, and separate reports were prepared for the first two subtasks. The results of the latter two subtasks appear only in this final reprot, since the end-date of those subtasks coincided with the end-date of the overall task. The Subtask 1 report, Criteria and Methods for Performing FGD Cost Evaluations, was completed in October 1980. A slightly modified and condensed version of that report appears as appendix B to this report. The Subtask 2 report, FGD Candidate Process Selection, was completed in January 1981, and the principal outputs of that subtask appear in Appendices C and D to this report.

  2. Mercury Control for Plants Firing Texas Lignite and Equipped with ESP-wet FGD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Katherine Dombrowski

    2009-12-31

    This report presents the results of a multi-year test program conducted as part of Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-06NT42779, 'Mercury Control for Plants Firing Texas Lignite and Equipped with ESP-wet FGD.' The objective of this program was to determine the level of mercury removal achievable using sorbent injection for a plant firing Texas lignite fuel and equipped with an ESP and wet FGD. The project was primarily funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory. EPRI, NRG Texas, Luminant (formerly TXU), and AEP were project co-funders. URS Group was the prime contractor, and Apogee Scientific and ADA-ES were subcontractors. The host site for this program was NRG Texas Limestone Electric Generating Station (LMS) Units 1 and 2, located in Jewett, Texas. The plant fires a blend of Texas lignite and Powder River Basin (PRB) coal. Full-scale tests were conducted to evaluate the mercury removal performance of powdered sorbents injected into the flue gas upstream of the ESP (traditional configuration), upstream of the air preheater, and/or between electric fields within the ESP (Toxecon{trademark} II configuration). Phases I through III of the test program, conducted on Unit 1 in 2006-2007, consisted of three short-term parametric test phases followed by a 60-day continuous operation test. Selected mercury sorbents were injected to treat one quarter of the flue gas (e.g., approximately 225 MW equivalence) produced by Limestone Unit 1. Six sorbents and three injection configurations were evaluated and results were used to select the best combination of sorbent (Norit Americas DARCO Hg-LH at 2 lb/Macf) and injection location (upstream of the ESP) for a two-month performance evaluation. A mercury removal rate of 50-70% was targeted for the long-term test. During this continuous-injection test, mercury removal performance and variability were evaluated as the plant operated under normal conditions. Additional evaluations were made to determine any

  3. Aarskog-Scott syndrome: clinical update and report of nine novel mutations of the FGD1 gene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orrico, A; Galli, L; Faivre, L; Clayton-Smith, J; Azzarello-Burri, S M; Hertz, J M; Jacquemont, S; Taurisano, R; Arroyo Carrera, I; Tarantino, E; Devriendt, K; Melis, D; Thelle, T; Meinhardt, U; Sorrentino, V

    2010-02-01

    Mutations in the FGD1 gene have been shown to cause Aarskog-Scott syndrome (AAS), or facio-digito-genital dysplasia (OMIM#305400), an X-linked disorder characterized by distinctive genital and skeletal developmental abnormalities with a broad spectrum of clinical phenotypes. To date, 20 distinct mutations have been reported, but little phenotypic data are available on patients with molecularly confirmed AAS. In the present study, we report on our experience of screening for mutations in the FGD1 gene in a cohort of 60 European patients with a clinically suspected diagnosis of AAS. We identified nine novel mutations in 11 patients (detection rate of 18.33%), including three missense mutations (p.R402Q; p.S558W; p.K748E), four truncating mutations (p.Y530X; p.R656X; c.806delC; c.1620delC), one in-frame deletion (c.2020_2022delGAG) and the first reported splice site mutation (c.1935+3A>C). A recurrent mutation (p.R656X) was detected in three independent families. We did not find any evidence for phenotype-genotype correlations between type and position of mutations and clinical features. In addition to the well-established phenotypic features of AAS, other clinical features are also reported and discussed. Copyright 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  4. Improving the FGD absorber and ESP performance at Iskenderun power plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Atmaca, Guerkan [ISKEN Enerji Uretim A.S., Ceyhan-Adana (Turkey); Stratmann, Werner; Wortmann, Birgit [STEAG Energy Services GmbH, Essen (Germany)

    2012-07-01

    The Iskenderun power plant is located at the bay of Iskenderun in the Province of Adana in the south of Turkey. Two units with a total output of 1,210 MW are operated. The annual fuel - imported coal from Colombia and South Africa - consumption amounts to about 3.3 million tonnes tce. To meet the SO{sub x} and particulate limits values it was necessary to improve the performance of the FGD scrubber and the electrostatic precipitator (ESP). In the first step, the potential of a fluid flow optimisation of both the scrubber and the ESP was determined by simulating the 'as build' situation (reference cases) with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. In the second step, several possible variants of component modifications and structures were analysed and evaluated. In a last step the most improving modifications were proposed. (orig.)

  5. MINIMIZING RESIDUAL STAND DAMAGE AND FELLING COST USING LOWEST POSSIBLE FELLING TECHNIQUE (A case study in one logging company in West Kalimantan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sona Suhartana

    2005-03-01

    Full Text Available The implementation of felling technique in logging companies is not yet carried out efficiently and appropriately. Study on the lowest possible felling technique (LPFf is considered  to be important to  reduce residual  stand damage and felling cost. This study was carried out in a logging company in West Kalimantan in 2004. The aim of this study was to  determine the effect of LPFT on residual stand damage and felling cost. Data collected in this research include: residual stand damage, working time, timber  volume, productivity,  efficiency,  stump   height  and  felling cost.  Two categories  data were analyzed with  respect  to  their  possible  differences  using  T-test.    The  result  showed  that  the implementation   of  LPFT  was more advantage impact compared  to   that of  conventional felling technique, which is  indicated by the following factors:  (1  Trees damage decreased 2.96%;  (2 Poles damage decreased 4.75%;  (3 Felling productivity decreased 17.16%; (4 Felling efficiency  increased approximately  3.2%;  (5 Felling cost increased about Rp 327.07 /  m'; and (6 in average stump height was 40.60 cm lower.

  6. Structure optimization of CFB reactor for moderate temperature FGD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Yuan; Zhang, Jie; Zheng, Kai; You, Changfu [Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). Dept. of Thermal Engineering; Ministry of Education, Beijing (China). Key Lab. for Thermal Science and Power Engineering

    2013-07-01

    The gas velocity distribution, sorbent particle concentration distribution and particle residence time in circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactors for moderate temperature flue gas desulfurization (FGD) have significant influence on the desulfurization efficiency and the sorbent calcium conversion ratio for sulfur reaction. Experimental and numerical methods were used to investigate the influence of the key reactor structures, including the reactor outlet structure, internal structure, feed port and circulating port, on the gas velocity distribution, sorbent particle concentration distribution and particle residence time. Experimental results showed that the desulfurization efficiency increased 5-10% when the internal structure was added in the CFB reactor. Numerical analysis results showed that the particle residence time of the feed particles with the average diameter of 89 and 9 {mu}m increased 40% and 17% respectively, and the particle residence time of the circulating particles with the average diameter of 116 {mu}m increased 28% after reactor structure optimization. The particle concentration distribution also improved significantly, which was good for improving the contact efficiency between the sorbent particles and SO{sub 2}. In addition, the optimization guidelines were proposed to further increase the desulfurization efficiency and the sorbent calcium conversion ratio.

  7. Characterisation of the interaction between liquid film and flue gas flow at walls and internals in FGD scrubbers; Beschreibung der gegenseitigen Beeinflussung von Fluessigkeitsschicht und Rauchgasstroemung an Waenden und internen Einbauten in REA-Waeschern

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arnold, Mario [Technische Univ. Dortmund (Germany). Lehrstuhl Mechanische Verfahrenstechnik; Fahlenkamp, Hans

    2012-07-01

    The VGB Research Project 'Characterisation of the interaction between liquid film and flue gas flow at walls and internals in FGD scrubbers' covers the droplet wall interaction in flue gas scrubbers. In the context of optimised FGD design, especially in fulfilling the increasing requirements on the conventional flue gas treatment by the CCS design, a better understanding of the flow behaviour near the wall is crucial. Within the framework of the research project an experimental setup is designed, built up and run. (orig.)

  8. Modular NanoSat Launcher Design for Lowest Mission Cost, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — As minimum cost will be required for a dedicated NanoSat Launch Vehicle, a series and parallel staged, highly modular vehicle architecture is proposed for design...

  9. Builders' Perceptions of Lowest Cost Procurement and Its Impact on Quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mary Hardie

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available to the degree to which it meets the customer’s needs andexpectations. Dissatisfaction with the quality of building projectshas been widely reported in recent times. There are indicationsthat there may be some relationship between the procurementmethod used and customer satisfaction with the delivered product.In particular, traditional competitive bid contracting may havean adverse impact on quality in some circumstances. To shedsome light on reported industry attitudes, a survey of constructionprofessionals in the Sydney metropolitan area was undertaken.The respondents demonstrate mixed views on the effectivenessof the competitive tender system on quality project outcomes. Tosome extent contractors’ attitudes may be determined by theirpreferred current mode of operation. However, some supportis expressed for the contention that quality of outcome can bereduced by an overly cost driven contractor selection process. Inparticular, when economic pressures cause bidders to reduce thetime allocated for the tender process, an inaccurate and unreliablebid may win. This makes it very diffi cult for the reliable contractorto remain profi table. A move to value-based rather than cost-basedprocurement may assist industry performance and customersatisfaction.

  10. Updating Linear Schedules with Lowest Cost: a Linear Programming Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biruk, Sławomir; Jaśkowski, Piotr; Czarnigowska, Agata

    2017-10-01

    Many civil engineering projects involve sets of tasks repeated in a predefined sequence in a number of work areas along a particular route. A useful graphical representation of schedules of such projects is time-distance diagrams that clearly show what process is conducted at a particular point of time and in particular location. With repetitive tasks, the quality of project performance is conditioned by the ability of the planner to optimize workflow by synchronizing the works and resources, which usually means that resources are planned to be continuously utilized. However, construction processes are prone to risks, and a fully synchronized schedule may expire if a disturbance (bad weather, machine failure etc.) affects even one task. In such cases, works need to be rescheduled, and another optimal schedule should be built for the changed circumstances. This typically means that, to meet the fixed completion date, durations of operations have to be reduced. A number of measures are possible to achieve such reduction: working overtime, employing more resources or relocating resources from less to more critical tasks, but they all come at a considerable cost and affect the whole project. The paper investigates the problem of selecting the measures that reduce durations of tasks of a linear project so that the cost of these measures is kept to the minimum and proposes an algorithm that could be applied to find optimal solutions as the need to reschedule arises. Considering that civil engineering projects, such as road building, usually involve less process types than construction projects, the complexity of scheduling problems is lower, and precise optimization algorithms can be applied. Therefore, the authors put forward a linear programming model of the problem and illustrate its principle of operation with an example.

  11. Electromagnetic structure of the lowest-lying decuplet resonances in covariant chiral perturbation theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geng, L. S.; Camalich, J. Martin; Vacas, M. J. Vicente

    2009-01-01

    We present a calculation of the leading SU(3)-breaking O(p 3 ) corrections to the electromagnetic moments and charge radius of the lowest-lying decuplet resonances in covariant chiral perturbation theory. In particular, the magnetic dipole moment of the members of the decuplet is predicted fixing the only low-energy constant (LEC) present up to this order with the well-measured magnetic dipole moment of the Ω - . We predict μ Δ ++ =6.04(13) and μ Δ + =2.84(2), which agree well with the current experimental information. For the electric quadrupole moment and the charge radius, we use state-of-the-art lattice QCD results to determine the corresponding LECs, whereas for the magnetic octupole moment there is no unknown LEC up to the order considered here, and we obtain a pure prediction. We compare our results with those reported in large N c , lattice QCD, heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory, and other models.

  12. Production development and utilization of Zimmer Station wet FGD by-products. Final report. Volume 6, Field study conducted in fulfillment of Phase 3 titled. Use of FGD by-product gypsum enriched with magnesium hydroxide as a soil amendment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bigham, J. M. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States). Ohio Agricultural Research Development Center; Soto, U. I. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States). Ohio Agricultural Research Development Center; Stehouwer, R. C. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States). Ohio Agricultural Research Development Center; Yibirin, H. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States). Ohio Agricultural Research Development Center

    1999-04-30

    A variety of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) technologies have been developed to meet environmental restrictions imposed by the federal Clean Air Act and its amendments. These technologies include wet scrubber systems that dramatically reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. Although such systems are effective, they also produce large volumes of sludge that must be dewatered, stabilized, and disposed of in landfills. Disposal is an expensive and environmentally questionable process for which suitable alternatives are needed. Wet scrubbing of flue gases with magnesium (Mg)-enhanced lime has the potential to become a leading FGD technology. When combined with aforced oxidation system, the wet sludges resulting from this process can be modified and refined to produce gypsum (CaS04∙2H2O) and magnesium hydroxide [Mg(OH)2] of sufficient purity for beneficial re-use in the construction (wallboard) and pharmaceutical industries. The pilot plant at the CINERGY Zimmer Station near Cincinnati can also produce gypsum by-products formulated to contain varying amounts of Mg(OH)2- Such materials may have value to the agriculture, forestry, and lawn-care industries as soil "conditioners", liming agents, and nutritional supplements capable of supplying calcium (Ca), Mg, and sulfur (S) for plant growth. This report describes three field studies designed to evaluate by-product gypsum and Mg-gypsum from the Zimmer Station power plant as amendments for improving the quality of mine spoils and agricultural soils that were unproductive because of phytotoxic levels of dissolved aluminum (Al) and low pH. The technical literature suggests that gypsum may be more effective than agricultural limestone for ameliorating Al toxicity below the immediate zone of application. Such considerations are important for deep-rooted plant species that attempt to utilize water and nutrients occurring at depth in the spoil/soil.

  13. Impact of fgd1 and ddn Diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex on In Vitro Susceptibility to PA-824

    KAUST Repository

    Feuerriegel, S.

    2011-09-19

    PA-824 is a promising drug candidate for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). It is in phase II clinical trials as part of the first newly designed regimen containing multiple novel antituberculosis drugs (PA-824 in combination with moxifloxacin and pyrazinamide). However, given that the genes involved in resistance against PA-824 are not fully conserved in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), this regimen might not be equally effective against different MTBC genotypes. To investigate this question, we sequenced two PA-824 resistance genes (fgd1 [Rv0407] and ddn [Rv3547]) in 65 MTBC strains representing major phylogenetic lineages. The MICs of representative strains were determined using the modified proportion method in the Bactec MGIT 960 system. Our analysis revealed single-nucleotide polymorphisms in both genes that were specific either for several genotypes or for individual strains, yet none of these mutations significantly affected the PA-824 MICs (≤0.25 μg/ml). These results were supported by in silico modeling of the mutations identified in Fgd1. In contrast, “Mycobacterium canettii” strains displayed a higher MIC of 8 μg/ml. In conclusion, we found a large genetic diversity in PA-824 resistance genes that did not lead to elevated PA-824 MICs. In contrast, M. canettii strains had MICs that were above the plasma concentrations of PA-824 documented so far in clinical trials. As M. canettii is also intrinsically resistant against pyrazinamide, new regimens containing PA-824 and pyrazinamide might not be effective in treating M. canettii infections. This finding has implications for the design of multiple ongoing clinical trials.

  14. Non-calcium desulphurisation technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qian Zhu [IEA Clean Coal Centre, London (United Kingdom)

    2010-06-15

    Flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) is traditionally based on limestone/lime sorbent. The majority of the installed FGD systems worldwide use limestone or lime as sorbent. However, technologies are rapidly evolving that allow desulphurisation in regions where there are limited resources of lime or limestone. These technologies provide alternatives to limestone/lime scrubbers for efficient and cost effective control of SO{sub 2} emissions from coal combustion. This report reviews the existing and emerging non-calcium based FGD processes as well as FGD technologies currently under development that apply new concepts and different approaches. It looks at the fundamentals and features of these processes, the recent technical advances and their applications in coal-fired power plants. The capital and operating costs of the processes are evaluated where information available. 66 refs., 15 figs., 10 tabs.

  15. CONTROLLING SO2 EMISSIONS: A REVIEW OF TECHNOLOGIES

    Science.gov (United States)

    The report describes flue gas desulfurization (FGD) technologies, assesses their applications, and characterizes their performance. Additionally, it describes some of the advancements that have occurred in FGD technologies. Finally, it presents an analysis of the costs associated...

  16. The new ASTM Manual for scrubber linings the evolution of a consensus guide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spires, G.V.; Cavallo, J.R.

    1984-01-01

    Faced with spiraling fuel oil costs, power utilities turned to abundant and inexpensive domestic coal and lignite. Conversions and new units designed to burn solid fossil fuels were pursued at a near crisis pace to get out from under the economic penalties associated with the continued use of oil. Coal contains much more sulfur than oil; EPA limitations on SO 2 necessitated costly flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems when burning coal. Scrubbed gas presented a particularly corrosive environment in and downstream from the FGD system. Problems which often accompany a new technology were soon evident. Materials and linings initially selected were often seen to be inadequate. Severe and rapid degradation was commonplace. This paper traces the development of the recently published ASTM Manual of Protective Linings From Flue Gas Desulfurization System. The scope of the Manual is outlined and some of the more commonly used FGD lining systems are reviewed. Finally some views on the impact of foreseeable changes in regulations and FGD technology on the use and maintenance of FGD system linings are discussed

  17. High SO{sub 2} removal duct injection: A low-cost FGD alternative

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nelson, S.G. [Sorbent Technologies Corp., Twinsburg, OH (United States)

    1995-12-01

    Sorbent Technologies Corporation, of the United States, is currently developing and demonstrating a new waste free, retrofitable, high-SO{sub 2} removal duct-injection process. Up to 85 percent SO{sub 2} removal is achieved by simply injecting a new dry lime-based sorbent into the flue-gas duct, collecting the sorbent downstream in a particulate collector, and then recycling the sorbent. By avoiding large, expensive components, the process can have low capital costs, making it especially appropriate for smaller, older, less-utilized plants. The key to the new technology is the use of sorbent supports. Supported sorbents are produced by coating hydrated lime onto inexpensive mineral supports, such as exfoliated vermiculite or perlite. Consequently, there are no liquid, sludge, or solid wastes with the new technology. Once saturated with SO{sub 2}, the spent sorbent can be easily pelletized into a valuable soil-conditioning agricultural by-product, for the sustainable development that the future requires. This paper describes Sorbent Technologies` pilot demonstration of supported sorbent injection at the Ohio Edison Company`s R.E. Burger station. The Burger effort is also the first demonstration of the Electric Power Research Institute`s new {open_quotes}COHPAC{close_quotes} baghouse technology in a sorbent-injection desulfurization application.

  18. Mixing of the lowest-lying qqq configurations with JP =1/2- in different hyperfine interaction models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jia; An, Chunsheng; Chen, Hong

    2018-02-01

    We investigate mixing of the lowest-lying qqq configurations with JP = 1/2- caused by the hyperfine interactions between quarks mediated by Goldstone Boson Exchange, One Gluon Exchange, and both Goldstone Boson and One Gluon exchange, respectively. The first orbitally excited nucleon, Σ, Λ and Ξ states are considered. Contributions of both the contact term and tensor term are taken into account. Our numerical results show that mixing of the studied configurations in the two employed hyperfine interaction models are very different. Therefore, the present results, which should affect the strong and electromagnetic decays of baryon resonances, may be used to examine the present employed hyperfine interaction models. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11675131,11645002), Chongqing Natural Science Foundation (cstc2015jcyjA00032) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU115020)

  19. Philippine case study: comparison of health impacts, costs and benefits of different generating technologies using IAEA's tools/methodologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mundo, Mary Rose Q.; Arriola, Herminio

    2000-01-01

    The comparison of three electricity generating options were considered: coal-fired thermal power plant without flue gas desulfurization (FGD), coal-fired thermal power plant with FGD and combined cycle power plant with 300 MW generating capacity each. The system expansion for both the nuclear and non-nuclear options show an increasing share in the installed capacity of coal fired plants. Considering the high ash content and sulfur emission of coal-fired power plants, this plant type was assessed further in terms of health and environmental effects using the IAEA's computer tools such as QUERI, RUWM and DAM. Since all coal-fired power plants in the country have likewise not been equipped with FGD, another option studied is that of coal plant using FGD, with the objective of eliminating excess pollutants, which was assumed to have 90% removal efficiency. In view of this forecast on coal plants there is an ever-increasing need for the use of new technologies to be used in order to decrease health impacts of the use of coal as fuel. Thus, based on the analysis of three alternatives, the use of coal-fired power plants equipped with flue gas desulfurization (FGD) should be seriously considered. (Author)

  20. Data on the cost-benefit analysis of mammography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zarand, P.; Pentek, Z.

    1982-01-01

    The radiation exposure and the cost per examination are compared in the case of three methods: non-screen film mammography, 10-dose mammography and xeromammography. 10-dose mammography results in the lowest radiation exposure whereas xeromammography has the lowest cost. (L.E.)

  1. Photovoltaic energy cost limit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coiante, D.

    1992-01-01

    Referring to a photovoltaic system for grid connected applications, a parametric expression of kWh cost is derived. The limit of kWh cost is carried out extrapolating the values of cost components to their lowest figure. The reliability of the forecast is checked by disaggregating kWh cost in direct and indirect costs and by discussing the possible cost reduction of each component

  2. Giant angular resonance and the structure of the lowest-lying nuclear states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikhajlov, I.N.; Usmanov, P.N.; Yuldashbaeva, Eh.Kh.

    1987-01-01

    The analysis is given of the Hamiltonian of the two-rotor model, which is based on the assumption that the giant angular resonance exists, i.e. that it is possible to rotate the neutron component of a deformed nucleus as a whole with respect to the proton component. The realization of the projections on the intrinsic axes of the angular momentum operators is found, the Hamiltonian matrix is determined in the basis convenient for the case of strong neutron-proton coupling. The spectrum of the two-rotor model is determined taking into account the nondiagonal matrix elements in the lowest order of the perturbation theory. The g factors and the probabilities of the M1 transitions are discussed

  3. Lowest order Virtual Element approximation of magnetostatic problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beirão da Veiga, L.; Brezzi, F.; Dassi, F.; Marini, L. D.; Russo, A.

    2018-04-01

    We give here a simplified presentation of the lowest order Serendipity Virtual Element method, and show its use for the numerical solution of linear magneto-static problems in three dimensions. The method can be applied to very general decompositions of the computational domain (as is natural for Virtual Element Methods) and uses as unknowns the (constant) tangential component of the magnetic field $\\mathbf{H}$ on each edge, and the vertex values of the Lagrange multiplier $p$ (used to enforce the solenoidality of the magnetic induction $\\mathbf{B}=\\mu\\mathbf{H}$). In this respect the method can be seen as the natural generalization of the lowest order Edge Finite Element Method (the so-called "first kind N\\'ed\\'elec" elements) to polyhedra of almost arbitrary shape, and as we show on some numerical examples it exhibits very good accuracy (for being a lowest order element) and excellent robustness with respect to distortions.

  4. The lifetime cost of a magnetic refrigerator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjørk, Rasmus; Bahl, Christian R.H.; Nielsen, Kaspar Kirstein

    2016-01-01

    The total cost of a 25 W average load magnetic refrigerator using commercial grade Gd is calculated using a numerical model. The price of magnetocaloric material, magnet material and cost of operation are considered, and all influence the total cost. The lowest combined total cost with a device...... lifetime of 15 years is found to be in the range $150-$400 depending on the price of the magnetocaloric and magnet material. The cost of the magnet is largest, followed closely by the cost of operation, while the cost of the magnetocaloric material is almost negligible. For the lowest cost device...... characteristics are based on the performance of a conventional A+++ refrigeration unit. In a rough life time cost comparison between the AMR device and such a unit we find similar costs, the AMR being slightly cheaper, assuming the cost of the magnet can be recuperated at end of life....

  5. Cost analysis when open surgeons perform minimally invasive hysterectomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shepherd, Jonathan P; Kantartzis, Kelly L; Ahn, Ki Hoon; Bonidie, Michael J; Lee, Ted

    2014-01-01

    The costs to perform a hysterectomy are widely variable. Our objective was to determine hysterectomy costs by route and whether traditionally open surgeons lower costs when performing laparoscopy versus robotics. Hysterectomy costs including subcategories were collected from 2011 to 2013. Costs were skewed, so 2 statistical transformations were performed. Costs were compared by surgeon classification (open, laparoscopic, or robotic) and surgery route. A total of 4,871 hysterectomies were performed: 34.2% open, 50.7% laparoscopic, and 15.1% robotic. Laparoscopic hysterectomy had the lowest total costs (P depreciation included (P < .001) but similar costs if these variables were excluded. Although laparoscopic hysterectomy had lowest costs overall, robotics may be no more costly than laparoscopic hysterectomy when performed by surgeons who predominantly perform open hysterectomy.

  6. Babcock & Wilcox technologies for power plant stack emissions control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Polster, M.; Nolan, P.S.; Batyko, R.J. [Babcock & Wilcox, Barberton, OH (United States)

    1994-12-31

    The current status of sulfur dioxide control in power plants is reviewed with particular emphasis on proven, commercial technologies. This paper begins with a detailed review of Babcock & Wilcox commercial wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. This is followed by a brief discussion of B&W dry FGD technologies, as well as recent full-scale and pilot-scale demonstration projects which focus on lower capital cost alternatives to conventional FGD systems. A comparison of the economics of several of these processes is also presented. Finally, technology selections resulting from recent acid rain legislation in various countries are reviewed.

  7. Cost per remission and cost per response with infliximab, adalimumab, and golimumab for the treatment of moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toor, Kabirraaj; Druyts, Eric; Jansen, Jeroen P; Thorlund, Kristian

    2015-06-01

    To determine the short-term costs per sustained remission and sustained response of three tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (infliximab, adalimumab, and golimumab) in comparison to conventional therapy for the treatment of moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis. A probabilistic Markov model was developed. This included an 8-week induction period, and 22 subsequent 2-week cycles (up to 1 year). The model included three disease states: remission, response, and relapse. Costs were from a Canadian public payer perspective. Estimates for the additional cost per 1 year of sustained remission and sustained response were obtained. Golimumab 100 mg provided the lowest cost per additional remission ($935) and cost per additional response ($701) compared with conventional therapy. Golimumab 50 mg yielded slightly higher costs than golimumab 100 mg. Infliximab was associated with the largest additional number of estimated remissions and responses, but also higher cost at $1975 per remission and $1311 per response. Adalimumab was associated with the largest cost per remission ($7430) and cost per response ($2361). The cost per additional remission and cost per additional response associated with infliximab vs golimumab 100 mg was $14,659 and $4753, respectively. The results suggest that the additional cost of 1 full year of remission and response are lowest with golimumab 100 mg, followed by golimumab 50 mg. Although infliximab has the highest efficacy, it did not exhibit the lowest cost per additional remission or response. Adalimumab produced the highest cost per additional remission and response.

  8. Europe the continent with the lowest fertility

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baird, D. T.; Collins, J.; Evers, J. L. H.; Leridon, H.; Lutz, W.; Velde, E. Te; Thevenon, O.; Crosignani, P. G.; Devroey, P.; Diedrich, K.; Fauser, B. C. J. M.; Fraser, L.; Geraedts, J. P. M.; Gianaroli, L.; Glasier, A.; Sunde, A.; Tarlatzis, B.; Van Steirteghem, A.; Veiga, A.

    2010-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: Although fertility rates are falling in many countries, Europe is the continent with the lowest total fertility rate (TFR). This review assesses trends in fertility rates, explores possible health and social factors and reviews the impact of health and social interventions designed to

  9. The effect of chlorine and oxygen concentrations on the removal of mercury at an FGD-batch reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carolina Acuna-Caro; Kevin Brechtel; Guenter Scheffknecht; Manuel Brass [University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart (Germany). Institute of Process Engineering and Power Plant Technology (IVD)

    2009-12-15

    A series of laboratory scale experiments were conducted in an FGD-batch reactor. A synthetic flue gas was produced and directed through a CaCO{sub 3} suspension contained in a glass reactor vessel. The suspension temperature was set at 54{sup o}C through a water bath. In order to observe the distribution of mercury species in the system, solid, liquid and gaseous samples were taken and analysed. For gaseous mercury determination, continuous measurements were carried out, up and downstream the reactor. Furthermore, the concentration of chlorine in the scrubber solution of the system was varied from 0 to 62 g/l under different oxidative conditions. In a first approach, a concentration drop of elemental mercury coming out of the system was observed. The latter occurs only when high concentrations of Cl{sup -} are present, combined with a high O{sub 2} availability in the scrubber. It was also observed that mercury species distribution in the different phases varies, depending on the available chemical form of chlorine and oxygen concentration. 14 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.

  10. Do qualitative methods validate choice experiment-results? A case study on the economic valuation of peatland restoration in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schaafsma, M.; Van Beukering, P.J.H.; Davies, O.; Oskolokaite, I.

    2009-05-15

    This study explores the benefits of combining independent results of qualitative focus group discussions (FGD) with a quantitative choice experiment (CE) in a developing country context. The assessment addresses the compensation needed by local communities in Central Kalimantan to cooperate in peatland restoration programs by using a CE combined with a series of FGD to validate and explain the CE-results. The main conclusion of this study is that a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is necessary to assess the economic value of ecological services in monetary terms and to better understand the underlying attitudes and motives that drive these outcomes. The FGD not only cross-validate results of the CE, but also help to interpret the differences in preferences of respondents arising from environmental awareness and ecosystem characteristics. The FGD confirms that the CE results provide accurate information for ecosystem valuation. Additional to the advantages of FGD listed in the literature, this study finds that FGD provide the possibility to identify the specific terms and conditions on which respondents will accept land-use change scenarios. The results show that FGD may help to address problems regarding the effects of distribution of costs and benefits over time that neo-classical economic theory poses for the interpretation of economic valuation results in the demand it puts on the rationality of trade-offs and the required calculations.

  11. Does the Lowest Bid Price Evaluation Criterion Make for a More Efficient Public Procurement Selection Criterion? (Case of the Czech Republic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ochrana František

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Through the institute of public procurement a considerable volume of financial resources is allocated. It is therefore in the interest of contracting entities to seek ways of how to achieve an efficient allocation of resources. Some public contract-awarding entities, along with some public-administration authorities in the Czech Republic, believe that the use of a single evaluation criterion (the lowest bid price results in a more efficient tender for a public contract. It was found that contracting entities in the Czech Republic strongly prefer to use the lowest bid price criterion. Within the examined sample, 86.5 % of public procurements were evaluated this way. The analysis of the examined sample of public contracts proved that the choice of an evaluation criterion, even the preference of the lowest bid price criterion, does not have any obvious impact on the final cost of a public contract. The study concludes that it is inappropriate to prefer the criterion of the lowest bid price within the evaluation of public contracts that are characterised by their complexity (including public contracts for construction works and public service contracts. The findings of the Supreme Audit Office related to the inspection of public contracts indicate that when using the lowest bid price as an evaluation criterion, a public contract may indeed be tendered with the lowest bid price, but not necessarily the best offer in terms of supplied quality. It is therefore not appropriate to use the lowest bid price evaluation criterion to such an extent for the purpose of evaluating work and services. Any improvement to this situation requires a corresponding amendment to the Law on Public Contracts and mainly a radical change in the attitude of the Office for the Protection of Competition towards proposed changes, as indicated within the conclusions and recommendations proposed by this study.

  12. Industry-Government-University Cooperative Research Program for the Development of Structural Materials from Sulfate-Rich FGD Scrubber Sludge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    V. M. Malhotra; Y. P. Chugh

    2003-08-31

    The main aim of our project was to develop technology, which converts flue gas desulfurization (FGD) sulfate-rich scrubber sludge into value-added decorative materials. Specifically, we were to establish technology for fabricating cost effective but marketable materials, like countertops and decorative tiles from the sludge. In addition, we were to explore the feasibility of forming siding material from the sludge. At the end of the project, we were to establish the potential of our products by generating 64 countertop pieces and 64 tiles of various colors. In pursuit of our above-mentioned goals, we conducted Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements of the binders and co-processed binders to identify their curing behavior. Using our 6-inch x 6-inch and 4-inch x 4-inch high pressure and high temperature hardened stainless steel dies, we developed procedures to fabricate countertop and decorative tile materials. The composites, fabricated from sulfate-rich scrubber sludge, were subjected to mechanical tests using a three-point bending machine and a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). We compared our material's mechanical performance against commercially obtained countertops. We successfully established the procedures for the development of countertop and tile composites from scrubber sludge by mounting our materials on commercial boards. We fabricated more than 64 pieces of countertop material in at least 11 different colors having different patterns. In addition, more than 100 tiles in six different colors were fabricated. We also developed procedures by which the fabrication waste, up to 30-weight %, could be recycled in the manufacturing of our countertops and decorative tiles. Our experimental results indicated that our countertops had mechanical strength, which was comparable to high-end commercial countertop materials and contained substantially larger inorganic content than the commercial products. Our

  13. Excitation of lowest electronic states of thymine by slow electrons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chernyshova, I. V.; Kontros, E. J.; Markush, P. P.; Shpenik, O. B.

    2013-11-01

    Excitation of lowest electronic states of the thymine molecules in the gas phase is studied by elec- tron energy loss spectroscopy. In addition to dipole-allowed transitions to singlet states, transitions to the lowest triplet states were observed. The low-energy features of the spectrum at 3.66 and 4.61 eV are identified with the excitation of the first triplet states 13 A' (π → π*) and 13 A″ ( n → π*). The higher-lying features at 4.96, 5.75, 6.17, and 7.35 eV are assigned mainly to the excitation of the π → π* transitions to the singlet states of the molecule. The excitation dynamics of the lowest states is studied. It is found that the first triplet state 13 A'(π → π*) is most efficiently excited at a residual energy close to zero, while the singlet 21 A'(π → π*) state is excited with almost identical efficiency at different residual energies.

  14. Blueberry Galaxies: The Lowest Mass Young Starbursts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Huan; Malhotra, Sangeeta; Rhoads, James E.; Wang, Junxian

    2017-09-01

    Searching for extreme emission line galaxies allows us to find low-mass metal-poor galaxies that are good analogs of high redshift Lyα emitting galaxies. These low-mass extreme emission line galaxies are also potential Lyman-continuum leakers. Finding them at very low redshifts (z≲ 0.05) allows us to be sensitive to even lower stellar masses and metallicities. We report on a sample of extreme emission line galaxies at z≲ 0.05 (blueberry galaxies). We selected them from SDSS broadband images on the basis of their broadband colors and studied their properties with MMT spectroscopy. From the entire SDSS DR12 photometric catalog, we found 51 photometric candidates. We spectroscopically confirm 40 as blueberry galaxies. (An additional seven candidates are contaminants, and four remain without spectra.) These blueberries are dwarf starburst galaxies with very small sizes (<1 kpc) and very high ionization ([O III]/[O II] ˜ 10-60). They also have some of the lowest stellar masses ({log}(M/{M}⊙ )˜ 6.5{--}7.5) and lowest metallicities (7.1< 12+{log}({{O}}/{{H}})< 7.8) of starburst galaxies. Thus, they are small counterparts to green pea galaxies and high redshift Lyα emitting galaxies.

  15. Renewable Portfolio Standards: Understanding Costs and Benefits | Energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    considering the highest cost and lowest benefit outcomes. More Information: Fact Sheet Image of a report cover | Presentation Image of a report cover for A Survey of State-Level Cost and Benefit Estimates of Renewable Portfolio Standards: Understanding Costs and Benefits State policymakers, public utilities commissions, and

  16. Is action potential threshold lowest in the axon?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kole, Maarten H. P.; Stuart, Greg J.

    2008-01-01

    Action potential threshold is thought to be lowest in the axon, but when measured using conventional techniques, we found that action potential voltage threshold of rat cortical pyramidal neurons was higher in the axon than at other neuronal locations. In contrast, both current threshold and voltage

  17. The lowest surface brightness disc galaxy known

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davies, J.I.; Phillipps, S.; Disney, M.J.

    1988-01-01

    The discovery of a galaxy with a prominent bulge and a dominant extremely low surface brightness disc component is reported. The profile of this galaxy is very similar to the recently discovered giant low surface brightness galaxy Malin 1. The disc central surface brightness is found to be ∼ 26.4 Rμ, some 1.5 mag fainter than Malin 1 and thus by far the lowest yet observed. (author)

  18. Assessment of eight HPV vaccination programs implemented in lowest income countries

    OpenAIRE

    Ladner, Joël; Besson, Marie-Hélène; Hampshire, Rachel; Tapert, Lisa; Chirenje, Mike; Saba, Joseph

    2012-01-01

    Abstract Background Cervix cancer, preventable, continues to be the third most common cancer in women worldwide, especially in lowest income countries. Prophylactic HPV vaccination should help to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with cervical cancer. The purpose of the study was to describe the results of and key concerns in eight HPV vaccination programs conducted in seven lowest income countries through the Gardasil Access Program (GAP). Methods The GAP provides free HPV vaccin...

  19. Modelagem matemática para seleção de conjuntos mecanizados agrícolas pelo menor custo operacional Mathematical modeling to select mechanized agricultural systems by the lowest operational cost

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fábio H. R. Baio

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available A seleção de uma máquina agrícola pode tornar-se uma tarefa árdua, pois há diversas variáveis que devem ser consideradas. A escolha do equipamento mais adequado para uma propriedade agrícola é uma das etapas mais importantes do processo produtivo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um modelo de computador por programação linear em plataforma web para seleção automatizada de conjuntos mecanizados agrícolas, baseados no menor custo operacional. O programa, desenvolvido em linguagem ASP.NET, pode ser acessado gratuitamente pela Internet (http://www.maquinas.ufms.br. O usuário pode selecionar um conjunto mecanizado agrícola dentro de uma vasta lista de opções que contém suas especificações técnicas ou deixar que o programa lhe retorne automaticamente a melhor opção, pelo menor custo operacional. O programa desenvolvido proporciona ao usuário uma seleção racional via Internet de conjuntos mecanizados, permitindo o estudo econômico do uso das máquinas e implementos, sem a necessidade da instalação de programas dedicados no computador, que dificultariam a manutenção do banco de dados.The selection of an agricultural machine may become a challenging task, because there are several variables that must be considered. Choosing the more suitable equipment to a farm is one of the most important production process steps. The purpose of this study was to develop a computational model by linear programming based on web platform to select automatically mechanized agricultural systems founded on the lowest operational cost. The software was developed in ASP.NET language and can be accessed for free by the Internet (http://www.maquinas.ufms.br. The user can select a mechanized agricultural system in a list that contains the specifications or let the system returns automatically the best option at the lowest operational cost. The developed software brought to the user via Internet a rational selection of mechanized systems

  20. Optimal design of emission control systems for a fossil power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sfez, D.; Muginstein, A.; Naeh, Y.

    1998-01-01

    The detrimental environmental effects of pulverized coal power stations are enforcing the installation of additional emission control equipment. Utilization of this equipment significantly increases the installation and operation costs of the power station, which raises the cost of the electricity generated by this power station. Focusing on the flue gas cleaning equipment can substantially reduce the electricity-generating rate. Improving the equipment design is the only available way to reduce the flue gas cleaning costs, without affecting the power station flexibility and availability. An optimal design is defined as the one achieving the least expensive cleaning system (capital and operating costs) while maintaining the original power station operation flexibility (coal variety and partial load performances). Two main changes in the conventional design need to be carried out in order to reach the above-mentioned optimized design. The first modification is to integrate the ESP and FGD at the design criteria stage while considering the influence of each piece of equipment on the other. The second stage is to set one common best efficiency design point to the ESP and the FGD together. Achieving this one common best efficiency point requires some equipment addition and modifications to the conventional ESP and FGD systems. The technology involved in this modification is available and is well proven in operation. Using this technology with the optimal design concept will lead to a significant reduction of the flue gas cleaning costs and will reduce, by this, the electricity production costs

  1. The lowest Landau level in QCD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruckmann Falk

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The thermodynamics of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD in external (electro-magnetic fields shows some unexpected features like inverse magnetic catalysis, which have been revealed mainly through lattice studies. Many effective descriptions, on the other hand, use Landau levels or approximate the system by just the lowest Landau level (LLL. Analyzing lattice configurations we ask whether such a picture is justified. We find the LLL to be separated from the rest by a spectral gap in the two-dimensional Dirac operator and analyze the corresponding LLL signature in four dimensions. We determine to what extent the quark condensate is LLL dominated at strong magnetic fields.

  2. The Hepatitis C Genotype 1 Paradox: Cost per Treatment Is Increasing, but Cost per Cure Is Decreasing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen D Shafran

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Significant attention has been focused on the perceived increase in the cost of antiviral treatment for hepatitis C genotype 1 infection since the approval of the first direct-acting antiviral agents in 2011. Using Canadian list prices, the present analysis points out a paradox: while the cost per antiviral regimen is increasing, the cost per cure is decreasing, especially with interferon-free therapy. In a publicly funded health care system, the lowest cost per cure is a more valuable measure of value for public money than the cost per regimen.

  3. The hepatitis C genotype 1 paradox: cost per treatment is increasing, but cost per cure is decreasing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafran, Stephen D

    2015-01-01

    Significant attention has been focused on the perceived increase in the cost of antiviral treatment for hepatitis C genotype 1 infection since the approval of the first direct-acting antiviral agents in 2011. Using Canadian list prices, the present analysis points out a paradox: while the cost per antiviral regimen is increasing, the cost per cure is decreasing, especially with interferon-free therapy. In a publicly funded health care system, the lowest cost per cure is a more valuable measure of value for public money than the cost per regimen.

  4. Some regional costs of a synthetic fuel industry: The case of illinois

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attanasi, E.D.; Green, E.K.

    1981-01-01

    The Federal Government's efforts to induce development of a coal-based synthetic fuel industry include direct subsidies, tax concessions, and assurances that it will purchase the industry's output, even if above the market price. In this note it is argued that these subsidies will enable this industry to secure a region's largest and lowest-cost coal deposits and that the costs imposed on other coal users will be substantial. Moreover, because the lowest-cost coal deposits will be committed to synthetic fuels production regardless of the industry's commercial viability, distortions in regional coal markets will develop. If economic efficiency requires that the price of the resource reflect its replacement value, then a State government is justified in imposing a tax on coal destined for subsidized synthetic fuel plants. Amounts of such a tax, based on the higher costs of coal that must be accepted by other users as the result of the subsidized synthetic fuel plants' preempting the largest and lowest-cost deposits, are estimated for the case of Illinois strippable coal. ?? 1981 Annals of Regional Science.

  5. 42 CFR 50.504 - Allowable cost of drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Allowable cost of drugs. 50.504 Section 50.504... APPLICABILITY Maximum Allowable Cost for Drugs § 50.504 Allowable cost of drugs. (a) The maximum amount which may be expended from program funds for the acquisition of any drug shall be the lowest of (1) The...

  6. Re-Use of Clean Coal Technology By-Products in the Construction of Low Permeability Liners. Final report, 10/1/1996 - 3/31/2000

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wolfe, William E. [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Butalia, Tarunjit S. [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Whitlach, Jr., E. Earl [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Mitsch, William [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)

    2000-12-31

    retention giving rise to the potential use of these materials as a liners for wastewater treatment wetlands. While plant growth was observed to be less vigorous for FGD lined wetland mesocosms compared to the control, the above and below ground biomass were not significantly different. Cost estimates for FGD liners compared favorably with clay liners for varying haul distances.

  7. Estimated generic prices of cancer medicines deemed cost-ineffective in England: a cost estimation analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Andrew; Redd, Christopher; Gotham, Dzintars; Erbacher, Isabelle; Meldrum, Jonathan; Harada, Ryo

    2017-01-20

    The aim of this study was to estimate lowest possible treatment costs for four novel cancer drugs, hypothesising that generic manufacturing could significantly reduce treatment costs. This research was carried out in a non-clinical research setting using secondary data. There were no human participants in the study. Four drugs were selected for the study: bortezomib, dasatinib, everolimus and gefitinib. These medications were selected according to their clinical importance, novel pharmaceutical actions and the availability of generic price data. Target costs for treatment were to be generated for each indication for each treatment. The primary outcome measure was the target cost according to a production cost calculation algorithm. The secondary outcome measure was the target cost as the lowest available generic price; this was necessary where export data were not available to generate an estimate from our cost calculation algorithm. Other outcomes included patent expiry dates and total eligible treatment populations. Target prices were £411 per cycle for bortezomib, £9 per month for dasatinib, £852 per month for everolimus and £10 per month for gefitinib. Compared with current list prices in England, these target prices would represent reductions of 74-99.6%. Patent expiry dates were bortezomib 2014-22, dasatinib 2020-26, everolimus 2019-25 and gefitinib 2017. The total global eligible treatment population in 1 year is 769 736. Our findings demonstrate that affordable drug treatment costs are possible for novel cancer drugs, suggesting that new therapeutic options can be made available to patients and doctors worldwide. Assessing treatment cost estimations alongside cost-effectiveness evaluations is an important area of future research. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  8. Producing ammonium sulfate from flue gas desulfurization by-products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, I.-Ming; Bruinius, J.A.; Benig, V.; Chou, S.-F.J.; Carty, R.H.

    2005-01-01

    Emission control technologies using flue gas desulfurization (FGD) have been widely adopted by utilities burning high-sulfur fuels. However, these technologies require additional equipment, greater operating expenses, and increased costs for landfill disposal of the solid by-products produced. The financial burdens would be reduced if successful high-volume commercial applications of the FGD solid by-products were developed. In this study, the technical feasibility of producing ammonium sulfate from FGD residues by allowing it to react with ammonium carbonate in an aqueous solution was preliminarily assessed. Reaction temperatures of 60, 70, and 80??C and residence times of 4 and 6 hours were tested to determine the optimal conversion condition and final product evaluations. High yields (up to 83%) of ammonium sulfate with up to 99% purity were achieved under relatively mild conditions. The optimal conversion condition was observed at 60??C and a 4-hour residence time. The results of this study indicate the technical feasibility of producing ammonium sulfate fertilizer from an FGD by-product. Copyright ?? Taylor & Francis Inc.

  9. Production development and utilization of Zimmer Station wet FGD by-products. Final report. Volume 5, A laboratory greenhouse study conducted in fulfillment of Phase 2, Objective 2 titled. Use of FGD by-product gypsum enriched with magnesium hydroxide as a soil amendment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yibirin, H. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States); Stehouwer, R. C. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States); Bigham, J. M. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States); Soto, U. I. [Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States)

    1997-01-31

    The Clean Air Act, as revised in 1992, has spurred the development of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) technologies that have resulted in large volumes of wet scrubber sludges. In general, these sludges must be dewatered, chemically treated, and disposed of in landfills. Disposal is an expensive and environmentally questionable process for which suitable alternatives must be found. Wet scrubbing with magnesium (Mg)-enhanced lime has emerged as an efficient, cost effective technology for SO2 removal. When combined with an appropriate oxidation system, the wet scrubber sludge can be used to produce gypsum (CaSO4-2H2O) and magnesium hydroxide [Mg(OH)2] of sufficient purity for beneficial re-use. Product value generally increases with purity of the by-product(s). The pilot plant at the CINERGY Zimmer Station near Cincinnati produces gypsum by products that can be formulated to contain varying amounts of Mg(OH)2. Such materials may have agricultural value as soil conditioners, liming agents and sources of plant nutrients (Ca, Mg, S). This report describes a greenhouse study designed to evaluate by-product gypsum and Mg gypsum from the Zimmer Station pilot plant as amendments for improving the quality of agricultural soils and mine spoils that are currently unproductive because of phytotoxic conditions related to acidity and high levels of toxic dissolved aluminum (Al). In particular, the technical literature contains evidence to suggest that gypsum may be more effective than agricultural limestone in modifying soil chemical conditions below the immediate zone of application. Representative samples of by-product gypsum and Mg(OH)2 from the Zimmer Station were initially characterized. The gypsum was of high chemical purity and consisted of well crystalline, lath-shaped particles of low specific surface area. By contrast, the by-product Mg(OH)2 was a high surface area material (50 m2 g

  10. Nuclear costs: indicators and uncertainties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leveque, Francois

    2013-01-01

    In order to identify whether it is better to build a gas plant, a nuclear plant or a wind farm, to identify the technology leading to the lowest KWh cost, to identify under which conditions nuclear production is profitable for a private investor, and to identify whether taking the dismantling cost and the waste storage cost into account modifies the nuclear competitiveness with respect to general interest, the author first discusses the different costs of the nuclear sector, their sensitivity to different factors. In a second part, he proposes a retrospective discussion of cost dynamics. Then, as nuclear technology seems characterized by always increasing costs, and as this trend may last, notably because of safety concerns, the author proposes an analysis of the poor competitiveness of nuclear with respect to its cost

  11. Lowest-order constrained variational method for simple many-fermion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alexandrov, I.; Moszkowski, S.A.; Wong, C.W.

    1975-01-01

    The authors study the potential energy of many-fermion systems calculated by the lowest-order constrained variational (LOCV) method of Pandharipande. Two simple two-body interactions are used. For a simple hard-core potential in a dilute Fermi gas, they find that the Huang-Yang exclusion correction can be used to determine a healing distance. The result is close to the older Pandharipande prescription for the healing distance. For a hard core plus attractive exponential potential, the LOCV result agrees closely with the lowest-order separation method of Moszkowski and Scott. They find that the LOCV result has a shallow minimum as a function of the healing distance at the Moszkowski-Scott separation distance. The significance of the absence of a Brueckner dispersion correction in the LOCV result is discussed. (Auth.)

  12. The social cost of fuel cycles. Report to the UK Department of Trade and Industry (Department of Industry)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pearce, D; Bann, C; Georgiou, S

    1992-09-01

    CSERGE was commissioned by the then UK Department of Energy to survey the available literature on the monetary estimation of the social costs of energy production and use. It focuses on the social costs of electricity production. The report assesses 'externality adders' defined as a surcharge that may be added to the marginal private cost of electricity in order to reflect the non-market damages or benefits that given electricity-generating technology creates. These 'adders' arise from environmental damages, such as the production of greenhouse gases, and from non-environmental externalities such as subsidies. Fuel cycles considered are: coal fired systems, both with and without emission control, oil-fired systems without FGD and low NO[sub x] burners; combined cycle gas turbines; nuclear energy (PWR), wind energy, landfill gas, geothermal energy, tidal power, hydroelectric power, wave energy, solar energy and combined heat and power. Types of adder considered fall into categories including: air pollution, building damage; catastrophic risks/discount rates; crop damage; energy and environment valuation; forest damage; principles of monetary valuation; global damage; health effects; land damage; noise pollution; non-environmental externalities; radiation damage; transmission; visibility; water pollution and biological diversity. 500 refs.

  13. Contract Source Selection: An Analysis of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable and Tradeoff Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-15

    using- spss - statistics.php Lamoureux, J., Murrow, M., & Walls, C. (2015). Relationship of source selection methods to contract outcomes: an analysis ...Contract Source Selection: an Analysis of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable and Tradeoff Strategies 15 June 2016 LCDR Jamal M. Osman, USN...ACQUISITION RESEARCH PROGRAM SPONSORED REPORT SERIES Contract Source Selection: an Analysis of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable and Tradeoff

  14. Land application uses for dry flue gas desulfurization by-products. Executive summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dick, W.; Bigham, J.; Forster, R.; Hitzhusen, F.; Lal, R.; Stehouwer, R.; Traina, S.; Wolfe, W.; Haefner, R.; Rowe, G.

    1999-01-31

    Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubbing technologies create several types of by-products. This project focused primarily on by-product materials obtained from what are commonly called ''dry scrubbers'' which produce a dry, solid material consisting of excess sorbent, reaction product that contains sulfate and sulfite, and coal fly ash. Prior to this project, dry FGD by-products were generally treated as solid wastes and disposed in landfills. However, landfill sites are becoming scarce and tipping fees are constantly increasing; The major objective of this project was to develop beneficial uses, via recycling, capable of providing economic benefits to both the producer and the end user of the FGD by-product. It is equally important, however, that the environmental impacts be carefully assessed so that the new uses developed are not only technically feasible but socially acceptable. Specific objectives developed for this project were derived over an 18-month period during extensive discussions with personnel from industry, regulatory agencies and research institutions. These were stated as follows: Objective 1: To characterize the material generated by dry FGD processes. Objective 2: To demonstrate the utilization of dry FGD by-product as a soil amendment on agricultural lands and on abandoned and active surface coal mines in Ohio. Objective 3: To demonstrate the use of dry FGD by-product as an engineering material for soil stabilization. Objective 4: To determine the quantities of dry FGD by-product that can be utilized in each of these applications. Objective 5. To determine the environmental and economic impacts of utilizing the material. Objective 6. To calibrate environmental, engineering, and economic models that can be used to determine the applicability and costs of utilizing these processes at other sites.

  15. Whole-Exome Sequencing Identifies One De Novo Variant in the FGD6 Gene in a Thai Family with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuphong Thongnak

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorder (ASD has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism is complex and it is unclear. Genetic testing such as microarray or sequencing was widely used to identify autism markers, but they are unsuccessful in several cases. The objective of this study is to identify causative variants of autism in two Thai families by using whole-exome sequencing technique. Whole-exome sequencing was performed with autism-affected children from two unrelated families. Each sample was sequenced on SOLiD 5500xl Genetic Analyzer system followed by combined bioinformatics pipeline including annotation and filtering process to identify candidate variants. Candidate variants were validated, and the segregation study with other family members was performed using Sanger sequencing. This study identified a possible causative variant for ASD, c.2951G>A, in the FGD6 gene. We demonstrated the potential for ASD genetic variants associated with ASD using whole-exome sequencing and a bioinformatics filtering procedure. These techniques could be useful in identifying possible causative ASD variants, especially in cases in which variants cannot be identified by other techniques.

  16. All Electron ab initio Investigations of the Three Lowest Lying Electronic States of the RuC Molecule

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shim, Irene; Gingerich, K. A.

    2000-01-01

    The three lowest-lying electronic states of RuC, (1)Sigma(+), (3)Delta, and (1)Delta, have been investigated by performing all-electron ab initio multi-configuration self-consistent-field (CASSCF) and multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations including relativistic corrections....... The electronic ground state is derived as (1)Sigma(+) with the spectroscopic constants r(e) = 1.616 Angstrom and omega(e) = 1085 cm(-1). The lowest-lying excited state, (3)Delta, has r(e) = 1.632 Angstrom, omega(e) = 1063 cm(-1), and T-e = 912 cm(-1). These results are consistent with recent spectroscopic values....... The chemical bonds in all three lowest-lying states are triple bonds composed of one sigma and two pi bonds. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved....

  17. Pb(II) removal from aqueous solution by a low-cost adsorbent dry desulfurization slag

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Qiong; You, Ruirong [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, New Campus, Minhou, Fujian Province 350108 (China); Clark, Malcolm [Marine Ecology Research Centre, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, P.O. Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480 (Australia); Yu, Yan, E-mail: yuyan_1972@126.com [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, New Campus, Minhou, Fujian Province 350108 (China)

    2014-09-30

    Highlights: • Dry desulfurization slag, solid waste, was an efficient adsorbent for lead removal. • The adsorption of Pb{sup 2+} onto dry desulfurization slag was generally monolayer. • The rate limiting step in the adsorption process of Pb{sup 2+} was chemisorption. • Pb{sup 2+} was absorbed onto the surface of the sample adsorbent only. • The adsorbent was low-cost and could be recycled. - Abstract: A collectable and non-sintered material prepared as hollow cylindrical shaped pellet from dry desulfurization slag (FGD ash) and ordinary Portland cement (OPC) for wastewater treatments is tested. The characteristic results of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared absorption spectroscopy (IR) show that –OH, CO{sub 3}{sup 2−}, SO{sub 3}{sup 2−} and SO{sub 4}{sup 2−} are the possible functional groups responsible for Pb uptake. Adsorption data indicate that Pb removal is pH dependent and optimal at pH 6, with a very rapid initial removal that reaches equilibrium in about 90 min. A maximum removal of 99.2% is seen for 5 mg/L (pH of 6); higher initial Pb concentrations reduce overall removal efficiencies, but generate higher surface loadings. Adsorption process correlates well with both Langmuir and Freundlich models, although the Langmuir isotherm is more favored, providing a maximum adsorption capacity (Qm) of 130.2 mg/g (13 wt%). Pseudo-second order rate kinetic model best describes the Pb removal, and calculated R{sub L} values between 0 and 1, indicate a favored adsorption process that is chemisorption limited. SEM and EDAX analysis of the surface and fracture surface show that Pb occurs as surface precipitates and that Pb is not distributed to the inner core of the pellet. This study demonstrates that dry FGD ash could be successfully used for wastewater Pb removal.

  18. Cost of goods sold and total cost of delivery for oral and parenteral vaccine packaging formats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedita, Jeff; Perrella, Stefanie; Morio, Matt; Berbari, Michael; Hsu, Jui-Shan; Saxon, Eugene; Jarrahian, Courtney; Rein-Weston, Annie; Zehrung, Darin

    2018-03-14

    Despite limitations of glass packaging for vaccines, the industry has been slow to implement alternative formats. Polymer containers may address many of these limitations, such as breakage and delamination. However, the ability of polymer containers to achieve cost of goods sold (COGS) and total cost of delivery (TCOD) competitive with that of glass containers is unclear, especially for cost-sensitive low- and lower-middle-income countries. COGS and TCOD models for oral and parenteral vaccine packaging formats were developed based on information from subject matter experts, published literature, and Kenya's comprehensive multiyear plan for immunization. Rotavirus and inactivated poliovirus vaccines (IPV) were used as representative examples of oral and parenteral vaccines, respectively. Packaging technologies evaluated included glass vials, blow-fill-seal (BFS) containers, preformed polymer containers, and compact prefilled auto-disable (CPAD) devices in both BFS and preformed formats. For oral vaccine packaging, BFS multi-monodose (MMD) ampoules were the least expensive format, with a COGS of $0.12 per dose. In comparison, oral single-dose glass vials had a COGS of $0.40. BFS MMD ampoules had the lowest TCOD of oral vaccine containers at $1.19 per dose delivered, and ten-dose glass vials had a TCOD of $1.61 per dose delivered. For parenteral vaccines, the lowest COGS was achieved with ten-dose glass vials at $0.22 per dose. In contrast, preformed CPAD devices had the highest COGS at $0.60 per dose. Ten-dose glass vials achieved the lowest TCOD of the parenteral vaccine formats at $1.56 per dose delivered. Of the polymer containers for parenteral vaccines, BFS MMD ampoules achieved the lowest TCOD at $1.89 per dose delivered, whereas preformed CPAD devices remained the most expensive format, at $2.25 per dose delivered. Given their potential to address the limitations of glass and reduce COGS and TCOD, polymer containers deserve further consideration as alternative

  19. Rationality, irrationality and escalating behavior in lowest unique bid auctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radicchi, Filippo; Baronchelli, Andrea; Amaral, Luís A N

    2012-01-01

    Information technology has revolutionized the traditional structure of markets. The removal of geographical and time constraints has fostered the growth of online auction markets, which now include millions of economic agents worldwide and annual transaction volumes in the billions of dollars. Here, we analyze bid histories of a little studied type of online auctions--lowest unique bid auctions. Similarly to what has been reported for foraging animals searching for scarce food, we find that agents adopt Lévy flight search strategies in their exploration of "bid space". The Lévy regime, which is characterized by a power-law decaying probability distribution of step lengths, holds over nearly three orders of magnitude. We develop a quantitative model for lowest unique bid online auctions that reveals that agents use nearly optimal bidding strategies. However, agents participating in these auctions do not optimize their financial gain. Indeed, as long as there are many auction participants, a rational profit optimizing agent would choose not to participate in these auction markets.

  20. Cost Surface-Derived Least-Cost Paths: A Case Study from Iron Age Orkney

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian Rahn

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, GIS landscape models have begun to move towards more sophisticated techniques for representing the land surface in order to analyse site territories, pathways and travel costs. Many of the major commercial GIS packages now offer the ability to generate anisotropic cost surfaces. In addition, recent papers have proposed methodologies for generating cost surfaces to model social preferences affecting travel (Lee and Stucky 1998; Llobera 2000. In terms of practical applications, however, GIS models of catchment areas and paths between sites continue to be dominated by those constructed on the basis of slope alone. In parallel with this, regional analyses of site location, with few exceptions, have been undertaken either within large land masses, largely ignoring the effects of rivers, lakes and the sea on travel costs and affordances, or within single islands, neglecting travel to other neighbouring islands or the mainland. The reasons for this appear to be twofold: first, there is little information available on travel costs and travel rates using pre-industrial transportation technology, beyond very general statements; second, critical analysis of what constitutes an 'acceptable' travel distance is lacking, especially in situations where both water and land transport are possibilities. This article presents some preliminary results from a research project examining the location and distribution of Middle Iron Age sites (brochs in the landscape of Orkney, Northern Scotland. It employs a terrain model, taking into account differing friction values for land and water surfaces, as well as the nature of the shoreline (cliffs, beaches and how this affects access from land to sea and vice versa. It also attempts to model pathways between sites following three friction models: lowest-energy, lowest-visibility (hidden and highest-visibility (exposed.

  1. Treatment of waste water from flue gas cleaning; Behandlung von Abwasser der Rauchgasreinigung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ogiermann, Klaus; Meyerhoff, Thomas [Berkefeld - VWS Deutschland GmbH, Celle (Germany); Hagen, Klaus [Berkefeld - VWS Deutschland GmbH, Bayreuth (Germany); Basabe, Juan Luis [HPD Process Engineering S.A., Bilbao (Spain); Vendrup, Michael [Krueger A/S, Soeborg (Denmark)

    2012-11-01

    Strict limits must be adhered to for treating waste water incurred during flue gas desulphurisation (FGD). One and two-stage precipitation processes have proven themselves in FGD waste water treatment. Metals can be removed with the MetClean {sup registered} process. Another option is evaporation. Waste water ZLD systems (Zero Liquid Discharge) recover, via a falling film evaporator with subsequent crystallisation, more than 98 % of the water and produce, aside from the condensate, only solid material that can be disposed of in landfill. A further development, named ZLD CoLD trademark, significantly reduces the investment and operating costs of this solution. (orig.)

  2. Cost-Efficacy Analysis of Out-of-District Special Education Placements: An Evaluative Measure of Behavior Support Intervention in Public Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putnam, Robert F.; Luiselli, James K.; Sennett, Kenneth; Malonson, Joanne

    2002-01-01

    Evaluation of out-of-district special education placement costs in the 15 largest Massachusetts public school districts found the criterion school district (which had developed a system-wide approach to behavioral intervention) had the lowest per capita cost, lowest percentage of total school budget consumed by out-of-district placements, and the…

  3. Least cost 100% renewable electricity scenarios in the Australian National Electricity Market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elliston, Ben; MacGill, Iain; Diesendorf, Mark

    2013-01-01

    Least cost options are presented for supplying the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) with 100% renewable electricity using wind, photovoltaics, concentrating solar thermal (CST) with storage, hydroelectricity and biofuelled gas turbines. We use a genetic algorithm and an existing simulation tool to identify the lowest cost (investment and operating) scenarios of renewable technologies and locations for NEM regional hourly demand and observed weather in 2010 using projected technology costs for 2030. These scenarios maintain the NEM reliability standard, limit hydroelectricity generation to available rainfall, and limit bioenergy consumption. The lowest cost scenarios are dominated by wind power, with smaller contributions from photovoltaics and dispatchable generation: CST, hydro and gas turbines. The annual cost of a simplified transmission network to balance supply and demand across NEM regions is a small proportion of the annual cost of the generating system. Annual costs are compared with a scenario where fossil fuelled power stations in the NEM today are replaced with modern fossil substitutes at projected 2030 costs, and a carbon price is paid on all emissions. At moderate carbon prices, which appear required to address climate change, 100% renewable electricity would be cheaper on an annual basis than the replacement scenario

  4. Do Medicare Advantage Plans Minimize Costs? Investigating the Relationship Between Benchmarks, Costs, and Rebates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuckerman, Stephen; Skopec, Laura; Guterman, Stuart

    2017-12-01

    Medicare Advantage (MA), the program that allows people to receive their Medicare benefits through private health plans, uses a benchmark-and-bidding system to induce plans to provide benefits at lower costs. However, prior research suggests medical costs, profits, and other plan costs are not as low under this system as they might otherwise be. To examine how well the current system encourages MA plans to bid their lowest cost by examining the relationship between costs and bonuses (rebates) and the benchmarks Medicare uses in determining plan payments. Regression analysis using 2015 data for HMO and local PPO plans. Costs and rebates are higher for MA plans in areas with higher benchmarks, and plan costs vary less than benchmarks do. A one-dollar increase in benchmarks is associated with 32-cent-higher plan costs and a 52-cent-higher rebate, even when controlling for market and plan factors that can affect costs. This suggests the current benchmark-and-bidding system allows plans to bid higher than local input prices and other market conditions would seem to warrant. To incentivize MA plans to maximize efficiency and minimize costs, Medicare could change the way benchmarks are set or used.

  5. Costing Principles in Higher Education and Their Application (First Revision).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterns, A. A.

    This document provides a reason for applying known cost-accounting methodology within the realm of higher education and attempts to make the known techniques viable for sets of objectives within the university environment. The plan developed here is applied to a department, the lowest level in the university hierarchy, and demonstrates costs in…

  6. Rationality, irrationality and escalating behavior in lowest unique bid auctions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filippo Radicchi

    Full Text Available Information technology has revolutionized the traditional structure of markets. The removal of geographical and time constraints has fostered the growth of online auction markets, which now include millions of economic agents worldwide and annual transaction volumes in the billions of dollars. Here, we analyze bid histories of a little studied type of online auctions--lowest unique bid auctions. Similarly to what has been reported for foraging animals searching for scarce food, we find that agents adopt Lévy flight search strategies in their exploration of "bid space". The Lévy regime, which is characterized by a power-law decaying probability distribution of step lengths, holds over nearly three orders of magnitude. We develop a quantitative model for lowest unique bid online auctions that reveals that agents use nearly optimal bidding strategies. However, agents participating in these auctions do not optimize their financial gain. Indeed, as long as there are many auction participants, a rational profit optimizing agent would choose not to participate in these auction markets.

  7. Rationality, Irrationality and Escalating Behavior in Lowest Unique Bid Auctions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radicchi, Filippo; Baronchelli, Andrea; Amaral, Luís A. N.

    2012-01-01

    Information technology has revolutionized the traditional structure of markets. The removal of geographical and time constraints has fostered the growth of online auction markets, which now include millions of economic agents worldwide and annual transaction volumes in the billions of dollars. Here, we analyze bid histories of a little studied type of online auctions – lowest unique bid auctions. Similarly to what has been reported for foraging animals searching for scarce food, we find that agents adopt Lévy flight search strategies in their exploration of “bid space”. The Lévy regime, which is characterized by a power-law decaying probability distribution of step lengths, holds over nearly three orders of magnitude. We develop a quantitative model for lowest unique bid online auctions that reveals that agents use nearly optimal bidding strategies. However, agents participating in these auctions do not optimize their financial gain. Indeed, as long as there are many auction participants, a rational profit optimizing agent would choose not to participate in these auction markets. PMID:22279553

  8. On the Costs of Nuclear Energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cintra do Prado, L.

    1966-01-01

    In considering the use of nuclear energy as a primary source of electricity the important thing is not that it should be ''cheap'' in absolute terms but that it should be competitive, that is to say that the cost of nuclear electricity should be produced at a cost comparable with or less than that of electricity generated by conventional sources - hydroelectric plants or thermo-plants based on coal, natural gas or oil. If energy is vital to a country's development one must be prepared to pay what it is worth; the problem is to obtain the energy at the lowest possible cost

  9. Cost optimisation studies of high power accelerators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McAdams, R.; Nightingale, M.P.S.; Godden, D. [AEA Technology, Oxon (United Kingdom)] [and others

    1995-10-01

    Cost optimisation studies are carried out for an accelerator based neutron source consisting of a series of linear accelerators. The characteristics of the lowest cost design for a given beam current and energy machine such as power and length are found to depend on the lifetime envisaged for it. For a fixed neutron yield it is preferable to have a low current, high energy machine. The benefits of superconducting technology are also investigated. A Separated Orbit Cyclotron (SOC) has the potential to reduce capital and operating costs and intial estimates for the transverse and longitudinal current limits of such machines are made.

  10. Cost-effectiveness of interventions to control Campylobacter in the New Zealand poultry meat food supply.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lake, Robin J; Horn, Beverley J; Dunn, Alex H; Parris, Ruth; Green, F Terri; McNickle, Don C

    2013-07-01

    An analysis of the cost-effectiveness of interventions to control Campylobacter in the New Zealand poultry supply examined a series of interventions. Effectiveness was evaluated in terms of reduced health burden measured by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Costs of implementation were estimated from the value of cost elements, determined by discussions with industry. Benefits were estimated by changing the inputs to a poultry food chain quantitative risk model. Proportional reductions in the number of predicted Campylobacter infections were converted into reductions in the burden of disease measured in DALYs. Cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated for each intervention, as cost per DALY reduction and the ratios compared. The results suggest that the most cost-effective interventions (lowest ratios) are at the primary processing stage. Potential phage-based controls in broiler houses were also highly cost-effective. This study is limited by the ability to quantify costs of implementation and assumptions required to estimate health benefits, but it supports the implementation of interventions at the primary processing stage as providing the greatest quantum of benefit and lowest cost-effectiveness ratios.

  11. Fine structure of the lowest Landau level in suspended trilayer graphene

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Elferen, H. J.; Veligura, A.; Tombros, N.; Kurganova, E. V.; van Wees, B. J.; Maan, J. C.; Zeitler, U.

    2013-01-01

    Magnetotransport experiments on ABC-stacked suspended trilayer graphene reveal a complete splitting of the 12-fold degenerated lowest Landau level, and, in particular, the opening of an exchange-driven gap at the charge neutrality point. A quantitative analysis of distinctness of the quantum Hall

  12. Comparison of the Cost-Effectiveness of Biologic Drugs Used for Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis Treatment in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jashin J; Feldman, Steven R; Rastogi, Shipra; Menges, Brandy; Lingohr-Smith, Melissa; Lin, Jay

    2018-04-16

    To compare the cost-effectiveness of the newly approved biologic drug, brodalumab, with other commonly used biologics for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis in the U.S. An economic model was constructed in Excel to compare average costs to achieve Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 75, 90, and 100 among moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients treated with biologics. Total annual costs to health plans associated with treatment with 5 different biologics were estimated and cost-effectiveness compared using the estimated average cost per PASI 75, PASI 90, and PASI 100. Total annual costs to a health plan per patient with adalimumab, brodalumab, ixekizumab, secukinumab, and ustekinumab were estimated at $51,246, $38,538, $65,484, $57,510, and $57,013. Mean annual treatment costs per PASI 75, 90, and 100 were the lowest for brodalumab, with the annual cost per PASI 75 for brodalumab, adalimumab, ixekizumab, secukinumab, and ustekinumab estimated at $48,782, $82,655, $77,957, $75,671, and $87,243, per PASI 90 at $51,383, $119,178, $94,904, $108,509, and $130,615, and per PASI 100 at $87,585, $284,702, $176,983, $205,393, and $366,645. Brodalumab, which had the lowest drug cost and high drug efficacy, was associated with the lowest cost per PASI 75, 90, and 100 among the biologics evaluated.

  13. Tradeoffs between costs and greenhouse gas emissions in the design of urban transit systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Griswold, Julia B; Madanat, Samer; Horvath, Arpad

    2013-01-01

    Recent investments in the transit sector to address greenhouse gas emissions have concentrated on purchasing efficient replacement vehicles and inducing mode shift from the private automobile. There has been little focus on the potential of network and operational improvements, such as changes in headways, route spacing, and stop spacing, to reduce transit emissions. Most models of transit system design consider user and agency cost while ignoring emissions and the potential environmental benefit of operational improvements. We use a model to evaluate the user and agency costs as well as greenhouse gas benefit of design and operational improvements to transit systems. We examine how the operational characteristics of urban transit systems affect both costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The research identifies the Pareto frontier for designing an idealized transit network. Modes considered include bus, bus rapid transit (BRT), light rail transit (LRT), and metro (heavy) rail, with cost and emissions parameters appropriate for the United States. Passenger demand follows a many-to-many travel pattern with uniformly distributed origins and destinations. The approaches described could be used to optimize the network design of existing bus service or help to select a mode and design attributes for a new transit system. The results show that BRT provides the lowest cost but not the lowest emissions for our large city scenarios. Bus and LRT systems have low costs and the lowest emissions for our small city scenarios. Relatively large reductions in emissions from the cost-optimal system can be achieved with only minor increases in user travel time. (letter)

  14. Chern-Simons field theory of two-dimensional electrons in the lowest Landau level

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, L.

    1996-01-01

    We propose a fermion Chern-Simons field theory describing two-dimensional electrons in the lowest Landau level. This theory is constructed with a complete set of states, and the lowest-Landau-level constraint is enforced through a δ functional described by an auxiliary field λ. Unlike the field theory constructed directly with the states in the lowest Landau level, this theory allows one, utilizing the physical picture of open-quote open-quote composite fermion,close-quote close-quote to study the fractional quantum Hall states by mapping them onto certain integer quantum Hall states; but, unlike its application in the unconstrained theory, such a mapping is sensible only when interactions between electrons are present. An open-quote open-quote effective mass,close-quote close-quote which characterizes the scale of low energy excitations in the fractional quantum Hall systems, emerges naturally from our theory. We study a Gaussian effective theory and interpret physically the dressed stationary point equation for λ as an equation for the open-quote open-quote mass renormalization close-quote close-quote of composite fermions. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

  15. Search for the lowest irradiation dose from literatures on radiation-induced breast cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshizawa, Y; Kusama, T [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Medicine

    1975-12-01

    A survey of past case reports concerning radiation-induced breast cancer was carried out in order to find the lowest irradiation dose. The search of literature published since 1951 revealed 10 cases of radiation-induced breast cancer. Only 5 cases had precise descriptions of the irradiation dose. The lowest irradiation dose was estimated at 1470 rads in the case of external X-ray irradiation for tuberous angioma. All of cases of radiation-induced breast cancer had received radiation for the treatment of nonmalignant tumors, such as pulmonary tuberculosis, mastitis, and tuberous angioma. There also were three statistical studies. The first concerned atomic bomb survivors, the second, pulmoanry tuberculous patients subjected to frequent fluoroscopies, and the third, patients of acute post partum mastitis. These statistical studies had revealed a significant increase in the incidence of breast cancer in the irradiated group, but there was little information about the lowest irradiation dose. It was noticed that radiation-induced breast cancer was more numerous in the upper inner quadrant of the breast. Most histopathological findings of radiation-induced breast cancer involved duct cell carcinoma. The latent period was about 15 years.

  16. Cost-effective strategies for rural community outreach, Hawaii, 2010-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellegrin, Karen L; Barbato, Anna; Holuby, R Scott; Ciarleglio, Anita E; Taniguchi, Ronald

    2014-12-11

    Three strategies designed to maximize attendance at educational sessions on chronic disease medication safety in older adults in rural areas were implemented sequentially and compared for cost-effectiveness: 1) existing community groups and events, 2) formal advertisement, and 3) employer-based outreach. Cost-effectiveness was measured by comparing overall cost per attendee recruited and number of attendees per event. The overall cost per attendee was substantially higher for the formal advertising strategy, which produced the lowest number of attendees per event. Leveraging existing community events and employers in rural areas was more cost-effective than formal advertisement for recruiting rural community members.

  17. A quantitative analysis of the cost-effectiveness of project types in the CDM pipeline

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Green, Gavin A.

    2008-09-15

    The flexibility of the CDM is intended to reduce the cost of compliance for Annex 1 countries and contribute to cost-effective reductions. This paper provides a framework for defining cost-effective payments for CDM carbon reductions. The projects in the CDM pipeline are categorised into project types. The data provided in the Project Design Documents is quantitatively assessed to calculate the median cost and range of costs for producing a CER from the project categories. These are measured against the range of prices in the market in order to estimate the level of cost-effectiveness. Global warming potential and size of the project were shown to be key factors in the cost of producing a CER. The results show that although prices for CERs are difficult to define in the primary CER market, many of the project categories generated CERs at a cost well below the lowest market price. The difference in these two values is defined as a loss in cost-effectiveness. The CDM is shown to be successful at developing the 'lowest hanging fruit' but the mechanism could be improved to fulfil the goal of cost-effectiveness by linking the price per CER to the cost of generating a CER. (au)

  18. Time and travel costs incurred by women attending antenatal tests: A costing study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhoef, Talitha I; Daley, Rebecca; Vallejo-Torres, Laura; Chitty, Lyn S; Morris, Stephen

    2016-09-01

    to estimate the costs to women, their friends and family for different antenatal tests in the Down's syndrome (DS) screening pathway. questionnaire-based costing study. eight maternity clinics across the UK. pregnant women (n=574) attending an appointment for DS screening, NIPT or invasive testing between December 2013 and September 2014. using data collected from the questionnaires we calculated the total costs to women by multiplying the time spent at the hospital and travelling to and from it by the opportunity costs of the women and accompanying person and adding travel and childcare costs. Assumptions about the value of opportunity costs were tested in one-way sensitivity analyses. The main outcome measure was the mean cost to the women and friends/family for each test (DS screening, NIPT, and invasive testing). mean costs to women and their family/friend were £33.96 per visit, of which £22.47 were time costs, £9.15 were travel costs and £2.34 were childcare costs. Costs were lowest for NIPT (£22), £32 for DS screening (£44 if combined with NIPT), and highest for invasive testing (£60). Sensitivity analysis revealed that variations around the value of leisure time opportunity costs had the largest influence on the results. there are considerable costs to women, their friends and family when attending different tests in the DS screening pathway. when assessing the cost-effectiveness of changes to this pathway, costs to women should be considered. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Evaluation of process costs for small-scale nitrogen removal from natural gas. Topical report, January 1989-December 1989

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Echterhoff, L.W.; Pathak, V.K.

    1991-08-01

    The report establishes the cost of producing pipeline quality gas on a small scale from high nitrogen subquality natural gas. Three processing technologies are evaluated: cryogenic, Nitrotec Engineering Inc.'s pressure swing adsorption (PSA), and lean oil absorption. Comparison of the established costs shows that the cryogenic process exhibits the lowest total plant investment for nitrogen feed contents up to about 22%, above which the PSA process exhibits the lowest investment cost. The lean oil process exhibits the highest total plant investment at the 25% nitrogen feed studied. Opposite to the total plant investment for the cryogenic process, the total plant investment for the PSA process decreases with increasing nitrogen content primarily due to increasing product gas compression requirements. The cryogenic process exhibits the lowest gas processing costs for the nitrogen content range under study. However, the difference between the gas processing costs for the PSA and cryogenic processes narrows as the nitrogen content approaches 15-25%. The lean oil gas processing cost is very high compared to both the cryogenic and PSA processes. The report verifies that nitrogen removal from natural gas is expensive, especially for small-scale applications, and several avenues are identified for improving the cryogenic and PSA technologies

  20. Heat exchanger inventory cost optimization for power cycles with one feedwater heater

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qureshi, Bilal Ahmed; Antar, Mohamed A.; Zubair, Syed M.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Cost optimization of heat exchanger inventory in power cycles is investigated. • Analysis for an endoreversible power cycle with an open feedwater heater is shown. • Different constraints on the power cycle are investigated. • The constant heat addition scenario resulted in the lowest value of the cost function. - Abstract: Cost optimization of heat exchanger inventory in power cycles with one open feedwater heater is undertaken. In this regard, thermoeconomic analysis for an endoreversible power cycle with an open feedwater heater is shown. The scenarios of constant heat rejection and addition rates, power as well as rate of heat transfer in the open feedwater heater are studied. All cost functions displayed minima with respect to the high-side absolute temperature ratio (θ 1 ). In this case, the effect of the Carnot temperature ratio (Φ 1 ), absolute temperature ratio (ξ) and the phase-change absolute temperature ratio for the feedwater heater (Φ 2 ) are qualitatively the same. Furthermore, the constant heat addition scenario resulted in the lowest value of the cost function. For variation of all cost functions, the smaller the value of the phase-change absolute temperature ratio for the feedwater heater (Φ 2 ), lower the cost at the minima. As feedwater heater to hot end unit cost ratio decreases, the minimum total conductance required increases

  1. Corrosion resistant alloy uses in the power industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nickerson, J.L.; Hall, F.A.; Asphahani, A.I.

    1989-01-01

    Nickel-base alloys have been used as cost-effective measures in a variety of severely corrosive situations in pollution control units for coal-fired power plants. Cost effectiveness and practical answers to corrosion problems are illustrated (specifically the wallpaper concept/metallic lining technique). Numerous cases of successful use of HASTELLOY alloys in Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) systems and hazardous waste treatment incineration scrubber systems are listed. In this paper developments in nickel-base alloys and their use in FGD and other segments of the power industry are discussed. In the Ni-Cr-Mo-W alloy family, the C-22 alloy has the best resistance to localized corrosion in halide environments (chloride/fluoride-containing solutions). This alloy is also used effectively as a universal filler metal to weld less-resistant alloys were weld corrosion may be a problem. Field performance of this alloy in the power industry is described

  2. HMIP bursts the bubble

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1992-06-23

    HM Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) the UK government watchdog empowered to implement the 1990 Environmental Protection Act, seems likely to be increasingly assertive about enforcing the rule that flue gas desulphurisation units fitted to a power station should be fully utilised within normal operating conditions. The generator will have to bear this operating cost but may be able to negotiate a discount on fuel cost or maybe power pool rules could be modified to allow generation from plant fitted with FGD to be given a clean coal dividend. HMIP is also likely to take an increasingly interventionist line on its monitoring and approval of emissions from stations not fitted with FGD. Generators have so far refused to provide detailed plant by plant data which may make HMIP put pressure on generators to reduce emissions from stations where the fallout would occur in sensitive areas such as in the west. 2 tabs.

  3. Relative costs of anesthesiologist prepared, hospital pharmacy prepared and outsourced anesthesia drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jelacic, Srdjan; Craddick, Karen; Nair, Bala G; Bounthavong, Mark; Yeung, Kai; Kusulos, Dolly; Knutson, Jennifer A; Somani, Shabir; Bowdle, Andrew

    2017-02-01

    Anesthesia drugs can be prepared by anesthesia providers, hospital pharmacies or outsourcing facilities. The decision whether to outsource all or some anesthesia drugs is challenging since the costs associated with different anesthesia drug preparation methods remain poorly described. The costs associated with preparation of 8 commonly used anesthesia drugs were analyzed using a budget impact analysis for 4 different syringe preparation strategies: (1) all drugs prepared by anesthesiologist, (2) drugs prepared by anesthesiologist and hospital pharmacy, (3) drugs prepared by anesthesiologist and outsourcing facility, and (4) all drugs prepared by outsourcing facility. A strategy combining anesthesiologist and hospital pharmacy prepared drugs was associated with the lowest estimated annual cost in the base-case budget impact analysis with an annual cost of $225 592, which was lower than other strategies by a margin of greater than $86 000. A combination of anesthesiologist and hospital pharmacy prepared drugs resulted in the lowest annual cost in the budget impact analysis. However, the cost of drugs prepared by an outsourcing facility maybe lower if the capital investment needed for the establishment and maintenance of the US Pharmacopeial Convention Chapter compliant facility is included in the budget impact analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Development of the advanced coolside sorbent injection process for SO{sub 2}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Withum, J.A.; Maskew, J.T.; Rosenhoover, W.A. [Consol, Inc., Library, PA (United States)] [and others

    1995-11-01

    The goal of this work was to develop a low-capital-cost process capable of over 90% SO{sub 2} removal as an economically attractive option for compliance with the Clean Air Act. The Advanced Coolside Process uses a contactor to simultaneously remove fly ash and saturate the flue gas with water, followed by sorbent injection into the highly humid flue gas and collection of the sorbent by the existing particulate collector High sorbent utilization is achieved by sorbent recycle. The original performance targets of 90% SO{sub 2} removal and 60% sorbent utilization were exceeded in 1000 acfm pilot plant operations using commercial hydrated lime as the only sorbent. Process optimization simplified the process equipment, resulting in significant cost reduction. Recent accomplishments include completion of equipment testing and sorbent optimization, a waste management study, and a long-term performance test. An economic evaluation for the optimized process projects capital costs 55% to 60 % less than those of limestone forced oxidation wet FGD. The projected levelized control cost is 15% to 35% lower than wet FGD (25% lower for a 260 MWe plant burning a 2.5% sulfur coal), depending on plant size and coal sulfur content.

  5. Flue gas desulfurization gypsum: Its effectiveness as an alternative bedding material for broiler production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG) may be a viable low-cost alternative bedding material for broiler production. In order to evaluate FGD gypsum’s viability, three consecutive trials were conducted to determine its influence on live performance (body weight, feed consumption, feed efficiency, an...

  6. Survey of state regulatory activities on least cost planning for gas utilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goldman, C.A.; Hopkins, M.E.

    1991-04-01

    Integrated resource planning involves the creation of a process in which supply-side and demand-side options are integrated to create a resource mix that reliably satisfies customers' short-term and long-term energy service needs at the lowest cost. Incorporating the concept of meeting customer energy service needs entails a recognition that customers' costs must be considered along with the utility's costs in the economic analysis of energy options. As applied to gas utilities, an integrated resource plan seeks to balance cost and reliability, and should not be interpreted simply as the search for lowest commodity costs. All state commissions were surveyed to assess the current status of gas planning and demand-side management and to identify significant regulatory issues faced by commissions during the next several years. The survey was to determine the extent to which they have undertaken least-cost planning for gas utilities. The survey included the following topics: (1) status of state PUC least-cost planning regulations and practices for gas utilities; (2) type and scope ofnatural gas DSM programs in effect, includeing fuel substitution; (3) economic tests and analysis methods used to evaluate DSM programs; (4) relationship between prudence reviews of gas utility purchasing practices and integrated resource planning; and (5) key regulatory issues facing gas utilities during the next five years. 34 refs., 6 figs., 10 tabs

  7. Assessing the full costs of electricity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keppler, Jan Horst

    2016-01-01

    For decades, economists, energy specialists and policy-makers have been satisfied with assessing the comparative costs of electricity generation on the basis of discounted average costs over the lifetime and the total output of a generating plant. As a standardised form of cost-benefit accounting (CBA), these levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) indicate the required expenditures in terms of capital, fuel, and operations and management (O and M), adjusted for their incidence in time or the different technology options per unit of output (i.e. a MWh of electricity). This straightforward, transparent and comparatively simple metric worked well in a context of regulated markets where generators were centrally dispatched according to system requirements, tariffs were set by regulators and load factors could be predicted with confidence. In order to satisfy a given demand for electricity, the technology with the lowest LCOE was usually chosen, thus minimising the costs of the electricity system. Nuclear energy thus competed with hydro, where available, and coal and gas on the basis of their respective capital, labour and fuel costs at the level of the individual plant. (author)

  8. External costs of nuclear: Greater or less than the alternatives?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rabl, Ari; Rabl, Veronika A.

    2013-01-01

    Since Fukushima many are calling for a shutdown of nuclear power plants. To see whether such a shutdown would reduce the risks for health and environment, the external costs of nuclear electricity are compared with alternatives that could replace it. The frequency of catastrophic nuclear accidents is based on the historical record, about one in 25 years for the plants built to date, an order of magnitude higher than the safety goals of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Impacts similar to Chernobyl and Fukushima are assumed to estimate the cost. A detailed comparison is presented with wind as alternative with the lowest external cost. The variability of wind necessitates augmentation by other sources, primarily fossil fuels, because storage at the required scale is in most regions too expensive. The external costs of natural gas combined cycle are taken as 0.6 €cent/kWh due to health effects of air pollution and 1.25 €cent/kWh due to greenhouse gases (at 25€/t CO 2 eq ) for the central estimate, but a wide range of different parameters is also considered, both for nuclear and for the alternatives. Although the central estimate of external costs of the wind-based alternative is higher than that of nuclear, the uncertainty ranges overlap. - Highlights: ► The external costs of nuclear electricity are compared with the alternatives. ► Frequency and cost of nuclear accidents based on Chernobyl and Fukushima. ► Detailed comparison with wind as alternative with the lowest external costs. ► High external cost of wind because of natural gas backup (storage too limited). ► External costs of wind higher than nuclear but uncertainty ranges overlap

  9. A q-Schroedinger algebra, its lowest weight representations and generalized q-deformed heat equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dobrev, V.K.; Doebner, H.D.; Mrugalla, C.

    1995-12-01

    We give a q-deformation S-perpendicular q of the centrally extended Schroedinger algebra. We construct the lowest weight representations of S-perpendicular q , starting from the Verma modules over S-perpendicular q , finding their singular vectors and factoring the Verma submodules built on the singular vectors. We also give a vector-field realization of S-perpendicular q which provides polynomial realization of the lowest weight representations and an infinite hierarchy of q-difference equations which may be called generalized q-deformed heat equations. We also apply our methods to the on-shell q-Schroedinger algebra proposed by Floreanini and Vinet. (author). 12 refs

  10. Cost comparison of three kinds of compression therapy in venous ulcer

    OpenAIRE

    Pereira,Bruno Emmanuel de Medeiros; Sousa,Alana Tamar Oliveira de; França,Jael Rúbia Figueiredo de Sá; Soares,Maria Júlia Guimarães Oliveira

    2016-01-01

    Abstract: Evolution and cost of three types of compression therapy (single layer, multilayer and Unna boot) in patients with venous ulceration were compared. The evaluation lasted two months and used photographic records and instrument based on pressure ulcer scale for healing (PUSH). Treatment with monolayer compression therapy presented the lowest cost and more efficacy of the three types, with 82% savings compared with the multilayer therapy.

  11. Comparing the Cost of Protecting Selected Lightweight Block Ciphers against Differential Power Analysis in Low-Cost FPGAs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Diehl

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Lightweight block ciphers are an important topic in the Internet of Things (IoT since they provide moderate security while requiring fewer resources than the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES. Ongoing cryptographic contests and standardization efforts evaluate lightweight block ciphers on their resistance to power analysis side channel attack (SCA, and the ability to apply countermeasures. While some ciphers have been individually evaluated, a large-scale comparison of resistance to side channel attack and the formulation of absolute and relative costs of implementing countermeasures is difficult, since researchers typically use varied architectures, optimization strategies, technologies, and evaluation techniques. In this research, we leverage the Test Vector Leakage Assessment (TVLA methodology and the FOBOS SCA framework to compare FPGA implementations of AES, SIMON, SPECK, PRESENT, LED, and TWINE, using a choice of architecture targeted to optimize throughput-to-area (TP/A ratio and suitable for introducing countermeasures to Differential Power Analysis (DPA. We then apply an equivalent level of protection to the above ciphers using 3-share threshold implementations (TI and verify the improved resistance to DPA. We find that SIMON has the highest absolute TP/A ratio of protected versions, as well as the lowest relative cost of protection in terms of TP/A ratio. Additionally, PRESENT uses the least energy per bit (E/bit of all protected implementations, while AES has the lowest relative cost of protection in terms of increased E/bit.

  12. Higher cost of implementing Xpert(®) MTB/RIF in Ugandan peripheral settings: implications for cost-effectiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiang, E; Little, K M; Haguma, P; Hanrahan, C F; Katamba, A; Cattamanchi, A; Davis, J L; Vassall, A; Dowdy, D

    2016-09-01

    Initial cost-effectiveness evaluations of Xpert(®) MTB/RIF for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis have not fully accounted for the realities of implementation in peripheral settings. To evaluate costs and diagnostic outcomes of Xpert testing implemented at various health care levels in Uganda. We collected empirical cost data from five health centers utilizing Xpert for TB diagnosis, using an ingredients approach. We reviewed laboratory and patient records to assess outcomes at these sites and10 sites without Xpert. We also estimated incremental cost-effectiveness of Xpert testing; our primary outcome was the incremental cost of Xpert testing per newly detected TB case. The mean unit cost of an Xpert test was US$21 based on a mean monthly volume of 54 tests per site, although unit cost varied widely (US$16-58) and was primarily determined by testing volume. Total diagnostic costs were 2.4-fold higher in Xpert clinics than in non-Xpert clinics; however, Xpert only increased diagnoses by 12%. The diagnostic costs of Xpert averaged US$119 per newly detected TB case, but were as high as US$885 at the center with the lowest volume of tests. Xpert testing can detect TB cases at reasonable cost, but may double diagnostic budgets for relatively small gains, with cost-effectiveness deteriorating with lower testing volumes.

  13. Cost-Effective Strategies for Rural Community Outreach, Hawaii, 2010–2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbato, Anna; Holuby, R. Scott; Ciarleglio, Anita E.; Taniguchi, Ronald

    2014-01-01

    Three strategies designed to maximize attendance at educational sessions on chronic disease medication safety in older adults in rural areas were implemented sequentially and compared for cost-effectiveness: 1) existing community groups and events, 2) formal advertisement, and 3) employer-based outreach. Cost-effectiveness was measured by comparing overall cost per attendee recruited and number of attendees per event. The overall cost per attendee was substantially higher for the formal advertising strategy, which produced the lowest number of attendees per event. Leveraging existing community events and employers in rural areas was more cost-effective than formal advertisement for recruiting rural community members. PMID:25496555

  14. Comparing costs of power and heat production by prospective and present sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novak, S.

    1979-01-01

    Capital and running costs are compared of power and heat production from different sources. The lowest capital costs were found for coal-fired power plants followed by light water reactor power plants. The capital costs of other types of power plants, such as wind, geothermal, solar, thermonuclear power plants are significantly higher. The estimated specific cost for electric power production in 1985 for a nuclear power plant is lower than for a fossil-fuel power plant. It is estimated that in 1985 coal will be the cheapest heat source. (Ha)

  15. Costs of health care across primary care models in Ontario.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laberge, Maude; Wodchis, Walter P; Barnsley, Jan; Laporte, Audrey

    2017-08-01

    The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between newly introduced primary care models in Ontario, Canada, and patients' primary care and total health care costs. A specific focus is on the payment mechanisms for primary care physicians, i.e. fee-for-service (FFS), enhanced-FFS, and blended capitation, and whether providers practiced as part of a multidisciplinary team. Utilization data for a one year period was measured using administrative databases for a 10% sample selected at random from the Ontario adult population. Primary care and total health care costs were calculated at the individual level and included costs from physician services, hospital visits and admissions, long term care, drugs, home care, lab tests, and visits to non-medical health care providers. Generalized linear model regressions were conducted to assess the differences in costs between primary care models. Patients not enrolled with a primary care physicians were younger, more likely to be males and of lower socio-economic status. Patients in blended capitation models were healthier and wealthier than FFS and enhanced-FFS patients. Primary care and total health care costs were significantly different across Ontario primary care models. Using the traditional FFS as the reference, we found that patients in the enhanced-FFS models had the lowest total health care costs, and also the lowest primary care costs. Patients in the blended capitation models had higher primary care costs but lower total health care costs. Patients that were in multidisciplinary teams (FHT), where physicians are also paid on a blended capitation basis, had higher total health care costs than non-FHT patients but still lower than the FFS reference group. Primary care and total health care costs increased with patients' age, morbidity, and lower income quintile across all primary care payment types. The new primary care models were associated with lower total health care costs for patients compared to the

  16. Revegetation of flue gas desulfurization sludge pond disposal sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Artiola, J.F.

    1994-12-01

    A comprehensive search of published literature was conducted to summarize research undertaken to date on revegetation of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) waste disposal ponds. A review of the physical and chemical properties of FGD sludges and wastes with similar characteristics is also included in order to determine the advantages and limitations of FGD sludge for plant growth. No specific guidelines have been developed for the revegetation of FGD sludge disposal sites. Survey studies showed that the wide-ranging composition of FGD wastes was determined primarily by the sulfur dioxide and other flue gas scrubbing processes used at powerplants. Sulfate rich (>90%CaSO 4 ) FGD sludges are physically and chemically more stable, and thus more amenable to revegetation. Because of lack of macronutrients and extremely limited microbial activity, FBD sludge ponds presented a poor plant growth environment without amendment. Studies showed the natural process of inoculation of the FGD sludge with soil microbes that promote plant growth be can after disposal but proceeded slowly. Revegetation studies reviewed showed that FGD sludges amended with soils supported a wider variety of plant species better and longer than abandoned FGD ponds. Two major types of plants have been successful in revegetation of FGD waste ponds and similar wastes: salt-tolerant plants and aquatic plants. A comprehensive list of plant species with potential for regetation of FGD sludge disposal pond sites is presented along with successful revegetation techniques

  17. Effect of Different Workscope Strategies on Wind Turbine Gearbox Life Cycle Repair Costs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Crowley

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The wind turbine industry is beginning to establish orthodoxies governing the repair of gearboxes, including policies governing the replacement of bearings during gearbox heavy maintenance events. Some maintainers recommend replacing all of the bearings, every time, regardless of condition or age. At the same time, others prefer to only replace the failed bearing. The former rationale achieves availability by spending more money than absolutely necessary; the latter sacrifices reliability in exchange for a lower shop visit cost. Even though neither approach results in the lowest Life Cycle Cost, no standard practice has yet been implemented to methodically determine what would be the best approach. Furthermore, as gearboxes approach the end of their planned service lives, a different strategy may be called-for. This paper presents an example of using a reliability-based statistical analysis to determine which strategy will yield the lowest Life Cycle Cost for wind turbine gearboxes.

  18. The true cost of electric power. Summary for policymakers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burtraw, Dallas; Knupnick, Alan [Resources for the Future, Washington, DC (United States). Center for Energy Economics and Policy

    2012-06-15

    This report examines the various methods that have been used to measure 'true' costs of electricity generation technologies and looks at how such estimates can be used in company decision-making and public policy to ensure that investments are directed at the electricity generation methods with the lowest true costs to investors and society. In some geographic areas, adequate data and methods exist to make a solid estimate of the total social costs of energy production. In those places where the data or methods (or both) are less robust, it is possible to use a benefits transfer approach that still gives stakeholders important guidance about the scale of the true costs of their investments and to get started in formulating policies to incorporate those costs into the market price.

  19. ABB wet flue gas desulfurization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Niijhawan, P.

    1994-12-31

    The wet limestone process for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) is outlined. The following topics are discussed: wet flue gas desulfurization, wet FGD characteristics, wet scrubbers, ABB wet FGD experience, wet FGD forced oxidation, advanced limestone FGD systems, key design elements, open spray tower design, spray tower vs. packed tower, important performance parameters, SO{sub 2} removal efficiency, influence by L/G, limestone utilization, wet FGD commercial database, particulate removal efficiencies, materials of construction, nozzle layout, spray nozzles, recycle pumps, mist elimination, horizontal flow demister, mist eliminator washing, reagent preparation system, spray tower FGDS power consumption, flue gas reheat options, byproduct conditioning system, and wet limestone system.

  20. Costs of rearing children in agricultural economies: an alternative estimation approach and findings from rural Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, M M; Magnani, R J; Mock, N B; Saadat, Y S

    1993-03-01

    There are changes in child costs during demographic transition. This study examines household time allocation from 66 agricultural households in 3 villages in Tangail District in rural north central Bangladesh in 1984-85 (371 days). Component and total child-rearing costs are estimated in alternative ways. Conventional "opportunity wage" measures are considered overestimated. The methodological shortcomings of direct cost accounting procedures and consumer demand methods in computing time cost and monetary cost of child rearing are pointed out. In this study's alternative computation, age standardized equivalent costs are generated. Child food consumption costs were generated from a large national survey conducted in 1983. Nonfood expenditures were estimated by food to nonfood expenditure ratios taken from the aforementioned survey. For estimating breast-feeding costs, an estimate was produced based on the assumption that costs for infant food consumption were a fixed proportion of food costs for older children. Land ownership groups were set up to reflect socioeconomic status: 1) landless households, 2) marginal farm households with 1 acre or .4 hectares of land, 3) middle income households with 1-2 acres of land, 4) upper middle income households with 2-4 acres of land, and 5) upper income or rich households with over 4 acres of land. The nonmarket wage rate for hired household help was used to determine the value of cooking, fetching water, and household cleaning and repairing. The results confirm the low costs of child rearing in high fertility societies. Productive nonmarket activities are effective in subsidizing the costs of children. The addition of a child into households already with children has a low impact on time costs of children; "this economies of scale effect is estimated ... at 20%." The highest relative costs were found in the lowest income households, and the lowest costs were in the highest income households. 5% of total household income is

  1. Concept for lowest emissions of a hydrogen internal combustion engine; Niedrigstemissionskonzept fuer einen wasserstoffbetriebenen Verbrennungsmotor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fouquet, Marcel Christian Thomas

    2012-03-15

    This paper describes a concept with lowest emissions for a hydrogen internal combustion engine for passenger cars. With optimisation of the combustion concept the level of nitrogen oxide is below 90%, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide below 99% of the SULEV target (CARB). This concept enables a potential in power density that is comparable to current supercharged combustion engines at lowest emission level without catalytic aftertreatment. Additionally with a catalytic aftertreatment system, the emission level of a current hydrogen combustion engine (mono-fuel) is lowered to a level, that this car can be labeled as air cleaning vehicle for hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.

  2. Therapies for treatment of osteoporosis in US women: cost-effectiveness and budget impact considerations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tosteson, Anna N A; Burge, Russel T; Marshall, Deborah A; Lindsay, Robert

    2008-09-01

    To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of osteoporosis treatments for women at high fracture risk and estimate the population-level impact of providing bisphosphonate therapy to all eligible high-risk US women. Fractures, healthcare costs, and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were estimated over 10 years using a Markov model. No therapy, risedronate, alendronate, ibandronate, and teriperatide (PTH) were compared among 4 risk groups. Sensitivity analyses examined the robustness of model results for 65-year-old women with low bone density and previous vertebral fracture. Women treated with a bisphosphonate experienced fewer fractures and more QALYs compared with no therapy or PTH. Total costs were lowest for the untreated cohort, followed by risedronate, alendronate, ibandronate, and PTH in all risk groups except women aged 75 years with previous fracture. The incremental cost-effectiveness of risedronate compared with no therapy ranged from cost saving for the base case to $66,722 per QALY for women aged 65 years with no previous fracture. Ibandronate and PTH were dominated in all risk groups. (A dominated treatment has a higher cost and poorer outcome.) Treating all eligible women with a bisphosphonate would cost an estimated additional $5563 million (21% total increase) and would result in 390,049 fewer fractures (35% decrease). In the highest risk group, the additional cost of therapy was offset by other healthcare cost savings. Osteoporosis treatment of high-risk women is cost-effective, with bisphosphonates providing the most benefit at lowest cost. For highest risk women, costs are offset by savings from fracture prevention.

  3. A comparison of hospital administrative costs in eight nations: US costs exceed all others by far.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Himmelstein, David U; Jun, Miraya; Busse, Reinhard; Chevreul, Karine; Geissler, Alexander; Jeurissen, Patrick; Thomson, Sarah; Vinet, Marie-Amelie; Woolhandler, Steffie

    2014-09-01

    A few studies have noted the outsize administrative costs of US hospitals, but no research has compared these costs across multiple nations with various types of health care systems. We assembled a team of international health policy experts to conduct just such a challenging analysis of hospital administrative costs across eight nations: Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. We found that administrative costs accounted for 25.3 percent of total US hospital expenditures--a percentage that is increasing. Next highest were the Netherlands (19.8 percent) and England (15.5 percent), both of which are transitioning to market-oriented payment systems. Scotland and Canada, whose single-payer systems pay hospitals global operating budgets, with separate grants for capital, had the lowest administrative costs. Costs were intermediate in France and Germany (which bill per patient but pay separately for capital projects) and in Wales. Reducing US per capita spending for hospital administration to Scottish or Canadian levels would have saved more than $150 billion in 2011. This study suggests that the reduction of US administrative costs would best be accomplished through the use of a simpler and less market-oriented payment scheme. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  4. Applying ACF to desulfurization process from flue gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Yi; Zhang Zhigang; Tang Qiang; Cao Zidong

    2004-01-01

    Inasmuch as the status of environmental pollution caused by SO 2 is more and more serious and the policy of environmental protection is executed more and more strictly, desulfurization from flue gas (FGD) is introduced to a wide-spread field of national economy. By a comparison with lime-limestone method, the application of adsorption method in FGD is more effective in desulfurization and more adapted to the situation of our country in respect of its more valuable byproduct. However, the technique of adsorption method is limited by the large amount of adsorbent used. In this paper, activated carbon fiber (ACF) is proposed as a new type of adsorbent to apply in FGD. A series of experiments have been made in order to compare the performances between ACF and granular activated carbon (GAC) which has been mostly used. Experiments show that under the same working conditions ACF's adsorption capacity is 16.6 times as high as that of GAC, mass loss rate is 1/12 of GAC's, desorption efficiency of ACF can reach 99.9%. The theory of micropore adsorption dynamics is adopted to analyze the characteristics of both adsorbents. It is indicated that adsorbability and perfectibility of desorption are tightly related to the distribution of pores and the surface micromechanism of adsorbent surface. The accessibility of pores for specified adsorptive and the effects of capillary condensation are crucial factors to influence the process of FGD. According to the research of different adsorbents, conclusion can be drawn that ACF is a kind of good material with a strong selectivity for SO 2 . Compared with the traditional methods of FGD, the use of ACF can greatly economize the consumption of adsorbent and obviously reduce the introduction of new adsorbent, and at the same time keep down the equipment investment and operating cost. (authors)

  5. Cost Analysis for Large Civil Transport Rotorcraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coy, John J.

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents cost analysis of purchase price and DOC+I (direct operating cost plus interest) that supports NASA s study of three advanced rotorcraft concepts that could enter commercial transport service within 10 to 15 years. The components of DOC+I are maintenance, flight crew, fuel, depreciation, insurance, and finance. The cost analysis aims at VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) and CTOL (conventional takeoff and landing) aircraft suitable for regional transport service. The resulting spreadsheet-implemented cost models are semi-empirical and based on Department of Transportation and Army data from actual operations of such aircraft. This paper describes a rationale for selecting cost tech factors without which VTOL is more costly than CTOL by a factor of 10 for maintenance cost and a factor of two for purchase price. The three VTOL designs selected for cost comparisons meet the mission requirement to fly 1,200 nautical miles at 350 knots and 30,000 ft carrying 120 passengers. The lowest cost VTOL design is a large civil tilt rotor (LCTR) aircraft. With cost tech factors applied, the LCTR is reasonably competitive with the Boeing 737-700 when operated in economy regional service following the business model of the selected baseline operation, that of Southwest Airlines.

  6. Lowest instrumented vertebra selection in Lenke 3C and 6C scoliosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Yu; Bünger, Cody; Zhang, Yanqun

    2012-01-01

    PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not post-op curve behaviour differs due to different choices of lowest instrumented vertebra (LIV) with reference to lumbar apical vertebra (LAV) in Lenke 3C and 6C scoliosis. METHODS: We reviewed all the AIS cases surgically treated...... it can yield similar correction while preserving more lumbar mobility and growth potential....

  7. People In Sub-Saharan Africa Rate Their Health And Health Care Among Lowest In World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deaton, Angus S.; Tortora, Robert

    2017-01-01

    The health of people in sub-Saharan Africa is a major global concern. However, data are weak, and little is known about how people in the region perceive their health or their health care. We used data from the Gallup World Poll in 2012 to document sub-Saharan Africans’ perceived health status, their satisfaction with health care, their contact with medical professionals, and the priority they attach to health care. In comparison to other regions of the world, sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest ratings for well-being and the lowest satisfaction with health care. It also has the second lowest perception of personal health, after only the former Soviet Union and its satellites. HIV prevalence is positively correlated with perceived improvements in health care in countries with high prevalence. This is consistent with an improvement in at least some health care services as a result of the largely aid-funded rollout of antiretroviral treatment. Even so, sub-Saharan Africans do not prioritize health care as a matter of policy, although donors are increasingly shifting their aid efforts in sub-Saharan Africa toward health. PMID:25715657

  8. Microinsurance: innovations in low-cost health insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dror, David M; Radermacher, Ralf; Khadilkar, Shrikant B; Schout, Petra; Hay, François-Xavier; Singh, Arbind; Koren, Ruth

    2009-01-01

    Microinsurance--low-cost health insurance based on a community, cooperative, or mutual and self-help arrangements-can provide financial protection for poor households and improve access to health care. However, low benefit caps and a low share of premiums paid as benefits--both designed to keep these arrangements in business--perversely limited these schemes' ability to extend coverage, offer financial protection, and retain members. We studied three schemes in India, two of which are member-operated and one a commercial scheme, using household surveys of insured and uninsured households and interviews with managers. All three enrolled poor households and raised their use of hospital services, as intended. Financial exposure was greatest, and protection was least, in the commercial scheme, which imposed the lowest caps on benefits and where income was the lowest.

  9. Staging Options for the Air Force’s Electronic Combat Test Capability: a Cost Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-09-01

    strategic in nature and completely different than daily operating decisions (20:6). Horngren , in his book Cost Accounting : A Managerial Emphasis...AFIT/GCA/LSY/90S-3 DTTC S E-191 J) C, STAGING OPTIONS FOR THE AIR FORCE’S ELECTRONIC COMBAT TEST CAPABILITY: A COST ANALYSIS THESIS Joseph J. Landino...Alternative Costs ......... 56 v AFIT/GCA/LSY/90S-3 Abstract This study’s purpose was to identify the lowest cost aircraft staging base( s ) for the Air

  10. Designing cost efficient buffer zone programs: An application of the FyrisSKZ tool in a Swedish catchment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collentine, Dennis; Johnsson, Holger; Larsson, Peter; Markensten, Hampus; Persson, Kristian

    2015-03-01

    Riparian buffer zones are the only measure which has been used extensively in Sweden to reduce phosphorus losses from agricultural land. This paper describes how the FyrisSKZ web tool can be used to evaluate allocation scenarios using data from the Svärta River, an agricultural catchment located in central Sweden. Three scenarios are evaluated: a baseline, a uniform 6-m-wide buffer zone in each sub-catchment, and an allocation of areas of buffer zones to sub-catchments based on the average cost of reduction. The total P reduction increases by 30 % in the second scenario compared to the baseline scenario, and the average reduction per hectare increases by 90 % while total costs of the program fall by 32 %. In the third scenario, the average cost per unit of reduction (163 kg P(-1)) is the lowest of the three scenarios (58 % lower than the baseline) and has the lowest total program costs.

  11. Paperless chart recording helps cut costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collier, K.; Sullivan, M.E.

    1997-01-01

    Turbine generator data acquisition systems using personal computers have been installed at the Limerick BWR power plant to replace paper-based chart recorders. This plant is already one of the lowest cost nuclear power plants in the US and this innovation will boost operating efficiency still further. The Limerick control room now has wall-mounted touch screen video displays which provide operators with real-time, electronically achieved information and improving information flow, with a consolidated, consistent user interface. (UK)

  12. Award of Construction Contracts: Public Institutions' Authority to Select the Lowest Responsible Bidder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Elsa Kircher; Goldblatt, Steven M.

    1989-01-01

    The article describes the responsibilities of public colleges and universities to award construction contracts to the lowest responsible bidder; discusses the purpose of bid statutes; and lists the factors institutions should consider in determining a bidder's responsibility. Also covered are the standard of review and due process rights of the…

  13. Event rates, hospital utilization, and costs associated with major complications of diabetes: a multicountry comparative analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philip M Clarke

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Diabetes imposes a substantial burden globally in terms of premature mortality, morbidity, and health care costs. Estimates of economic outcomes associated with diabetes are essential inputs to policy analyses aimed at prevention and treatment of diabetes. Our objective was to estimate and compare event rates, hospital utilization, and costs associated with major diabetes-related complications in high-, middle-, and low-income countries.Incidence and history of diabetes-related complications, hospital admissions, and length of stay were recorded in 11,140 patients with type 2 diabetes participating in the Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease (ADVANCE study (mean age at entry 66 y. The probability of hospital utilization and number of days in hospital for major events associated with coronary disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and nephropathy were estimated for three regions (Asia, Eastern Europe, and Established Market Economies using multiple regression analysis. The resulting estimates of days spent in hospital were multiplied by regional estimates of the costs per hospital bed-day from the World Health Organization to compute annual acute and long-term costs associated with the different types of complications. To assist, comparability, costs are reported in international dollars (Int$, which represent a hypothetical currency that allows for the same quantities of goods or services to be purchased regardless of country, standardized on purchasing power in the United States. A cost calculator accompanying this paper enables the estimation of costs for individual countries and translation of these costs into local currency units. The probability of attending a hospital following an event was highest for heart failure (93%-96% across regions and lowest for nephropathy (15%-26%. The average numbers of days in hospital given at least one admission were greatest for stroke (17-32 d across

  14. Cost of elective percutaneous coronary intervention in Malaysia: a multicentre cross-sectional costing study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kun Yun; Ong, Tiong Kiam; Low, Ee Vien; Liow, Siow Yen; Anchah, Lawrence; Hamzah, Syuhada; Liew, Houng Bang; Ali, Rosli Mohd; Ismail, Omar; Ahmad, Wan Azman Wan; Said, Mas Ayu; Dahlui, Maznah

    2017-05-28

    Limitations in the quality and access of cost data from low-income and middle-income countries constrain the implementation of economic evaluations. With the increasing prevalence of coronary artery disease in Malaysia, cost information is vital for cardiac service expansion. We aim to calculate the hospitalisation cost of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), using a data collection method customised to local setting of limited data availability. This is a cross-sectional costing study from the perspective of healthcare providers, using top-down approach, from January to June 2014. Cost items under each unit of analysis involved in the provision of PCI service were identified, valuated and calculated to produce unit cost estimates. Five public cardiac centres participated. All the centres provide full-fledged cardiology services. They are also the tertiary referral centres of their respective regions. The cost was calculated for elective PCI procedure in each centre. PCI conducted for urgent/emergent indication or for patients with shock and haemodynamic instability were excluded. The outcome measures of interest were the unit costs at the two units of analysis, namely cardiac ward admission and cardiac catheterisation utilisation, which made up the total hospitalisation cost. The average hospitalisation cost ranged between RM11 471 (US$3186) and RM14 465 (US$4018). PCI consumables were the dominant cost item at all centres. The centre with daycare establishment recorded the lowest admission cost and total hospitalisation cost. Comprehensive results from all centres enable comparison at the levels of cost items, unit of analysis and total costs. This generates important information on cost variations between centres, thus providing valuable guidance for service planning. Alternative procurement practices for PCI consumables may deliver cost reduction. For countries with limited data availability, costing method tailored based on country setting can be used for

  15. MESA - A new approach to low cost scientific spacecraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keyes, G. W.; Case, C. M.

    1982-09-01

    Today, the greatest obstacle to science and exploration in space is its cost. The present investigation is concerned with approaches for reducing this cost. Trends in the scientific spacecraft market are examined, and a description is presented for the MESA space platform concept. The cost drivers are considered, taking into account planning, technical aspects, and business factors. It is pointed out that the primary function of the MESA concept is to provide a satellite system at the lowest possible price. In order to reach this goal an attempt is made to benefit from all of the considered cost drivers. It is to be tried to work with the customer early in the mission analysis stage in order to assist in finding the right compromise between mission cost and return. A three phase contractual arrangement is recommended for MESA platforms. The phases are related to mission feasibility, specification definition, and design and development. Modular kit design promotes flexibility at low cost.

  16. Production costs of liquid fuels from biomass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bridgwater, A.V.; Double, J.M.

    1994-01-01

    This project was undertaken to provide a consistent and thorough review of the full range of processes for producing liquid fuels from biomass to compare both alternative technologies and processes within those technologies in order to identify the most promising opportunities that deserve closer attention. Thermochemical conversion includes both indirect liquefaction through gasification, and direct liquefaction through pyrolysis and liquefaction in pressurized solvents. Biochemical conversion is based on a different set of feedstocks. Both acid and enzyme hydrolysis are included followed by fermentation. The liquid products considered include gasoline and diesel hydrocarbons and conventional alcohol fuels of methanol and ethanol. Results are given both as absolute fuel costs and as a comparison of estimated cost to market price. In terms of absolute fuel costs, thermochemical conversion offers the lowest cost products, with the least complex processes generally having an advantage. Biochemical routes are the least attractive. The most attractive processes from comparing production costs to product values are generally the alcohol fuels which enjoy a higher market value. (author)

  17. Problems getting from the laboratory to the field: Reclamation of an AML site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dick, W.A.; Stehouwer, R.C.

    1994-01-01

    Acid and toxic abandoned mineland sites provide an opportunity whereby flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by-product can be beneficially used as a reclamation amendment material. Studies are needed to compare the effectiveness of FGD by-product, as compared with resoil, for reclamation purposes. Initial studies provided information about the chemical and physical properties of the FGD by-product and how to transport and blend the FGD by-product with yard waste compost. Greenhouse studies indicated that rates of 125 dry tons/acre of FGD and 50 dry tons/acre of yard waste compost would provide optimum results for reclamation of acid and toxic spoil contained at the Fleming abandoned mineland (AML) site. Their results showed that heavy metal loading rates were much lower using the FGD/compost mixture than using resoil material. Dioxin in the mixture was also less than the 5 ppt level considered as normal background. The technical problems of using FGD by-product for reclamation of an AML site were solved. However, considerable efforts to educate the public about the merits of reclaiming the Fleming AML site using this FGD/compost mixture were required before initiating field reclamation activities. Education efforts must continue if FGD by-products are to achieve general acceptance as a reclamation alternative to resoil in cases where resoil is of scarce supply

  18. Structure of the lowest excited 0/sup +/ rotational band of /sup 16/O

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikebata, Yasuhiko; Suekane, Shota

    1983-10-01

    The structure of the lowest excited 0/sup +/ rotational band is investigated by using the extended Nilsson model wave functions with angular momentum projection and the B1 interaction, two-body LS-force of the Skyrme type and the Coulomb interaction. The results obtained show good agreement with energy interval in this band.

  19. Assessment of eight HPV vaccination programs implemented in lowest income countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ladner Joël

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cervix cancer, preventable, continues to be the third most common cancer in women worldwide, especially in lowest income countries. Prophylactic HPV vaccination should help to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with cervical cancer. The purpose of the study was to describe the results of and key concerns in eight HPV vaccination programs conducted in seven lowest income countries through the Gardasil Access Program (GAP. Methods The GAP provides free HPV vaccine to organizations and institutions in lowest income countries. The HPV vaccination programs were entirely developed, implemented and managed by local institutions. Institutions submitted application forms with institution characteristics, target population, communication delivery strategies. After completion of the vaccination campaign (3 doses, institutions provided a final project report with data on doses administered and vaccination models. Two indicators were calculated, the program vaccination coverage and adherence. Qualitative data were also collected in the following areas: government and community involvement; communication, and sensitization; training and logistics resources, and challenges. Results A total of eight programs were implemented in seven countries. The eight programs initially targeted a total of 87,580 girls, of which 76,983 received the full 3-dose vaccine course, with mean program vaccination coverage of 87.8%; the mean adherence between the first and third doses of vaccine was 90.9%. Three programs used school-based delivery models, 2 used health facility-based models, and 3 used mixed models that included schools and health facilities. Models that included school-based vaccination were most effective at reaching girls aged 9-13 years. Mixed models comprising school and health facility-based vaccination had better overall performance compared with models using just one of the methods. Increased rates of program coverage and

  20. Assessment of eight HPV vaccination programs implemented in lowest income countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ladner, Joël; Besson, Marie-Hélène; Hampshire, Rachel; Tapert, Lisa; Chirenje, Mike; Saba, Joseph

    2012-05-23

    Cervix cancer, preventable, continues to be the third most common cancer in women worldwide, especially in lowest income countries. Prophylactic HPV vaccination should help to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with cervical cancer. The purpose of the study was to describe the results of and key concerns in eight HPV vaccination programs conducted in seven lowest income countries through the Gardasil Access Program (GAP). The GAP provides free HPV vaccine to organizations and institutions in lowest income countries. The HPV vaccination programs were entirely developed, implemented and managed by local institutions. Institutions submitted application forms with institution characteristics, target population, communication delivery strategies. After completion of the vaccination campaign (3 doses), institutions provided a final project report with data on doses administered and vaccination models. Two indicators were calculated, the program vaccination coverage and adherence. Qualitative data were also collected in the following areas: government and community involvement; communication, and sensitization; training and logistics resources, and challenges. A total of eight programs were implemented in seven countries. The eight programs initially targeted a total of 87,580 girls, of which 76,983 received the full 3-dose vaccine course, with mean program vaccination coverage of 87.8%; the mean adherence between the first and third doses of vaccine was 90.9%. Three programs used school-based delivery models, 2 used health facility-based models, and 3 used mixed models that included schools and health facilities. Models that included school-based vaccination were most effective at reaching girls aged 9-13 years. Mixed models comprising school and health facility-based vaccination had better overall performance compared with models using just one of the methods. Increased rates of program coverage and adherence were positively correlated with the number of

  1. Factors influencing cost over-run in Indian construction projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cindrela Devi A.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Construction cost is the most important criteria of project success and hence the construction project performance is generally expressed in terms of cost and its variance from the budget. In spite of having extant literature, cost estimation methods, cost indices etc., construction projects rarely meet the budgeted cost. This research study focuses on the construction cost overrun and to identify the various factors that affects the construction cost performance. Based on an extensive literature review and input from industry experts, sixty eight factors that causes cost overrun were identified for investigation. Further, a structured questionnaire survey was conducted among the industry experts and the collected data has been analysed statistically. It is concluded that the factors namely scope creep, construction delays, rework and practise of awarding the contract to the lowest bidder are most significant factors for construction cost overrun in non-infrastructural Indian projects. The relative importance of the listed factors used to guide the project team in addressing the cost related risks involved in the projects. The findings are expected to bridge the gap in the current construction cost management practices.

  2. Projection-operator calculations of the lowest e--He resonance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berk, A.; Bhatia, A.K.; Junker, B.R.; Temkin, A.

    1986-01-01

    Results for the lowest (Schulz) autodetaching state of He - [1s(2s) 2 ] are reported. The calculation utilizes the full projection-operator formalism as explicitly developed by Temkin and Bhatia [Phys. Rev. A 31, 1259 (1985)]. Eigenvalues, scrE = , are calculated using projection operators Q depending on increasingly elaborate target wave functions going up to a 10-term Hylleraas-form, and a configuration-interaction total wave function Phi of 40 configurations. Results are well converged, but our best value is --0.13 eV above the experimental position at 19.37 eV. We conclude that the shift (Δ) in the Feshbach formalism gives a large contribution (relative to the width) to the position E/sub r/ ( = scrE+Δ). An appendix is devoted to the evaluation of the most complicated type of three-center integral involved in the calculation

  3. Millimeter-wave and Submillimeter-wave Spectra of Aminoacetonitrile in the Three Lowest Vibrational Excited States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Esposti, Claudio Degli; Dore, Luca; Melosso, Mattia [Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, via Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna (Italy); Kobayashi, Kaori [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Toyama, 3190 Gofuku, Toyama 930-8555 (Japan); Fujita, Chiho; Ozeki, Hiroyuki, E-mail: ozeki@env.sci.toho-u.ac.jp [Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Toho University, 2-2-1 Miyama, Funabashi, 274-8510 (Japan)

    2017-06-01

    It is important to study possible precursors of amino acids such as glycine to enable future searches in interstellar space. Aminoacetonitrile (NH{sub 2}CH{sub 2}CN) is one of the most feasible molecules for this purpose. This molecule was already detected toward Sgr B2(N). Aminoacetonitrile has a few low-lying vibrational excited states, and transitions within these states may be found in space. In this study, the pure-rotational transitions in the three lowest vibrational states in the 80–450 GHz range have been assigned and analyzed. It was found to be very important to include Coriolis coupling between the two lowest vibrational fundamentals, while the third one was unperturbed. The partition function was evaluated considering these new results.

  4. Lowest-energy cage structures of medium-sized (ZnO){sub n} clusters with n = 15 − 24

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tang, Lingli; Sai, Linwei [School of Mathematical Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China and College of Advanced Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Zhao, Jijun, E-mail: zhaojj@dlut.edu.cn [College of Advanced Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China and Key Laboratory of Materials Modification by Laser, Ion and Electron Beams (Dalian University of Technology), Ministry of Education, Dalian 116024 (China); Qiu, Ruifeng [School of Mathematical Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China)

    2015-01-22

    Fullerene-like cage structures of medium-sized (ZnO){sub n} clusters with n = 15 − 24 were generated by spiral algorithm and optimized using density functional theory calculations. Most of these lowest-energy cage structures contain only four-membered and six-membered rings, whereas eight-membered rings were found in the lowest-energy cages of (ZnO){sub n} (n = 19, 20, 23, 24). Our best cage configurations either reproduce or prevail the previously reported ones. The size-dependent electronic properties were also discussed.

  5. Cost and greenhouse gas emission tradeoffs of alternative uses of lignin for second generation ethanol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pourhashem, Ghasideh; Adler, Paul R.; McAloon, Andrew J.; Spatari, Sabrina

    2013-06-01

    Second generation ethanol bioconversion technologies are under demonstration-scale development for the production of lignocellulosic fuels to meet the US federal Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS2). Bioconversion technology utilizes the fermentable sugars generated from the cellulosic fraction of the feedstock, and most commonly assumes that the lignin fraction may be used as a source of thermal and electrical energy. We examine the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and techno-economic cost tradeoffs for alternative uses of the lignin fraction of agricultural residues (corn stover, and wheat and barley straw) produced within a 2000 dry metric ton per day ethanol biorefinery in three locations in the United States. We compare three scenarios in which the lignin is (1) used as a land amendment to replace soil organic carbon (SOC); (2) separated, dried and sold as a coal substitute to produce electricity; and (3) used to produce electricity onsite at the biorefinery. Results from this analysis indicate that for life cycle GHG intensity, amending the lignin to land is lowest among the three ethanol production options (-25 to -2 g CO2e MJ-1), substituting coal with lignin is second lowest (4-32 g CO2e MJ-1), and onsite power generation is highest (36-41 g CO2e MJ-1). Moreover, the onsite power generation case may not meet RFS2 cellulosic fuel requirements given the uncertainty in electricity substitution. Options that use lignin for energy do so at the expense of SOC loss. The lignin-land amendment option has the lowest capital cost among the three options due to lower equipment costs for the biorefinery’s thermal energy needs and use of biogas generated onsite. The need to purchase electricity and uncertain market value of the lignin-land amendment could raise its cost compared to onsite power generation and electricity co-production. However, assuming a market value (50-100/dry Mg) for nutrient and soil carbon replacement in agricultural soils, and potentially

  6. Dry flue gas desulfurization byproducts as amendments for reclamation of acid mine spoil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dick, W.A.; Stehouwer, R.C.; Beeghly, J.H.; Bigham, J.M.; Lal, R.

    1994-01-01

    Development of beneficial reuses of highly alkaline, dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) byproducts can impact the economics of adopting these FGD technologies for retrofit on existing powerplants. Greenhouse studies were conducted to evaluate the use of two dry FGD byproducts for reclamation of acid mine spoil (pH, 3.1 to 5.8). Treatment rates of FGD ranges from 0% to 32% by dry weight and most treatments also included 6% by dry weight of sewage sludge. Fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) was harvested monthly for a total of six harvests. Plant tissue composition and root growth were determined after the sixth harvest. Leachate analyses and pH determination of mixes were done at the beginning and end of the experiments. Both FGD byproducts were effective in raising the spoil pH and in improving fescue growth. At the highest FGD application rate, fescue growth decreased from the optimum due to high pH and reduced rooting volume caused by cementation reactions between the FGD and spoil. Trace elements, with the exception of B, were decreased in the fescue tissue when FGD was applied. Leachate pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved organic carbon, Ca, Mg, and S tended to increase with increased FGD application rate; Al, Fe, Mn, and Zn decreased. pH was the most important variable controlling the concentrations of these elements in the leachate. Concentrations of elements of environmental concern were near or below drinking water standard levels. These results indicate that FGD applied at rates equivalent to spoil neutralization needs can aid in the revegetation of acid spoil revegetation with little potential for introduction of toxic elements into the leachate water or into the food chain

  7. Permeable treatment wall design and cost analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manz, C.; Quinn, K.

    1997-01-01

    A permeable treatment wall utilizing the funnel and gate technology has been chosen as the final remedial solution for one industrial site, and is being considered at other contaminated sites, such as a closed municipal landfill. Reactive iron gates will be utilized for treatment of chlorinated VOCs identified in the groundwater. Alternatives for the final remedial solution at each site were evaluated to achieve site closure in the most cost effective manner. This paper presents the remedial alternatives and cost analyses for each site. Several options are available at most sites for the design of a permeable treatment wall. Our analysis demonstrates that the major cost factor's for this technology are the design concept, length, thickness, location and construction methods for the reactive wall. Minimizing the amount of iron by placement in the most effective area and construction by the lowest cost method is critical to achieving a low cost alternative. These costs dictate the design of a permeable treatment wall, including selection of a variety of alternatives (e.g., a continuous wall versus a funnel and gate system, fully penetrating gates versus partially penetrating gates, etc.). Selection of the appropriate construction methods and materials for the site can reduce the overall cost of the wall

  8. Optimization of temperature differences in a utilizer in relation to the lowest sum of capital and operating cost

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kustrin, I.; Tuma, M.

    1992-01-01

    Our environment and nature are currently overburdened with the emission of noxious substances. Steam boilers fired with coal are therefore not very popular. Wherever possible, they are being replaced by devices which are less harmful for the environment because they use different fuel. This paper discusses replacing a steam boiler with a gas turbine and an utilizer. A mathematical model for performing the optimization of capital and operating costs is presented. The model optimizes the degree of preheating of the flue gases i.e. the temperature of the entering flue gases. The smallest temperature difference (pinch point) was not estimated by the pinch technology because the presented example is relatively simple and the pinch point temperature difference was chosen according to the values reported in various literature sources. The optimization is supplemented with an analysis of the thermal and exergetical efficiencies of the utilizer under different conditions (average temperature difference between the hot gases and water or steam, exit temperature of the hot gases), which condition the choice of the type of utilizer

  9. No Cost – Low Cost Compressed Air System Optimization in Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dharma, A.; Budiarsa, N.; Watiniasih, N.; Antara, N. G.

    2018-04-01

    Energy conservation is a systematic, integrated of effort, in order to preserve energy sources and improve energy utilization efficiency. Utilization of energy in efficient manner without reducing the energy usage it must. Energy conservation efforts are applied at all stages of utilization, from utilization of energy resources to final, using efficient technology, and cultivating an energy-efficient lifestyle. The most common way is to promote energy efficiency in the industry on end use and overcome barriers to achieve such efficiency by using system energy optimization programs. The facts show that energy saving efforts in the process usually only focus on replacing tools and not an overall system improvement effort. In this research, a framework of sustainable energy reduction work in companies that have or have not implemented energy management system (EnMS) will be conducted a systematic technical approach in evaluating accurately a compressed-air system and potential optimization through observation, measurement and verification environmental conditions and processes, then processing the physical quantities of systems such as air flow, pressure and electrical power energy at any given time measured using comparative analysis methods in this industry, to provide the potential savings of energy saving is greater than the component approach, with no cost to the lowest cost (no cost - low cost). The process of evaluating energy utilization and energy saving opportunities will provide recommendations for increasing efficiency in the industry and reducing CO2 emissions and improving environmental quality.

  10. Search for the lowest irradiation dose from literatures on radiation-induced cancer in uterus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshizawa, Yasuo; Kusama, Tomoko

    1975-01-01

    A survey of past case reports on radiation-induced cancer of the uterus was carried out with the main object of finding the lowest irradiation dose. Search of literature published since 1912 revealed 548 cases of radiation-induced cancer of the uterus. All of these cases of radiation-induced cancer had received radiation for the treatment of non-malignant disease. The primary gynecological conditions which were the object of radiation therapy were functional bleeding, endometrial hyperplasia, myoma, endometritis, and polyps. The lowest irradiation dose was estimated at 1000-1450 rad in the case of external X-ray irradiation, and 100 mg.hr for intrauterine radium therapy, which corresponds to 100-1000 rad. It was noted that were more cases of corpus cancer than cervical cancer. Histopathological findings of radiation-induced uterine cancer were carcinoma, sarcoma, and mixed mesodermal tumors. The latent period was distributed in the range of 1 to 40 years, with the average of 10.1 years. (auth.)

  11. LCX: Proposal for a low-cost commercial transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartman, Troy; Hayatdavoudi, Maziar; Hettinga, Joel; Hooper, Matt; Nguyen, Phong

    1994-01-01

    The LCX has been developed in response to a request for proposal for an aircraft with 153 passenger capacity and a range of 3000 nautical miles. The goals of the LCX are to provide an aircraft which will achieve the stated mission requirements at the lowest cost possible, both for the manufacturer and the operator. Low cost in this request is defined as short and long term profitability. To achieve this objective, modern technologies attributing to low-cost operation without greatly increasing the cost of manufacturing were employed. These technologies include hybrid laminar flow control and the use of developing new manufacturing processes and philosophies. The LCX will provide a competitive alternative to the use of the Airbus A319/320/321 and the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. The LCX has a maximum weight of 150,000 lb. carried by a wing of 1140 ft(exp 2) and an aspect ratio of 10. The selling price of the LCX is 31 million in 1994 US dollars.

  12. Re-Use of Clean Coal Technology By-Products in the Construction of Low Permeability Liners. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wolfe, William E. [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Butalia, Tarunjit S. [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Walker, Harold [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States); Mitsch, William [The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)

    2005-07-15

    This final project report presents the results of a research program conducted at The Ohio State University from January 3, 2000 to June 30, 2005 to investigate the long-term use of stabilized flue gas desulfurization (FGD) materials in the construction of low permeability liners for ponds and wetlands. The objective of the research program was to establish long-term field-verified time-dependent relationships for the performance of liners constructed from stabilized FGD byproducts generated in Ohio. The project objective was accomplished with a coordinated program of testing and analyzing small-scale laboratory specimens under controlled conditions, mediumscale wetland experiments, and monitoring of a full-scale FGD-lined pond facility. Although the specific uses directly addressed by this report include liners for surface impoundments, the results presented in this study are also useful in other applications especially in the design of daily covers and liners for landfills, seepage cutoff walls and trenches, and for nutrient retention and pollution mitigation wetlands. The small-scale laboratory tests and monitoring of the full-scale FGD lined facility (capacity of one million gallons) shows that stabilized FGD materials can be used as low permeability liners in the construction of water and manure holding ponds. Actual long-term permeability coefficients in the range of 10-7 cm/sec (3 x 10-9 ft/sec) can be obtained in the field by compacting lime and fly ash enriched stabilized FGD materials. Leachate from the FGD material meets Ohio’s non-toxic criteria for coal combustion by-products, and for most potential contaminants the national primary and secondary drinking water standards are also met. The low permeability non-toxic FGD material investigated in this study poses very minimal risks, if any, for groundwater contamination. The FGD wetland experiments indicated no significant differences in phosphorus retention between the clay and FGD

  13. The cost of multiple sclerosis in Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svendsen, B; Myhr, K-M; Nyland, H; Aarseth, J H

    2012-02-01

    Health economic aspects have been increasingly important during introduction of new treatments for multiple sclerosis. As a partial response for Norway, a cost-of-illness study was carried out to estimate the yearly cost of the illness to society and relate costs and patients' quality of life to illness severity. Estimated cost to society was Euro 439 million in 2002 exclusive of the cost of reduced quality of life. The cost per patient was close to Euro 65,000. Account taken of methodological differences, the results compare to results for Sweden, Norway's closest neighboring country. The illness reduced patients' quality of life with 0.26. More patients were early retired because of their MS in Norway than in any of nine other European countries comprised by a recent European study, illustrating a liberal practice in Norway. The Norwegian cost of unpaid assistance was almost identical to the Swedish cost that was the lowest found across the countries in the European study. When related to illness severity, the cost per patient increased, and the patients' experienced quality of life decreased with increasing EDSS levels in line with what has been found for other countries. Cost-of-MS studies have been carried out for a number of countries. Together they contribute to our understanding of the economic consequences of multiple sclerosis and, if their results are related to illness severity, also provide valuable information for further economic analyses of treatment and medication. Our study adds to this.

  14. Prospective Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heeter, Jenny S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mai, Trieu T [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bird, Lori A [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Keyser, David J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Krishnan, Venkat K [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Macknick, Jordan E [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wiser, Ryan [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Barbose, Galen [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Millstein, Dev [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

    2018-04-06

    These slides were presented at a webinar on January 9, 2017. The slides overview a report that evaluates the future costs, benefits, and other impacts of renewable energy used to meet current state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs). It also examines a future scenario where RPSs are expanded. The analysis examines changes in electric system costs and retail electricity prices, which include all fixed and operating costs, including capital costs for all renewable, non-renewable, and supporting (e.g., transmission and storage) electric sector infrastructure; fossil fuel, uranium, and biomass fuel costs; and plant operations and maintenance expenditures. The analysis evaluates three specific benefits: air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. It also analyzes two other impacts, renewable energy workforce and economic development, and natural gas price suppression. The analysis finds that the benefits or renewable energy used to meet RPS polices exceed the costs, even when considering the highest cost and lowest benefit outcomes.

  15. Three-point Green's function of massless QED in position space to lowest order

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitra, Indrajit

    2009-01-01

    The transverse part of the three-point Green's function of massless QED is determined to the lowest order in position space. Taken together with the evaluation of the longitudinal part in Mitra (2008) (J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 41 315401), this gives a relation for QED which is analogous to the star-triangle relation. We relate our result to conformal-invariant three-point functions

  16. Acid rain compliance: Options, facts, and findings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knutson, K.S.; Metzroth, L.F.; Radjef-Jenatton, M.

    1991-01-01

    On January 1, 1995, those utilities affected during the Phase 1 implementation of the amended Clean Air Act will be required to comply with new clean air standards. During the next three years leading up to that date, in order to achieve compliance, those companies need to not only decide on a strategy but also implement a plan. To date very few clear-cut compliance decisions have been made. The reasons for the uncertainty center on future fuel prices and the prospects for more efficient and lower cost FGD systems. Many utility planners look at today's coal market and find it hard to believe that prices for some specialty coals, particularly ultra-low sulfur coals, will be higher than the tremendous costs associated with the development of an FGD system. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that coal switching has been regarded as the least cost choice among even the largest sulfur emitting companies in the country. However, if companies continue to make least cost decisions based on today's coal market, the US coal and utility industries could be in for some disruptive times ahead. While no paper can completely address the enormous complexity surrounding acid rain compliance, this paper addresses some of the broad issues which result from compliance activity and summarizes the findings outlined in RDI's four volume report, the Acid Rain Handbook

  17. Influence of Flue Gas Desulfurization Gypsum Amendments on Heavy Metal Distribution in Reclaimed Sodic Soils

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Qun; Wang, Shujuan; Li, Yan; Zhang, Ning; Zhao, Bo; Zhuo, Yuqun; Chen, Changhe

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Although flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum has become an effective soil amendment for sodic soil reclamation, it carries extra heavy metal contamination into the soil environment. The fate of heavy metals introduced by FGD gypsum in sodic or saline–alkali soils is still unclear. This work aims to investigate the effects of FGD gypsum addition on the heavy metal distributions in a sodic soil. Original soil samples were collected from typical sodic land in north China. Soil column leaching tests were conducted to investigate the influence of FGD gypsum addition on the soil properties, especially on distribution profiles of the heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, As, and Hg) in the soil layers. Results showed that pH, electrical conductivity, and exchangeable sodium percentage in amended soils were significantly reduced from 10.2 to 8.46, 1.8 to 0.2 dS/m, and 18.14% to 1.28%, respectively. As and Hg concentrations in the soils were found to be positively correlated with FGD gypsum added. The amount of Hg in the leachate was positively correlated with FGD gypsum application ratio, whereas a negative correlation was observed between the Pb concentration in the leachate and the FGD gypsum ratio. Results revealed that heavy metal concentrations in soils complied well with Environmental Quality Standard for Soils in China (GB15618-1995). This work helps to understand the fate of FGD gypsum-introduced heavy metals in sodic soils and provides a baseline for further environmental risk assessment associated with applying FGD gypsum for sodic soil remediation. PMID:26064038

  18. Abdominal pain-predominant functional gastrointestinal diseases in children and adolescents: prevalence, symptomatology, and association with emotional stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devanarayana, Niranga Manjuri; Mettananda, Sachith; Liyanarachchi, Chathurangi; Nanayakkara, Navoda; Mendis, Niranjala; Perera, Nimnadi; Rajindrajith, Shaman

    2011-12-01

    Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGD) are common among children, but little is known regarding their prevalence in developing countries. We assessed the prevalence of abdominal pain-predominant FGD, in addition to the predisposing factors and symptomatology, in Sri Lankan children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a randomly selected group of 10- to 16-year-olds in 8 randomly selected schools in 4 provinces in Sri Lanka. A validated, self-administered questionnaire was completed by children independently in an examination setting. FGD were diagnosed using Rome III criteria. A total of 2180 questionnaires were distributed and 2163 (99.2%) were included in the analysis (1189 [55%] boys, mean age 13.4 years, standard deviation 1.8 years). Of them, 270 (12.5%) had at least 1 abdominal pain-predominant FGD. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was seen in 107 (4.9%), functional dyspepsia in 54 (2.5%), functional abdominal pain in 96 (4.4%), and abdominal migraine (AM) in 21 (1.0%) (2 had AM and functional dyspepsia, 6 had AM and IBS). Extraintestinal symptoms were more common among affected children (P Abdominal pain-predominant FGD were higher in girls and those exposed to stressful events (P Abdominal pain-predominant FGD affects 12.5% of children ages 10 to 16 years and constitutes a significant health problem in Sri Lanka. IBS is the most common FGD subtype present. Abdominal pain-predominant FGD are higher in girls and those exposed to emotional stress. Prevalence of FGD decreased with age. Extraintestinal symptoms are more frequent in affected children.

  19. Influence of Flue Gas Desulfurization Gypsum Amendments on Heavy Metal Distribution in Reclaimed Sodic Soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Qun; Wang, Shujuan; Li, Yan; Zhang, Ning; Zhao, Bo; Zhuo, Yuqun; Chen, Changhe

    2015-06-01

    Although flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum has become an effective soil amendment for sodic soil reclamation, it carries extra heavy metal contamination into the soil environment. The fate of heavy metals introduced by FGD gypsum in sodic or saline-alkali soils is still unclear. This work aims to investigate the effects of FGD gypsum addition on the heavy metal distributions in a sodic soil. Original soil samples were collected from typical sodic land in north China. Soil column leaching tests were conducted to investigate the influence of FGD gypsum addition on the soil properties, especially on distribution profiles of the heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, As, and Hg) in the soil layers. Results showed that pH, electrical conductivity, and exchangeable sodium percentage in amended soils were significantly reduced from 10.2 to 8.46, 1.8 to 0.2 dS/m, and 18.14% to 1.28%, respectively. As and Hg concentrations in the soils were found to be positively correlated with FGD gypsum added. The amount of Hg in the leachate was positively correlated with FGD gypsum application ratio, whereas a negative correlation was observed between the Pb concentration in the leachate and the FGD gypsum ratio. Results revealed that heavy metal concentrations in soils complied well with Environmental Quality Standard for Soils in China (GB15618-1995). This work helps to understand the fate of FGD gypsum-introduced heavy metals in sodic soils and provides a baseline for further environmental risk assessment associated with applying FGD gypsum for sodic soil remediation.

  20. What linear programming contributes: world food programme experience with the "cost of the diet" tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frega, Romeo; Lanfranco, Jose Guerra; De Greve, Sam; Bernardini, Sara; Geniez, Perrine; Grede, Nils; Bloem, Martin; de Pee, Saskia

    2012-09-01

    Linear programming has been used for analyzing children's complementary feeding diets, for optimizing nutrient adequacy of dietary recommendations for a population, and for estimating the economic value of fortified foods. To describe and apply a linear programming tool ("Cost of the Diet") with data from Mozambique to determine what could be cost-effective fortification strategies. Based on locally assessed average household dietary needs, seasonal market prices of available food products, and food composition data, the tool estimates the lowest-cost diet that meets almost all nutrient needs. The results were compared with expenditure data from Mozambique to establish the affordability of this diet by quintiles of the population. Three different applications were illustrated: identifying likely "limiting nutrients," comparing cost effectiveness of different fortification interventions at the household level, and assessing economic access to nutritious foods. The analysis identified iron, vitamin B2, and pantothenic acid as "limiting nutrients." Under the Mozambique conditions, vegetable oil was estimated as a more cost-efficient vehicle for vitamin A fortification than sugar; maize flour may also be an effective vehicle to provide other constraining micronutrients. Multiple micronutrient fortification of maize flour could reduce the cost of the "lowest-cost nutritious diet" by 18%, but even this diet can be afforded by only 20% of the Mozambican population. Within the context of fortification, linear programming can be a useful tool for identifying likely nutrient inadequacies, for comparing fortification options in terms of cost effectiveness, and for illustrating the potential benefit of fortification for improving household access to a nutritious diet.

  1. Change in Body Mass Index Associated With Lowest Mortality in Denmark, 1976-2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afzal, Shoaib; Tybjærg-Hansen, Anne; Jensen, Gorm B; Nordestgaard, Børge G

    2016-05-10

    Research has shown a U-shaped pattern in the association of body mass index (BMI) with mortality. Although average BMI has increased over time in most countries, the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors may also be decreasing among obese individuals over time. Thus, the BMI associated with lowest all-cause mortality may have changed. To determine whether the BMI value that is associated with the lowest all-cause mortality has increased in the general population over a period of 3 decades. Three cohorts from the same general population enrolled at different times: the Copenhagen City Heart Study in 1976-1978 (n = 13,704) and 1991-1994 (n = 9482) and the Copenhagen General Population Study in 2003-2013 (n = 97,362). All participants were followed up from inclusion in the studies to November 2014, emigration, or death, whichever came first. For observational studies, BMI was modeled using splines and in categories defined by the World Health Organization. Body mass index was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Main outcome was all-cause mortality and secondary outcomes were cause-specific mortality. The number of deaths during follow-up was 10,624 in the 1976-1978 cohort (78% cumulative mortality; mortality rate [MR], 30/1000 person-years [95%CI, 20-46]), 5025 in the 1991-1994 cohort (53%; MR, 16/1000 person-years [95%CI, 9-30]), and 5580 in the 2003-2013 cohort (6%;MR, 4/1000 person-years [95%CI, 1-10]). Except for cancer mortality, the association of BMI with all-cause, cardiovascular, and other mortality was curvilinear (U-shaped). The BMI associated with the lowest all-cause mortality increased by 3.3 from the 1976-1978 cohort compared with the 2003-2013 cohort. [table: see text] The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality for BMI of 30 or more vs BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 were 1.31 (95%CI, 1.23-1.39;MR, 46/1000 person-years [95%CI, 32-66] vs 28/1000 person-years [95%CI, 18-45]) in the 1976

  2. Final radioactive waste disposal: A European comparison of organization and costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Drasdo, P.

    2000-01-01

    The investigation is aimed to the comparison of organization structures of operators (plants) and governmental institutions concerned with the final disposal of radioactive waste. The study is covering Germany, France, United Kingdom and Sweden. The capital amount of total final disposal costs are the highest in Germany, the lowest in Sweden. This is also true for the final disposal costs that have to be financed by electricity production from nuclear power plants. The reasons for the differences with respect to economic efficiencies, political decisions and technical concepts are discussed

  3. The Lowest Spin and Parity Levels on Two Particle System for Odd-oddNuclei 60Co and 46K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wardhani, VIS; Siagian, Toga

    2000-01-01

    For obtaining the lowest spin and parity levels of odd-odd nuclei, theanalyzing of the nuclei 60 Co and 46 K has been done using delta forcemodel. The calculation is done by theoretically and compared with experiment.To get a result optimally, the data analyzed using least square method. It isshown that the lowest spin and parity level from calculation result and theexperiment result are similar. (author)

  4. Potential of remote multiplexing systems in reducing cabling cost and complexity in nuclear power stations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stirling, A.J.; L'Archeveque, J.V.R.

    1977-03-01

    Control and instrumentation cabling accounts for nearly 1% of the capital cost of a CANDU generating station. This study of cabling requirements, methods and costs for nuclear reactors, shows that efficient design and scale economies make CANDU wiring costs (per field point) among the lowest for comparable applications. Although attractive in other reactors, commercially available remote multiplexing systems are not, as yet, cost effective for general use in CANDU stations. The report, with its comprehensive tabulation of remote multiplexing equipment, and analysis of cabling procedures describes an approach for re-evaluating the tradeoff between remote multiplexing and conventional wiring as conditions change. (author)

  5. Cost and risk tradeoff for routing nuclear spent fuel movements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chin, S.M.

    1988-01-01

    In the transportation industry, much effort has been devoted to finding the least cost routes for shipping goods from their production sites to the market areas. In addition to cost, the decision maker must take the risk of an incident into consideration for transportation routing involving hazardous materials. The transportation of spent nuclear fuel from reactor sites to repositories is an example. Given suitable network information, existing routing methods can readily determine least cost or least risk routes for any shipment. These two solutions, however, represent the extremes of a large number of alternatives with different combinations of risk and cost. In the selection of routes and also in the evaluation of alternative storage sites it is not enough to know which is the lease cost or lowest risk. Intelligent decision-marking requires knowledge of how much it will cost to lower risk by a certain amount. The objective of this study is to develop an automated system to evaluate the tradeoff between transportation cost and potential population at risk under different nuclear spent fuel transportation strategies

  6. Low-cost modular array-field designs for flat-panel and concentrator photovoltaic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Post, H. N.; Carmichael, D. C.; Alexander, G.; Castle, J. A.

    1982-09-01

    Described are the design and development of low-cost, modular array fields for flat-panel and concentrator photovoltaic (PV) systems. The objective of the work was to reduce substantially the cost of the array-field Balance-of-System (BOS) subsystems and site-specific design costs as compared to previous PV installations. These subsystems include site preparation, foundations, support structures, electrical writing, grounding, lightning protection, electromagnetic interference considerations, and controls. To reduce these BOS and design costs, standardized modular (building-block) designs for flat-panel and concentrator array fields have been developed that are fully integrated and optimized for lowest life-cycle costs. Using drawings and specifications now available, these building-block designs can be used in multiples to install various size array fields. The developed designs are immediately applicable (1982) and reduce the array-field BOS costs to a fraction of previous costs.

  7. Clear Liquor Scrubbing with Anhydrite Production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hargrove, O. W.; Carey, T. R.; Lowell, P. S.; Meserole, F. B.; Rhudy, R. G.; Feeley, Thomas J.

    1997-01-01

    The objective of this project to develop an advanced flue gas desulfurization (FGD) process that has decreased capital and operating costs, higher SO 2 removal efficiency, and better by-product solids quality than existing, commercially available technology. A clear liquor process (which uses a scrubbing liquid with no solids) will be used to accomplish this objective rather than a slurry liquor process (which contains solids). This clear liquor scrubbing (CLS) project is focused on three research areas: (1) Development of a clear liquor scrubbing process that uses a clear solution to remove SO 2 from flue gas and can be operated under inhibited-oxidation conditions; (2) Development of an anhydrite process that converts precipitated calcium sulfite to anhydrous calcium sulfate (anhydrite); and (3) Development of an alkali/humidification process to remove HCl from flue gas upstream of the FGD system. The anhydrite process also can be retrofit into existing FGD systems to produce a valuable by-product as an alternative to gypsum. This fits well into another of FETC's PRDA objectives of developing an advanced byproduct recovery subsystem capable of transforming SO 2 into a useable byproduct or high-volume valuable commodities of interest. This paper describes the proposed processes, outlines the test approach, and preliminary Phase I test results

  8. N-representability of the Jastrow wave function pair density of the lowest-order.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higuchi, Katsuhiko; Higuchi, Masahiko

    2017-08-08

    Conditions for the N-representability of the pair density (PD) are needed for the development of the PD functional theory. We derive sufficient conditions for the N-representability of the PD that is calculated from the Jastrow wave function within the lowest order. These conditions are used as the constraints on the correlation function of the Jastrow wave function. A concrete procedure to search the suitable correlation function is also presented.

  9. A New Family of Low-Complexity STBCs for Four Transmit Antennas

    KAUST Repository

    Ismail, Amr

    2012-12-29

    Space-Time Block Codes (STBCs) suffer from a prohibitively high decoding complexity unless the low-complexity decodability property is taken into consideration in the STBC design. For this purpose, several families of STBCs that involve a reduced decoding complexity have been proposed, notably the multi-group decodable and the fast decodable (FD) codes. Recently, a new family of codes that combines both of these families namely the fast group decodable (FGD) codes was proposed. In this paper, we propose a new construction scheme for rate-1 FGD codes for 2^a transmit antennas. The proposed scheme is then applied to the case of four transmit antennas and we show that the new rate-1 FGD code has the lowest worst-case decoding complexity among existing comparable STBCs. The coding gain of the new rate-1 code is optimized through constellation stretching and proved to be constant irrespective of the underlying QAM constellation prior to normalization. Next, we propose a new rate-2 FD STBC by multiplexing two of our rate-1 codes by the means of a unitary matrix. Also a compromise between rate and complexity is obtained through puncturing our rate-2 FD code giving rise to a new rate-3/2 FD code. The proposed codes are compared to existing codes in the literature and simulation results show that our rate-3/2 code has a lower average decoding complexity while our rate-2 code maintains its lower average decoding complexity in the low SNR region. If a time-out sphere decoder is employed, our proposed codes outperform existing codes at high SNR region thanks to their lower worst-case decoding complexity.

  10. Search for the lowest irradiation dose from literatures on radiation-induced bone tumor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshizawa, Y; Kusama, T; Morimoto, K [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Medicine

    1977-04-01

    A survey of past case reports of bone tumor induced by external radiation was carried out with the main object of finding the lowest irradiation dose. Search of the literature published since 1922 revealed 262 cases of radiation-induced bone tumor. These patients, except a patient with occupational exposure, had received radiation for treatment. The primary conditions as object of radiation therapy were nonmalignan bone diseases such as tuberclosis, giant cell tumor, fibrous dysplasia and bone cyst, and extra-skeletal diseases such as retinoblastoma, breast cancer and uterus cancer. The ratio of male to female patients with radiation-induced bone tumor was 1:1.3. The age of the patient ranged between 5 and 98 years, with an average of 37.6 years. Skeletal distribution of radiation-induced bone tumor was as follows: 20% the frontal and face bones, 17% the femur, 10% the humerus, 9% the vertebral column, and 44% other. The lowest absorbed dose reported was 800 rads in patients irradiated for the treatment of bone disease, but 1800 rads in patients with extra-skeletal disease. The latent period ranged between 2 and 42 years, with an average of 11.7 years. The histopathological findings were as follows: 60% osteosarcoma, 25% fibrosarcoma, 7% chondrosarcoma, and 8% other.

  11. Impact of Capital and Current Costs Changes of the Incineration Process of the Medical Waste on System Management Cost

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jolanta Walery, Maria

    2017-12-01

    The article describes optimization studies aimed at analysing the impact of capital and current costs changes of medical waste incineration on the cost of the system management and its structure. The study was conducted on the example of an analysis of the system of medical waste management in the Podlaskie Province, in north-eastern Poland. The scope of operational research carried out under the optimization study was divided into two stages of optimization calculations with assumed technical and economic parameters of the system. In the first stage, the lowest cost of functioning of the analysed system was generated, whereas in the second one the influence of the input parameter of the system, i.e. capital and current costs of medical waste incineration on economic efficiency index (E) and the spatial structure of the system was determined. Optimization studies were conducted for the following cases: with a 25% increase in capital and current costs of incineration process, followed by 50%, 75% and 100% increase. As a result of the calculations, the highest cost of system operation was achieved at the level of 3143.70 PLN/t with the assumption of 100% increase in capital and current costs of incineration process. There was an increase in the economic efficiency index (E) by about 97% in relation to run 1.

  12. People in sub-Saharan Africa rate their health and health care among the lowest in the world.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deaton, Angus S; Tortora, Robert

    2015-03-01

    The health of people in sub-Saharan Africa is a major global concern. However, data are weak, and little is known about how people in the region perceive their health or their health care. We used data from the Gallup World Poll in 2012 to document sub-Saharan Africans' perceived health status, their satisfaction with health care, their contact with medical professionals, and the priority they attach to health care. In comparison to other regions of the world, sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest ratings for well-being and the lowest satisfaction with health care. It also has the second-lowest perception of personal health, after only the former Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites. HIV prevalence is positively correlated with perceived improvements in health care in countries with high prevalence. This is consistent with an improvement in at least some health care services as a result of the largely aid-funded rollout of antiretroviral treatment. Even so, sub-Saharan Africans do not prioritize health care as a matter of policy, although donors are increasingly shifting their aid efforts in the region toward health. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  13. Lowest vibrational states of 4He3He+: Non-Born-Oppenheimer calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanke, Monika; Bubin, Sergiy; Kedziera, Dariusz; Molski, Marcin; Adamowicz, Ludwik

    2007-01-01

    Very accurate quantum mechanical calculations of the first five vibrational states of the 4 He 3 He + molecular ion are reported. The calculations have been performed explicitly including the coupling of the electronic and nuclear motions [i.e., without assuming the Born-Oppenheimer (BO) approximation]. The nonrelativistic non-BO wave functions were used to calculate the α 2 relativistic mass velocity, Darwin, and spin-spin interaction corrections. For the lowest vibrational transition, whose experimental energy is established with high precision, the calculated and the experimental results differ by only 0.16 cm -1

  14. KAJIAN PERENCANAAN PEMBENTUKAN TPA REGIONAL Rencana Daerah Layanan Kota Banjarbaru, Banjarmasin Dan Martapura

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rizki Puteri Mahyudin

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This research is intended to investigate (a the garbage growth projection, (b the condition of Final Garbage Destination (FGD for Banjarbaru, Banjarmasin and Martapura, (c the planning concept on regional FGD, (d the landfill model, planning component and technique component priorities on regional FGD for Banjarbaru, Banjarmasin and Martapura. The used method is survey namely deep interview using questionnaire to 14 people that involved in FGD management; and observation. The data analysis covers geometric method, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP, Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat (SWOT and descriptive analysis. The population growth in Banjarbaru (2,4% is higher than Banjarmasin (1,8% and Martapura (1,7%. From projection of population growth, the projection of garbage growth can be calculated. Up to 2033, projection of total garbage growth for those cities will be obtained 3.339.762.228 kg that needs about 38,92 ha for FGD land based on the assumption that the project is started from 2014. The Regulation Number 18 Year 2008 about garbage management states that the open dumping is forbidden. Until now, the FGD in those cities still use open dumping because of limited finance, equipment and facilities. Because of the increasing of garbage, it needs a well planned FGD management that is not polluting environment through regional cooperation FGD. SWOT analysis result shows that finance and human resouce quality is the most important thing that should be considered for government in making decision. The result of Analytical Hierarchy Process shows that the selected model landfill is sanitary landfill. The first priority for planning component of FGD is government regulation (decision, and the first priority for technique component is recycling and loading garbage.

  15. Bidding cost evaluation with fuzzy methods on building project in Jakarta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Susetyo, Budi; Utami, Tin Budi

    2017-11-01

    National construction companies today demanded to become more competitive to face increasingly competition. Every construction company especially the contractor must work better than ever. Ability to prepare cost of the work that represents the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of the work necessary to produce cost - competitive. The project is considered successful if the target meets the quality, cost and time. From the aspect of cost, the project has been designed in accordance with certain technical criteria to be taken into account based on standard costs. To ensure the cost efficiency of the bidding process carried out meet the rules of a fairly and competitive. The research objective is to formulate the proper way to compare several deals with the standard cost of the work. The fuzzy technique is used as a evaluation methods to decision making. The evaluation not merely based on the lowest prices. The methods is looking for the most valuable and reasonable prices. The comparison is conducted to determine the most cost-competitive and reasonable as the winner of the bidding.

  16. Cost and greenhouse gas emission tradeoffs of alternative uses of lignin for second generation ethanol

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pourhashem, Ghasideh; Spatari, Sabrina; Adler, Paul R; McAloon, Andrew J

    2013-01-01

    Second generation ethanol bioconversion technologies are under demonstration-scale development for the production of lignocellulosic fuels to meet the US federal Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS2). Bioconversion technology utilizes the fermentable sugars generated from the cellulosic fraction of the feedstock, and most commonly assumes that the lignin fraction may be used as a source of thermal and electrical energy. We examine the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and techno-economic cost tradeoffs for alternative uses of the lignin fraction of agricultural residues (corn stover, and wheat and barley straw) produced within a 2000 dry metric ton per day ethanol biorefinery in three locations in the United States. We compare three scenarios in which the lignin is (1) used as a land amendment to replace soil organic carbon (SOC); (2) separated, dried and sold as a coal substitute to produce electricity; and (3) used to produce electricity onsite at the biorefinery. Results from this analysis indicate that for life cycle GHG intensity, amending the lignin to land is lowest among the three ethanol production options (−25 to −2 g CO 2 e MJ −1 ), substituting coal with lignin is second lowest (4–32 g CO 2 e MJ −1 ), and onsite power generation is highest (36–41 g CO 2 e MJ −1 ). Moreover, the onsite power generation case may not meet RFS2 cellulosic fuel requirements given the uncertainty in electricity substitution. Options that use lignin for energy do so at the expense of SOC loss. The lignin–land amendment option has the lowest capital cost among the three options due to lower equipment costs for the biorefinery’s thermal energy needs and use of biogas generated onsite. The need to purchase electricity and uncertain market value of the lignin–land amendment could raise its cost compared to onsite power generation and electricity co-production. However, assuming a market value ($50–$100/dry Mg) for nutrient and soil carbon replacement in

  17. Repository emplacement costs for Al-clad high enriched uranium spent fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonell, W.R.; Parks, P.B.

    1994-01-01

    A range of strategies for treatment and packaging of Al-clad high-enriched uranium (HEU) spent fuels to prevent or delay the onset of criticality in a geologic repository was evaluated in terms of the number of canisters produced and associated repository costs incurred. The results indicated that strategies in which neutron poisons were added to consolidated forms of the U-Al alloy fuel generally produced the lowest number of canisters and associated repository costs. Chemical processing whereby the HEU was removed from the waste form was also a low cost option. The repository costs generally increased for isotopic dilution strategies, because of the substantial depleted uranium added. Chemical dissolution strategies without HEU removal were also penalized because of the inert constituents in the final waste glass form. Avoiding repository criticality by limiting the fissile mass content of each canister incurred the highest repository costs

  18. Assessing health benefits of controlling air pollution from power generation: the case of a lignite-fired power plant in Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thanh, B D; Lefevre, T

    2001-02-01

    The impact pathway approach (IPA) is used to estimate quantitatively the level of health effects caused by particulate matter (PM10) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission from a lignite-fired power plant located in the Mae Moh area in northern region of Thailand. Health benefits are then assessed by comparing the levels of estimated health impacts without and with the installation of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) equipment. The US EPA industrial source complex model is used to model air pollution dispersion at the local scale, and the sector average limited mixing meso-scale model is used to model air pollution transport at the regional scale. The quantification of the health end points in physical terms is carried out using the dose-response functions established recently for the population in Bangkok, Thailand. Monetarization of these effects is based on the benefit transfer method with appropriate adjustment. Finally, it has been found that the installation of the FGD to control SO2 emission at Mae Moh significantly reduces adverse health effects not only on the population living near the power plant but also all over the country. A FGD unit installed at the 300-MW power unit can result, on average, in 16 fewer cases of acute mortality, 12 fewer cases of respiratory and cardiac hospital admissions, and almost 354,000 fewer days with acute respiratory symptoms annually. In monetary terms this benefit is equivalent to US $18.2 million (1995 prices) per annum. This benefit is much higher than the annualized investment and operation costs of FGD (US $7.4 million/yr). Copyright 2001 Springer-Verlag

  19. The costs of hepatitis A infections in South Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyohyun Kim

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: The incidence of hepatitis A infections among young adults has recently increased in South Korea. Although universal vaccination has often been suggested to mitigate the problem, its rationale has not been well-understood. Estimating the societal costs of hepatitis A infections might support the development of intervention strategies. METHODS: We classified hepatitis A infections into eight clinical pathways and estimated the number of occurrences and cost per case for each clinical pathway using claim data from National Health Insurance and several national surveys as well as assumptions based on previous studies. To determine the total costs of a hepatitis A infection, both direct and indirect costs were estimated. Indirect costs were estimated using the human-capital approach. All costs are adjusted to the year 2008. RESULTS: There were 30,240 identified cases of hepatitis A infections in 2008 for a total cost of 80,873 million won (2.7 million won per case. Direct and indirect costs constituted 56.2% and 43.8% of the total costs, respectively. People aged 20-39 accounted for 71.3% of total cases and 74.6% of total costs. Medical costs per capita were the lowest in the 0-4 age group and highest in the 20-29 age group. CONCLUSIONS: This study could provide evidence for development of cost-effective interventions to control hepatitis A infections. But the true costs including uncaptured and intangible costs of hepatitis A infections might be higher than our results indicate.

  20. Liberalised electricity markets, new bioenergy technologies, and GHG emission reductions: interactions and CO2 mitigation costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gustavsson, L.; Madlener, R.

    1999-01-01

    We contrast recent developments in power and heat production with bioenergy, and natural-gas-fired condensing plants with and without decarbonisation, in the light of electricity market liberalisation. Our main focus is on CO 2 mitigation costs and carbon tax sensitivity of production costs. We find that CO 2 mitigation costs are lower for biomass systems using IGCC technology than for natural gas system using decarbonisation. However, based on current fuel prices natural-gas fired co-generation plants have the lowest production costs. Hence energy policy measures will be needed to promote biomass technologies and decarbonisation options on a liberalised market. (author)

  1. Lowest-order corrections to the RPA polarizability and GW self-energy of a semiconducting wire

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groot, de H.J.; Ummels, R.T.M.; Bobbert, P.A.; van Haeringen, W.

    1996-01-01

    We present the results of the addition of lowest-order vertex and self-consistency corrections to the RPA polarizability and the GW self-energy for a semiconducting wire. It is found that, when starting from a local density approximation zeroth-order Green function and systematically including these

  2. Degeneracy of the lowest Landau level and suq(2) on the Poincare half plane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jellal, A.

    2000-01-01

    It is shown that the presence of the quantum group symmetry su q (2) in the quantum Hall effect on the Poincare upper half plane the degeneracy of the lowest Landau level. It is also shown that the relation between the degeneracy and the cyclic representation of su q (2) appears in accordance with q being a kth root of unity. (Authors)

  3. Adoption of SO2 emission control technologies - An application of survival analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Streeter, Jialu Liu

    2016-01-01

    Using data on coal-fired electric power plants, this article investigates the contributing factors affecting the investment decisions on flue-gas desulfurization (FGD), a capital-intensive emission control technology. The paper makes two contributions to the literature. First, the public regulatory status of electric power plants is found to have a strong influence on whether FGD investment is made. Compared to deregulated power plants, those that are still under rate-of-return regulations by Public Utility Commissions are more likely to install FGD. Second, a higher rate of inspections of polluting facilities (not just electric utility power plants) in a state in the previous year is associated with a higher probability of power plants adopting FGD this year. In addition, sulfur content of coal and plant size are both positively associated with the likelihood of FGD installation. The service length of boilers is negatively associated with the likelihood. - Highlights: • Contributing factors affecting investment decisions on emission control devices. • A survival analysis framework is applied in estimation. • Data cover over 300 coal-fired electric utility power plants, 2002–2012. • Still-regulated power plants are more likely to install FGD than deregulated ones. • State-level inspection frequency leads to more FGD installation.

  4. New benchmarks for costs and cost-efficiency of school-based feeding programs in food-insecure areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelli, Aulo; Cavallero, Andrea; Minervini, Licia; Mirabile, Mariana; Molinas, Luca; de la Mothe, Marc Regnault

    2011-12-01

    School feeding is a popular intervention that has been used to support the education, health and nutrition of school children. Although the benefits of school feeding are well documented, the evidence on the costs of such programs is remarkably thin. Address the need for systematic estimates of the cost of different school feeding modalities, and of the determinants of the considerable cost variation among countries. WFP project data, including expenditures and number of schoolchildren covered, were collected for 78 projects in 62 countries through project reports and validated through WFP Country Office records. Yearly project costs per schoolchild were standardized over a set number of feeding days and the amount of energy provided by the average ration. Output metrics, such as tonnage, calories, and micronutrient content, were used to assess the cost-efficiency of the different delivery mechanisms. The standardized yearly average school feeding cost per child, not including school-level costs, was US$48. The yearly costs per child were lowest at US$23 for biscuit programs reaching school-going children and highest at US$75 for take-home rations programs reaching families of schoolgoing children. The average cost of programs combining on-site meals with extra take-home rations for children from vulnerable households was US$61. Commodity costs were on average 58% of total costs and were highest for biscuit and take-home rations programs (71% and 68%, respectively). Fortified biscuits provided the most cost-efficient option in terms of micronutrient delivery, whereas take-home rations were more cost-efficient in terms of food quantities delivered. Both costs and effects should be considered carefully when designing school feeding interventions. The average costs of school feeding estimated here are higher than those found in earlier studies but fall within the range of costs previously reported. Because this analysis does not include school-level costs, these

  5. Injury rate and socioeconomic costs resulting from sports injuries in Flanders: data derived from sports insurance statistics 2003.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cumps, E; Verhagen, E; Annemans, L; Meeusen, R

    2008-09-01

    This study determines the injury rate (%) and the associated direct medical and indirect costs of sports injuries in Flanders. Epidemiological cohort designs and a human capital method were set up to measure respectively the medical direct and indirect cost of sports injuries. 72 out of 82 Flemish sports federations participated. Insurance statistics from 2003 were used to determine the overall rate of injury and injury localisations. Using these data, the medical direct cost and the impact sports injuries have on indirect costs were estimated. The indirect costs were determined by multiplying the days of absence from work with the daily cost resulting from a loss of production, being 200 euros. The total direct medical cost extrapolated for the Flemish sports participants was 15,027,423 euros, which amounted to 0.07% to 0.08% of the total budget spent on healthcare. The indirect cost extrapolated for the Flemish sports participants was 111,420,813 euros, which is about 3.4% of the costs arising from absenteeism from work. Of the 14 in-depth analysed sports, the rate of injury was highest in European team handball (8.96%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.95-8.96) and lowest in swimming (0.62%; 95% CI 0.62-0.62). The highest direct medical cost was found for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries (1358 euros per injury) and the lowest for foot injuries (52 euros per injury). The costs calculated in this study could become critical statistics in medical care debates. Data obtained here will enable a cost-benefit analysis of the impact of preventive measures to be made.

  6. Estimating average inpatient and outpatient costs and childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea treatment costs in an urban health centre in Zambia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chola Lumbwe

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Millions of children die every year in developing countries, from preventable diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, owing to low levels of investment in child health. Investment efforts are hampered by a general lack of adequate information that is necessary for priority setting in this sector. This paper measures the health system costs of providing inpatient and outpatient services, and also the costs associated with treating pneumonia and diarrhoea in under-five children at a health centre in Zambia. Methods Annual economic and financial cost data were collected in 2005-2006. Data were summarized in a Microsoft excel spreadsheet to obtain total department costs and average disease treatment costs. Results The total annual cost of operating the health centre was US$1,731,661 of which US$1 284 306 and US$447,355 were patient care and overhead departments costs, respectively. The average cost of providing out-patient services was US$3 per visit, while the cost of in-patient treatment was US$18 per bed day. The cost of providing dental services was highest at US$20 per visit, and the cost of VCT services was lowest, with US$1 per visit. The cost per out-patient visit for under-five pneumonia was US$48, while the cost per bed day was US$215. The cost per outpatient visit attributed to under-five diarrhoea was US$26, and the cost per bed day was US$78. Conclusion In the face of insufficient data, a cost analysis exercise is a difficult but feasible undertaking. The study findings are useful and applicable in similar settings, and can be used in cost effectiveness analyses of health interventions.

  7. Modeling the Downstream Processing of Monoclonal Antibodies Reveals Cost Advantages for Continuous Methods for a Broad Range of Manufacturing Scales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hummel, Jonathan; Pagkaliwangan, Mark; Gjoka, Xhorxhi; Davidovits, Terence; Stock, Rick; Ransohoff, Thomas; Gantier, Rene; Schofield, Mark

    2018-01-17

    The biopharmaceutical industry is evolving in response to changing market conditions, including increasing competition and growing pressures to reduce costs. Single-use (SU) technologies and continuous bioprocessing have attracted attention as potential facilitators of cost-optimized manufacturing for monoclonal antibodies. While disposable bioprocessing has been adopted at many scales of manufacturing, continuous bioprocessing has yet to reach the same level of implementation. In this study, the cost of goods of Pall Life Science's integrated, continuous bioprocessing (ICB) platform is modeled, along with that of purification processes in stainless-steel and SU batch formats. All three models include costs associated with downstream processing only. Evaluation of the models across a broad range of clinical and commercial scenarios reveal that the cost savings gained by switching from stainless-steel to SU batch processing are often amplified by continuous operation. The continuous platform exhibits the lowest cost of goods across 78% of all scenarios modeled here, with the SU batch process having the lowest costs in the rest of the cases. The relative savings demonstrated by the continuous process are greatest at the highest feed titers and volumes. These findings indicate that existing and imminent continuous technologies and equipment can become key enablers for more cost effective manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. A novel phase-change cement composite for thermal energy storage: Fabrication, thermal and mechanical properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, He; Xing, Feng; Cui, Hong-Zhi; Chen, Da-Zhu; Ouyang, Xing; Xu, Su-Zhen; Wang, Jia-Xin; Huang, Yi-Tian; Zuo, Jian-Dong; Tang, Jiao-Ning

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A novel flaky graphite-doped phase-change microcapsule (FGD-MPCM) was prepared. • FGD-MPCM has substantial latent heat storage capacity (135.8 J/g). • FGD-MPCMs/cement composite is capable of reducing indoor temperature fluctuation. • Compressive strength of cement composite with 30% FGD-MPCMs can reach to 14.2 MPa. - Abstract: Facing upon the increasingly severe energy crisis, one of the key issues for reducing the building energy consumption is to pursue high-performance thermal energy storage technologies based on phase-change materials. In this study, a novel cement composite incorporated with flaky graphite-doped microencapsulated phase-change materials (FGD-MPCMs) was developed. Various techniques, such as field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to analyse the composite structure and thermal performances. The results indicate that the spherical microcapsules are well dispersed in the cement matrix. When combined within the cement, the thermal stability of the microcapsules was highly improved, and the inclusion of greater amounts of FGD-MPCMs further increased the latent heat of the composite. The mechanical properties of the cement composites were affected with the increase of FGD-MPCMs dosage and the porosity of the composites. In spite of this, the compressive strength and flexural strength of the cement composite with 30% FGD-MPCM could still reach to as high as 14.2 MPa and 4.1 MPa, respectively. Results from the infrared thermography and the model room test suggested that the composite filled with FGD-MPCMs is capable of reducing indoor temperature fluctuation and exhibits good potential for application in buildings to enhance energy savings and thermal comfort.

  9. Use of clean coal technology by-products as agricultural liming techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stehouwer, R.C.; Sutton, P.; Dick, W.A. [Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, OH (United States). Dept. of Agronomy

    1995-03-01

    Dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by-products are mixtures of coal fly-ash, anhydrite (CaCO{sub 4}), and unspent lime- or limestone-based sorbent. Dry FGD by-products frequently have neutralizing values greater than 50% CaCO{sub 3} equivalency and thus have potential for neutralizing acidic soils. Owing to the presence of soluble salts and various trace elements, however, soil application of dry FGD by-products may have adverse effects on plant growth and soil quality. The use of a dry FGD by-product as a limestone substitute was investigated in a field study on three acidic agricultural soils (pH 4.6, 4.8, and 5.8) in eastern Ohio. The by-product (60% CaCO{sub 3} equivalency) was applied in September, 1992, at rates of 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 times the lime requirement of the soils, and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and corn (Zea mays L.) were planted. Soils were sampled immediately after FGD application and three more times every six months thereafter. Samples were analyzed for pH and water soluble concentrations of 28 elements. Soil pH was increased by all FGD rates in the zone of incorporation (0--10 cm), with the highest rates giving a pH slightly above 7. Within one year pH increases could be detected at depths up to 30 cm. Calcium, Mg, and S increased, and Al, Mn, and Fe decreased with increasing dry FGD application rates. No trace element concentrations were changed by dry FGD application except B which was increased in the zone of incorporation. Dry FGD increased alfalfa yield on all three soils, and had no effect on corn yield. No detrimental effects on soil quality were observed.

  10. Charge-Transfer Dynamics in the Lowest Excited State of a Pentacene–Fullerene Complex: Implications for Organic Solar Cells

    KAUST Repository

    Joseph, Saju

    2017-10-02

    We characterize the dynamic nature of the lowest excited state in a pentacene/C60 complex on the femtosecond time scale, via a combination of ab initio molecular dynamics and time-dependent density functional theory. We analyze the correlations between the molecular vibrations of the complex and the oscillations in the electron-transfer character of its lowest excited state, which point to vibration-induced coherences between the (pentacene-based) local-excitation (LE) state and the complex charge-transfer (CT) state. We discuss the implications of our results on this model system for the exciton-dissociation process in organic solar cells.

  11. Cost, affordability and cost-effectiveness of strategies to control tuberculosis in countries with high HIV prevalence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Williams Brian G

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The HIV epidemic has caused a dramatic increase in tuberculosis (TB in East and southern Africa. Several strategies have the potential to reduce the burden of TB in high HIV prevalence settings, and cost and cost-effectiveness analyses can help to prioritize them when budget constraints exist. However, published cost and cost-effectiveness studies are limited. Methods Our objective was to compare the cost, affordability and cost-effectiveness of seven strategies for reducing the burden of TB in countries with high HIV prevalence. A compartmental difference equation model of TB and HIV and recent cost data were used to assess the costs (year 2003 US$ prices and effects (TB cases averted, deaths averted, DALYs gained of these strategies in Kenya during the period 2004–2023. Results The three lowest cost and most cost-effective strategies were improving TB cure rates, improving TB case detection rates, and improving both together. The incremental cost of combined improvements to case detection and cure was below US$15 million per year (7.5% of year 2000 government health expenditure; the mean cost per DALY gained of these three strategies ranged from US$18 to US$34. Antiretroviral therapy (ART had the highest incremental costs, which by 2007 could be as large as total government health expenditures in year 2000. ART could also gain more DALYs than the other strategies, at a cost per DALY gained of around US$260 to US$530. Both the costs and effects of treatment for latent tuberculosis infection (TLTI for HIV+ individuals were low; the cost per DALY gained ranged from about US$85 to US$370. Averting one HIV infection for less than US$250 would be as cost-effective as improving TB case detection and cure rates to WHO target levels. Conclusion To reduce the burden of TB in high HIV prevalence settings, the immediate goal should be to increase TB case detection rates and, to the extent possible, improve TB cure rates, preferably

  12. Monoclonal antibodies from rats immunized with fragment D of human fibrinogen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennel, S.J.; Chen, J.P.; Lankford, P.K.; Foote, L.J.

    1981-01-01

    Fischer rats were immunized with fragment D (Fg-D) of human fibrinogen (Fg) to obtain antibody specific for neoantigens unique to this molecule. Absorption of serum with whole Fg indicated that some of the antibody produced reacted preferentially with Fg-D. Hybridoma cultures were prepared by fusion of immune rat spleen cells with mouse myeloma P3-X63-Ag8. Monoclonal antibodies obtained from these cultures fell into two classes: (a) Those reacting equally well with Fg and Fg-D. (b) Those reacting preferentially but not absolutely wth Fg-D. Antibody from hybridoma 104-14, a member of the first group had an affinity for Fg-D of 1.5 x 10 9 M -1 while antibodies from 106-59 and 106-71 (group 2) demonstrated much lower affinities of 1.0 x 10 7 and 4.7 x 10 6 M -1 , respectively. The cross reactivity of antibodies in the second group indicated that they react with protein conformations that are altered during production of Fg-D from Fg

  13. The Cost of Penicillin Allergy Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumenthal, Kimberly G; Li, Yu; Banerji, Aleena; Yun, Brian J; Long, Aidan A; Walensky, Rochelle P

    2017-09-22

    Unverified penicillin allergy leads to adverse downstream clinical and economic sequelae. Penicillin allergy evaluation can be used to identify true, IgE-mediated allergy. To estimate the cost of penicillin allergy evaluation using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). We implemented TDABC throughout the care pathway for 30 outpatients presenting for penicillin allergy evaluation. The base-case evaluation included penicillin skin testing and a 1-step amoxicillin drug challenge, performed by an allergist. We varied assumptions about the provider type, clinical setting, procedure type, and personnel timing. The base-case penicillin allergy evaluation costs $220 in 2016 US dollars: $98 for personnel, $119 for consumables, and $3 for space. In sensitivity analyses, lower cost estimates were achieved when only a drug challenge was performed (ie, no skin test, $84) and a nurse practitioner provider was used ($170). Adjusting for the probability of anaphylaxis did not result in a changed estimate ($220); although other analyses led to modest changes in the TDABC estimate ($214-$246), higher estimates were identified with changing to a low-demand practice setting ($268), a 50% increase in personnel times ($269), and including clinician documentation time ($288). In a least/most costly scenario analyses, the lowest TDABC estimate was $40 and the highest was $537. Using TDABC, penicillin allergy evaluation costs $220; even with varied assumptions adjusting for operational challenges, clinical setting, and expanded testing, penicillin allergy evaluation still costs only about $540. This modest investment may be offset for patients treated with costly alternative antibiotics that also may result in adverse consequences. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Consumer Airfare Report: Table 5 - Detailed Fare Information For Highest and Lowest Fare Markets Under 750 Miles

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Transportation — Provides detailed fare information for highest and lowest fare markets under 750 miles. For a more complete explanation, please read the introductory information at...

  15. Excitation energy of the lowest 2+ and 3- levels in 32Mg and 146Gd

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barranco, M.; Lombard, R.J.

    1978-06-01

    The excitation energy of the lowest 2 + and 3 - levels are calculated for neutron rich Mg-isotopes as well as for N=82 isotones. The calculations are made by assuming quadrupole-quadrupole and octupole-octupole forces. The quasi-particles energies and occupation numbers are taken from the energy density method

  16. How Effective Are Community College Remedial Math Courses for Students with the Lowest Math Skills?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Di; Dadgar, Mina

    2018-01-01

    Objective: This article examines the effectiveness of remediation for community college students who are identified as having the lowest skills in math. Method: We use transcript data from a state community college system and take advantage of a regression discontinuity design that compares statistically identical students who are assigned to the…

  17. Cost-effectiveness analysis of antithyroid drug therapy, 131I therapy and subtotal thyroidectomy for Graves' disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yano, Fuzuki; Watanabe, Sadahiro; Hayashi, Katsumi; Kita, Tamotsu; Yamamoto, Masayoshi; Kosuda, Shigeru; Tanaka, Yuji

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of antithyroid drug (ATD) therapy vs. radioiodine therapy (RIT) vs. subtotal thyroidectomy (STT) by calculating expected lifelong cost and utility based on Graves' disease patients' responses to questionnaires using a decision-tree sensitivity analysis and relevant variables. The decision-tree sensitivity analysis to determine expected lifelong cost and utility in Graves' disease patients was designed on the basis of the 4 competing strategies consisting of: (1) ATD therapy plus RIT strategy, (2) ATD therapy plus STT strategy, (3) low-fixed-dose (185 MBq) RIT alone strategy, and (4) high-fixed-dose (370 MBq) RIT alone strategy. One-way sensitivity analysis was designed in the ATD therapy plus RIT strategy, for replacement with RIT in place of ATD, ranging from a 1% incidence of ATD side effects to 30%. The low-fixed-dose RIT alone strategy was least costly, and the high-fixed-dose RIT alone strategy most costly. The lifelong utility of high-fixed-dose RIT alone strategy with a 5% rate of discounting was highest (lifelong utility for 30 years: 15.2/patient), and the utility of the ATD plus RIT strategy with 1% side effects of the ATD was lowest (14.1/patient). The cost-effectiveness ratio was lowest (yen 5 008/utility) in a low-fixed-dose RIT alone strategy. In conclusion, a low-fixed-dose RIT alone strategy is preferred treatments in view of cost-effectiveness ratio, and RIT should be used more widely in Japan. (author)

  18. Performance and cost assessment of solar driven humidification dehumidification desalination system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zubair, M. Ifras; Al-Sulaiman, Fahad A.; Antar, M.A.; Al-Dini, Salem A.; Ibrahim, Nasiru I.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Optimization of a new HDH system integrated solar evacuated tubes collectors was conducted. • The mathematical models developed for the collector and the HDH system were validated. • A multi-location analysis was then performed for six locations in Saudi Arabia. • Sharurah was found to have the highest annual output and Dhahran the lowest at 19,445 and 16,430 L. • The cost per liter of water produced varies from $0.032 to $0.038, depends on the location. - Abstract: A humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination system integrated with solar evacuated tubes was optimized. Then, the optimized system was assessed for the operation in different geographical locations, and the rate of freshwater production and cost per liter were determined in each location. The system design proposed in this paper uses a heat pipe design evacuated tube collector, which performs significantly better based on cost. An HDH desalination system with a closed-air/open-water loop, connected to the collector, was evaluated to determine the optimum operating parameters and the system performance during daytime (from 8 am to 3 pm), as well as the average day of each month for an entire year. The impact of the effectiveness of the humidifier and the dehumidifier, as well as, the number of collectors, were also studied. The analyses were performed for Dhahran, Jeddah, Riyadh, Sharurah, Qassim, and Tabuk to determine the effects of varying the geographical location. Sharurah has the highest calculated productivity of freshwater and Dhahran has the lowest at 19,445 and 16,430 L, respectively. To have a comprehensive study of the system proposed, a cost analysis was also performed to determine the feasibility of the system and the cost of water production. Results show that the price varied from $0.032 to $0.038 per liter for the locations evaluated.

  19. Improving building performance using smart building concept: Benefit cost ratio comparison

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berawi, Mohammed Ali; Miraj, Perdana; Sayuti, Mustika Sari; Berawi, Abdur Rohim Boy

    2017-11-01

    Smart building concept is an implementation of technology developed in the construction industry throughout the world. However, the implementation of this concept is still below expectations due to various obstacles such as higher initial cost than a conventional concept and existing regulation siding with the lowest cost in the tender process. This research aims to develop intelligent building concept using value engineering approach to obtain added value regarding quality, efficiency, and innovation. The research combined quantitative and qualitative approach using questionnaire survey and value engineering method to achieve the research objectives. The research output will show additional functions regarding technology innovation that may increase the value of a building. This study shows that smart building concept requires higher initial cost, but produces lower operational and maintenance costs. Furthermore, it also confirms that benefit-cost ratio on the smart building was much higher than a conventional building, that is 1.99 to 0.88.

  20. Efficient Solutions and Cost-Optimal Analysis for Existing School Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Maria Congedo

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The recast of the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD describes a comparative methodological framework to promote energy efficiency and establish minimum energy performance requirements in buildings at the lowest costs. The aim of the cost-optimal methodology is to foster the achievement of nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs, the new target for all new buildings by 2020, characterized by a high performance with a low energy requirement almost covered by renewable sources. The paper presents the results of the application of the cost-optimal methodology in two existing buildings located in the Mediterranean area. These buildings are a kindergarten and a nursery school that differ in construction period, materials and systems. Several combinations of measures have been applied to derive cost-effective efficient solutions for retrofitting. The cost-optimal level has been identified for each building and the best performing solutions have been selected considering both a financial and a macroeconomic analysis. The results illustrate the suitability of the methodology to assess cost-optimality and energy efficiency in school building refurbishment. The research shows the variants providing the most cost-effective balance between costs and energy saving. The cost-optimal solution reduces primary energy consumption by 85% and gas emissions by 82%–83% in each reference building.

  1. Heat savings and heat generation technologies: Modelling of residential investment behaviour with local health costs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zvingilaite, Erika; Klinge Jacobsen, Henrik

    2015-01-01

    The trade-off between investing in energy savings and investing in individual heating technologies with high investment and low variable costs in single family houses is modelled for a number of building and consumer categories in Denmark. For each group the private economic cost of providing hea...... for private consumers decrease by 66% when all have the option to shift to the technology with lowest variable costs. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All Rights reserved......The trade-off between investing in energy savings and investing in individual heating technologies with high investment and low variable costs in single family houses is modelled for a number of building and consumer categories in Denmark. For each group the private economic cost of providing...

  2. A Prospective Analysis of the Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mai, Trieu [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wiser, Ryan [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Barbose, Galen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Bird, Lori [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heeter, Jenny [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Keyser, David [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Krishnan, Venkat [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Macknick, Jordan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Millstein, Dev [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2016-12-01

    This report evaluates the future costs, benefits, and other impacts of renewable energy used to meet current state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs). It also examines a future scenario where RPSs are expanded. The analysis examines changes in electric system costs and retail electricity prices, which include all fixed and operating costs, including capital costs for all renewable, non-renewable, and supporting (e.g., transmission and storage) electric sector infrastructure; fossil fuel, uranium, and biomass fuel costs; and plant operations and maintenance expenditures. The analysis evaluates three specific benefits: air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. It also analyzes two other impacts, renewable energy workforce and economic development, and natural gas price suppression. This analysis finds that the benefits or renewable energy used to meet RPS polices exceed the costs, even when considering the highest cost and lowest benefit outcomes.

  3. Summing up the parts. Combining Policy Instruments for Least-Cost Climate Mitigation Strategies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2011-07-01

    Meeting the enormous challenge of decarbonising world energy systems will require a rapid expansion of investment in clean technologies on a global scale. Mobilising these resources will be a daunting task, and it is important to undertake the transition at the lowest cost possible. This paper seeks to provide some guidance on climate change policy-making within real-world constraints, focusing on the justification of policies to supplement a carbon price, interactions between carbon pricing and supplementary policies, and management of these interactions to enable a least-cost policy response.

  4. Sleep Duration Associated with the Lowest Risk of Depression/Anxiety in Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ojio, Yasutaka; Nishida, Atsushi; Shimodera, Shinji; Togo, Fumiharu; Sasaki, Tsukasa

    2016-08-01

    To investigate sleep duration associated with the least depression/anxiety in adolescence. Grades 7-12 Japanese students (n = 18,250, aged 12-18 y) from public junior high/high schools were studied in a cross-sectional design. Due to missing/implausible data, 15,637 out of the 18,250 students were statistically analyzed. Relationship between sleep duration on school nights and depression/anxiety, measured using self-report questionnaires, including the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), were studied by sex and grade, controlling for bedtime regularity. When sleep duration was classified by 1-h intervals, rate of adolescents with a GHQ-12 score ≥ 4 was the lowest in males and females who slept 8.5-9.5 h and 7.5-8.5 h, respectively, (designated "references") in both grades 7-9 and 10-12. The rate was significantly higher than the references in both males and females who slept Sleep duration for the minimum GHQ-12 score was estimated to be 8.8 and 8.5 h in males, and 8.0 and 7.5 h in females, in grades 7-9 and 10-12, respectively, using the General Additive Model. Sleep duration of ≥ 8.5 h on school nights may be associated with the lowest risk of depression/anxiety on average in male adolescents. Although the duration was estimated to be shorter in females (≥ 7.5 h) than males, this should be interpreted carefully. Most adolescents may currently be sleeping less than the optimal duration. A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 1491. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

  5. General Equilibrium in a Segmented Market Economy with Convex Transaction Cost: Existence, Efficiency, Commodity and Fiat Money

    OpenAIRE

    Starr, Ross M.

    2002-01-01

    This study derives the monetary structure of transactions, the use of commodity or fiat money, endogenously from transaction costs in a segmented market general equilibrium model. Market segmentation means there are separate budget constraints for each transaction: budgets balance in each transaction separately. Transaction costs imply differing bid and ask (selling and buying) prices. The most liquid instruments are those with the lowest proportionate bid/ask spread in equilibrium. Exist...

  6. THE LOWEST-MASS MEMBER OF THE β PICTORIS MOVING GROUP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rice, Emily L.; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Cruz, Kelle L.

    2010-01-01

    We present spectral and kinematic evidence that 2MASS J06085283-2753583 (M8.5γ) is a member of the β Pictoris Moving Group (BPMG, age ∼12 Myr), making it the latest-type known member of this young, nearby association. We confirm low-gravity spectral morphology at both medium and high resolutions in the near-infrared. We present new radial velocity and proper motion measurements, and use these to calculate galactic location and space motion consistent with other high-probability members of the BPMG. The predicted mass range consistent with the object's effective temperature, surface gravity, spectral type, and age is 15-35 M Jup , placing 2MASS 0608-27 well within the brown dwarf mass regime. 2MASS J06085283-2753583 is thus confidently added to the short list of very low mass, intermediate age benchmark objects that inform ongoing searches for the lowest-mass members of nearby young associations.

  7. Time-resolved resonance raman spectrum of all-trans-diphenylbutadiene in the lowest excited singlet state

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wilbrandt, Robert Walter; Jensen, Niels-Henrik; Langkilde, F.W.

    1984-01-01

    The resonance Raman spectrwn of all-trans-diphenylbutadiene in its lowest excited S1 state excited in resonance with the S1 → Sn absorption band at 650 nm in non-polar solvents is reported. Three vibrational bands at 1572, 1481 and 1165 cm−1 are observed. A possible assignment of the the 1481 cm−...

  8. Impurity binding energy of lowest-excited state in (In,Ga)N–GaN spherical QD under electric field effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghazi, Haddou El; Jorio, Anouar; Zorkani, Izeddine

    2013-01-01

    External electric field effect on the lowest-excited state in wurtzite (In,Ga)N–GaN spherical quantum dot is considered. By means of a traditional Ritz variational method within the effective-mass approximation and finite potential barrier, the lowest-excited state energy with and without the presence of the impurity is investigated. The normalized binding energy under electric field effect is also performed. Our numerical results are compared with the previous theoretical findings and show a good agreement with those concerning especially the ground-state for different semiconductors materials and different QDs-shapes

  9. Impurity binding energy of lowest-excited state in (In,Ga)N–GaN spherical QD under electric field effect

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ghazi, Haddou El, E-mail: hadghazi@gmail.com [LPS, Faculty of Sciences, Dhar EL Mehrez, B.P 1796 Atlas, Fez (Morocco); Special Mathematics, CPGE Kénitra (Morocco); Jorio, Anouar; Zorkani, Izeddine [LPS, Faculty of Sciences, Dhar EL Mehrez, B.P 1796 Atlas, Fez (Morocco)

    2013-10-01

    External electric field effect on the lowest-excited state in wurtzite (In,Ga)N–GaN spherical quantum dot is considered. By means of a traditional Ritz variational method within the effective-mass approximation and finite potential barrier, the lowest-excited state energy with and without the presence of the impurity is investigated. The normalized binding energy under electric field effect is also performed. Our numerical results are compared with the previous theoretical findings and show a good agreement with those concerning especially the ground-state for different semiconductors materials and different QDs-shapes.

  10. Fair cost distribution among smart homes with microgrid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Di; Liu, Songsong; Papageorgiou, Lazaros G.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Work aims at fair cost distribution among smart homes with microgrid. • An MILP-based approach is adopted based on lexicographic minimax method. • Domestic appliances from multiple smart homes are scheduled. • Results from two illustrative examples indicate fair cost distribution. - Abstract: Microgrid is composed of a set of distributed energy resources (DER) and is considered as an alternative energy providing system to the current centralised energy generation. Smart homes equipped with smart grid technology, such as smart meter and communication system, are becoming popular for their lower energy cost and provision of comfort. Flexible energy-consuming household tasks can be scheduled coordinately among multiple homes which share the common microgrid. When local DERs cannot fulfill the whole demand, smart homes will compete with each other to obtain energy from local DERs and achieve their respective lowest energy cost. In this paper, a mathematical programming formulation is presented for the fair cost distribution among smart homes with microgrid. The proposed model is based on the lexicographic minimax method using a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) approach. One-day forecasted energy cost of each smart home is minimised under fairness concern. DER operation, DER output sharing among smart homes and electricity consumption household tasks are scheduled. Two numerical examples with 10 and 50 smart homes are studied. The computational results illustrate that the proposed approach can obtain obvious cost savings (30% and 24% respectively) and fair cost distribution among multiple homes under given fairness scenario

  11. Estimating the extra cost of living with disability in Vietnam.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minh, Hoang Van; Giang, Kim Bao; Liem, Nguyen Thanh; Palmer, Michael; Thao, Nguyen Phuong; Duong, Le Bach

    2015-01-01

    Disability is shown to be both a cause and a consequence of poverty. However, relatively little research has investigated the economic cost of living with a disability. This study reports the results of a study on the extra cost of living with disability in Vietnam in 2011. The study was carried out in eight cities/provinces in Vietnam, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities (two major metropolitan in Vietnam) and six provinces from each of the six socio-economic regions in Vietnam. Costs are estimated using the standard of living approach whereby the difference in incomes between people with disability and those without disability for a given standard of living serves as a proxy for the cost of living with disability. The extra cost of living with disability in Vietnam accounted for about 8.8-9.5% of annual household income, or valued about US$200-218. Communication difficulty was shown to result in highest additional cost of living with disability and self-care difficulty was shown to lead to the lowest levels of extra of living cost. The extra cost of living with disability increased as people had more severe impairment. Interventions to promote the economic security of livelihood for people with disabilities are needed.

  12. Cost benefit analysis of instrumentation, supervision and control systems for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hagen, P.

    1973-08-01

    A cost benefit analysis is carried out on a BWR type reactor power plant in which an on-line computer performs plant supervision, reporting, logging, calibration and control functions, using display devices and plotters, while an off-line computer is available for bigger jobs such as fuel management calculations. All on-line functions are briefly described and specified. Three types of computer system are considered, a simplex system, a dual computer system and a multi-processor system. These systems are analysed with respect to reliability, back-up instrumentation requirements and costs. While the multiprocessor system gave in all cases the lowest annual failure costs, the margin to the duplex system was so small that hardware, maintenance and software costs would play an important role in making a decision. (JIW)

  13. COST EFFICIENCY LEVEL OF RURAL BANKS IN EAST JAVA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Mongid

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: Rural Bank (BPR was an important part of financial service industry in Indonesia.Their pivotal role on lending to SMEs in the rural area made their existence very strategic torural development. However, due to its operational scale, rural bank charged higher interestrate than commercial bank. The study estimated the cost efficiency of rural banks usingparametric approach. The result found that rural bank efficiency was very high. The two yearcost efficiency estimated using frontier 4.1 was 95% and median was 100%. The lowest of costefficiency level was 32%. It meant cost inefficiency of the banks under investigated was around10%. The cost efficiency level in 2006 was on average 95% and the median was 100%. It meantthat 50% or more of the observation enjoyed 100% cost efficiency. The minimum was only67%. It meant they operated at very efficient level, leaving only 5% inefficiency. In 2007, adramatic change on efficiency level was going on. The average efficiency was dropped from11% to 89.9% due to increase on interest rate and price level.

  14. Life-cycle cost analysis of adsorption cycles for desalination

    KAUST Repository

    Thu, Kyaw

    2010-08-01

    This paper presents the thermo-economic analysis of the adsorption desalination (AD) cycle that is driven by low-temperature waste heat from exhaust of industrial processes or renewable sources. The AD cycle uses an adsorbent such as the silica gel to desalt the sea or brackish water. Based on an experimental prototype AD plant, the life-cycle cost analysis of AD plants of assorted water production capacities has been simulated and these predictions are translated into unit cost of water production. Our results show that the specific energy consumption of the AD cycle is 1.38 kWh/m3 which is the lowest ever reported. For a plant capacity of 1000 m3/d, the AD cycle offers a unit cost of $0.457/m3 as compared to more than $0.9 for the average RO plants. Besides being cost-effective, the AD cycle is also environment-friendly as it emits less CO2 emission per m3 generated, typically 85% less, by comparison to an RO process. © 2010 Desalination Publications.

  15. Full scale calcium bromide injection with subsequent mercury oxidation and removal within wet flue gas desulphurization system: Experience at a 700 MW coal-fired power facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, Mark Simpson

    The Environmental Protection Agency promulgated the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule, which requires that existing power plants reduce mercury emissions to meet an emission rate of 1.2 lb/TBtu on a 30-day rolling average and that new plants meet a 0.0002 lb/GWHr emission rate. This translates to mercury removals greater than 90% for existing units and greater than 99% for new units. Current state-of-the-art technology for the control of mercury emissions uses activated carbon injected upstream of a fabric filter, a costly proposition. For example, a fabric filter, if not already available, would require a 200M capital investment for a 700 MW size unit. A lower-cost option involves the injection of activated carbon into an existing cold-side electrostatic precipitator. Both options would incur the cost of activated carbon, upwards of 3M per year. The combination of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reactors and wet flue gas desulphurization (wet FGD) systems have demonstrated the ability to substantially reduce mercury emissions, especially at units that burn coals containing sufficient halogens. Halogens are necessary for transforming elemental mercury to oxidized mercury, which is water-soluble. Plants burning halogen-deficient coals such as Power River Basin (PRB) coals currently have no alternative but to install activated carbon-based approaches to control mercury emissions. This research consisted of investigating calcium bromide addition onto PRB coal as a method of increasing flue gas halogen concentration. The treated coal was combusted in a 700 MW boiler and the subsequent treated flue gas was introduced into a wet FGD. Short-term parametric and an 83-day longer-term tests were completed to determine the ability of calcium bromine to oxidize mercury and to study the removal of the mercury in a wet FGD. The research goal was to show that calcium bromine addition to PRB coal was a viable approach for meeting the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule

  16. Lowest excited-state impurity binding energy in InGaN/GaN parabolic QWW: magnetic field effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haddou El Ghazi; Anouar Jorio; Izeddine Zorkani

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we have investigated the magnetic field effect on the lowest excited-state binding energy of hydrogenic shallow-donor impurity in wurtzite (In,Ga)N/GaN parabolic transversal-section quantum-well wire (PQWW) using the finite-difference method within the quasi-one-dimensional effective potential model. The calculations are performed within the framework of the effective mass approximation. A cylindrical QWW effective radius is taken into account to describe the lateral confinement strength. The numerical results show that: (i) the probability density is the largest on a circularity whose radius is the effective radius and (ii) the lowest excited-state binding energy is the largest when an impurity is located on this circularity while it starts to decrease as the impurity is away from the circularity. (author)

  17. ENHANCED CONTROL OF MERCURY BY WET FLUE GAS DESULFURIZATION SYSTEMS; FINAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Unknown

    2001-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy and EPRI co-funded this project to improve the control of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants equipped with wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The project has investigated catalytic oxidation of vapor-phase elemental mercury to a form that is more effectively captured in wet FGD systems. If successfully developed, the process could be applicable to over 90,000 MW of utility generating capacity with existing FGD systems, and to future FGD installations. Field tests were conducted to determine whether candidate catalyst materials remain active towards mercury oxidation after extended flue gas exposure. Catalyst life will have a large impact on the cost effectiveness of this potential process. A mobile catalyst test unit was used to test the activity of four different catalyst materials for a period of up to six months each at three utility sites. Catalyst testing was completed at the first site, which fires Texas lignite, in December 1998; at the second test site, which fires a Powder River Basin subbituminous coal, in November 1999; and at the third site, which fires a medium- to high-sulfur bituminous coal, in January 2001. Results of testing at each of the three sites were reported in previous technical notes. At Site 1, catalysts were tested only as powders dispersed in sand bed reactors. At Sites 2 and 3, catalysts were tested in two forms, including powders dispersed in sand and in commercially available forms such as extruded pellets and coated honeycomb structures. This final report summarizes and presents results from all three sites, for the various catalyst forms tested. Field testing was supported by laboratory tests to screen catalysts for activity at specific flue gas compositions, to investigate catalyst deactivation mechanisms and methods for regenerating spent catalysts. Laboratory results are also summarized and discussed in this report

  18. Preliminary assessment of the health and environmental impacts of fluidized-bed combustion of coal as applied to electrical utility systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1977-02-01

    The objective of this study was to assess the health and environmental impacts of fluidized-bed combustion of coal (FBC), specifically as applied to base-load generation of electrical energy by utilities. The public health impacts of Fluidized-Bed Combustion (FBC) plants are expected to be quite similar to those for Low Sulfur Coal (LSC) and Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) plants because all appear to be able to meet Federal emission standards; however, there are emissions not covered by standards. Hydrocarbon emissions are higher and trace element emissions are lower for FBC than for conventional technologies. For FBC, based on an analytical model and a single emission data point, the polycyclic organic material decreases the anticipated lifespan of the highly exposed public very slightly. Added health protection due to lower trace element emissions is not known. Although there is a large quantity of solid wastes from the generating plant, the environmental impact of the FBC technology due to solid residue appears lower than for FGD, where sludge management requires larger land areas and presents problems due to the environmentally noxious calcium sulfite in the waste. Fixing the sludge may become a requirement that increases the cost of wet-limestone FGD but makes that system more acceptable. The potential for aquatic or terrestrial impacts from hydrocarbon emissions is low. If application of AFBC technology increases the use of local high-sulfur coals to the detriment of western low-sulfur coal, a sociological benefit could accrue to the FBC (or FGD) technology, because impacts caused by western boom towns would decrease. The infrastructure of areas that mine high-sulfur coal in the Midwest are better equipped to handle increased mining than the West.

  19. Low cost balancing unit design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golembiovsky, Matej; Dedek, Jan; Slanina, Zdenek

    2017-06-01

    This article deals with the design of a low-cost balancing system which consist of battery balancing units, accumulator pack units and coordinator unit with interface for higher level of battery management system. This solution allows decentralized mode of operation and the aim of this work is implementation of controlling and diagnostic mechanism into an electric scooter project realized at Technical university of Ostrava. In todays world which now fully enjoys the prime of electromobility, off-grid battery systems and other, it is important to seek the optimal balance between functionality and the economy side of BMS that being electronics which deals with secondary cells of batery packs. There were numerous sophisticated, but not too practical BMS models in the past, such as centralized system or standalone balance modules of individual cells. This article aims at development of standalone balance modules which are able to communicate with the coordinator, adjust their parameters and ensure their cells safety in case of a communication failure. With the current worldwide cutting cost trend in mind, the emphasis was put on the lowest price possible for individual component. The article is divided into two major categories, the first one being desing of power electronics with emphasis on quality, safety (cooling) and also cost. The second part describes development of a communication interface with reliability and cost in mind. The article contains numerous graphs from practical measurements. The outcome of the work and its possible future is defined in the conclusion.

  20. Final Report: Hydrogen Storage System Cost Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    James, Brian David [Strategic Analysis Inc., Arlington, VA (United States); Houchins, Cassidy [Strategic Analysis Inc., Arlington, VA (United States); Huya-Kouadio, Jennie Moton [Strategic Analysis Inc., Arlington, VA (United States); DeSantis, Daniel A. [Strategic Analysis Inc., Arlington, VA (United States)

    2016-09-30

    The Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) has identified hydrogen storage as a key enabling technology for advancing hydrogen and fuel cell power technologies in transportation, stationary, and portable applications. Consequently, FCTO has established targets to chart the progress of developing and demonstrating viable hydrogen storage technologies for transportation and stationary applications. This cost assessment project supports the overall FCTO goals by identifying the current technology system components, performance levels, and manufacturing/assembly techniques most likely to lead to the lowest system storage cost. Furthermore, the project forecasts the cost of these systems at a variety of annual manufacturing rates to allow comparison to the overall 2017 and “Ultimate” DOE cost targets. The cost breakdown of the system components and manufacturing steps can then be used to guide future research and development (R&D) decisions. The project was led by Strategic Analysis Inc. (SA) and aided by Rajesh Ahluwalia and Thanh Hua from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Lin Simpson at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Since SA coordinated the project activities of all three organizations, this report includes a technical description of all project activity. This report represents a summary of contract activities and findings under SA’s five year contract to the US Department of Energy (Award No. DE-EE0005253) and constitutes the “Final Scientific Report” deliverable. Project publications and presentations are listed in the Appendix.

  1. The role of FGD PET in malignant lymphoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yun, Mi Jin

    2002-01-01

    FDG PET is a functional imaging modality whose ability to detect lesions is directly based on a change of the glycolytic metabolism of targeted tissues, may be advantageous over other techniques. Combined with excellent image quality, high spatial resolution, and whole body imaging capability, it has become popular as a new approach in the evaluation of patients with various malignancies. Initial staging of nodal and extranodal lymphoma using FDG PET has been proven to be at least equal or superior to conventional imaging modalities. For the assessment of treatment responsiveness, FDG PET has a major impact on the management of patients in differentiating residual lymphoma from treatment related benign changes. Residual FDG uptake after the completion of chemotherapy is a good predictor of early relapse. However, it seems that the absence of FDG uptake in tumor mass may not exclude minimal residual disease causing later relapse. In the early evaluation of treatment response only after a few cycles of chemotherapy, FDG PET may have a promising role in identifying non-responders who could benefit from a different treatment strategy. At present, FDG PET appears to be the cost-effective, diagnostic modality of choice in the management of lymphoma patients. The role of FDG PET based-systems in terms of affecting long-term prognosis and survival benefit should be further elucidated in future prospective studies

  2. Levelized cost of energy and sensitivity analysis for the hydrogen-bromine flow battery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Nirala; McFarland, Eric W.

    2015-08-01

    The technoeconomics of the hydrogen-bromine flow battery are investigated. Using existing performance data the operating conditions were optimized to minimize the levelized cost of electricity using individual component costs for the flow battery stack and other system units. Several different configurations were evaluated including use of a bromine complexing agent to reduce membrane requirements. Sensitivity analysis of cost is used to identify the system elements most strongly influencing the economics. The stack lifetime and round-trip efficiency of the cell are identified as major factors on the levelized cost of electricity, along with capital components related to hydrogen storage, the bipolar plate, and the membrane. Assuming that an electrocatalyst and membrane with a lifetime of 2000 cycles can be identified, the lowest cost market entry system capital is 220 kWh-1 for a 4 h discharge system and for a charging energy cost of 0.04 kWh-1 the levelized cost of the electricity delivered is 0.40 kWh-1. With systems manufactured at large scales these costs are expected to be lower.

  3. Air pollution in Australia: review of costs, sources and potential solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Dorothy L

    2005-12-01

    Estimated health costs and principal sources of air pollution are reviewed, together with estimated costs of reducing pollution from major sources in Australia. Emissions data from the Australian National Pollutant Inventory were compared with published estimates of pollution costs and converted to the cost per kilogram of emissions. Costs per kg of emissions (and, for the two main sources of pollution, diesel vehicles and wood heaters, costs per heater and per vehicle) are relatively easy to understand, making it easier to compare health costs with costs of pollution-control strategies. Estimated annual costs of morbidity/mortality exceed $1,100 per diesel vehicle and $2,000 per wood heater. Costs of avoiding emissions (about $2.1/kg PM2.5 for phasing out wood heaters and upwards of $70/kg for reducing diesel emissions) are considerably less than the estimated health costs ($166/kg) of those emissions. In other countries, smokeless zones (for domestic heating), heavy vehicle low-emission zones, and lower registration charges for low-emission vehicles reduce pollution and improve health. Similar 'polluter-pays' taxes in Australia to encourage retrofitting of existing diesels and incentives to choose new ones with lowest emissions would provide substantial benefits. Adopting Christchurch's policy of phasing out wood heaters and 'polluter-pays' levies to discourage their use would be extremely cost-effective.

  4. Spent LWR fuel storage costs: reracking, AR basins, and AFR basins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-01-01

    Whenever possible, fuel storage requirements will be met by reracking existing reactor basins and/or transfer of fuel to available space in other reactor basins. These alternatives represent not only the lowest cost storage options but also the most timely. They are recognized to face environmental and regulatory obstacles. However, such obstacles should be less severe than those that would be encountered with AR or AFR basin storage. When storage requirements cannot be met by the first two options, the least costly alternative for most utilities will be use of a Federal AFR. Storage costs of $100,000 to $150,000 MTU at a AFR are less costly than charges of up to $320,000/MTU that could be incurred by the use of AR basins. AFR storage costs do not include transportation from the reactor to the AFR. This cost would be paid by the utility separately. Only when a utility requires annual storage capacity for 100 MTU of spent fuel can self-storage begin to compete with AFR costs. The large reactor complexes discharging these fuel quantities are not currently those that require relief from fuel storage problems

  5. Food choices and diet costs: an economic analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drewnowski, Adam; Darmon, Nicole

    2005-04-01

    Obesity in the United States is a socioeconomic issue. It is related to limited social and economic resources and may be linked to disparities in access to healthy foods. Added sugars and added fats are far more affordable than are the recommended "healthful" diets based on lean meats, whole grains, and fresh vegetables and fruit. There is an inverse relationship between energy density of foods (kJ/g) and energy cost ($/MJ), such that energy-dense grains, fats, and sweets represent the lowest-cost dietary options to the consumer. Good taste, high convenience, and the low cost of energy-dense foods, in conjunction with large portions and low satiating power, may be the principal reasons for overeating and weight gain. Financial disparities in access to healthier diets may help explain why the highest rates of obesity and diabetes are found among minorities and the working poor. If so, then encouraging low-income households to consume more costly foods is not an effective strategy for public health. What is needed is a comprehensive policy approach that takes behavioral nutrition and the economics of food choice into account.

  6. Cost benefit justification of nuclear plant reliability improvement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Sayed, M.A.H.; Abdelmonem, N.M.

    1986-01-01

    Nuclear power costs are evaluated on the bases of general ground rules (a) vary from time to time (b) vary from country to another (c) even vary from one reactor type to another. The main objective of an electric utility is to provide the electric energy to the different consummers at the lowest possible cost with reasonable reliability level. Rapid increase of the construction costs and fuel prices in recent years have stimulated a great deal of interest in improving the reliability and productivity of new and existing power plants. One of the most important areas is the improvement of the secondary steam loop and the reactor cooling system. The method for evaluating the reliability of steam loop and cooling system utilizes the cut-set technique. The developed method can be easily used to show to what extent the overall reliability of the nuclear plant is affected by the possible failures in the steam and cooling subsystem. The cost reliability trade-off analysis is used to evaluate alternative schemes in the design with a view towards meeting a high reliability goal. Based on historical or estimated failure and repair rate, the reliability of the alternate scheme can be calculated

  7. Sartans: differences, similitudes and costs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orietta Zaniolo

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available The search for a more specific and complete blockade of the hypertensive effects of angiotensin and of better tolerability than ACE-inhibitors has led to the development of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs, which were introduced about 10 years ago. During this period they have been evaluated in several large studies in terms of efficacy and safety in reducing blood pressure, as well as for cardiovascular and renal protection. In patients with heart failure, valsartan, candesartan and, partially, losartan have been shown to be associated with positive outcomes both as monotherapy, when ACE-inhibitors are contraindicated or not tolerated, and in combination with ACE-inhibitors standard therapy. Among ARBs, valsartan is the only that is also approved for treatment of patients with both heart failure and recent myocardial infarction. In light of the high costs related to cardiovascular disorders, agents that reduce cardiovascular risk, like ARBs, represent a potential long-term health cost saving strategy, if used according to guidelines in approved indications. Valsartan has a daily cost which is lower than the mean cost of the class. Furthermore, this drug shows one of the lowest costs for patient brought to blood pressure goals in its class. In this paper, economic evaluations conducted on the results of large trials were reviewed. Their results add economic rationale to the therapeutic algorithms recommended by clinical guidelines on heart failure management; using valsartan, or other evaluated ARBs, in heart failure patients who are intolerant or contraindicated to ACE-inhibitors therapy, is expected to be highly cost/effective. In combination with ACE-inhibitors in those patients not on beta-blocker therapy, its cost/effectiveness is somewhat worse, but still acceptable, with an estimated cost of 15,000 USDs for life year saved. In summary, when used for approved indications, valsartan offers attractive economic features for the

  8. Cost-effectiveness of lung cancer screening and treatment methods: a systematic review of systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azar, Farbod Ebadifard; Azami-Aghdash, Saber; Pournaghi-Azar, Fatemeh; Mazdaki, Alireza; Rezapour, Aziz; Ebrahimi, Parvin; Yousefzadeh, Negar

    2017-06-19

    Due to extensive literature in the field of lung cancer and their heterogeneous results, the aim of this study was to systematically review of systematic reviews studies which reviewed the cost-effectiveness of various lung cancer screening and treatment methods. In this systematic review of systematic reviews study, required data were collected searching the following key words which selected from Mesh: "lung cancer", "lung oncology", "lung Carcinoma", "lung neoplasm", "lung tumors", "cost- effectiveness", "systematic review" and "Meta-analysis". The following databases were searched: PubMed, Cochrane Library electronic databases, Google Scholar, and Scopus. Two reviewers (RA and A-AS) evaluated the articles according to the checklist of "assessment of multiple systematic reviews" (AMSTAR) tool. Overall, information of 110 papers was discussed in eight systematic reviews. Authors focused on cost-effectiveness of lung cancer treatments in five systematic reviews. Targeted therapy options (bevacizumab, Erlotinib and Crizotinib) show an acceptable cost-effectiveness. Results of three studies failed to show cost-effectiveness of screening methods. None of the studies had used the meta-analysis method. The Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES) tool and Drummond checklist were mostly used in assessing the quality of articles. Most perspective was related to the Payer (64 times) and the lowest was related to Social (11times). Most cases referred to Incremental analysis (82%) and also the lowest point of referral was related to Discounting (in 49% of the cases). The average quality score of included studies was calculated 9.2% from 11. Targeted therapy can be an option for the treatment of lung cancer. Evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of computerized tomographic colonography (CTC) in lung cancer screening is recommended. The perspective of the community should be more taken into consideration in studies of cost-effectiveness. Paying more attention to the topic of

  9. Effects of weighting schemes on the identification of wildlife corridors generated with least-cost methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sean A. Parks; Kevin S. McKelvey; Michael K. Schwartz

    2012-01-01

    The importance of movement corridors for maintaining connectivity within metapopulations of wild animals is a cornerstone of conservation. One common approach for determining corridor locations is least-cost corridor (LCC) modeling, which uses algorithms within a geographic information system to search for routes with the lowest cumulative resistance between target...

  10. Future Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of Renewables Used to Meet U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2016-12-01

    This brochure provides a brief overview of the report titled 'A Prospective Analysis of the Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards.' The report evaluates the future costs, benefits, and other impacts of renewable energy used to meet current state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs). It also examines a future scenario where RPSs are expanded. The analysis examines changes in electric system costs and retail electricity prices, which include all fixed and operating costs, including capital costs for all renewable, non-renewable, and supporting (e.g., transmission and storage) electric sector infrastructure; fossil fuel, uranium, and biomass fuel costs; and plant operations and maintenance expenditures. The analysis evaluates three specific benefits: air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. It also analyzes two other impacts, renewable energy workforce and economic development, and natural gas price suppression. The analysis finds that the benefits or renewable energy used to meet RPS polices exceed the costs, even when considering the highest cost and lowest benefit outcomes.

  11. U.S. and International In-Hospital Costs of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: a Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Michael J; Gaies, Michael G; Prosser, Lisa A

    2015-08-01

    reported costs of ECMO were highest for CDH repair, followed by cardiac conditions, and lowest for respiratory conditions. The US charges were highest for cardiac conditions. Outside the U.S.A., the ECMO cost was highest for cardiac conditions, followed by respiratory conditions, and lowest for CDH repair. No non-US studies reported charges. The current literature shows that a large variation exists in the in-hospital cost estimates for ECMO. Further research is needed to understand how the diagnosis, setting and other factors relate to this variation in the cost of this technology. Reliable costing methodologies and cost information will be critical to inform policymakers and stakeholders wishing to maximize the value of advanced medical technologies such as ECMO.

  12. COST OF QUALITY MODELS AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION IN MANUFACTURING FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.M. Vaxevanidis

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available In order to improve quality, an organization must take into account the costs associated with achieving quality since the objective of continuous improvement programs is not only to meet customer requirements, but also to do it at the lowest, possible, cost. This can only obtained by reducing the costs needed to achieve quality, and the reduction of these costs is only possible if they are identified and measured. Therefore, measuring and reporting the cost of quality (CoQ should be considered an important issue for achieving quality excellence. To collect quality costs an organization needs to adopt a framework to classify costs; however, there is no general agreement on a single broad definition of quality costs. CoQ is usually understood as the sum of conformance plus non-conformance costs, where cost of conformance is the price paid for prevention of poor quality (for example, inspection and quality appraisal and cost of non-conformance is the cost of poor quality caused by product and service failure (for example, rework and returns. The objective of this paper is to give a survey of research articles on the topic of CoQ; it opens with a literature review focused on existing CoQ models; then, it briefly presents the most common CoQ parameters and the metrics (indices used for monitoring CoQ. Finally, the use of CoQ models in practice, i.e., the implementation of a quality costing system and cost of quality reporting in companies is discussed, with emphasis in cases concerning manufacturing firms.

  13. Integration of EEG lead placement templates into traditional technologist-based staffing models reduces costs in continuous video-EEG monitoring service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolls, Brad J; Lai, Amy H; Srinivas, Anang A; Reid, Robert R

    2014-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the relative cost reductions within different staffing models for continuous video-electroencephalography (cvEEG) service by introducing a template system for 10/20 lead application. We compared six staffing models using decision tree modeling based on historical service line utilization data from the cvEEG service at our center. Templates were integrated into technologist-based service lines in six different ways. The six models studied were templates for all studies, templates for intensive care unit (ICU) studies, templates for on-call studies, templates for studies of ≤ 24-hour duration, technologists for on-call studies, and technologists for all studies. Cost was linearly related to the study volume for all models with the "templates for all" model incurring the lowest cost. The "technologists for all" model carried the greatest cost. Direct cost comparison shows that any introduction of templates results in cost savings, with the templates being used for patients located in the ICU being the second most cost efficient and the most practical of the combined models to implement. Cost difference between the highest and lowest cost models under the base case produced an annual estimated savings of $267,574. Implementation of the ICU template model at our institution under base case conditions would result in a $205,230 savings over our current "technologist for all" model. Any implementation of templates into a technologist-based cvEEG service line results in cost savings, with the most significant annual savings coming from using the templates for all studies, but the most practical implementation approach with the second highest cost reduction being the template used in the ICU. The lowered costs determined in this work suggest that a template-based cvEEG service could be supported at smaller centers with significantly reduced costs and could allow for broader use of cvEEG patient monitoring.

  14. Design Options to Reduce Development Cost of First Generation Surface Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poston, David I.; Marcille, Thomas F.

    2006-01-01

    Low-power surface reactors have the potential to have the lowest development cost of any space reactor application, primarily because system alpha (mass/kg) is not of utmost importance and mission lifetimes do not have to be a decade or more. Even then, the development cost of a surface reactor can vary substantially depending on the performance requirements (e.g. mass, power, lifetime, reliability) and technical development risk deemed acceptable by the end-user. It is important for potential users to be aware of these relationships before they determine their future architecture (i.e. decide what they need). Generally, the greatest potential costs of a space reactor program are a nuclear-powered ground test and extensive material development campaigns, so it is important to consider options that can minimize the need for or complexity of such tasks. The intended goal of this paper is to inform potential surface reactor users of the potential sensitivities of surface reactor development cost to design requirements, and areas where technical risk can be traded with development cost

  15. Investigation of Cost and Energy Optimization of Drinking Water Distribution Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherchi, Carla; Badruzzaman, Mohammad; Gordon, Matthew; Bunn, Simon; Jacangelo, Joseph G

    2015-11-17

    Holistic management of water and energy resources through energy and water quality management systems (EWQMSs) have traditionally aimed at energy cost reduction with limited or no emphasis on energy efficiency or greenhouse gas minimization. This study expanded the existing EWQMS framework and determined the impact of different management strategies for energy cost and energy consumption (e.g., carbon footprint) reduction on system performance at two drinking water utilities in California (United States). The results showed that optimizing for cost led to cost reductions of 4% (Utility B, summer) to 48% (Utility A, winter). The energy optimization strategy was successfully able to find the lowest energy use operation and achieved energy usage reductions of 3% (Utility B, summer) to 10% (Utility A, winter). The findings of this study revealed that there may be a trade-off between cost optimization (dollars) and energy use (kilowatt-hours), particularly in the summer, when optimizing the system for the reduction of energy use to a minimum incurred cost increases of 64% and 184% compared with the cost optimization scenario. Water age simulations through hydraulic modeling did not reveal any adverse effects on the water quality in the distribution system or in tanks from pump schedule optimization targeting either cost or energy minimization.

  16. The Significance of Storage in the “Cost of Risk” of Digital Preservation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Wright

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As storage costs drop, storage is becoming the lowest cost in a digital repository – and the biggest risk. We examine current modelling of costs and risks in digital preservation, concentrating on the Total Cost of Risk when using digital storage systems for preserving audiovisual material. We review the vital role of storage and show how planning for long-term preservation of data should consider the risks involved in using digital storage technology. Gaps in information necessary for accurate modelling – and planning – are presented. We call for new functionality to support recovery of files with errors, to eliminate the all-or-nothing approach of current IT systems, which in turn reduces the impact of failures of digital storage technology and mitigates against loss of digital data.

  17. Cost effectiveness of drug eluting coronary artery stenting in a UK setting: cost-utility study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagust, A; Grayson, A D; Palmer, N D; Perry, R A; Walley, T

    2006-01-01

    To assess the cost effectiveness of drug eluting stents (DES) compared with conventional stents for treatment of symptomatic coronary artery disease in the UK. Cost-utility analysis of audit based patient subgroups by means of a simple economic model. Tertiary care. 12 month audit data for 2884 patients receiving percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting at the Cardiothoracic Centre Liverpool between January 2000 and December 2002. Risk of repeat revascularisation within 12 months of index procedure and reduction in risk from use of DES. Economic modelling was used to estimate the cost-utility ratio and threshold price premium. Four factors were identified for patients undergoing elective surgery (n = 1951) and two for non-elective surgery (n = 933) to predict risk of repeat revascularisation within 12 months. Most patients fell within the subgroup with lowest risk (57% of the elective surgery group with 5.6% risk and 91% of the non-elective surgery group with 9.9% risk). Modelled cost-utility ratios were acceptable for only one group of high risk patients undergoing non-elective surgery (only one patient in audit data). Restricting the number of DES for each patient improved results marginally: 4% of stents could then be drug eluting on economic grounds. The threshold price premium justifying 90% substitution of conventional stents was estimated to be 112 pound sterling (212 USD, 162 pound sterling) (sirolimus stents) or 89 pound sterling (167 USD, 130 pound sterling) (paclitaxel stents). At current UK prices, DES are not cost effective compared with conventional stents except for a small minority of patients. Although the technology is clearly effective, general substitution is not justified unless the price premium falls substantially.

  18. The importance of maintainability in maintenance cost management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allen, R.R.

    1996-01-01

    This paper provides specific examples and results from ongoing projects at Power Plants, and for offshore oil platforms. The paper describes the vital role maintainability has on plant availability. How the application of equipment maintainability principles, if addressed using state of the art computer tools and advanced business processes can bring annual return on investment results as high as 15 to 1. The maintenance process of today and for the future must provide for high plant availability at the lowest possible cost. The high cost of obtaining equipment reliability levels necessary to meet required availability demands has not proved to be sustainable. Therefore new business decision processes that address equipment failures as part of the maintenance process have been developed. Repair costs require that equipment failures be selective and controlled so that a high level of safety and plant availability is assurance. This can only be accomplished by the use of advanced computer tools in the hands of well trained maintenance-engineering specialist. The relationship between Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), Condition Directed Planned Maintenance (CDPM), and maintainability is also presented

  19. Use of Linear Programming to Develop Cost-Minimized Nutritionally Adequate Health Promoting Food Baskets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Parlesak, A.; Tetens, Inge; Dejgård Jensen, Jørgen

    2016-01-01

    Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) are developed to promote healthier eating patterns, but increasing food prices may make healthy eating less affordable. The aim of this study was to design a range of cost-minimized nutritionally adequate health-promoting food baskets (FBs) that help prevent...... both micronutrient inadequacy and diet-related non-communicable diseases at lowest cost. Average prices for 312 foods were collected within the Greater Copenhagen area. The cost and nutrient content of five different cost-minimized FBs for a family of four were calculated per day using linear...... in each of the resulting five baskets was increased through limiting the relative share of individual foods. The one-day version of N contained only 12 foods at the minimum cost of DKK 27 (€ 3.6). The CA, DG, and DGN were about twice of this and the CAN cost ~DKK 81 (€ 10.8). The baskets with the greater...

  20. Beyond waste: new sustainable fillers from fly ashes stabilization, obtained by low cost raw materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Rodella

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available A sustainable economy can be achieved only by assessing processes finalized to optimize the use of resources. Waste can be a relevant source of energy thanks to energy-from-waste processes. Concerns regarding the toxic fly ashes can be solved by transforming them into resource as recycled materials. The commitment to recycle is driven by the need to conserve natural resources, reduce imports of raw materials, save landfill space and reduce pollution. A new method to stabilize fly ash from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator (MSWI at room temperature has been developed thanks to COSMOS-RICE LIFE+ project (www.cosmos-rice.csmt.eu. This process is based on a chemical reaction that occurs properly mixing three waste fly ashes with rice husk ash, an agricultural by-product. COSMOS inert can replace critical raw materials (i.e. silica, fluorspar, clays, bentonite, antimony and alumina as filler. Moreover the materials employed in the stabilization procedure may be not available in all areas. This paper investigates the possibility of substituting silica fume with corresponding condensed silica fume and to substitute flue-gas desulfurization (FGD residues with low-cost calcium hydroxide powder. The removal of coal fly ash was also considered. The results will be presented and a possible substitution of the materials to stabilize fly ash will be discussed.

  1. Rotational structure of the five lowest frequency fundamental vibrational states of dimethylsulfoxide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuisset, Arnaud; Drumel, Marie-Aline Martin; Hindle, Francis; Mouret, Gaël; Sadovskií, Dmitrií A.

    2013-10-01

    We report on the successful extended analysis of the high-frequency (200-700 GHz) part of the gas phase (sub)mm-wave spectra of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The spectrum was recorded at 100 kHz resolution using a solid state subTHz spectrometer. The five lowest energy fundamental vibrational states of DMSO with frequencies below 400 cm-1 were observed as sidebands along with the main 0←0 band. Neglecting the internal rotation of methyls, our rotational Hamiltonian reproduced the spectrum to the subMHz accuracy. We have found that the asymmetric bending state ν23 is the only low frequency fundamental vibrational state with the "anomalous" rotational structure uncovered in Cuisset et al. [1]. dmsomw 2013-09-04 15:03

  2. Mathematical modeling to select mechanized agricultural systems by the lowest operational cost

    OpenAIRE

    Baio, Fábio H. R.; Rodrigues, Andrew D.; Santos, Gilson S. dos; Silva, Simone P. da

    2013-01-01

    A seleção de uma máquina agrícola pode tornar-se uma tarefa árdua, pois há diversas variáveis que devem ser consideradas. A escolha do equipamento mais adequado para uma propriedade agrícola é uma das etapas mais importantes do processo produtivo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um modelo de computador por programação linear em plataforma web para seleção automatizada de conjuntos mecanizados agrícolas, baseados no menor custo operacional. O programa, desenvolvido em linguagem ASP.N...

  3. The Incidence and gastrointestinal infectious risk of functional gastrointestinal disorders in a healthy US adult population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porter, Chad K; Gormley, Robert; Tribble, David R; Cash, Brooks D; Riddle, Mark S

    2011-01-01

    Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGDs) are recognized sequelae of infectious gastroenteritis (IGE). Within the active duty military population, a group with known high IGE rates, the population-based incidence, risk factors, and attributable burden of care referable to FGD after IGE are poorly defined. Using electronic medical encounter data (1999-2007) on active duty US military, a matched, case-control study describing the epidemiology and risk determinants of FGD (irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional constipation (FC), functional diarrhea (FD), dyspepsia (D)) was conducted. Incidence rates and duration of FGD-related medical care were estimated, and conditional logistic regression was utilized to evaluate FGD risk after IGE. A total of 31,866 cases of FGD identified were distributed as follows: FC 55% (n=17,538), D 21.2% (n=6,750), FD 2.1% (n=674), IBS 28.5% (n=9,091). Previous IGE episodes were distributed as follows: specific bacterial pathogen (n=65, 1.2%), bacterial, with no pathogen specified (n=2155, 38.9%), protozoal (n=38, 0.7%), viral (n=3431, 61.9%). A significant association between IGE and all FGD (odds ratio (OR) 2.64; Phigh risk for IGE. When considering effective countermeasures and mitigation strategies, attention directed toward prevention as well as the acute and chronic sequelae of these infections is needed.

  4. EVALUATION OF CORROSION COST OF CRUDE OIL PROCESSING INDUSTRY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ADESANYA A.O.

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Crude oil production industry as the hub of Nigeria Economy is not immune to the global financial meltdown being experienced world over which have resulted in a continual fall of oil price. This has necessitated the need to reduce cost of production. One of the major costs of production is corrosion cost, hence, its evaluation. This research work outlined the basic principles of corrosion prevention, monitoring and inspection and attempted to describe ways in which these measures may be adopted in the context of oil production. A wide range of facilities are used in crude oil production making it difficult to evaluate precisely the extent of corrosion and its cost implication. In this study, cost of corrosion per barrel was determined and the annualized value of corrosion cost was also determined using the principles of engineering economy and results analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that among the corrosion prevention methods identified, the use of chemical treatment gave the highest cost contribution (81% of the total cost of prevention while coating added 19%. Cleaning pigging and cathodic protection gave no cost. The contribution of corrosion maintenance methods are 60% for repairs and 40% for replacement. Also among the corrosion monitoring and inspection identified, NDT gave the highest cost contribution of 41% of the total cost, followed by coating survey (34%. Cathodic protection survey and crude analysis gives the lowest cost contribution of 19% and 6% respectively. Corrosion control cost per barrel was found to be 77 cent/barrel. The significance of this cost was not much due to high price of crude oil in the international market. But the effect of corrosion in crude oil processing takes its toll on crude oil production (i.e. deferment.

  5. Computer simulation of 2D grain growth using a cellular automata model based on the lowest energy principle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He Yizhu; Ding Hanlin; Liu Liufa; Shin, Keesam

    2006-01-01

    The morphology, topology and kinetics of normal grain growth in two-dimension were studied by computer simulation using a cellular automata (Canada) model based on the lowest energy principle. The thermodynamic energy that follows Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics has been introduced into this model for the calculation of energy change. The transition that can reduce the system energy to the lowest level is chosen to occur when there is more than one possible transition direction. The simulation results show that the kinetics of normal grain growth follows the Burke equation with the growth exponent m = 2. The analysis of topology further indicates that normal grain growth can be simulated fairly well by the present CA model. The vanishing of grains with different number of sides is discussed in the simulation

  6. Quality of life and health care consultation in 13 to 18 year olds with abdominal pain predominant functional gastrointestinal diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devanarayana, Niranga Manjuri; Rajindrajith, Shaman; Benninga, Marc A

    2014-08-21

    Abdominal pain predominant functional gastrointestinal diseases (AP-FGD) are commonly seen in the paediatric age group. It has significant impact on daily activities of affected children. Main objective of this study was to assess the health related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with AP-FGD. This was a cross sectional survey conducted in children aged 13-18 years, in four randomly selected schools in Western province of Sri Lanka. Data was collected using a previously validated, self-administered questionnaire. It had questions on symptoms, HRQoL and health care consultation. AP-FGD were diagnosed using Rome III criteria. A total of 1850 questionnaires were included in the analysis [males 1000 (54.1%), mean age 14.4 years and SD 1.3 years]. Of them, 305 (16.5%) had AP-FGD [irritable bowel syndrome = 91(4.9%), functional dyspepsia = 11 (0.6%), abdominal migraine = 37 (1.9%) and functional abdominal pain = 180 (9.7%)]. Lower HRQoL scores for physical (83.6 vs. 91.4 in controls), social (85.0 vs. 92.7), emotional (73.6 vs. 82.7) and school (75.0 vs. 82.5) functioning domains, and lower overall scores (79.6 vs. 88.0) were seen in children with AP-FGD (p abdominal pain (r = -0.24, p abdominal bloating and vomiting (p < 0.05). Children with AP-FGD have lower quality of life in all 4 domains. Those with severe symptoms have lower HRQoL. Approximately 28% of children with AP-FGD seek healthcare for their symptoms.

  7. The effect of location and facility demand on the marginal cost of delivered wood chips from energy crops: A case study of the state of Tennessee

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graham, R.L.; Liu, W.; Downing, M.; Noon, C.; Daly, M.; Moore, A.

    1995-01-01

    Cost-supply curves for delivered wood chips from short rotation woody crops were calculated for 21 regularly-spaced locations spanning the state of Tennessee. These curves were used to systematically evaluate the combined effects of location and facility demand on wood chip feedstock costs in Tennessee. The cost-supply curves were developed using BRAVO, a GIS-based decision support system which calculates marginal cost of delivering wood chips to a specific location given road network maps and maps of farmgate prices and supplies of woody chips from short rotation energy crops. Marginal costs of delivered chips varied by both facility location in the state and facility demand. Marginal costs were lowest in central Tennessee unless the facility demand was greater than 2.7 million dry Mg per year (3 million dry tons per year) in which case west Tennessee was the lowest cost region. Marginal costs rose rapidly with increasing facility demand in the mountainous eastern portion of the state. Transportation costs accounted for 18 to 29% of the delivered cost and ranged between $8 and $18/dry Mg ($7 and $16/dry ton). Reducing the expected farmer participation rate from 100% to 50% or 25% dramatically raised the marginal costs of feedstock supply in the east and central regions of the state. The analysis demonstrates the need to use geographically-specific information when projecting the potential costs and supplies of biomass feedstock

  8. Physical Protection System Upgrades - Optimizing for Performance and Cost

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hicks, Mary Jane; Bouchard, Ann M.

    1999-01-01

    CPA--Cost and Performance Analysis--is an architecture that supports analysis of physical protection systems and upgrade options. ASSESS (Analytic System and Software for Evaluating Security Systems), a tool for evaluating performance of physical protection systems, currently forms the cornerstone for evaluating detection probabilities and delay times of the system. Cost and performance data are offered to the decision-maker at the systems level and to technologists at the path-element level. A new optimization engine has been attached to the CPA methodology to automate analyses of many combinations (portfolios) of technologies. That engine controls a new analysis sequencer that automatically modifies ASSESS PPS files (facility descriptions), automatically invokes ASSESS Outsider analysis and then saves results for post-processing. Users can constrain the search to an upper bound on total cost, to a lower bound on level of performance, or to include specific technologies or technology types. This process has been applied to a set of technology development proposals to identify those portfolios that provide the most improvement in physical security for the lowest cost to install, operate and maintain at a baseline facility

  9. Search for the lowest irradiation dose from literatures on radiation-induced cancer in gastrointestinal tract

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshizawa, Y; Kusama, T [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Medicine

    1976-05-01

    A survey of past case reports about radiation-induced cancer in the gastrointestinal tract was carried out with the main object of finding the lowest irradiation dose. Search of the literature published since 1923 revealed 80 cases of radiation-induced large intestine cancer and one case of stomach cancer. The cases of radiation-induced cancer in the large intestine had received radiation for the treatment of non-malignant conditions, fibroma, ovarial cyste, myoma, endometritis and duodenal ulcer. The lowest irradiation dose was estimated at 460 rads. Adenocarcinoma was the histopathological finding in all cases of radiation-induced cancer in the caecum, colon and rectum, and squamous cell carcinoma in the cases of anal cancer. The latent period ranged from 1 to 31 years, with the average of 13.6 years. There were some reports of statistical studies of radiation-induced stomach cancer. Three groups were the subjects of these studies. The first group was composed of atomic bomb survivors, the second of patients who had undergone radiation treatment for ankylosing spondilitis, and the third of duodenal ulcer patients subjected to radiation treatment for the purpose of suppressing gastric acid secretion. These statistical studies showed no significant increase of the incidence of stomach cancer in the irradiated groups.

  10. Search for the lowest irradiation dose from literatures on radiation-induced cancer in gastrointestinal tract

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshizawa, Yasuo; Kusama, Tomoko

    1976-01-01

    A survey of past case reports about radiation-induced cancer in the gastrointestinal tract was carried out with the main object of finding the lowest irradiation dose. Search of the literature published since 1923 revealed 80 cases of radiation-induced large intestine cancer and one case of stomach cancer. The cases of radiation-induced cancer in the large intestine had received radiation for the treatment of non-malignant conditions, fibroma, ovarial cyste, myoma, endometritis and duodenal ulcer. The lowest irradiation dose was estimated at 460 rads. Adenocarcinoma was the histopathological finding in all cases of radiation-induced cancer in the caecum, colon and rectum, and squamous cell carcinoma in the cases of anal cancer. The latent period ranged from 1 to 31 years, with the average of 13.6 years. There were some reports of statistical studies of radiation-induced stomach cancer. Three groups were the subjects of these studies. The first group was composed of atomic bomb survivors, the second of patients who had undergone radiation treatment for ankylosing spondilitis, and the third of duodenal ulcer patients subjected to radiation treatment for the purpose of suppressing gastric acid secretion. These statistical studies showed no significant increase of the incidence of stomach cancer in the irradiated groups. (auth.)

  11. Production of solidified high level wastes: a cost comparison of solidification processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1977-06-01

    Differential cost estimates of the annual operating and maintenance costs and the capital costs for five HLW Waste Solidification Alternates were developed. The annual operating and maintenance cost estimates included the cost of labor, consumables, utilities, shipping casks, shipping and disposal at a federal repository. The capital cost included the cost of the component, installation and building. The differential cost estimates do not include equipment and facilities which are either shared with the reprocessing facility or are common between all of the alternates. Total annual cost differential between the five waste form alternates is summarized in tabular form. The Borosilicate Glass Alternate has the lowest total annual cost. The other alternates have higher costs which range from $6.6 M to $7.4 M per year higher than the Glass alternate with the Supercalcine being the highest cost at $7.4 M per year differential. The major items in the cost estimates are then disposal costs in the operating cost estimates and the HLW Storage Tanks in the capital cost estimates. The Supercalcine Multibarrier Alternate ships 180 canisters per year more than the other alternates and consequently has a significantly higher operating cost. However, off-setting this the Supercalcine Multibarrier Alternate does not require HLW Storage Tanks for decay because of the high heat conductivity of this product and correspondingly the capital cost for this alternate is significantly lower than the other alternates. The radiological risk values are correlated with the cost evaluation normalized to cost ($)/MWe-yr

  12. Potential energies for the two lowest 1A' electronic states of H3+

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichihara, Akira; Yokoyama, Keiichi; Iwamoto, Osamu

    1998-11-01

    Potential energies for the two lowest 1 A' states of H 3 + at 701 different spatial geometries are tabulated. These energies have been calculated by the ab initio full configuration interaction method with a (8s6p2d1f) Gaussian type basis set. Features of avoided crossing of two surfaces as well as the potential well in the ground state can be produced by interpolating calculated energies. These ab initio energies are expressed as a function of three internuclear distances in the range from 0.6 to 10.0 bohr, and they are applicable to the molecular dynamics study for the H + + H 2 system. (author)

  13. Application of Data Envelopment Analysis to Measure Cost, Revenue and Profit Efficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristína Kočišová

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The literature analysing efficiency of financial institutions has enveloped rapidly over the last years. Most studies have focused on the input side analysing input technical and cost efficiency. Only few studies have examined the output side evaluating output technical and revenue efficiency. We know that both sides are relevant when evaluating efficiency of financial institutions. Therefore the primary purpose of this paper is to review a number of approaches for efficiency measurement. In particular, the concepts of cost, revenue and profit functions are discussed. We apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA to a sample of Slovak and Czech commercial banks during years 2009–2013 comparing the efficiencies by either minimizing cost or maximizing revenue and profit. The results showed that the level of average revenue efficiency was the highest and the average profit efficiency was the lowest one. As can be seen the Czech banks were more cost, revenue and profit efficient than Slovak ones during the whole analysed period.

  14. Influences of the Capital Structure and the Cost of Capital on Financial Performance. Case Study on ENGIE Group

    OpenAIRE

    Elena Valentina IVASCU; Nicoleta BARBUTA-MISU

    2017-01-01

    The main objectives of the company's financial management are to ensure financial performances and to choose the capital structure that corresponds to the lowest total cost of capital. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between the capital structure and cost, and the financial performance of Engie Transnational Group, one of the most important global electricity producers. The data used were extracted from the Amadeus and Bloomberg databases for the period 2010-2015. Fin...

  15. Validity of the lowest-Landau-level approximation for rotating Bose gases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morris, Alexis G.; Feder, David L.

    2006-01-01

    The energy spectrum for an ultracold rotating Bose gas in a harmonic trap is calculated exactly for small systems, allowing the atoms to occupy several Landau levels. Two vortexlike states and two strongly correlated states (the Pfaffian and Laughlin) are considered in detail. In particular, their critical rotation frequencies and energy gaps are determined as a function of particle number, interaction strength, and the number of Landau levels occupied (up to three). For the vortexlike states, the lowest-Landau-level (LLL) approximation is justified only if the interaction strength decreases with the number of particles; nevertheless, the constant of proportionality increases rapidly with the angular momentum per particle. For the strongly correlated states, however, the interaction strength can increase with particle number without violating the LLL condition. The results suggest that, in large systems, the Pfaffian and Laughlin states might be stabilized at rotation frequencies below the centrifugal limit for sufficiently large interaction strengths, with energy gaps a significant fraction of the trap energy

  16. NO NEUTRON STAR COMPANION TO THE LOWEST MASS SDSS WHITE DWARF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agueeros, Marcel A.; Camilo, Fernando; Heinke, Craig; Kilic, Mukremin; Anderson, Scott F.; Silvestri, Nicole M.; Freire, Paulo; Kleinman, Scot J.; Liebert, James W.

    2009-01-01

    SDSS J091709.55+463821.8 (hereafter J0917+4638) is the lowest surface gravity white dwarf (WD) currently known, with log g = 5.55 ± 0.05 (M ∼ 0.17 M sun ). Such low-mass white dwarfs (LMWDs) are believed to originate in binaries that evolve into WD/WD or WD/neutron star (NS) systems. An optical search for J0917+4638's companion showed that it must be a compact object with a mass ≥0.28 M sun . Here we report on Green Bank Telescope 820 MHz and XMM-Newton X-ray observations of J0917+4638 intended to uncover a potential NS companion to the LMWD. No convincing pulsar signal is detected in our radio data. Our X-ray observation also failed to detect X-ray emission from J0917+4638's companion, while we would have detected any of the millisecond radio pulsars in 47 Tuc. We conclude that the companion is almost certainly another WD.

  17. Electricity transmission congestion costs: A review of recent reports

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lesieutre, Bernard C.; Eto, Joseph H.

    2003-10-01

    Recently, independent system operators (ISOs) and others have published reports on the costs of transmission congestion. The magnitude of congestion costs cited in these reports has contributed to the national discussion on the current state of U.S. electricity transmission system and whether it provides an adequate platform for competition in wholesale electricity markets. This report reviews reports of congestion costs and begins to assess their implications for the current national discussion on the importance of the U.S. electricity transmission system for enabling competitive wholesale electricity markets. As a guiding principle, we posit that a more robust electricity system could reduce congestion costs; and thereby, (1) facilitate more vibrant and fair competition in wholesale electricity markets, and (2) enable consumers to seek out the lowest prices for electricity. Yet, examining the details suggests that, sometimes, there will be trade-offs between these goals. Therefore, it is essential to understand who pays, how much, and how do they benefit in evaluating options (both transmission and non-transmission alternatives) to address transmission congestion. To describe the differences among published estimates of congestion costs, we develop and motivate three ways by which transmission congestion costs are calculated in restructured markets. The assessment demonstrates that published transmission congestion costs are not directly comparable because they have been developed to serve different purposes. More importantly, critical information needed to make them more comparable, for example in order to evaluate the impacts of options to relieve congestion, is sometimes not available.

  18. Study to establish cost predictions for the production of Redox chemicals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ammann, P. R.; Loreth, M.; Harvey, W. W.

    1982-01-01

    The chromium and iron chloride chemicals are significant first costs for NASA Redox energy storage systems. This study was performed to determine the lowest cost at which chromium and iron chlorides could be obtained for a complex of redox energy storage systems. In addition, since the solutions gradually become intermixed during the course of operation of Redox units, it was an objective to evaluate schemes for regeneration of the operating solutions. Three processes were evaluated for the production of chromium and iron chlorides. As a basis for the preliminary plant design and economic evaluation, it was assumed that the plant would produce about 25,000 tons of contained chromium as CrCl3 and an equivalent molar quantity of FeCl2. Preliminary plant designs, including materials and energy balances and sizing of major equipment, were prepared, and capital and operating costs were estimated.

  19. STRATEGI BERSAING UNTUK MENINGKATKAN DAYA SAING SEKOLAH TINGGI TEOLOGIA DI UNGARAN

    OpenAIRE

    I Putu Ayub Darmawan; Sutriyono Sutriyono

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed to design a competitive strategy to improve the competitiveness of STT Simpson. This study was a research and development. The data were collected through observation, FGD (Focus Group Discussion) and interviews. Competitive strategies of STT Simpson are 1) Differentiation strategy: STT Simpson can offer theological education class in the evening to optimize the facilities owned for the churches in Ungaran and its surrounding; 2) Cost advantage strategy: STT Simpson has an ad...

  20. The DTU15 MSS (Mean Sea Surface) and DTU15LAT (Lowest Astronomical Tide) reference surface

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Stenseng, Lars; Piccioni, Gaia

    in the Arctic Ocean for DTU10MSS and DTU13MSS.A new reference surface for off-shore vertical referencing is introduced. This is called the DTU15LAT.The surface is derived from the DTU15MSS and the DTU10 Global ocean tide to give a 19 year Lowest Astronomical Tide referenced to either the Mean sea surface...

  1. Cost benefit risk - a concept for management of integrated urban wastewater systems?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauger, Mikkel B.; Rauch, W.; Linde, Jens Jørgen

    2002-01-01

    Urban wastewater systems should be evaluated and analysed from an integrated point of view, taking all parts of the system, that is sewer system, wastewater treatment plant and receiving waters into consideration. Risk and parameter uncertainties are aspects that hardly ever have been addressed...... in the evaluation and design of urban wastewater systems. In this paper we present and discuss a probabilistic approach for evaluation of the performance of urban wastewater systems. Risk analysis together with the traditional cost-benefit analysis is a special variant of multi-criteria analysis that seeks to find...... the most feasible improvement alternative for an urban wastewater system. The most feasible alternative in this context is the alternative that has the best performance, meaning that the alternative has the lowest sum of costs, benefits and risks. The sum is expressed as the Net Present Cost (NPC). To use...

  2. Structure of production costs of different energy sources (fossile fuels and nuclear energy) (group 11)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Girard, Ph.

    2002-01-01

    This article is the work of a group of students from the ''Ecole Nationale d'Administration'', they had to study the structure of the costs of the different energy sources. This analysis shows some common features between the energy sources. The cost is very dependent on the partial costs of technological constraints due to exploration, production, transport and distribution. For primary energies the market appears to be not very competitive, the price depends strongly on the market power of the operator and benefits are generally important. In France, taxes play a role to assure competitiveness of gas and coal against oil. Uranium fuel presents the lowest production and transformation costs at the same energy content. Transport costs are important for natural gas which implies a strong mutual dependence between gas producers and consumers. The irreplaceable use of oil in transport assures regular high revenues for oil companies. (A.C.)

  3. Cost-effectiveness of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in preventing HIV-1 infections in rural Zambia: a modeling study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nichols, B.E.; Boucher, C.A.B.; van Dijk, J.H.; Thuma, P.E.; Nouwen, J.L.; Baltussen, R.; van de Wijgert, J.; Sloot, P.M.A.; van de Vijver, D.A.M.C.

    2013-01-01

    Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir and emtricitabine effectively prevents new HIV infections. The optimal scenario for implementing PrEP where most infections are averted at the lowest cost is unknown. We determined the impact of different PrEP strategies on averting new

  4. Which cost of alcohol? What should we compare it against?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharya, Aveek

    2017-04-01

    This paper explores and develops issues raised by recent debates about the cost of alcohol to England and Wales. It advances two arguments. First, that the commonly used estimates for alcohol harm in England and Wales are outdated, not fully reliable and in need of revisiting. These estimates rely on data that are between 4 and 12 years out of date and sensitive to questionable assumptions and methodological judgements. Secondly, it argues that policymakers, academics and non-governmental organizations should be more careful in their use of these numbers. In particular, it is imperative that the numbers quoted fit the argument advanced. To help guide such appropriate usage, the different types of cost of alcohol are surveyed, alongside some thoughts on the questions they help us to answer and what they imply for policy. For example, comprehensive estimates of the total social cost of alcohol provide an indication of the scale of the problem, but have limited policy relevance. External cost estimates represent a 'lowest common denominator' approach acceptable to most, but require additional assumptions to guide action. Narrower perspectives, such as fiscal, economic or health costs, may be relevant in specific contexts. However, optimal policy should take a holistic view of all the relevant costs and benefits. Similarly, focusing solely on tangible costs may be less controversial, but will result in an under-estimate of the relevant costs of alcohol. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  5. The cost of productivity losses associated with allergic rhinitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crystal-Peters, J; Crown, W H; Goetzel, R Z; Schutt, D C

    2000-03-01

    To measure the cost of absenteeism and reduced productivity associated with allergic rhinitis. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was used to obtain information on days lost from work and lost productivity due to allergic rhinitis. Wage estimates for occupations obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) were used to calculate the costs. Productivity losses associated with a diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in the 1995 NHIS were estimated to be $601 million. When additional survey information on the use of sedating over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medications, as well as workers' self-assessments of their reduction in at-work productivity due to allergic rhinitis, were considered, the estimated productivity loss increased dramatically. At-work productivity losses were estimated to range from $2.4 billion to $4.6 billion. Despite the inherent difficulty of measuring productivity losses, our lowest estimate is several times higher than previous estimates of the indirect medical costs associated with allergic rhinitis treatment. The most significant productivity losses resulted not from absenteeism but from reduced at-work productivity associated with the use of sedating OTC antihistamines.

  6. Land application uses for dry flue gas desulfurization by-products: Phase 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dick, W.; Bigham, J.; Forster, R.; Hitzhusen, F.; Lal, R.; Stehouwer, R.; Traina, S.; Wolfe, W.; Haefner, R.; Rowe, G.

    1999-01-31

    New flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubbing technologies create a dry, solid by-product material consisting of excess sorbent, reaction product that contains sulfate and sulfite, and coal fly ash. Generally, dry FGD by-products are treated as solid wastes and disposed in landfills. However, landfill sites are becoming scarce and tipping fees are constantly increasing. Provided the environmental impacts are socially and scientifically acceptable, beneficial uses via recycling can provide economic benefits to both the producer and the end user of the FGD. A study titled ''Land Application Uses for Dry Flue Gas Desulfurization By-Products'' was initiated in December, 1990 to develop and demonstrate large volume, beneficial uses of FGD by-products. Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports have been published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Palo Alto, CA. Phase 3 objectives were to demonstrate, using field studies, the beneficial uses of FGD by-products (1) as an amendment material on agricultural lands and on abandoned surface coal mine land, (2) as an engineering material for soil stabilization and raid repair, and (3) to assess the environmental and economic impacts of such beneficial uses. Application of dry FGD by-product to three soils in place of agricultural limestone increased alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and corn (Zea may L.) yields. No detrimental effects on soil and plant quality were observed.

  7. EFEKTIVITAS FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION UNTUK MENGURANGI STRES PADA SISWA SMA YANG AKAN MENGHADAPI UJIAN AKHIR NASIONAL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dina Aprilia

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This research is aimed to find the effectivity of Focus Group Discussion (FGD to decrease the feeling stress for senior high school students (SMA who will face the national final examination (UAN. Stress on SMA students is a circumstance which gets negative assessment. It intimidates and pushes the students, in this case is UAN would appear a reaction such as emotional disorder, cognition, physiology and behavior disorder of SMA students. This research concerned 21 SMA students in grade XII, who had high stress level in facing UAN. The subjects were divided into two groups. First group was the experiment group (include 11 students and it was the group who got the FGD treatment. The second group was control group (include 10 students and this group didn’t get the FGD treatment. Collecting data was done by using Stress Scale in facing UAN. It was given (a before FGD (pre-test and (b after FGD (post-test. The hypothesis is examined by using difference examination (t-test by comparing mean pre-test and post-test. The result showed that there was a significant influence to decrease the stress in SMA students who were in experiment group (t = 6,540, p < 0,01 after they got FGD treatment. Experiment group had decreased the stress score to face UAN (Mean=7,476.

  8. Health plan utilization and costs of specialty drugs within 4 chronic conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gleason, Patrick P; Alexander, G Caleb; Starner, Catherine I; Ritter, Stephen T; Van Houten, Holly K; Gunderson, Brent W; Shah, Nilay D

    2013-09-01

    Drugs are most typically defined as specialty because they are expensive; however, other criteria used to define a drug as specialty include biologic drugs, the need to inject or infuse the drug, the requirement for special handling, or drug availability only via a limited distribution network. Specialty drugs play an increasingly important role in the treatment of chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), yet little is known regarding the comprehensive medical and pharmacy benefit utilization and cost trends for these conditions. To describe MS, RA, psoriasis, and IBD trends for condition prevalence, treatment with specialty drugs, specialty costs, nonspecialty costs, and total direct costs of care within the medical and pharmacy benefits. This was a descriptive analysis of a commercially insured population made up of 1 million members, using integrated medical and pharmacy administrative claims data from 2008 to 2010. Analyses were limited to continuously enrolled commercially insured individuals less than 65 years of age. Condition-specific cohorts for MS, RA, psoriasis, and IBD were defined using standardized criteria. Trends in condition prevalence, specialty drug use for the conditions, and direct total cost of care were analyzed. The direct costs were subcategorized into the following: medical benefit specialty drug costs, medical benefit all other costs, pharmacy benefit specialty drug costs, and pharmacy benefit all other costs. Trends and compound annual growth rates were calculated for the total cost of care and subcategory costs from 2008 through 2010. Condition prevalence ranged from a low of 1,720 per million members for MS to a high of 4,489 per million members for RA. Psoriasis and MS condition prevalence rates were unchanged over the 3 years; however, IBD prevalence increased 7.0%, and RA prevalence increased 9.7%. The rate of specialty drug use was lowest for IBD

  9. A low-cost, Nist-traceable, high performance dielectric resonator Master Oscillator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doolittle, L.R.; Hovater, C.; Merminga, L.; Musson, J.; Wiseman, W.

    1999-01-01

    The current CEBAF Master Oscillator (MO) uses a quartz-based 10 MHz reference to synthesize 70 MHz and 499 MHz, which are then distributed to each of the klystron galleries on site. Due to the specialized nature of CEBAF's MO requirements, it has been determined that an in-house design and fabrication would provide a cost-effective alternative to purchasing or modifying vendor equipment. A Global Positioning System (GPS) disciplined, Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) based MO is proposed which incorporates low-cost consumer RF components, designed for cellular communications. A 499 MHz Dielectric Resonant Oscillator (DRO) Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) is phase-locked to a GPS-disciplined 10 MHz reference, and micro-tuned via a DDS, in an effort to achieve the lowest phase noise possible

  10. Cost-analysis of teledentistry in residential aged care facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mariño, Rodrigo; Tonmukayakul, Utsana; Manton, David; Stranieri, Andrew; Clarke, Ken

    2016-09-01

    The purpose of this research was to conduct a cost-analysis, from a public healthcare perspective, comparing the cost and benefits of face-to-face patient examination assessments conducted by a dentist at a residential aged care facility (RACF) situated in rural areas of the Australian state of Victoria, with two teledentistry approaches utilizing virtual oral examination. The costs associated with implementing and operating the teledentistry approach were identified and measured using 2014 prices in Australian dollars. Costs were measured as direct intervention costs and programme costs. A population of 100 RACF residents was used as a basis to estimate the cost of oral examination and treatment plan development for the traditional face-to-face model vs. two teledentistry models: an asynchronous review and treatment plan preparation; and real-time communication with a remotely located oral health professional. It was estimated that if 100 residents received an asynchronous oral health assessment and treatment plan, the net cost from a healthcare perspective would be AU$32.35 (AU$27.19-AU$38.49) per resident. The total cost of the conventional face-to-face examinations by a dentist would be AU$36.59 ($30.67-AU$42.98) per resident using realistic assumptions. Meanwhile, the total cost of real-time remote oral examination would be AU$41.28 (AU$34.30-AU$48.87) per resident. Teledental asynchronous patient assessments were the lowest cost service model. Access to oral health professionals is generally low in RACFs; however, the real-time consultation could potentially achieve better outcomes due to two-way communication between the nurse and a remote oral health professional via health promotion/disease prevention delivered in conjunction with the oral examination. © The Author(s) 2015.

  11. [Irritable bowel syndrome and cardiac right-to-left shunt through a patent foramen ovale].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alarcón-Fernández, Onofre; Alvarez-Fernández, Jesús-Andrés; Baudet, Juan-Salvador; Pérez-Quintero, Raquel; Sánchez-Del Río, Antonio; Borja-Gutiérrez, Elisa; Borque-Barrera, Pilar

    2008-05-31

    Both irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) have a similar prevalence in the general population, affect more commonly women and are related to comorbidities such as migraine. In IBS there are alterations in the metabolism of certain substances like serotonin. In the presence of PFO with a right- to left-shunt (RLS), a percentage of venous blood bypasses the lung filter and may increase these substances in blood. A phone interview was done to determine the presence of IBS in patients previously attended for detection of RLS with transcranial Doppler ultrasound. The presence and grade of RLS was analyzed and compared with subjects without gastrointestinal symptoms (NoGI). Rome II criteria were used to diagnose IBS or other functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGD) and Venice 1999 consensus were used for the diagnosis of RLS. Thirthy-three (18.3%) of 180 interviewed patients had IBS and 62 (34.4%) other FGD. RLS was found in 41% of NoGI patients, 64% of patients with IBS and 68% of patients with other FGD (odds ratio [OR] = 2.56; p < 0.05 for SII, and OR = 3.06; p < 0.01 for other FGD). RLS with a massive pattern was registered in en 27% of NoGI patients, 39% of patients with IBS and 45% of patients with other FGD (OR = 1.73; p = 1 for IBS, and OR = 2.21; p < 0.05 for other FGD). We found a higher prevalence of cardiac RLS through a PFO in patients with IBS and other FGD. A possible etiopathogenic relationship must be considered in future studies.

  12. Measurement of the lowest dosage of phenobarbital that can produce drug discrimination in rats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Overton, Donald A.; Stanwood, Gregg D.; Patel, Bhavesh N.; Pragada, Sreenivasa R.; Gordon, M. Kathleen

    2009-01-01

    Rationale Accurate measurement of the threshold dosage of phenobarbital that can produce drug discrimination (DD) may improve our understanding of the mechanisms and properties of such discrimination. Objectives Compare three methods for determining the threshold dosage for phenobarbital (D) versus no drug (N) DD. Methods Rats learned a D versus N DD in 2-lever operant training chambers. A titration scheme was employed to increase or decrease dosage at the end of each 18-day block of sessions depending on whether the rat had achieved criterion accuracy during the sessions just completed. Three criterion rules were employed, all based on average percent drug lever responses during initial links of the last 6 D and 6 N sessions of a block. The criteria were: D%>66 and N%50 and N%33. Two squads of rats were trained, one immediately after the other. Results All rats discriminated drug versus no drug. In most rats, dosage decreased to low levels and then oscillated near the minimum level required to maintain criterion performance. The lowest discriminated dosage significantly differed under the three criterion rules. The squad that was trained 2nd may have benefited by partially duplicating the lever choices of the previous squad. Conclusions The lowest discriminated dosage is influenced by the criterion of discriminative control that is employed, and is higher than the absolute threshold at which discrimination entirely disappears. Threshold estimations closer to absolute threshold can be obtained when criteria are employed that are permissive, and that allow rats to maintain lever preferences. PMID:19082992

  13. Radiobiologically based assessments of the net costs of fractionated radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dale, Roger G.; Jones, Bleddyn

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: To examine how the long-term costs of radiation therapy may be influenced by modifications to fractionation schemes, and how any improvements in tumor control might, in principle, be translated into a potential cost saving for the responsible healthcare organization. Methods and Materials: Standard radiobiological modeling based on the linear-quadratic (LQ) model is combined with financial parameters relating to the estimated costs of different aspects of radiotherapy treatment delivery. The cost model includes provision for the long-term costs of treatment failure and enables the extra costs of near optimal radiotherapy to be balanced against suboptimal alternatives, which are more likely to be associated with further radiotherapy, salvage surgery, and continuing care. Results: A number of caveats are essential in presenting a model such as this for the first time, and these are clearly stated. However, a recurring observation is that, in terms of the whole cost of supporting a patient from first radiotherapy treatment onwards, high quality radiotherapy (i.e., based on individual patterns of fractionation that are near optimal for particular subpopulations of tumor) will frequently be associated with the lowest global cost. Conclusions: This work adds weight to the case for identifying fast and accurate predictive assay techniques, and supports the argument that suboptimal radiotherapy is usually more costly in the long term. Although the article looks only at the cost-benefit consequences of altered patterns of fractionation, the method will, in principle, have application to other changes in the way radiotherapy can be performed, e.g., to examining the cost-benefit aspects of tumor dose escalation as a consequence of using advanced conformal treatment planning

  14. How costly are carbon offsets : a meta-analysis of forest carbon sinks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Kooten, G.C.; Eagle, A.J.; Manley, J.; Smolak, T.M.

    2004-01-01

    Carbon terrestrial sinks are one of the many proposed mitigation responses to climate change. Carbon sinks are considered to be a low-cost alternative to fuel switching and reduced fossil fuel consumption for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions. This study examined the costs of sequestering carbon in terrestrial ecosystems via forestry activities. A meta-regression analysis was used to determine which factors influence the costs of carbon sequestration via forest activities. Important concerns about how the Kyoto Protocol may be implemented were also addressed. The meta-regression analysis was used to examine 981 estimates from 55 studies on the cost of creating carbon offsets using forestry. Baseline cost estimates are US$46.62 to 260.29 per tC. Tree planting and agroforestry increases costs by more than 200 per cent. Costs are lowest when post-harvest storage of carbon in wood products is considered, or when biomass is substituted for fossil fuels in energy production. The meta-analysis also considered land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) policies that increase the carbon sink functions of terrestrial ecosystems. The main motive for using sinks in the accounting process is that they avoid the use of expensive controls for the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. refs., tabs

  15. Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project: Cost Reduction and Productivity Improvement Program Project Plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-11-01

    The purpose of the Cost Reduction/Productivity Improvement Program Plan is to formalize and improve upon existing efforts to control costs which have been underway since project inception. This program plan has been coordinated with the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) and the DOE Field Office, Albuquerque (AL). It incorporates prior Uranium Mill Tallings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project Office guidance issued on the subject. The opportunities for reducing cosh and improving productivity are endless. The CR/PIP has these primary objectives: Improve productivity and quality; heighten the general cost consciousness of project participants, at all levels of their organizations; identify and implement specific innovative employee ideas that extend beyond what is required through existing processes and procedures; emphasize efforts that create additional value for the money spent by maintaining the project Total Estimated Cost (TEC) at the lowest possible level

  16. Fuel prices, emission standards, and generation costs for coal vs natural gas power plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratson, Lincoln F; Haerer, Drew; Patiño-Echeverri, Dalia

    2013-05-07

    Low natural gas prices and stricter, federal emission regulations are promoting a shift away from coal power plants and toward natural gas plants as the lowest-cost means of generating electricity in the United States. By estimating the cost of electricity generation (COE) for 304 coal and 358 natural gas plants, we show that the economic viability of 9% of current coal capacity is challenged by low natural gas prices, while another 56% would be challenged by the stricter emission regulations. Under the current regulations, coal plants would again become the dominant least-cost generation option should the ratio of average natural gas to coal prices (NG2CP) rise to 1.8 (it was 1.42 in February 2012). If the more stringent emission standards are enforced, however, natural gas plants would remain cost competitive with a majority of coal plants for NG2CPs up to 4.3.

  17. The costs of radiosurgical treatment: Comparison between gamma knife and linear accelerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koenigsmaier, H.; Pauli-Ferch, B. de; Hackl, A.; Pendl, G.

    1998-01-01

    Radiosurgical treatment can be carried out by means of a gamma knife or a linear accelerator. The linear accelerator may be either a single-purpose appliance, exclusively employed in radiosurgery, or an adapted appliance which is used primarily for fractioned radiotherapy, and only additionally for radiosurgical purposes. The first alternative will be referred to briefly as a 'dedicated Linac', the latter as an 'adapted Linac'. Cost accounting data for these alternatives will be discussed under three main categories: investment costs. operating costs, and finally staffing costs. Costs are only considered to the extent that this is necessary to facilitate a comprehensive cost comparison. Factors for which the costs remain the same or at least broadly the same will from the outset not be taken into consideration. These include, for instance, the costs of general or special administration, diagnosis, and image processing. The results and conclusions of this study therefore cannot be employed immediately in the evaluation of cost reimbursement schemes of the type carried out by agencies responsible for social insurance. Here, appropriate complete cost analyzes especially for this purpose are required. The final comprehensive cost comparison reveals that the adapted Linac is the most favourable alternative with small annual quantities of patients. With larger numbers of patients the Gamma Knife represents the most favourable from a cost accounting angle. The dedicated Linac accordingly does not have a cost advantage for any of the examined numbers of patients. Clearly the lowest treatment costs per patient can be achieved by employing a Gamma Knife and using it to capacity. (author)

  18. Is Accelerated Partner Therapy (APT) a cost-effective alternative to routine patient referral partner notification in the UK? Preliminary cost-consequence analysis of an exploratory trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Tracy E; Tsourapas, Angelos; Sutcliffe, Lorna; Cassell, Jackie; Estcourt, Claudia

    2012-02-01

    To undertake a cost-consequence analysis to assess two new models of partner notification (PN), known as Accelerated Partner Therapy (APT Hotline and APT Pharmacy), as compared with routine patient referral PN, for sex partners of people with chlamydia, gonorrhoea and non-gonococcal urethritis. Comparison of costs and outcomes alongside an exploratory trial involving two genitourinary medicine clinics and six community pharmacies. Index patients selected the PN method (APT Hotline, APT Pharmacy or routine PN) for their partners. Clinics and pharmacies recorded cost and resource use data including duration of consultation and uptake of treatment pack. Cost data were collected prospectively for two out of three interventions, and data were synthesised and compared in terms of effectiveness and costs. Routine PN had the lowest average cost per partner treated (approximately £46) compared with either APT Hotline (approximately £54) or APT Pharmacy (approximately £53) strategies. The cost-consequence analysis revealed that APT strategies were more costly but also more effective at treating partners compared to routine PN. The hotline strategy costs more than both the alternative PN strategies. If we accept that strategies which identify and treat partners the fastest are likely to be the most effective in reducing reinfection and onward transmission, then APT Hotline appears an effective PN strategy by treating the highest number of partners in the shortest duration. Whether the additional benefit is worth the additional cost cannot be determined in this preliminary analysis. These data will be useful for informing development of future randomised controlled trials of APT.

  19. Cost-analysis of an oral health outreach program for preschool children in a low socioeconomic multicultural area in Sweden

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wennhall, Inger; Norlund, Anders; Matsson, Lars

    2010-01-01

    to a comprehensive oral health outreach project for preschool children conducted in a low-socioeconomic multi-cultural urban area. The outcome was compared with historical controls from the same area with conventional dental care. The cost per minute for the various dental professions was added to the cost......The aim was to calculate the total and the net costs per child included in a 3-year caries preventive program for preschool children and to make estimates of expected lowest and highest costs in a sensitivity analysis. The direct costs for prevention and dental care were applied retrospectively...... of materials, rental facilities and equipment based on accounting data. The cost for fillings was extracted from a specified per diem list. Overhead costs were assumed to correspond to 50% of salaries and all costs were calculated as net present value per participating child in the program and expressed...

  20. PACCOM: A nuclear waste packaging facility cost model: Draft technical report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dippold, D.G.; Tzemos, S.; Smith, D.J.

    1985-05-01

    PACCOM is a computerized, parametric model used to estimate the capital, operating, and decommissioning costs of a variety of nuclear waste packaging facility configurations. The model is based upon a modular waste packaging facility concept from which functional components of the overall facility have been identified and their design and costs related to various parameters such as waste type, waste throughput, and the number of operational shifts employed. The model may be used to either estimate the cost of a particular waste packaging facility configuration or to explore the cost tradeoff between plant capital and labor. That is, one may use the model to search for the particular facility sizes and associated cost which when coupled with a particular number of shifts, and thus staffing level, leads to the lowest overall total cost. The functional components which the model considers include hot cells and their supporting facilities, transportation, cask handling facilities, transuranic waste handling facilities, and administrative facilities such as warehouses, security buildings, maintenance buildings, etc. The cost of each of these functional components is related either directly or indirectly to the various independent design parameters. Staffing by shift is reported into direct and indirect support labor. These staffing levels are in turn related to the waste type, waste throughput, etc. 2 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs

  1. Sustainable Cost Models for mHealth at Scale: Modeling Program Data from m4RH Tanzania.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily R Mangone

    Full Text Available There is increasing evidence that mobile phone health interventions ("mHealth" can improve health behaviors and outcomes and are critically important in low-resource, low-access settings. However, the majority of mHealth programs in developing countries fail to reach scale. One reason may be the challenge of developing financially sustainable programs. The goal of this paper is to explore strategies for mHealth program sustainability and develop cost-recovery models for program implementers using 2014 operational program data from Mobile for Reproductive Health (m4RH, a national text-message (SMS based health communication service in Tanzania.We delineated 2014 m4RH program costs and considered three strategies for cost-recovery for the m4RH program: user pay-for-service, SMS cost reduction, and strategic partnerships. These inputs were used to develop four different cost-recovery scenarios. The four scenarios leveraged strategic partnerships to reduce per-SMS program costs and create per-SMS program revenue and varied the structure for user financial contribution. Finally, we conducted break-even and uncertainty analyses to evaluate the costs and revenues of these models at the 2014 user volume (125,320 and at any possible break-even volume.In three of four scenarios, costs exceeded revenue by $94,596, $34,443, and $84,571 at the 2014 user volume. However, these costs represented large reductions (54%, 83%, and 58%, respectively from the 2014 program cost of $203,475. Scenario four, in which the lowest per-SMS rate ($0.01 per SMS was negotiated and users paid for all m4RH SMS sent or received, achieved a $5,660 profit at the 2014 user volume. A Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis demonstrated that break-even points were driven by user volume rather than variations in program costs.These results reveal that breaking even was only probable when all SMS costs were transferred to users and the lowest per-SMS cost was negotiated with telecom partners

  2. Sustainable Cost Models for mHealth at Scale: Modeling Program Data from m4RH Tanzania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangone, Emily R; Agarwal, Smisha; L'Engle, Kelly; Lasway, Christine; Zan, Trinity; van Beijma, Hajo; Orkis, Jennifer; Karam, Robert

    2016-01-01

    There is increasing evidence that mobile phone health interventions ("mHealth") can improve health behaviors and outcomes and are critically important in low-resource, low-access settings. However, the majority of mHealth programs in developing countries fail to reach scale. One reason may be the challenge of developing financially sustainable programs. The goal of this paper is to explore strategies for mHealth program sustainability and develop cost-recovery models for program implementers using 2014 operational program data from Mobile for Reproductive Health (m4RH), a national text-message (SMS) based health communication service in Tanzania. We delineated 2014 m4RH program costs and considered three strategies for cost-recovery for the m4RH program: user pay-for-service, SMS cost reduction, and strategic partnerships. These inputs were used to develop four different cost-recovery scenarios. The four scenarios leveraged strategic partnerships to reduce per-SMS program costs and create per-SMS program revenue and varied the structure for user financial contribution. Finally, we conducted break-even and uncertainty analyses to evaluate the costs and revenues of these models at the 2014 user volume (125,320) and at any possible break-even volume. In three of four scenarios, costs exceeded revenue by $94,596, $34,443, and $84,571 at the 2014 user volume. However, these costs represented large reductions (54%, 83%, and 58%, respectively) from the 2014 program cost of $203,475. Scenario four, in which the lowest per-SMS rate ($0.01 per SMS) was negotiated and users paid for all m4RH SMS sent or received, achieved a $5,660 profit at the 2014 user volume. A Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis demonstrated that break-even points were driven by user volume rather than variations in program costs. These results reveal that breaking even was only probable when all SMS costs were transferred to users and the lowest per-SMS cost was negotiated with telecom partners. While this

  3. Applications of life cycle assessment and cost analysis in health care waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soares, Sebastião Roberto; Finotti, Alexandra Rodrigues; Prudêncio da Silva, Vamilson; Alvarenga, Rodrigo A.F.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Three Health Care Waste (HCW) scenarios were assessed through environmental and cost analysis. ► HCW treatment using microwave oven had the lowest environmental impacts and costs in comparison with autoclave and lime. ► Lime had the worst environmental and economic results for HCW treatment, in comparison with autoclave and microwave. - Abstract: The establishment of rules to manage Health Care Waste (HCW) is a challenge for the public sector. Regulatory agencies must ensure the safety of waste management alternatives for two very different profiles of generators: (1) hospitals, which concentrate the production of HCW and (2) small establishments, such as clinics, pharmacies and other sources, that generate dispersed quantities of HCW and are scattered throughout the city. To assist in developing sector regulations for the small generators, we evaluated three management scenarios using decision-making tools. They consisted of a disinfection technique (microwave, autoclave and lime) followed by landfilling, where transportation was also included. The microwave, autoclave and lime techniques were tested at the laboratory to establish the operating parameters to ensure their efficiency in disinfection. Using a life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost analysis, the decision-making tools aimed to determine the technique with the best environmental performance. This consisted of evaluating the eco-efficiency of each scenario. Based on the life cycle assessment, microwaving had the lowest environmental impact (12.64 Pt) followed by autoclaving (48.46 Pt). The cost analyses indicated values of US$ 0.12 kg −1 for the waste treated with microwaves, US$ 1.10 kg −1 for the waste treated by the autoclave and US$ 1.53 kg −1 for the waste treated with lime. The microwave disinfection presented the best eco-efficiency performance among those studied and provided a feasible alternative to subsidize the formulation of the policy for small generators of HCW.

  4. Radio refractivity gradients in the lowest 100m of the atmosphere over Lagos, Nigeria in the rainy-harmattan transition phase

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dairo, O. F.; Kolawole, L. B.

    2018-01-01

    Radio engineers and researchers in conjunction with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have established the pivotal role of radio refractivity to the propagation of electromagnetic energy in the troposphere. In particular, the refractivity gradient statistics for the lowest 100m in the troposphere are used to determine the probability of occurrence of anomalous propagation conditions known as ducting. The major challenge to characterising the propagation condition over any environment is accessing the data of the lowest boundary layer of the atmosphere, which is highly dynamic and turbulent in evolution. High resolution radiosonde data from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) were used for a synoptic study of the rain-harmattan transition phase. The rain-harmattan transition phase marks the onset of the dry season due to the movement of the intertropical convergence zone interplay between (north-easterly and south-westerly) trade winds and monsoonal circulation. The lowest 100m data were analysed to determine the frequency of ducting per month. Progressive increase in the occurrence of ducting was observed during the rain-harmattan transition phase, which coincides with the West African Monsoon retreat. The results show significant divergence from previous studies, which reported that the tropospheric condition over Lagos (Geo. 6 . 5 °N, 3 . 3 °E), Nigeria, is predominantly super-refractive.

  5. Computing Cost Price by Using Activity Based Costing (ABC Method in Dialysis Ward of Shahid Rajaei Medical & Education Center, in Alborz University of Medical Sciences Karaj in 2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Derafshi

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: Analysis of hospital cost is one of the key subjects for resource allocation. The Activity – based costing is an applicable tool to recognize accurate costs .This technique helps to determine costs. The aim of this study is utilizing activity activity-based costing method to estimate the cost of dialysis unit related to Shahid Rajaei hospital in year 2015. Methods: The type of this research is applied and sectioned descriptive study. The required data is collected from dialysis unit , accounting unit, discharge, the completion of medical equipments of Shahid Rajaei hospital in the first six months 2015 which was calculated cost by excel software. Results and Conclusion: In any month, the average 1238 patients accepted to receive the dialysis services in Shahid Rajaei hospital .The cost of consumables materials was 47.6%, which is the majority percentage of allocated costs. The lowest cost related to insurance deductions about 2.27%. After Calculating various costs of dialysis services, we find out, the personal cost covers only 32% of the all cost. The other ongoing overhead cost is about 11.94% of all cost. Therefore, any dialysis service requires 2.017.131 rial costs, however the tariff of any dialysis service is 1.838.871 rial. So, this center loses 178,260 rial in each session. The results show that the cost of doing any dialysis services is more than the revenue of it in Shahid Rajaei hospital. It seems that the reforming processes of supplying consumable, changing the tariffs in chronic dialysis; especially in set the filter and consumable materials unit besides controlling the cost of human resource could decrease the cost of this unit with Regard to the results recommended using capacity of the private department recommended. 

  6. Commercial Demonstration of the Manufactured Aggregate Processing Technology Utilizing Spray Dryer Ash

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Milton Wu; Paul Yuran

    2006-12-31

    Universal Aggregates LLC (UA) was awarded a cost sharing Co-operative Agreement from the Department of Energy (DOE) through the Power Plant Improvement Initiative Program (PPII) to design, construct and operate a lightweight aggregate manufacturing plant at the Birchwood Power Facility in King George, Virginia in October 2001. The Agreement was signed in November 2002. The installation and start-up expenses for the Birchwood Aggregate Facility are $19.5 million. The DOE share is $7.2 million (37%) and the UA share is $12.3 million (63%). The original project team consists of UA, SynAggs, LLC, CONSOL Energy Inc. and P. J. Dick, Inc. Using 115,000 ton per year of spray dryer ash (SDA), a dry FGD by-product from the power station, UA will produce 167,000 tons of manufactured lightweight aggregate for use in production of concrete masonry units (CMU). Manufacturing aggregate from FGD by-products can provide an economical high-volume use and substantially expand market for FGD by-products. Most of the FGD by-products are currently disposed of in landfills. Construction of the Birchwood Aggregate Facility was completed in March 2004. Operation startup was begun in April 2004. Plant Integration was initiated in December 2004. Integration includes mixing, extrusion, curing, crushing and screening. Lightweight aggregates with proper size gradation and bulk density were produced from the manufacturing aggregate plant and loaded on a stockpile for shipment. The shipped aggregates were used in a commercial block plant for CMU production. However, most of the production was made at low capacity factors and for a relatively short time in 2005. Several areas were identified as important factors to improve plant capacity and availability. Equipment and process control modifications and curing vessel clean up were made to improve plant operation in the first half of 2006. About 3,000 tons of crushed aggregate was produced in August 2006. UA is continuing to work to improve plant

  7. Cost-effectiveness analysis of pneumococcal vaccination for infants in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maurer, Kristin A; Chen, Huey-Fen; Wagner, Abram L; Hegde, Sonia T; Patel, Tejasi; Boulton, Matthew L; Hutton, David W

    2016-12-07

    Although China has a high burden of pneumococcal disease among young children, the government does not administer publicly-funded pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) through its Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of publicly-funded PCV-7, PCV-10, and PCV-13 vaccination programs for infants in China. Using a Markov model, we simulated a cohort of 16 million Chinese infants to estimate the impact of PCV-7, PCV-10, and PCV-13 vaccination programs from a societal perspective. We extrapolated health states to estimate the effects of the programs over the course of a lifetime of 75years. Parameters in the model were derived from a review of the literature. We found that PCV-7, PCV-10, and PCV-13 vaccination programs would be cost-effective compared to no vaccination. However, PCV-13 had the lowest incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ($11,464/QALY vs $16,664/QALY for PCV-10 and $18,224/QALY for PCV-7) due to a reduction in overall costs. Our sensitivity analysis revealed that the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were most sensitive to the utility of acute otitis media, the cost of PCV-13, and the incidence of pneumonia and acute otitis media. The Chinese government should take steps to reduce the burden of pneumococcal diseases among young children through the inclusion of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in its EPI. Although all vaccinations would be cost-effective, PCV-13 would save more costs to the healthcare system and would be the preferred strategy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Binding of monoclonal antibody to protein antigen in fluid phase or bound to solid supports

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kennel, S J

    1982-01-01

    Rat monoclonal antibody (MoAb) to fragment D (FgD) of human fibrinogen was used to characterize the direct binding of antibody to protein in solution or bound to solid supports. Purified IgG, F(ab')/sub 2/ and Fab' were prepared from ascites fluid of hybridoma 104-14B which is a fusion product of spleen cells from a rat immunized with FgD and the mouse myeloma cell line, P3-X63-Ag8. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of radioiodinated antibody preparations demonstrated the presence of hybrid immunoglobulin molecules, but only structures having rat heavy and rat light chains had active antibody combinig sites. The affinity constant for IgG as well as F(ab')/sub 2/ and Fab', 6x10/sup 9/ M/sup -1/, was identical when tested using fluid phase antigen (/sup 125/I-labeled FgD). Affinity constants determined for direct binding of iodinated IgG using FgD immobilized on solid supports showed a slight dependence on the antigen concentration used in the measurement. These values ranged from 0.5x10/sup 9/ M/sup -1/ at high antigen concentrations (1.3x10/sup -7/ M) to 9x10/sup 9/ M/sup -1/ at low antigen concentration (1.3x10/sup -10/ M). Binding constants for F(ab')/sub 2/ and Fab' gave similar results indicating that binding was homogeneous and univalent. The capacity of solid state antigen to bind antibody varied with the method used to bind FgD to the solid support. FgD bound directly to polystyrene plates was least efficient at binding labeled antibody; FgD bound to plates through intermediate carriers poly(L-lysine) was only slightly more efficient, while antigen bound to Sepharose beads by cyanogen bromide activation was the most active.

  9. Syncrude emissions reduction project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fiedler, M.A. [Alstom Power Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States); Ibbotson, P. [Syncrude Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-07-01

    This paper described an emissions reduction project conducted by Syncrude Canada and various other companies currently developing and processing oil sands in Alberta. Syncrude's upgrader expansion program included the installation of an ammonia-based wet flue gas desulfurizer (FGD) designed to remove sulphur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) from a coker train. Syncrude is also installing the FGD technology at its existing plants. It is expected that installation of the FGDs will reduced total site emissions of SO{sub 2} by 60 per cent. The fluid cokers are used to crack the long hydrocarbon chain bitumen molecules into shorter molecules. It is expected that the FGD system will also reduce particulate and SO{sub 3} levels. The FGD system was selected after an evaluation of technologies used by the coal-fired power industry. A dry FGD system was selected to operate above the water saturation temperature of the flue gas. Calcium oxide was used as a reagent. Hot gas was quenched in a spray dryer absorber with a slurry of calcium hydroxide. Rotary atomizers were used to developer uniform droplets of slurry. The system's fabric filter was a low ratio reverse gas-cleaned unit. Particulate matter from the gases was deposited on the interior of the filter bags. Clean hot gas was drawn through reverse gas fans into a reverse gas manifold. A timeline of the FGD technology installation process was included. 3 tabs., 28 figs.

  10. Development of a Cl-impregnated activated carbon for entrained-flow capture of elemental mercury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghorishi, S Behrooz; Keeney, Robert M; Serre, Shannon D; Gullett, Brian K; Jozewicz, Wojciech S

    2002-10-15

    Efforts to discern the role of an activated carbon's surface functional groups on the adsorption of elemental mercury (Hg0) and mercuric chloride demonstrated that chlorine (Cl) impregnation of a virgin activated carbon using dilute solutions of hydrogen chloride leads to increases (by a factor of 2-3) in fixed-bed capture of these mercury species. A commercially available activated carbon (DARCO FGD, NORITAmericas Inc. [FGD])was Cl-impregnated (Cl-FGD) [5 lb (2.3 kg) per batch] and tested for entrained-flow, short-time-scale capture of Hg0. In an entrained flow reactor, the Cl-FGD was introduced in Hg0-laden flue gases (86 ppb of Hg0) of varied compositions with gas/solid contact times of about 3-4 s, resulting in significant Hg0 removal (80-90%), compared to virgin FGD (10-15%). These levels of Hg0 removal were observed across a wide range of very low carbon-to-mercury weight ratios (1000-5000). Variation of the natural gas combustion flue gas composition, by doping with nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, and the flow reactor temperature (100-200 degrees C) had minimal effects on Hg0 removal bythe Cl-FGD in these carbon-to-mercury weight ratios. These results demonstrate significant enhancement of activated carbon reactivity with minimal treatment and are applicable to combustion facilities equipped with downstream particulate matter removal such as an electrostatic precipitator.

  11. Cost-effectiveness of alternative changes to a national blood collection service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willis, S; De Corte, K; Cairns, J A; Zia Sadique, M; Hawkins, N; Pennington, M; Cho, G; Roberts, D J; Miflin, G; Grieve, R

    2018-05-16

    To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of changing opening times, introducing a donor health report and reducing the minimum inter-donation interval for donors attending static centres. Evidence is required about the effect of changes to the blood collection service on costs and the frequency of donation. This study estimated the effect of changes to the blood collection service in England on the annual number of whole-blood donations by current donors. We used donors' responses to a stated preference survey, donor registry data on donation frequency and deferral rates from the INTERVAL trial. Costs measured were those anticipated to differ between strategies. We reported the cost per additional unit of blood collected for each strategy versus current practice. Strategies with a cost per additional unit of whole blood less than £30 (an estimate of the current cost of collection) were judged likely to be cost-effective. In static donor centres, extending opening times to evenings and weekends provided an additional unit of whole blood at a cost of £23 and £29, respectively. Introducing a health report cost £130 per additional unit of blood collected. Although the strategy of reducing the minimum inter-donation interval had the lowest cost per additional unit of blood collected (£10), this increased the rate of deferrals due to low haemoglobin (Hb). The introduction of a donor health report is unlikely to provide a sufficient increase in donation frequency to justify the additional costs. A more cost-effective change is to extend opening hours for blood collection at static centres. © 2018 The Authors. Transfusion Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Blood Transfusion Society.

  12. Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Quasi-In-Motion Wireless Power Transfer for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Transit Buses from Fleet Perspective

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Lijuan; Gonder, Jeff; Brooker, Aaron; Meintz, Andrew; Konan, Arnaud; Markel, Tony

    2016-05-16

    This study evaluated the costs and benefits associated with the use of stationary-wireless-power-transfer-enabled plug-in hybrid electric buses and determined the cost effectiveness relative to conventional buses and hybrid electric buses. A factorial design was performed over a number of different battery sizes, charging power levels, and f bus stop charging stations. The net present costs were calculated for each vehicle design and provided the basis for design evaluation. In all cases, given the assumed economic conditions, the conventional bus achieved the lowest net present cost while the optimal plug-in hybrid electric bus scenario beat out the hybrid electric comparison scenario. The parameter sensitivity was also investigated under favorable and unfavorable market penetration assumptions.

  13. Hidden costs of antiretroviral treatment: the public health efficiency of drug packaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andreu-Crespo, Àngels; Llibre, Josep M; Cardona-Peitx, Glòria; Sala-Piñol, Ferran; Clotet, Bonaventura; Bonafont-Pujol, Xavier

    2015-01-01

    While the overall percentage of unused antiretroviral medicines returned to the hospital pharmacy is low, their cost is quite high. Adverse events, treatment failure, pharmacokinetic interactions, pregnancy, or treatment simplification are common reasons for unplanned treatment changes. Socially inefficient antiretroviral packages prevent the reuse of drugs returned to the hospital pharmacy. We defined antiretroviral package categories based on the excellence of drug packaging and analyzed the number of pills and costs of drugs returned during a period of 1 year in a hospital-based HIV unit attending to 2,413 treated individuals. A total of 6,090 pills (34% of all returned antiretrovirals) - with a cost of 47,139.91 € - would be totally lost, mainly due to being packed up in the lowest efficiency packages. Newer treatments are packaged in low-excellence categories of packages, thus favoring the maintenance of these hidden costs in the near future. Therefore, costs of this low-efficiency drug packaging, where medication packages are started but not completed, in high-cost medications are substantial and should be properly addressed. Any improvement in the packaging by the manufacturer, and favoring the choice of drugs supplied through efficient packages (when efficacy, toxicity, and convenience are similar), should minimize the treatment expenditures paid by national health budgets.

  14. Nuclear power more profitable than coal if funded with low cost capital: A South-African case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serfontein, Dawid E.

    2014-01-01

    This study summarizes and expands on economic simulation results from the author’s reviews of the South-African Government’s Draft Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) and Integrated Resource Plan Update 2013 (IRP Update). The Levellized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), as a function of the pre-tax Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC%) and the pre-tax % rate of return and the pre-tax nominal profit per unit power sold (R/kWh), as a function of the electricity selling price, are compared for a new Generation III nuclear plant and a new pulverized coal plant with Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD), built in South Africa. All monetary amounts are expressed in constant real 2012 South African Rand (R), i.e. inflation has been removed. An exchange rate of R8.01/$ was assumed. Since the key economic features of HTRs and Generation III water-cooled nuclear plants are similar, e.g. high initial capital cost followed by low fuel and other variable costs and long plant lives, these results for Generation III nuclear plants are also applicable to HTRs. The results show that the LCOE for nuclear increases sharply with the pre-tax WACC%. For low WACC percentages, nuclear power is much cheaper than coal and vice versa. However the pre-tax nominal profit per unit nuclear power sold (R/kWh) greatly outperforms coal for all values of the electricity selling price, even if the nuclear overnight cost increases to the much maligned $7,000/kW-installed. Especially impressive is the result that nuclear already breaks even at R 0.30/kWh while coal will run at a loss until the price is increased to R 0.68/kWh. This result, that nuclear produces the most profitable power of all readily available sources in South Africa, implies the following power plant construction strategy: Supply the minimum expected new base-load with nuclear plants, augmented by peaking plants, such as hydro and gas turbine in order to balance the constant base-load power supply with the varying demand during different times

  15. Cost-Effectiveness of Five Commonly Used Prosthesis Brands for Total Knee Replacement in the UK: A Study Using the NJR Dataset.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Pennington

    Full Text Available There is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of alternative brands of prosthesis for total knee replacement (TKR. We compared patient-reported outcomes, revision rates, and costs, and estimated the relative cost-effectiveness of five frequently used cemented brands of unconstrained prostheses with fixed bearings (PFC Sigma, AGC Biomet, Nexgen, Genesis 2, and Triathlon.We used data from three national databases for patients who had a TKR between 2003 and 2012, to estimate the effect of prosthesis brand on post-operative quality of life (QOL (EQ-5D-3L in 53 126 patients at six months. We compared TKR revision rates by brand over 10 years for 239 945 patients. We used a fully probabilistic Markov model to estimate lifetime costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs, incremental cost effectiveness ratios (ICERs, and the probability that each prosthesis brand is the most cost effective at alternative thresholds of willingness-to-pay for a QALY gain.Revision rates were lowest with the Nexgen and PFC Sigma (2.5% after 10 years in 70-year-old women. Average lifetime costs were lowest with the AGC Biomet (£9 538; mean post-operative QOL was highest with the Nexgen, which was the most cost-effective brand across all patient subgroups. For example, for 70-year-old men and women, the ICERs for the Nexgen compared to the AGC Biomet were £2 300 per QALY. At realistic cost per QALY thresholds (£10 000 to £30 000, the probabilities that the Nexgen is the most cost-effective brand are about 98%. These results were robust to alternative modelling assumptions.AGC Biomet prostheses are the least costly cemented unconstrained fixed brand for TKR but Nexgen prostheses lead to improved patient outcomes, at low additional cost. These results suggest that Nexgen should be considered as a first choice prosthesis for patients with osteoarthritis who require a TKR.

  16. Duet for menstrual protection: a feasibility study in Zimbabwe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Averbach, Sarah; Sahin-Hodoglugil, Nuriye; Musara, Petina; Chipato, Tsungai; van der Straten, Ariane

    2009-06-01

    Managing menses is a challenge for women in developing countries. Duet is a cervical barrier being developed for contraception and STI prevention. We explored the hypothetical acceptability of using Duet as a menstrual cup, among Zimbabwean women. A survey and focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with 43 women aged 18-45 years to gain information about their menstrual practices and attitudes regarding the use of Duet for menstrual protection. All 43 women reported that if Duet were available, they would "definitely" try it, and that it was "very important" that Duet is low cost and easy to clean; 86% reported that using it would make a difference in their lives. FGD findings highlighted unhygienic practices due to the lack of affordable options for menstrual management and a genuine interest in Duet, including its potential use for multiple purposes (contraception, disease prevention and menstrual protection). Accessing affordable and hygienic menstrual protection was a problem for these Zimbabwean women. Duet appeared acceptable and it would be feasible to conduct a user-acceptability study of Duet as a menstrual cup in Zimbabwe.

  17. Comparing materials used in mist eliminators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Looney, B.; Baleno, B.; Boles, G.L.; Telow, J. [Solvay Advanced Polyers (United States)

    2007-11-15

    Wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems, or wet scrubbers, are notoriously capital - and maintenance-intensive. Mist eliminators are an integral part of most wet FGD systems. These are available in a variety of materials - polypropylene, fiberglass reinforced polymer (FRP), polysulfone and stainless steel. The article discusses the material properties, performance attributes and relative cost differences associated with each of these four materials. It describes the common problems with mist eliminators - fouling and corrosion. These can be minimised by routine cleaning and use of chemical additives to prevent deposition. An analysis was carried out to compare the four materials at APS Cholla power plant. As a result the facility is retrofitting its remaining wet scrubber towers in Unit 2 with mist eliminators constructed from polysulfone as each of the current ones of the existing polypropylene needs replacing. Polysulfone is cheaper to clean and components require replacing less frequently than polypropylene. Switching from stainless steel to polypropylene has proved advantageous on 22 wet scrubbers operated by PPL Montana. 5 figs. 2 tabs.

  18. Removal of SO2 and NO/sub x/ from flue gas by means of a spray dryer/electron beam combination: a feasibility study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helfritch, D.J.; Feldman, P.L.; Ray, A.B.; Morgan, J.R.; Hildreth, G.A.

    1982-04-01

    This study examines the feasibility of adding an electron beam between the spray dryer and the fabric filter of dry scrubber flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The beam promises effective removal of nitrogen oxides (NO/sub x/) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), even at higher coal-sulfur levels than usually economic for dry scrubbers. The beam excites gas molecules, promoting reactions that convert SO 2 and NO/sub x/ to acids that then react with calcium compounds and are removed by the filter. Concerns examined here are feasibility and waste disposal. The cost findings are promising for both manufacture and operation. The system uses commercially available components. The relatively low temperatures and high humidity downstream of the spray dryer favor economic beam operation. The beam removes SO 2 , so the dryer can be run for economy, not high removal. The beam's incidental heating effect reduces reheat cost. Safe landfilling of the nitrate-rich waste appears practical, with leachate carrying no more nitrate than natural rain and dustfall. We expect natural pozzolanic reactions between alumina-silica compounds in the fly ash and lime compounds from the spray dryer to form an impermeable concrete-like material within 10 days after landfilling. Dry scrubber with electron beam appears competitive with commercial FGD systems, and we recommend a pilot scale operation

  19. Costs of slurry separation technologies and alternative use of the solid fraction for biogas production or burning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Brian H.

    2011-01-01

    separation, in order to establish the overall costs. Key parameters are livestock density, transport distance, price of additional land and cost of separation. The conclusion is that unless land prices or prices on slurry agreements are very high, traditional handling of animal manure has the lowest costs......The purpose of this paper is to analyse different separation concepts in order to evaluate the overall costs based on a systems approach from stable to field. When livestock are produced in livestock intensive areas the distribution of manure without creating a surplus of nutrients is often....... Decanter separation can be the cheapest if area is limited and cooperation with neighbours is possible as large volumes reduce separation costs per tonne. Flocculation is the best if much P has to be removed from the farm in the solid fraction. Separation will in the future in many cases be combined...

  20. Marginal Cost Pricing in a World without Perfect Competition: Implications for Electricity Markets with High Shares of Low Marginal Cost Resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frew, Bethany A. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Clark, Kara [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bloom, Aaron P. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Milligan, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-12-02

    A common approach to regulating electricity is through auction-based competitive wholesale markets. The goal of this approach is to provide a reliable supply of power at the lowest reasonable cost to the consumer. This necessitates market structures and operating rules that ensure revenue sufficiency for all generators needed for resource adequacy purposes. Wholesale electricity markets employ marginal-cost pricing to provide cost-effective dispatch such that resources are compensated for their operational costs. However, marginal-cost pricing alone cannot guarantee cost recovery outside of perfect competition, and electricity markets have at least six attributes that preclude them from functioning as perfectly competitive markets. These attributes include market power, externalities, public good attributes, lack of storage, wholesale price caps, and ineffective demand curve. Until (and unless) these failures are ameliorated, some form of corrective action(s) will be necessary to improve market efficiency so that prices can correctly reflect the needed level of system reliability. Many of these options necessarily involve some form of administrative or out-of-market actions, such as scarcity pricing, capacity payments, bilateral or other out-of-market contracts, or some hybrid combination. A key focus with these options is to create a connection between the electricity market and long-term reliability/loss-of-load expectation targets, which are inherently disconnected in the native markets because of the aforementioned market failures. The addition of variable generation resources can exacerbate revenue sufficiency and resource adequacy concerns caused by these underlying market failures. Because variable generation resources have near-zero marginal costs, they effectively suppress energy prices and reduce the capacity factors of conventional generators through the merit-order effect in the simplest case of a convex market; non-convexities can also suppress prices.

  1. Motivated for Leisure in the Future: A Person-Centred Longitudinal Study in the Lowest Level of Secondary Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van der Veen, Ineke; Peetsma, Thea

    2011-01-01

    Long-term future time perspective on leisure has been found to relate negatively to school effort. This was studied further by recognizing types of students based on developments in long-term leisure perspectives and comparing their development in motivation and academic achievement. Around 1200 12-13 year old students attending the lowest level…

  2. Fuel cycle cost uncertainty from nuclear fuel cycle comparison

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, J.; McNelis, D.; Yim, M.S.

    2013-01-01

    This paper examined the uncertainty in fuel cycle cost (FCC) calculation by considering both model and parameter uncertainty. Four different fuel cycle options were compared in the analysis including the once-through cycle (OT), the DUPIC cycle, the MOX cycle and a closed fuel cycle with fast reactors (FR). The model uncertainty was addressed by using three different FCC modeling approaches with and without the time value of money consideration. The relative ratios of FCC in comparison to OT did not change much by using different modeling approaches. This observation was consistent with the results of the sensitivity study for the discount rate. Two different sets of data with uncertainty range of unit costs were used to address the parameter uncertainty of the FCC calculation. The sensitivity study showed that the dominating contributor to the total variance of FCC is the uranium price. In general, the FCC of OT was found to be the lowest followed by FR, MOX, and DUPIC. But depending on the uranium price, the FR cycle was found to have lower FCC over OT. The reprocessing cost was also found to have a major impact on FCC

  3. Guide to resource conservation and cost savings opportunities in the food service sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-03-01

    Opportunities for conserving energy and water, as well as reducing waste, within the 24,000 establishment-strong food service sector in Ontario are identified. Operators are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities to lower their costs while conserving valuable resources at the same time. In preparing this guide, site visits were carried out at six food service facilities in Ontario. Information about how much money is generally spent on energy, water and waste management by food service operators is provided. The amount and type of waste generated by these facilities is also described. The volatility of the commercial food service market place was identified as one of the major impediments to energy conservation. It was found that most owners of the food service facilities make business decisions based on the lowest first costs, irrespective of longer-term energy efficiency and operating costs. 31 refs., 13 tabs., 9 figs., 4 appendices.

  4. Economic Burden of Pediatric Asthma: Annual Cost of Disease in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharifi, Laleh; Dashti, Raheleh; Pourpak, Zahra; Fazlollahi, Mohammad Reza; Movahedi, Masoud; Chavoshzadeh, Zahra; Soheili, Habib; Bokaie, Saied; Kazemnejad, Anoushiravan; Moin, Mostafa

    2018-02-01

    Asthma is the first cause of children hospitalization and need for emergency and impose high economic burden on the families and governments. We aimed to investigate the economic burden of pediatric asthma and its contribution to family health budget in Iran. Overall, 283 pediatric asthmatic patients, who referred to two tertiary pediatric referral centers in Tehran capital of Iran, included from 2010-2012. Direct and indirect asthma-related costs were recorded during one-year period. Data were statistically analyzed for finding association between the costs and factors that affect this cost (demographic variables, tobacco smoke exposure, control status of asthma and asthma concomitant diseases). Ninety-two (32.5%) females and 191(67.5%) males with the age range of 1-16 yr old were included. We found the annual total pediatrics asthma related costs were 367.97±23.06 USD. The highest cost belonged to the medications (69%) and the lowest one to the emergency (2%). We noticed a significant increasing in boys' total costs ( P =0.011), and 7-11 yr old age group ( P =0.018). In addition, we found significant association between total asthma costs and asthma control status ( P =0.011). The presence of an asthmatic child can consume nearly half of the health budget of a family. Our results emphasis on improving asthma management programs, which leads to successful control status of the disease and reduction in economic burden of pediatric asthma.

  5. Predictors of Hospitalization, Length of Stay, and Costs of Care Among Adult and Pediatric Inpatients With Atopic Dermatitis in the United States

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Narla, Shanthi; Hsu, Derek Y; Thyssen, Jacob P

    2018-01-01

    household income, Medicaid or no insurance and fewer chronic conditions. Increased cost of care and prolonged length of stay were also associated with nonwhite race/ethnicities, lowest-quartile annual household income, Medicaid or no insurance, and having a higher number of chronic conditions. In conclusion...

  6. Integrated land-use and transport modelling using OTP to determine lowest cost trips

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van Heerden, Q

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This presentation discusses the link between economic infrastructure, that includes transport, and social infrastructure that includes social well-being and the basic necessities of people. It shows how transport models and urban models influence...

  7. Pinning of fullerene lowest unoccupied molecular orbital edge at the interface with standing up copper phthalocyanine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Chenggong; Irfan, Irfan; Turinske, Alexander J.; Gao, Yongli

    2012-01-01

    The electronic structure evolution of interfaces of fullerene (C 60 ) with copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) and on native silicon oxide has been investigated with ultra-violet photoemission spectroscopy and inverse photoemission spectroscopy. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital edge of C 60 was found to be pinned at the interface with CuPc on SiO 2 . A substantial difference in the electron affinity of CuPc on the two substrates was observed as the orientation of CuPc is lying flat on HOPG and standing up on SiO 2 . The ionization potential and electron affinity of C 60 were not affected by the orientation of CuPc due to the spherical symmetry of C 60 molecules. We observed band bending in C 60 on the standing-up orientation of CuPc molecules, while the energy levels of C 60 on the flat lying orientation of CuPc molecules were observed to be flat. - Highlights: ► Orientation of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on ordered graphite and silicon oxide. ► Pinning of lowest unoccupied molecular orbital edge of C60 to the Fermi level on CuPc. ► No C60 pinning or band bending was observed on flat laying CuPc. ► Results are useful for organic photovoltaic and organic light emitting diode research.

  8. The Use of Fair Value and Historical Cost Accounting for Investment Properties in China

    OpenAIRE

    Ross Taplin; Wei Yuan; Alistair Brown

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines the use of fair value accounting for investment properties by 96 randomly selected Chinese listed companies’ year-ending 2008 annual reports. Half the sampled companies use fair value while half use historical cost, both methods being allowable under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Chinese Accounting Standards (CAS). This represents the lowest possible level of comparability (or harmony) when there are only two choices of method. A combination of T i...

  9. The size, burden and cost of disorders of the brain in the UK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haddad, Peter M; Carpenter, Lewis; Gannon, Brenda; Sharpe, Rachel; Young, Allan H; Joyce, Eileen; Rowe, James; Wellsted, David; Nutt, David J; Sahakian, Barbara J

    2013-01-01

    Aim: The aim of this paper is to increase awareness of the prevalence and cost of psychiatric and neurological disorders (brain disorders) in the UK. Method: UK data for 18 brain disorders were extracted from a systematic review of European epidemiological data and prevalence rates and the costs of each disorder were summarized (2010 values). Results: There were approximately 45 million cases of brain disorders in the UK, with a cost of €134 billion per annum. The most prevalent were headache, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, mood disorders and somatoform disorders. However, the five most costly disorders (€ million) were: dementia: €22,164; psychotic disorders: €16,717; mood disorders: €19,238; addiction: €11,719; anxiety disorders: €11,687. Apart from psychosis, these five disorders ranked amongst those with the lowest direct medical expenditure per subject (<€3000). The approximate breakdown of costs was: 50% indirect costs, 25% direct non-medical and 25% direct healthcare costs. Discussion: The prevalence and cost of UK brain disorders is likely to increase given the ageing population. Translational neurosciences research has the potential to develop more effective treatments but is underfunded. Addressing the clinical and economic challenges posed by brain disorders requires a coordinated effort at an EU and national level to transform the current scientific, healthcare and educational agenda. PMID:23884863

  10. The optimal value of BMI for the lowest risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women aged 40-88 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skrzek, A; Kozieł, S; Ignasiak, Z

    2014-06-01

    The aim of this paper is to establish the optimal values of the body mass index (BMI) which would indicate the most favourable preservation of the bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. The material consists of the data of 369 healthy women aged between 40 and 88 years (mean age 67.84, SD=6.70) inhabitants of Wrocław, which were followed up between 2001 and 2006. The absolute measure of bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck was assessed using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), expressed in g/(100mm(2)) and was transformed to T-score values. According to the value of BMI, the women were divided into eight groups, the reference group with value between 18.0 and 21.9kg/m(2) and seven other groups beginning with the value 22.0 with a 2-point interval. Postmenopausal status was defined according to the occurrence of menstruation within the last 360 days. The women with osteopenia and osteoporosis were pooled together and comprised the risk group, whereas the other women comprised the normal group (T-score values above -1.0). The adjusted odds ratio showed the highest value for intervals between 24.0 and 25.9 units of BMI, and the lowest value for interval 26.0-27.9 units of BMI. The Youden index showed the lowest value in the 26.0-27.9BMI kg/m(2) interval. For our sample the optimal value of BMI, with the lowest risk of osteopenia and/or osteoporosis was the value of 26.9kg/m(2). A further increase of BMI does not result in a favourable effect on the bones, it rather intensifies negative phenomena in the body resulting in the onset of many diseases. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  11. Cost-effectiveness of nitrogen mitigation by alternative household wastewater management technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Alison; Blackhurst, Michael; Hawkins, Troy; Xue, Xiaobo; Ashbolt, Nicholas; Garland, Jay

    2015-03-01

    Household wastewater, especially from conventional septic systems, is a major contributor to nitrogen pollution. Alternative household wastewater management technologies provide similar sewerage management services but their life cycle costs and nitrogen flow implications remain uncertain. This paper addresses two key questions: (1) what are the total costs, nitrogen mitigation potential, and cost-effectiveness of a range of conventional and alternative municipal wastewater treatment technologies, and (2) what uncertainties influence these outcomes and how can we improve our understanding of these technologies? We estimate a household nitrogen mass balance for various household wastewater treatment systems and combine this mass balance with life cycle cost assessment to calculate the cost-effectiveness of nitrogen mitigation, which we define as nitrogen removed from the local watershed. We apply our methods to Falmouth, MA, where failing septic systems have caused heightened eutrophication in local receiving water bodies. We find that flushing and dry (composting) urine-diversion toilets paired with conventional septic systems for greywater management demonstrate the lowest life cycle cost and highest cost-effectiveness (dollars per kilogram of nitrogen removed from the watershed). Composting toilets are also attractive options in some cases, particularly best-case nitrogen mitigation. Innovative/advanced septic systems designed for high-level nitrogen removal are cost-competitive options for newly constructed homes, except at their most expensive. A centralized wastewater treatment plant is the most expensive and least cost-effective option in all cases. Using a greywater recycling system with any treatment technology increases the cost without adding any nitrogen removal benefits. Sensitivity analysis shows that these results are robust considering a range of cases and uncertainties. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  12. Manifold regularized discriminative nonnegative matrix factorization with fast gradient descent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guan, Naiyang; Tao, Dacheng; Luo, Zhigang; Yuan, Bo

    2011-07-01

    Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) has become a popular data-representation method and has been widely used in image processing and pattern-recognition problems. This is because the learned bases can be interpreted as a natural parts-based representation of data and this interpretation is consistent with the psychological intuition of combining parts to form a whole. For practical classification tasks, however, NMF ignores both the local geometry of data and the discriminative information of different classes. In addition, existing research results show that the learned basis is unnecessarily parts-based because there is neither explicit nor implicit constraint to ensure the representation parts-based. In this paper, we introduce the manifold regularization and the margin maximization to NMF and obtain the manifold regularized discriminative NMF (MD-NMF) to overcome the aforementioned problems. The multiplicative update rule (MUR) can be applied to optimizing MD-NMF, but it converges slowly. In this paper, we propose a fast gradient descent (FGD) to optimize MD-NMF. FGD contains a Newton method that searches the optimal step length, and thus, FGD converges much faster than MUR. In addition, FGD includes MUR as a special case and can be applied to optimizing NMF and its variants. For a problem with 165 samples in R(1600), FGD converges in 28 s, while MUR requires 282 s. We also apply FGD in a variant of MD-NMF and experimental results confirm its efficiency. Experimental results on several face image datasets suggest the effectiveness of MD-NMF.

  13. External costs of cadmium emissions to soil: a drawback of phosphorus fertilizers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pizzol, Massimo; C.R. Smart, James; Thomsen, Marianne

    2014-01-01

    are exposed to cadmium through their diet causing potential adverse health impacts. Future scenarios for cadmium emissions to soil via agricultural applications of inorganic and organic fertilizers in Denmark were defined. A simplified fate and speciation model allowed the increase in soil cadmium......Abstract: In this study the Impact-Pathway Approach methodology was applied for monetary valuation of health impacts due to cadmium emitted to soil as a micro-pollutant present in phosphorus fertilizers. Due to the high persistency of cadmium in soil, and high soil-to-plant transfer rates, humans...... ammonium phosphate) and mineral fertilizer produced the lowest external health costs, followed by the fertilizer products wastewater sludge and pig manure. The external cost estimates produced in this study could be used to design economic policy instruments to encourage use of cleaner fertilizer products....

  14. Determination of the lowest critical power levels of the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huy, Ngo Quang [Centre for Nuclear Technique Application, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Thong, Ha Van; Long, Vu Hai; Binh, Do Quang; Nghiem, Huynh Ton; Tuan, Nguyen Minh; Vien, Luong Ba; Vinh, Le Vinh [Nuclear Research Inst., Da Lat (Viet Nam)

    1994-10-01

    This paper presents the experimental methods for determining critical states of the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor containing an extraneous neutron source induced by gamma ray reactions on beryllium in the reactor. The lowest critical power levels are measured at various moments after the reactor is shut down following 100 hours of its continuous operation. Th power levels vary from (0.5-1.2) x 10{sup -4} of P{sub n}, i.e. (25-60)W to (1.1-1.6) x 10{sup -5} of P{sub n}, i.e. (5.5-8)W at corresponding times of 4 days to 13 days after the reactor is shut down. However the critical power must be chosen greater than 500 W to sustain the steady criticality of the reactor for a long time. (author). 3 refs. 4 figs. 1 tab.

  15. Efficacy, safety and cost per responder of biologics in the treatment of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olivieri, Ignazio; Fanizza, Caterina; Gilio, Michele; Ravasio, Roberto

    2016-01-01

    Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) agents are recommended as second-line therapy for patients with axial spondyloarthropathies. This analysis reviewed data on studies investigating the efficacy and tolerability of anti-TNF agents in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) who had failed first-line non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) treatment. Efficacy data from RCTs were used to calculate the number needed to treat (NNT) for individual anti-TNFs and then the cost per responder was determined to provide an indication of the value of each therapy. A systematic literature review and analysis of search results over the period January 2008 to September 2014 identified four randomised placebo-controlled trials that were included in the analysis. Adalimumab, etanercept and certolizumab pegol were all effective and well tolerated in patients with nr-axSpA. A patient was more likely to reach ASAS20 or ASAS40 when treated with etanercept or adalimumab, the NNT was lowest for adalimumab, and the risk of adverse events was higher with certolizumab pegol 200 mg every 2 weeks. The cost per responder (NNT) was lowest for adalimumab, followed closely by certolizumab 400 mg every 4 weeks, intermediate for certolizumab 200 mg every 2 weeks and highest for etanercept. Although all anti-TNF agents were associated with clinical improvement in patients with nr-axSpA, adalimumab presented a better cost per responder than etanercept and certolizumab pegol.

  16. Total solar eclipse of 16 February 1980 and the vertical profiles of atmospheric parameters in the lowest 200M

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    RameshBabu, V.; Sastry, J.S.

    Vertical profiles of air temperature, wind and humidity at Raichur (16 degrees 12'N and 77 degrees 21'E) in the lowest 200m of the atmosphere are presented for the period 15-18 February 1980. The effect of the total solar eclipse, on 16 February...

  17. Effects of foaming and antifoaming agents on the performance of a wet flue gas desulfurization pilot plant

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Qin, Siqiang; Hansen, Brian Brun; Kiil, Søren

    2014-01-01

    Foaming is a common phenomenon in industrial processes, including wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) plants. A systemic investigation of the influence of two foaming agents, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and egg white albumin (protein), and two commercial antifoams on a wet FGD pilot plant...

  18. Cost-effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to reduce coronary heart disease in Syria, 2010-2020.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilcox, Meredith L; Mason, Helen; Fouad, Fouad M; Rastam, Samer; al Ali, Radwan; Page, Timothy F; Capewell, Simon; O'Flaherty, Martin; Maziak, Wasim

    2015-01-01

    This study presents a cost-effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to lower coronary heart disease in Syria. Costs and benefits of a health promotion campaign about salt reduction (HP); labeling of salt content on packaged foods (L); reformulation of salt content within packaged foods (R); and combinations of the three were estimated over a 10-year time frame. Policies were deemed cost-effective if their cost-effectiveness ratios were below the region's established threshold of $38,997 purchasing power parity (PPP). Sensitivity analysis was conducted to account for the uncertainty in the reduction of salt intake. HP, L, and R+HP+L were cost-saving using the best estimates. The remaining policies were cost-effective (CERs: R=$5,453 PPP/LYG; R+HP=$2,201 PPP/LYG; R+L=$2,125 PPP/LYG). R+HP+L provided the largest benefit with net savings using the best and maximum estimates, while R+L was cost-effective with the lowest marginal cost using the minimum estimates. This study demonstrated that all policies were cost-saving or cost effective, with the combination of reformulation plus labeling and a comprehensive policy involving all three approaches being the most promising salt reduction strategies to reduce CHD mortality in Syria.

  19. Disease: H00256 [KEGG MEDICUS

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available of plasma ACTH. Affected individuals typically present within the first few months of life with symptoms related to cortisol...HSA:4158] [KO:K04200] (FGD2) MRAP [HSA:56246] (FGD4) NNT [HSA:23530] [KO:K00323] ... Low levels of serum cortisol

  20. Mercury emissions from polish pulverized coalfired boiler

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wichliński Michał

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The current paper presents the research results carried out at one of Polish power plants at a pulverized hard coal-fired 225 MW unit. The research was carried out at full load of the boiler (100% MCR and focused on analysis of mercury content in the input fuel and limestone sorbent for wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD system, as well as investigation of mercury content in the combustion products, i.e. fly ash, slag, FGD product (gypsum and FGD effluents (waste. Within the framework of the present study the concentration of mercury vapor in the exhaust gas was also investigated. The analysis was performed using Lumex RA-915+ spectrometer with an attachment (RP-91C. The measurements were carried out at three locations, i.e. before the electrostatic precipitator (ESP, downstream the ESP, and downstream the wet FGD plant. Design of the measurement system allowed to determine both forms of mercury in the flue gas (Hg0 and Hg2+ at all measurement locations.Based on the measurement results the balance of mercury for a pulverized coal (PC boiler was calculated and the amount of mercury was assessed both in the input solids (fuel and sorbent, as well as the gaseous and solids products (flue gas, slag, ash, gypsum and FGD waste.

  1. Study of the standard direct costs of various techniques of advanced endoscopy. Comparison with surgical alternatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loras, Carme; Mayor, Vicenç; Fernández-Bañares, Fernando; Esteve, Maria

    2018-03-12

    The complexity of endoscopy has carried out an increase in cost that has a direct effect on the healthcare systems. However, few studies have analyzed the cost of advanced endoscopic procedures (AEP). To carry out a calculation of the standard direct costs of AEP, and to make a financial comparison with their surgical alternatives. Calculation of the standard direct cost in carrying out each procedure. An endoscopist detailed the time, personnel, materials, consumables, recovery room time, stents, pathology and medication used. The cost of surgical procedures was the average cost recorded in the hospital. Thirty-eight AEP were analyzed. The technique showing lowest cost was gastroscopy + APC (€116.57), while that with greatest cost was ERCP with cholangioscopy + stent placement (€5083.65). Some 34.2% of the procedures registered average costs of €1000-2000. In 57% of cases, the endoscopic alternative was 2-5 times more cost-efficient than surgery, in 31% of cases indistinguishable or up to 1.4 times more costly. Standard direct cost of the majority of AEP is reported using a methodology that enables easy application in other centers. For the most part, endoscopic procedures are more cost-efficient than the corresponding surgical procedure. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  2. Determination of the lowest concentrations of aldehyde fixatives for completely fixing various cellular structures by real-time imaging and quantification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Fangfa; Yang, Wen; Huang, Jie; Chen, Yuan; Chen, Yong

    2013-05-01

    The effectiveness of fixatives for fixing biological specimens has long been widely investigated. However, the lowest concentrations of fixatives needed to completely fix whole cells or various cellular structures remain unclear. Using real-time imaging and quantification, we determined the lowest concentrations of glutaraldehyde (0.001-0.005, ~0.005, 0.01-005, 0.01-005, and 0.01-0.1 %) and formaldehyde/paraformaldehyde (0.01-0.05, ~0.05, 0.5-1, 1-1.5, and 0.5-1 %) required to completely fix focal adhesions, cell-surface particles, stress fibers, the cell cortex, and the inner structures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells within 20 min. With prolonged fixation times (>20 min), the concentration of fixative required to completely fix these structures will shift to even lower values. These data may help us understand and optimize fixation protocols and understand the potential effects of the small quantities of endogenously generated aldehydes in human cells. We also determined the lowest concentration of glutaraldehyde (0.5 %) and formaldehyde/paraformaldehyde (2 %) required to induce cell blebbing. We found that the average number and size of the fixation-induced blebs per cell were dependent on both fixative concentration and cell spread area, but were independent of temperature. These data provide important information for understanding cell blebbing, and may help optimize the vesiculation-based technique used to isolate plasma membrane by suggesting ways of controlling the number or size of fixation-induced cell blebs.

  3. The financial implications of endovascular aneurysm repair in the cost containment era.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, David H; Horvath, Alexander J; Goodney, Philip P; Rzucidlo, Eva M; Nolan, Brian W; Walsh, Daniel B; Zwolak, Robert M; Powell, Richard J

    2014-02-01

    Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is associated with significant direct device costs. Such costs place EVAR at odds with efforts to constrain healthcare expenditures. This study examines the procedure-associated costs and operating margins associated with EVAR at a tertiary care academic medical center. All infrarenal EVARs performed from April 2011 to March 2012 were identified (n = 127). Among this cohort, 49 patients met standard commercial instruction for use guidelines, were treated using a single manufacturer device, and billed to Medicare diagnosis-related group (DRG) 238. Of these 49 patients, net technical operating margins (technical revenue minus technical cost) were calculated in conjunction with the hospital finance department. EVAR implant costs were determined for each procedure. DRG 238-associated costs and length of stay were benchmarked against other academic medical centers using University Health System Consortium 2012 data. Among the studied EVAR cohort (age 75, 82% male, mean length of stay, 1.7 days), mean technical costs totaled $31,672. Graft implants accounted for 52% of the allocated technical costs. Institutional overhead was 17% ($5495) of total technical costs. Net mean total technical EVAR-associated operating margins were -$4015 per procedure. Our institutional costs and length of stay, when benchmarked against comparable centers, remained in the lowest quartile nationally using University Health System Consortium costs for DRG 238. Stent graft price did not correlate with total EVAR market share. EVAR is currently associated with significant negative operating margins among Medicare beneficiaries. Currently, device costs account for over 50% of EVAR-associated technical costs and did not impact EVAR market share, reflecting an unawareness of cost differential among surgeons. These data indicate that EVAR must undergo dramatic care delivery redesign for this practice to remain sustainable. Copyright © 2014 Society for Vascular

  4. Cost-effectiveness of CBT, SSRI, and CBT+SSRI in the treatment for panic disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Apeldoorn, F J; Stant, A D; van Hout, W J P J; Mersch, P P A; den Boer, J A

    2014-04-01

    The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of three empirically supported treatments for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), pharmacotherapy using a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), or the combination of both (CBT+SSRI). Cost-effectiveness was examined based on the data from a multicenter randomized controlled trial. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale was selected as a primary health outcome measure. Data on costs from a societal perspective (i.e., direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect non-medical costs) were collected in the study sample (N=150) throughout a 24-month period in which patients received active treatment during the first twelve months and were seen twice for follow-up in the next twelve months. Total costs were largely influenced by costs of the interventions and productivity losses. The mean total societal costs were lower for CBT as compared to SSRI and CBT+SSRI. Costs of medication use were substantial for both SSRI and CBT+SSRI. When examining the balance between costs and health outcomes, both CBT and CBT+SSRI led to more positive outcomes than SSRI. Cognitive behavioral therapy is associated with the lowest societal costs. Cognitive behavioral therapy and CBT+SSRI are more cost-effective treatments for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia as compared to SSRI only. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Power plant allocation in East Kalimantan considering total cost and emissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muslimin; Utomo, D. S.

    2018-04-01

    The fulfillment of electricity need in East Kalimantan is the responsibility of State Electricity Company/Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). But PLN faces constraints in the lack of generating capacity it has. So the allocation of power loads in East Kalimantan has its own challenges. Additional power supplies from other parties are required. In this study, there are four scenarios tested to meet the electricity needs in East Kalimantan with the goal of minimizing costs and emissions. The first scenario is only by using PLN power plant. The second scenario is by combining PLN + Independent Power Producer (IPP) power plants. The third scenario is by using PLN + Rented power plants. The fourth scenario is by using PLN + Excess capacity generation. Numerical experiment using nonlinear programming is conducted with the help of the solver. The result shows that in the peak load condition, the best combination is scenario 2 (PLN + IPP). While at the lowest load condition, the cheapest scenario is PLN + IPP while the lowest emission is PLN + Rent.

  6. Measuring diet cost at the individual level: a comparison of three methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monsivais, P; Perrigue, M M; Adams, S L; Drewnowski, A

    2013-11-01

    Household-level food spending data are not suitable for population-based studies of the economics of nutrition. This study compared three methods of deriving diet cost at the individual level. Adult men and women (n=164) completed 4-day diet diaries and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Food expenditures over 4 weeks and supermarket prices for 384 foods were obtained. Diet costs (US$/day) were estimated using: (1) diet diaries and expenditures; (2) diet diaries and supermarket prices; and (3) FFQs and supermarket prices. Agreement between the three methods was assessed on the basis of Pearson correlations and limits of agreement. Income-related differences in diet costs were estimated using general linear models. Diet diaries yielded mean (s.d.) diet costs of $10.04 (4.27) based on Method 1 and $8.28 (2.32) based on Method 2. FFQs yielded mean diet costs of $7.66 (2.72) based on Method 3. Correlations between energy intakes and costs were highest for Method 3 (r(2)=0.66), lower for Method 2 (r(2)=0.24) and lowest for Method 1 (r(2)=0.06). Cost estimates were significantly associated with household incomes. The weak association between food expenditures and food intake using Method 1 makes it least suitable for diet and health research. However, merging supermarket food prices with standard dietary assessment tools can provide estimates of individual diet cost that are more closely associated with food consumed. The derivation of individual diet cost can provide insights into some of the economic determinants of food choice, diet quality and health.

  7. Activities identification for activity-based cost/management applications of the diagnostics outpatient procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alrashdan, Abdalla; Momani, Amer; Ababneh, Tamador

    2012-01-01

    One of the most challenging problems facing healthcare providers is to determine the actual cost for their procedures, which is important for internal accounting and price justification to insurers. The objective of this paper is to find suitable categories to identify the diagnostic outpatient medical procedures and translate them from functional orientation to process orientation. A hierarchal task tree is developed based on a classification schema of procedural activities. Each procedure is seen as a process consisting of a number of activities. This makes a powerful foundation for activity-based cost/management implementation and provides enough information to discover the value-added and non-value-added activities that assist in process improvement and eventually may lead to cost reduction. Work measurement techniques are used to identify the standard time of each activity at the lowest level of the task tree. A real case study at a private hospital is presented to demonstrate the proposed methodology. © 2011 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

  8. An Ultra-light PRNG Passing Strict Randomness Tests and Suitable for Low Cost Tags

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    OZCANHAN, M. H.

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available A pseudo-random number generator for low-cost RFID tags is presented. The scheme is simple, sequential and secure, yet has a high performance. Despite its lowest hardware complexity, our proposal represents a better alternative than previous proposals for low-cost tags. The scheme is based on the well-founded pseudo random number generator, Mersenne Twister. The proposed generator takes low-entropy seeds extracted from a physical characteristic of the tag and produces outputs that pass popular randomness tests. Contrarily, previous proposal tests are based on random number inputs from a popular online source, which are simply unavailable to tags. The high performance and satisfactory randomness of present work are supported by extensive test results and compared with similar previous works. Comparison using proven estimation formulae indicates that our proposal has the best hardware complexity, power consumption, and the least cost.

  9. Two- and three-index formulations of the minimum cost multicommodity k-splittable flow problem

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gamst, Mette; Jensen, Peter Neergaard; Pisinger, David

    2010-01-01

    The multicommodity flow problem (MCFP) considers the efficient routing of commodities from their origins to their destinations subject to capacity restrictions and edge costs. Baier et al. [G. Baier, E. Köhler, M. Skutella, On the k-splittable flow problem, in: 10th Annual European Symposium...... of commodities has to be satisfied at the lowest possible cost. The problem has applications in transportation problems where a number of commodities must be routed, using a limited number of distinct transportation units for each commodity. Based on a three-index formulation by Truffot et al. [J. Truffot, C...... on Algorithms, 2002, 101–113] introduced the maximum flow multicommodity k-splittable flow problem (MCkFP) where each commodity may use at most k paths between its origin and its destination. This paper studies the -hard minimum cost multicommodity k-splittable flow problem (MCMCkFP) in which a given flow...

  10. Global CO2 efficiency: Country-wise estimates using a stochastic cost frontier

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herrala, Risto; Goel, Rajeev K.

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) efficiency by employing a stochastic cost frontier analysis of about 170 countries in 1997 and 2007. The main contribution lies in providing a new approach to environmental efficiency estimation, in which the efficiency estimates quantify the distance from the policy objective of minimum emissions. We are able to examine a very large pool of nations and provide country-wise efficiency estimates. We estimate three econometric models, corresponding with alternative interpretations of the Cancun vision (Conference of the Parties 2011). The models reveal progress in global environmental efficiency during a preceding decade. The estimates indicate vast differences in efficiency levels, and efficiency changes across countries. The highest efficiency levels are observed in Africa and Europe, while the lowest are clustered around China. The largest efficiency gains were observed in central and eastern Europe. CO 2 efficiency also improved in the US and China, the two largest emitters, but their ranking in terms of CO 2 efficiency deteriorated. Policy implications are discussed. - Highlights: ► We estimate global environmental efficiency in line with the Cancun vision, using a stochastic cost frontier. ► The study covers 170 countries during a 10 year period, ending in 2007. ► The biggest improvements occurred in Europe, and efficiency falls in South America. ► The efficiency ranking of US and China, the largest emitters, deteriorated. ► In 2007, highest efficiency was observed in Africa and Europe, and the lowest around China.

  11. Quality of life and health care consultation in 13 to 18 year olds with abdominal pain predominant functional gastrointestinal diseases

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Devanarayana, Niranga Manjuri; Rajindrajith, Shaman; Benninga, Marc A.

    2014-01-01

    Abdominal pain predominant functional gastrointestinal diseases (AP-FGD) are commonly seen in the paediatric age group. It has significant impact on daily activities of affected children. Main objective of this study was to assess the health related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with AP-FGD.

  12. Simulation studies of the influence of HCl absorption on the performance of a wet flue gas desulphurisation pilot plant

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kiil, Søren; Nygaard, Helle; Johnsson, Jan Erik

    2002-01-01

    The mathematical model of Kiil et al, (Ind. Eng, Chem. Res. 37 (1998) 2792) for a wet flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) pilot plant was extended to include the simultaneous absorption of HCl. In contrast to earlier models for wet FGD plants, the inclusion of population balance equations...

  13. Sulfur transformations related to revegetation of flue gas desulfurization sludge disposal sites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barlas, S.A.; Artiola, J.F.; Salo, L.F.; Goodrich-Mahoney, J.W. [University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences

    1999-10-01

    This study investigated factors controlling redox conditions in flue gas desulfurization (FGD) sludge and identified ways to minimize the production of phytotoxic reduced sulfur species at FGD sludge disposal sites. The oxidation of reduced FGD sludge (Eh-385 mV) appears to be a two-step process mostly controlled by water content. Eighty percent of total sulfide in reduced sludge was oxidized within 20 h of exposure to air with constant water evaporation. When organic carbon (OC) was added to saturated oxidized sludge, the Eh dropped exponentially. Sulfate reduction began at an Eh of about -75 mV and reached a maximum at -265 to -320 mV. Water content, degree of mixing, concentration of OC, and temperature control the rate and extent of reduction of FGD sludge. This suggests that water saturation and OC inputs to revegetated disposal sites should be controlled, especially during warm temperatures, to prevent production of phytotoxic levels of sulfides.

  14. Solar Cycle 24 UV Radiation: Lowest in more than 6 Decades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schroder, Klaus-Peter; Mittag, Marco; Schmitt, J. H. M. M.

    2015-01-01

    Using spectra taken by the robotic telescope ``TIGRE'' (see Fig. 1 and the TIGRE-poster presented by Schmitt et al. at this conference) and its mid-resolution (R=20,000) HEROS double-channel echelle spectrograph, we present our measurements of the solar Ca II H&K chromospheric emission. Using moonlight, we applied the calibration and definition of the Mt. Wilson S-index , which allows a direct comparison with historic observations, reaching back to the early 1960's. At the same time, coming from the same EUV emitting plage regions, the Ca II H&K emission is a good proxy for the latter, which is of interest as a forcing factor in climate models. Our measurements probe the weak, asynchronous activity cycle 24 around its 2nd maximum during the past winter. Our S-values suggest that this maximum is the lowest in chromospheric emission since at least 60 years -- following the longest and deepest minimum since a century. Our observations suggest a similarly long-term (on a scale of decades) low of the far-UV radiation, which should be considered by the next generation of climate models. The current, very interesting activity behaviour calls for a concerted effort on long-term solar monitoring.

  15. The Association between Charlson Comorbidity Index and the Medical Care Cost of Cancer: A Retrospective Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seok-Jun Yoon

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. This study compared comorbidity-related medical care cost associated with different types of cancer, by examining breast (N=287, colon (N=272, stomach (N=614, and lung (N=391 cancer patients undergoing surgery. Methods. Using medical benefits claims data, we calculated Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI and total medical cost. The effect of comorbidity on the medical care cost was investigated using multiple regression and logistic regression models and controlling for demographic characteristics and cancer stage. Results. The treatment costs incurred by stomach and colon cancer patients were 1.05- and 1.01-fold higher, respectively, in patients with higher CCI determined. For breast cancer, the highest costs were seen in those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, but the increase in cost reduced as CCI increased. Colon cancer patients with diabetes mellitus and a CCI = 1 score had the highest medical costs. The lowest medical costs were incurred by lung cancer patients with COPD and a CCI = 2 score. Conclusion. The comorbidities had a major impact on the use of medical resources, with chronic comorbidities incurring the highest medical costs. The results indicate that comorbidities affect cancer outcomes and that they must be considered strategies mitigating cancer’s economic and social impact.

  16. Tax shift : eliminating subsidies and moving to full cost electricity pricing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibbons, J.

    2008-01-01

    In order to ensure that Ontario's service needs are met at the lowest possible total cost, energy conservation and small-scale distributed generation options must be able to compete with large scale-centralized generation and transmission options on a level playing field. This report discussed how electricity is priced in Ontario. The report described the policies that subsidize coal and nuclear generation and promote excessive consumption of grid-supplied electricity. The report also presented an analysis of the impact of these subsidies and policies on Ontario's electricity consumption, electricity productivity, standard of living and air pollutant emissions. It described a practical strategy whereby these subsidies can be eliminated by recycling or shifting the monies currently spent on subsidies in a way that creates an incentive to reduce electricity consumption. It also described how full cost pricing could lead to a net financial benefit for residential customers as well as an adaptation strategy for businesses that would ensure that they remain competitive. Finally the report identified ten major subsidies that artificially reduce the cost of electricity in Ontario. These included below-market water royalty rates; corporate income tax revenue subsidy for nuclear debt; sales tax exemption; average cost pricing; and bulk metering. It was concluded that phasing out the subsidies for grid-supplied electricity and moving to full cost pricing will provide multiple benefits for Ontario. 36 refs., 5 tabs., 5 figs

  17. Compendium of cost-effectiveness evaluations of modifications for dose reduction at nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baum, J.W.; Matthews, G.R.

    1985-12-01

    This report summarizes available information on cost effectiveness of engineering modifications potentially valuable for dose reduction at nuclear power plants. Data were gathered from several US utilities, published literature, equipment and service suppliers, and recent technical meetings. Five simplified econometric models were employed to evaluate data and arrive at a value for cost effectiveness expressed in either (a) dollars/rem, or (b) total dollar savings calculated using a nominal value of $1000/rem. Models employed were: a basic model with no consideration given to the time value of money; two models in which discounting was used to evaluate costs and savings in terms of present values; and two models in which income taxes and revenue requirements were considered. Results from different models varied by as much as a factor of 10, and were generally lowest for the basic model and highest for the before-tax revenue requirements model. Results for 151 evaluations employing different assumptions concerning number of plants per site and outage impacts were tabulated in order of decreasing cost effectiveness. Twenty-five evaluations were identified as exceptionally cost effective since both costs and dose were saved. Forty evaluations indicated highly cost-effective changes based on costs below $1000/rem saved using results of the present-worth model that included discounting of future dose savings

  18. Lowest-order average effect of turbulence on atmospheric profiles derived from radio occultation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eshleman, V.R.; Haugstad, B.S.

    1977-01-01

    Turbulence in planetary atmospheres and ionospheres causes changes in angles of refraction of radio waves used in occultation experiments. Atmospheric temperature and pressure profiles, and ionospheric electron concentration profiles, derived from radio occultation measurements of Doppler frequency contain errors due to such angular offsets. The lowest-order average errors are derived from a geometrical-optics treatment of the radio-wave phase advance caused by the addition of uniform turbulence to an initially homogeneous medium. It is concluded that the average profile errors are small and that precise Doppler frequency measurements at two or more wavelengths could be used to help determine characteristics of the turbulence, as well as accuracy limits and possible correction terms for the profiles. However, a more detailed study of both frequency and intensity characteristics in radio and optical occultation measurements of turbulent planetary atmospheres and ionospheres is required to realize the full potential of such measurements

  19. Applications of life cycle assessment and cost analysis in health care waste management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soares, Sebastiao Roberto, E-mail: soares@ens.ufsc.br [Department of Sanitary Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC, Campus Universitario, Centro Tecnologico, Trindade, PO Box 476, Florianopolis, SC 88040-970 (Brazil); Finotti, Alexandra Rodrigues, E-mail: finotti@ens.ufsc.br [Department of Sanitary Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC, Campus Universitario, Centro Tecnologico, Trindade, PO Box 476, Florianopolis, SC 88040-970 (Brazil); Prudencio da Silva, Vamilson, E-mail: vamilson@epagri.sc.gov.br [Department of Sanitary Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC, Campus Universitario, Centro Tecnologico, Trindade, PO Box 476, Florianopolis, SC 88040-970 (Brazil); EPAGRI, Rod. Admar Gonzaga 1347, Itacorubi, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina 88034-901 (Brazil); Alvarenga, Rodrigo A.F., E-mail: alvarenga.raf@gmail.com [Department of Sanitary Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC, Campus Universitario, Centro Tecnologico, Trindade, PO Box 476, Florianopolis, SC 88040-970 (Brazil); Ghent University, Department of Sustainable Organic Chemistry and Technology, Coupure Links 653/9000 Gent (Belgium)

    2013-01-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Three Health Care Waste (HCW) scenarios were assessed through environmental and cost analysis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer HCW treatment using microwave oven had the lowest environmental impacts and costs in comparison with autoclave and lime. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Lime had the worst environmental and economic results for HCW treatment, in comparison with autoclave and microwave. - Abstract: The establishment of rules to manage Health Care Waste (HCW) is a challenge for the public sector. Regulatory agencies must ensure the safety of waste management alternatives for two very different profiles of generators: (1) hospitals, which concentrate the production of HCW and (2) small establishments, such as clinics, pharmacies and other sources, that generate dispersed quantities of HCW and are scattered throughout the city. To assist in developing sector regulations for the small generators, we evaluated three management scenarios using decision-making tools. They consisted of a disinfection technique (microwave, autoclave and lime) followed by landfilling, where transportation was also included. The microwave, autoclave and lime techniques were tested at the laboratory to establish the operating parameters to ensure their efficiency in disinfection. Using a life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost analysis, the decision-making tools aimed to determine the technique with the best environmental performance. This consisted of evaluating the eco-efficiency of each scenario. Based on the life cycle assessment, microwaving had the lowest environmental impact (12.64 Pt) followed by autoclaving (48.46 Pt). The cost analyses indicated values of US$ 0.12 kg{sup -1} for the waste treated with microwaves, US$ 1.10 kg{sup -1} for the waste treated by the autoclave and US$ 1.53 kg{sup -1} for the waste treated with lime. The microwave disinfection presented the best eco-efficiency performance among those studied and provided a feasible

  20. Telehealth and Autism: Treating Challenging Behavior at Lower Cost.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindgren, Scott; Wacker, David; Suess, Alyssa; Schieltz, Kelly; Pelzel, Kelly; Kopelman, Todd; Lee, John; Romani, Patrick; Waldron, Debra

    2016-02-01

    To determine whether challenging behavior in young children with autism and other developmental disabilities can be treated successfully at lower cost by using telehealth to train parents to implement applied behavior analysis (ABA). We compared data on the outcomes and costs for implementing evidence-based ABA procedures to reduce problem behavior by using 3 service delivery models: in-home therapy, clinic-based telehealth, and home-based telehealth. Participants were 107 young children diagnosed with autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders, and data analysis focused on the 94 children who completed treatment. All 3 service delivery models demonstrated successful reduction of problem behavior by training parents to conduct functional analysis and functional communication training. The mean percentage reduction in problem behavior was >90% in all 3 groups after treatment, and treatment acceptability based on parent ratings was high for all groups. Total costs for implementing treatment were lowest for home telehealth, but both telehealth models were significantly less costly than in-home therapy. This research demonstrated that parents can use ABA procedures to successfully treat behavior problems associated with autism spectrum disorders regardless of whether treatment is directed by behavior consultants in person or via remote video coaching. Because ABA telehealth can achieve similar outcomes at lower cost compared with in-home therapy, geographic barriers to providing access to ABA for treating problem behavior can be minimized. These findings support the potential for using telehealth to provide research-based behavioral treatment to any family that has access to the Internet. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  1. Power generation scenarios for Nigeria: An environmental and cost assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gujba, H.; Mulugetta, Y.; Azapagic, A.

    2011-01-01

    Exploratory scenarios for the power sector in Nigeria are analysed in this paper using possible pathways within the Nigerian context and then compared against the Government's power expansion plan in the short to medium term. They include two fossil-fuel (FF and CCGT) and two sustainable-development-driven scenarios (SD1 and SD2). The results from the FF scenarios indicate this is the preferred outcome if the aim is to expand electricity access at the lowest capital costs. However, the annual costs and environmental impacts increase significantly as a consequence. The SD1 scenario, characterised by increased penetration of renewables, leads to a reduction of a wide range of environmental impacts while increasing the annual costs slightly. The SD2 scenario, also with an increased share of renewables, is preferred if the aim is to reduce GHG emissions; however, this comes at an increased annual cost. Both the SD1 and SD2 scenarios also show significant increases in the capital investment compared to the Government's plans. These results can be used to help inform future policy in the Nigerian electricity sector by showing explicitly the range of possible trade-offs between environmental impacts and economic costs both in the short and long terms. - Research Highlights: →The power sector in Nigeria is set to grow significantly in near future. →Power sector scenarios are constructed and studied using LCA and economic analysis methods and then compared against the Government's plans. →These include two fossil-fuel and two sustainable-development-driven scenarios. →The results explicitly show the trade-offs between environmental impacts and costs. →Following the fossil fuel paths will reduce capital costs but increase environmental impacts. The renewable energy paths will reduce some environmental impacts but increase the capital costs.

  2. Investigation into drivers of cost of stenting for carotid stenosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinaldo, Lorenzo; Brinjikji, Waleed; Cloft, Harry; DeMartino, Randall R; Lanzino, Giuseppe

    2017-09-01

    We aimed to identify factors associated with cost of carotid artery stenting (CAS). Patient and hospital characteristics affecting cost of admission for CAS were identified using the Vizient national database of hospital-reported outcomes. Patients who underwent CAS for either asymptomatic or symptomatic carotid stenosis were identified using surgical Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Groups and appropriate International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and Tenth Revision codes. There were 166 hospitals that reported outcomes from 7369 inpatient admissions for CAS. Each institution reported a mean value for cost related to patient care per admission for CAS; the average cost across all reporting institutions was $12,834.14 (standard error of the mean [SEM], 492.88). Institutions in the lowest 25th percentile with respect to frequency of intensive care unit admission after CAS had lower cost of admission than institutions above the 75th percentile ($10,971.30 [SEM, 460.67] vs $14,992.90 [964.29]; P = .002), without any differences in incidence of stroke during admission (2.2% [SEM, 0.3] vs 2.0% [0.4]; P = .877) or 30-day readmission (1.9% [SEM, 0.4] vs 2.5 [0.6]; P = .329). Admissions for patients with symptomatic stenosis were more expensive than those with asymptomatic stenosis ($20,462.10 [SEM, 819.93] vs $11,285.20 [347.11]; P costs of admission ($14,176.20 [SEM, 597.13] vs $12,287.10 [395.73]; P care unit, symptomatic stenosis, and obesity were associated with increased costs in patients undergoing CAS. These data may aid in identifying opportunities to improve the cost-effectiveness of this procedure. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. The policy implications of the different interpretations of the cost-effectiveness of renewable electricity support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Río, Pablo del; Cerdá, Emilio

    2014-01-01

    The cost-effectiveness of support for renewable electricity is a main criterion to assess the success of policy instruments, together with effectiveness. The costs of support are also a source of significant concern for governments all over the world. However, significant confusion exists in the literature on the cost-effectiveness of public support for renewable electricity. While some authors define the concept of cost-effectiveness as that which complies with the equimarginality principle, many others, including documents from relevant organisations (European Commission, International Energy Agency, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) define it as “the lowest costs of support”, generally equating it with the minimisation of consumer costs. The aim of this paper is to clarify the differences between both approaches and their policy implications regarding the choice of instruments and design elements. It is shown that they partly overlap and that their policy implications clearly differ, leading to very different policy prescriptions. While the former favours technology neutral instruments and design elements, the “minimisation of consumer costs” approach favours instruments and design elements which adjust support levels to the costs of the technologies. - Highlights: • Significant confusion exists in the literature on the cost-effectiveness of public support for renewable electricity. • Clarify the differences between two main approaches to cost-effectiveness. • Policy implications clearly differ, leading to very different policy prescriptions

  4. New roller cone bits with unique nozzle designs reduce drilling costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moffitt, S.R.; Pearce, D.E.; Ivie, C.R.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that selection of the optimum rock bit design to achieve the lowest drilling cost in a given application is often difficult due to a large number of rock bit performance considerations. However, in a majority of applications increased penetration rate is the key consideration in reducing drilling costs. Discovery of a new bit design concept has led to the development of roller cone bits that achieve significant penetration rate increases using superior hydraulic nozzle designs. Prototype designs have achieved 20 to 40% increases in penetration rate with comparable footage drilled when tested in 6 1/2, 8 1/2, 8-3/4, 9-7/8 and 12 1/4 IADC 437, 517 and 537 type bits in the U.S., North Sea, Italy, and Oman. Second-generation designs tested in a full-scale drilling laboratory have delivered 70% increases in penetration rates

  5. Operational strategy and marginal costs in simple trigeneration systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lozano, M.A.; Carvalho, M.; Serra, L.M.

    2009-01-01

    As a direct result of economic pressures to cut expenses, as well as the legal obligation to reduce emissions, companies and businesses are seeking ways to use energy more efficiently. Trigeneration systems (CHCP: Combined Heating, Cooling and Power generation) allow greater operational flexibility at sites with a variable demand for energy in the form of heating and cooling. This is particularly relevant in buildings where the need for heating is restricted to a few winter months. In summer, the absorption chillers make use of the cogenerated heat to produce chilled water, avoiding waste heat discharge. The operation of a simple trigeneration system is analyzed in this paper. The system is interconnected to the electric utility grid, both to receive electricity and to deliver surplus electricity. For any given demand required by the users, a great number of operating conditions are possible. A linear programming model provides the operational mode with the lowest variable cost. A thermoeconomic analysis, based on marginal production costs, is used to obtain unit costs for internal energy flows and final products as well as to explain the best operational strategy as a function of the demand for energy services and the prices of the resources consumed. (author)

  6. Activity-based costing analysis of the analgesic treatments used in postoperative pain management in Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fanelli, Andrea; Ruggeri, Matteo; Basile, Michele; Cicchetti, Americo; Coluzzi, Flaminia; Della Rocca, Giorgio; Di Marco, Pierangelo; Esposito, Clelia; Fanelli, Guido; Grossi, Paolo; Leykin, Yigal; Lorini, Ferdinando Luca; Paolicchi, Adriana; Scardino, Marco; Corcione, Antonio

    2016-02-01

    The aim of this analysis is to evaluate the costs of 72-hour postoperative pain treatment in patients undergoing major abdominal, orthopedic and thoracic procedures in nine different Italian hospitals, defined as the cumulative cost of drugs, consumable materials and time required for anesthesiologists, surgeons and nurses to administer each analgesic technique. Nine Italian hospitals have been involved in this study through the administration of a questionnaire aimed to acquire information about the Italian clinical practice in terms of analgesia. This study uses activity-based costing (ABC) analysis to identify, measure and give value to the resources required to provide the therapeutic treatment used in Italy to manage the postoperative pain patients face after surgery. A deterministic sensitivity analysis (DSA) has been performed to identify the cost determinants mainly affecting the final cost of each treatment analyzed. Costs have been reclassified according to three surgical macro-areas (abdominal, orthopedic and thoracic) with the aim to recognize the cost associated not only to the analgesic technique adopted but also to the type of surgery the patient faced before undergoing the analgesic pathway. Fifteen different analgesic techniques have been identified for the treatment of moderate to severe pain in patients who underwent a major abdominal, orthopedic or thoracic surgery. The cheapest treatment actually employed is the oral administration "around the clock" (€ 8.23), whilst the most expensive is continuous peripheral nerve block (€ 223.46). The intravenous patient-controlled analgesia costs € 277.63. In terms of resources absorbed, the non-continuous administration via bolus is the gold standard in terms of cost-related to the drugs used (€ 1.28), and when administered pro re nata it also absorbs the lowest amount of consumables (€0.58€) compared to all other therapies requiring a delivery device. The oral analgesic administration pro re

  7. Choice of Hemodialysis Access in Older Adults: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Rasheeda K; Myers, Evan R; Rosas, Sylvia E; O'Hare, Ann M; Colón-Emeric, Cathleen S

    2017-06-07

    Although arteriovenous fistulas have been found to be the most cost-effective form of hemodialysis access, the relative benefits of placing an arteriovenous fistula versus an arteriovenous graft seem to be least certain for older adults and when placed preemptively. However, older adults' life expectancy is heterogeneous, and most patients do not undergo permanent access creation until after dialysis initiation. We evaluated cost-effectiveness of arteriovenous fistula placement after dialysis initiation in older adults as a function of age and life expectancy. Using a hypothetical cohort of patients on incident hemodialysis with central venous catheters, we constructed Markov models of three treatment options: ( 1 ) arteriovenous fistula placement, ( 2 ) arteriovenous graft placement, or ( 3 ) continued catheter use. Costs, utilities, and transitional probabilities were derived from existing literature. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed by age group (65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, and 85-89 years old) and quartile of life expectancy. Costs, quality-adjusted life-months, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were evaluated for up to 5 years. The arteriovenous fistula option was cost effective compared with continued catheter use for all age and life expectancy groups, except for 85-89 year olds in the lowest life expectancy quartile. The arteriovenous fistula option was more cost effective than the arteriovenous graft option for all quartiles of life expectancy among the 65- to 69-year-old age group. For older age groups, differences in cost-effectiveness between the strategies were attenuated, and the arteriovenous fistula option tended to only be cost effective in patients with life expectancy >2 years. For groups for which the arteriovenous fistula option was not cost saving, the cost to gain one quality-adjusted life-month ranged from $2294 to $14,042. Among older adults, the cost-effectiveness of an arteriovenous fistula placed within the first

  8. The cost and feasibility of marine coastal restoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayraktarov, Elisa; Saunders, Megan I; Abdullah, Sabah; Mills, Morena; Beher, Jutta; Possingham, Hugh P; Mumby, Peter J; Lovelock, Catherine E

    2016-06-01

    Land-use change in the coastal zone has led to worldwide degradation of marine coastal ecosystems and a loss of the goods and services they provide. Restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed and is critical for habitats where natural recovery is hindered. Uncertainties about restoration cost and feasibility can impede decisions on whether, what, how, where, and how much to restore. Here, we perform a synthesis of 235 studies with 954 observations from restoration or rehabilitation projects of coral reefs, seagrass, mangroves, salt-marshes, and oyster reefs worldwide, and evaluate cost, survival of restored organisms, project duration, area, and techniques applied. Findings showed that while the median and average reported costs for restoration of one hectare of marine coastal habitat were around US$80000 (2010) and US$1600000 (2010), respectively, the real total costs (median) are likely to be two to four times higher. Coral reefs and seagrass were among the most expensive ecosystems to restore. Mangrove restoration projects were typically the largest and the least expensive per hectare. Most marine coastal restoration projects were conducted in Australia, Europe, and USA, while total restoration costs were significantly (up to 30 times) cheaper in countries with developing economies. Community- or volunteer-based marine restoration projects usually have lower costs. Median survival of restored marine and coastal organisms, often assessed only within the first one to two years after restoration, was highest for saltmarshes (64.8%) and coral reefs (64.5%) and lowest for seagrass (38.0%). However, success rates reported in the scientific literature could be biased towards publishing successes rather than failures. The majority of restoration projects were short-lived and seldom reported monitoring costs. Restoration success depended primarily on the ecosystem, site selection, and techniques

  9. Total Joint Arthroplasty Patients' Education on Financial Issues and Its Connection to Reported Out-of-Pocket Costs-A European Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Copanitsanou, Panagiota; Valkeapää, Kirsi; Cabrera, Esther; Katajisto, Jouko; Leino-Kilpi, Helena; Sigurdardottir, Arun K; Unosson, Mitra; Zabalegui, Adelaida; Lemonidou, Chryssoula

    2017-04-01

    Total joint arthroplasty is accompanied by significant costs. In nursing, patient education on financial issues is considered important. Our purpose was to examine the possible association between the arthroplasty patients' financial knowledge and their out-of-pocket costs. Descriptive correlational study in five European countries. Patient data were collected preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively, with structured, self-administered instruments, regarding their expected and received financial knowledge and out-of-pocket costs. There were 1,288 patients preoperatively, and 352 at 6 months. Patients' financial knowledge expectations were higher than knowledge received. Patients with high financial knowledge expectations and lack of fulfillment of these expectations had lowest costs. There is need to establish programs for improving the financial knowledge of patients. Patients with fulfilled expectations reported higher costs and may have followed and reported their costs in a more precise way. In the future, this association needs multimethod research. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Improving health care costing with resource consumption accounting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozyapici, Hasan; Tanis, Veyis Naci

    2016-07-11

    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences between a traditional costing system (TCS) and resource consumption accounting (RCA) based on a case study carried out in a hospital. Design/methodology/approach - A descriptive case study was first carried out to identify the current costing system of the case hospital. An exploratory case study was then conducted to reveal how implementing RCA within the case hospital assigns costs differently to gallbladder surgeries than the current costing system (i.e. a TCS). Findings - The study showed that, in contrast to a TCS, RCA considers the unused capacity, which is the difference between the work that can be performed based on current resources and the work that is actually being performed. Therefore, it assigns lower total costs to open and laparoscopic gallbladder surgeries. The study also showed that by separating costs into fixed and variable RCA allows managers to benefit from a pricing strategy based on the difference between the service's selling price and variable costs incurred in providing that service. Research limitations/implications - The limitation of this study is that, because of time constraints, the implementation was performed in the general surgery department only. However, since RCA is an advanced system that has the same application procedures for any department inside in a hospital, managers need only time gaps to implement this system to all parts of the hospital. Practical implications - This study concluded that RCA is better than a TCS for use in health care settings that have high overhead costs because it accurately assigns overhead costs to services by considering unused capacities incurred by a hospital. Consequently, this study provides insight into both measuring and managing unused capacities within the health care sector. This study also concluded that RCA helps health care administrators increase their competitive advantage by allowing them to determine the lowest

  11. Cost structure of and competition for forest-based biomass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lundmark, Robert

    2007-01-01

    Biomass has become a popular alternative to satisfy expanding energy demand and as a substitute for fossil fuels and phased-out nuclear energy in Europe. The European Union White Paper stipulates that the utilization of biomass shall increase to 1566 TWh by 2010. However it is often overlooked that the forest resources are already, to a large extent, used by the forest industries. When promoting biomass for energy generation the consequences for the forest industries also need to be considered. Sweden is an excellent case study, as there are vast quantities of forest resources, nuclear power is starting to be phased out, there are restrictions on expanding hydropower and the political desire exists to 'set an example' with respect to carbon dioxide emissions. This paper attempts to estimate and analyse the supply of two types of forest resource, namely, roundwood and harvesting residues derived from final harvesting and commercial thinnings. Two separate supply curves are estimated: one for roundwood and one for harvesting residues. The cost structure is based on an economic-engineering approach where the separate cost components are constructed from the lowest cost element into aggregates for labour, capital, materials and overhead costs for each forest resource. The results indicate an unutilized economic supply of 12 TWh of harvesting residues in Sweden. However, after these 12 TWh have been recovered it becomes more profitable to use roundwood for energy purposes than to continue extracting further amounts of harvesting residues

  12. Supply and cost factors for metals in the Canadian nuclear fuel waste immobilization program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McConnell, D.B.

    1982-11-01

    Estimates have been made of the demand for immobilization containers to accommodate the irradiated fuel bundles arising from Canadian nuclear generating stations to the year 2020. The resulting estimates for container shells and container-filling alloys were compared to estimates for Canadian and Western World production of the candiate metals. The results indicate that, among the container shell metals, supply difficulties might arise only for Grade 7 titanium. Among the filling metals, only lead-antimony alloy might present supply problems. Current cost figures for plate made of each shell metal, and bulk quantities of filling metals, were compared. Materials costs would be least for a supported shell of stainless steel, followed by copper, titanium alloys Grades 2, 12 and 7, and Inconel 625. Aluminum-silicon is the lowest-cost filling matrix, followed by zinc, lead, and lead-antimony. Container durability, vault conditions, groundwater composition and other factors may play an overriding role in the final selection of materials for container construction

  13. Evidence on the cost of breast cancer drugs is required for rational decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berghuis, Anne Margreet Sofie; Koffijberg, Hendrik; Terstappen, Leonardus Wendelinus Mathias Marie; Sleijfer, Stefan; IJzerman, Maarten Joost

    2018-01-01

    For rational decision making, assessing the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of new drugs and comparing the costs of drugs already on the market is required. In addition to value frameworks, such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology Value Framework and the European Society of Medical Oncology-Magnitude of Clinical benefit Scale, this also requires a transparent overview of actual drug prices. While list prices are available, evidence on treatment cost is not. This paper aims to synthesise evidence on the reimbursement and costs of high-cost breast cancer drugs in The Netherlands (NL). A literature review was performed to identify currently reimbursed breast cancer drugs in the NL. Treatment costs were determined by multiplying list prices with the average length of treatment and dosing schedule. Comparing list prices to the estimated treatment cost resulted in substantial differences in the ranking of costliness of the drugs. The average mean treatment length was unknown for 11/31 breast cancer drugs (26.2%). The differences in the 15 highest-cost drugs were largest for Bevacizumab, Lapatinib and everolimus, with list prices of €541, €158, €1,168 and estimated treatment cost of €174,400, €18,682 and €31,207, respectively. The lowest-cost (patented) targeted drug is €1,818 more expensive than the highest-cost (off-patent) generic drug according to the estimated drug treatment cost. A lack of evidence on the reimbursement and cost of high-cost breast cancer drugs complicates rapid and transparent evidence synthesis, necessary to focus strategies aiming to limit the increasing healthcare costs. Interestingly, the findings show that off-patent generics (such as paclitaxel or doxorubicin), although substantially cheaper than patented drugs, are still relatively costly. Extending standardisation and increasing European and national regulations on presenting information on costs per cancer drug is highly recommended.

  14. TH-CD-201-11: Optimizing the Response and Cost of a DNA Double-Strand Break Dosimeter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Obeidat, M; Cline, K; Stathakis, S; Papanikolaou, N; Rasmussen, K; Gutierrez, A; Ha, CS; Lee, SE; Shim, EY; Kirby, N [University of Texas HSC SA, San Antonio, TX (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: A DNA double-strand break (DSB) dosimeter was developed to measure the biological effect of radiation. The goal here is to refine the fabrication method of this dosimeter to reproducibly create a low coefficient of variation (CoV) and reduce the cost for the dosimeter. Methods: Our dosimeter consists of 4 kilo-base pair DNA strands (labeled on one end with biotin and on the other with fluorescein) attached to streptavidin magnetic beads. The final step of the DNA dosimeter fabrication is to suspend these attached beads in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The amount of PBS used to suspend the attached beads and the relative volume of the DNA strands to the beads both affect the CoV and dosimeter cost. We diluted the beads attached with DNA in different volumes of PBS (100, 200, and 400 µL) to create different concentrations of the DNA dosimeter. Then we irradiated these dosimeters (50 µL samples) in a water-equivalent plastic phantom at 25 and 50 Gy (three samples per dose) and calculated the CoV for each dosimeter concentration. Also, we used different masses of DNA strands (1, 2, 8, 16, 24, and 32 µg) to attach to the same volume of magnetic beads (100 µL) to explore how this affects the cost of the dosimeter. Results: The lowest CoV was produced for the highest concentration of dosimeter (100 µL of PBS), which created CoV of 2.0 and 1.0% for 25 and 50 Gy, respectively. We found that the lowest production cost for the dosimeter occurs by attaching 16 µg of DNA strands with 100 µL of beads. Conclusion: : We optimized the fabrication of the DNA dosimeter to produce low CoV and cost, but we still need to explore ways to further improve the dosimeter for use at lower doses. This work was supported in part by Yarmouk University (Irbid, Jordan) and CPRIT (RP140105)

  15. Direct observation of the lowest indirect exciton state in the bulk of hexagonal boron nitride

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schuster, R.; Habenicht, C.; Ahmad, M.; Knupfer, M.; Büchner, B.

    2018-01-01

    We combine electron energy-loss spectroscopy and first-principles calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT) to identify the lowest indirect exciton state in the in-plane charge response of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) single crystals. This remarkably sharp mode forms a narrow pocket with a dispersion bandwidth of ˜100 meV and, as we argue based on a comparison to our DFT calculations, is predominantly polarized along the Γ K direction of the hexagonal Brillouin zone. Our data support the recent report by Cassabois et al. [Nat. Photonics 10, 262 (2016), 10.1038/nphoton.2015.277] who indirectly inferred the existence of this mode from the photoluminescence signal, thereby establishing h-BN as an indirect semiconductor.

  16. COST MEASUREMENT AND COST MANAGEMENT IN TARGET COSTING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moisello Anna Maria

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Firms are coping with a competitive scenario characterized by quick changes produced by internationalization, concentration, restructuring, technological innovation processes and financial market crisis. On the one hand market enlargement have increased the number and the segmentation of customers and have raised the number of competitors, on the other hand technological innovation has reduced product life cycle. So firms have to adjust their management models to this scenario, pursuing customer satisfaction and respecting cost constraints. In a context where price is a variable fixed by the market, firms have to switch from the cost measurement logic to the cost management one, adopting target costing methodology. The target costing process is a price driven, customer oriented profit planning and cost management system. It works, in a cross functional way, from the design stage throughout all the product life cycle and it involves the entire value chain. The process implementation needs a costing methodology consistent with the cost management logic. The aim of the paper is to focus on Activity Based Costing (ABC application to target costing process. So: -it analyzes target costing logic and phases, basing on a literary review, in order to highlight the costing needs related to this process; -it shows, through a numerical example, how to structure a flexible ABC model – characterized by the separation between variable, fixed in the short and fixed costs - that effectively supports target costing process in the cost measurement phase (drifting cost determination and in the target cost alignment; -it points out the effectiveness of the Activity Based Costing as a model of cost measurement applicable to the supplier choice and as a support for supply cost management which have an important role in target costing process. The activity based information allows a firm to optimize the supplier choice by following the method of minimizing the

  17. Pyrimethanil degradation by photo-Fenton process: Influence of iron and irradiance level on treatment cost.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabrera Reina, A; Miralles-Cuevas, S; Casas López, J L; Sánchez Pérez, J A

    2017-12-15

    This study evaluates the combined effect of photo-catalyst concentration and irradiance level on photo-Fenton efficiency when this treatment is applied to industrial wastewater decontamination. Three levels of irradiance (18, 32 and 46W/m 2 ) and three iron concentrations (8, 20 and 32mg/L) were selected and their influence over the process studied using a raceway pond reactor placed inside a solar box. For 8mg/L, it was found that there was a lack of catalyst to make use of all the available photons. For 20mg/L, the treatment always improved with irradiance indicating that the process was photo-limited. For 32mg/L, the excess of iron caused an excess of radicals production which proved to be counter-productive for the overall process efficiency. The economic assessment showed that acquisition and maintenance costs represent the lowest relative values. The highest cost was found to be the cost of the reagents consumed. Both sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide are negligible in terms of costs. Iron cost percentages were also very low and never higher than 10.5% while the highest cost was always that of hydrogen peroxide, representing at least 85% of the reagent costs. Thus, the total costs were between 0.76 and 1.39€/m 3 . Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Effects of gypsum on trace metals in soils and earthworms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mined gypsum has been beneficially used for many years as an agricultural amendment. Currently a large amount of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum is produced by removal of SO2 from flue gas streams when fuels with high S content are burned. The FGD gypsum, similar to mined gypsum, can enhance c...

  19. Long-term cost and life-expectancy consequences of hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiiskinen, U; Vartiainen, E; Puska, P; Aromaa, A

    1998-08-01

    To estimate hypertension's long-term cost and impact on life expectancy. A 19-year individual follow-up study. Subjects were categorized according to their baseline (1972) diastolic blood pressure (DBP) level into three groups: normotensive (DBP 104 mmHg). By using their social security identification numbers, we linked the subjects to a set of national registers covering hospital admissions, use of major drugs, absence due to sickness, disability pensions, and deaths. A random population sample of 10 284 men and women aged 25-59 years from the provinces of Kuopio and North Karelia in eastern Finland. The numbers of years of life and years of work lost, the cost of drugs and hospitalization, and the value of productivity lost due to disability and premature mortality. The difference in life expectancy between normotensive and severely hypertensive men was 2.7 years, of which 2.0 years was due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Among women the corresponding differences were 2.0 and 1.5 years. Severely hypertensive men lost 2.6 years of work more than did normotensive men, of which 1.7 years was due to CVD. Among women the differences were 2.2 and 1.3 years. The mean undiscounted total costs (USA dollars at 1992 prices) were $132 500 among normotensive, $146 500 among mildly hypertensive, and $219 300 among severely hypertensive men, of which CVD accounted for 28, 39, and 43%, respectively. More than 90% of the total costs were indirect productivity losses. Among women the total costs were lower for all DBP categories, as were the shares of CVD-related costs. The proportional increase in costs on going from the lowest to the highest DBP category was, however, somewhat larger among women. On the population level, severe hypertension leads to considerable losses in terms of years of life lost, years of work lost, and costs. However, the overall impact of mild hypertension is much more limited.

  20. Early appendectomy reduces costs in children with perforated appendicitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Church, Joseph T; Klein, Edwin J; Carr, Benjamin D; Bruch, Steven W

    2017-12-01

    Perforated appendicitis can be managed with early appendectomy, or nonoperative management followed by interval appendectomy. We aimed to identify the strategy with the lowest health care utilization and cost. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all children ≤18 years old with perforated appendicitis admitted to a single institution between January 2009 and March 2016. After excluding immunosuppressed patients and transfers from outside hospitals, we grouped the remaining patients by early or interval appendectomy. Cost accounting data were obtained from our institutional database. The primary outcome was total hospital cost over 2 y from initial admission for appendicitis. Other outcomes analyzed included initial admission costs, number of admissions, emergency room and clinic visits, percutaneous procedures, cross-sectional and overall imaging studies, and length of stay. A total of 203 children with perforated appendicitis were identified. After exclusion of immunosuppressed patients and outside hospital transfers, 94 patients were included in the study. Thirty-nine underwent early appendectomy and 55 initial nonoperative management; of these, 54 underwent elective interval appendectomy. Five of 55 patients (9%) failed initial nonoperative management and required earlier-than-planned appendectomy. Total cost over 2 y was significantly lower with early appendectomy than initial nonoperative management ($19,300 ± 14,300 versus $26,000 ± 17,500; P = 0.05). Early appendectomy resulted in fewer hospital admissions, clinic visits, invasive procedures, and imaging studies. Early appendectomy results in lower hospital costs and less health care utilization compared with initial nonoperative management with elective interval appendectomy. A prospective study will shed more light on this question and can assess the role of nonoperative management without interval appendectomy in children with perforated appendicitis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier

  1. Nutrient Density and the Cost of Vegetables from Elementary School Lunches123

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishdorj, Ariun; Capps, Oral; Murano, Peter S

    2016-01-01

    Vegetables are the major source of the dietary fiber, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A and C that are crucial in the diets of children. This study assessed the nutrient content of vegetables offered through the National School Lunch Program and examined the relation between the overall nutrient density of vegetable subgroups and the costs of nutrients offered and wasted before and after the changes in school meal standards. Using data collected from 3 elementary schools before and after the changes in school meal standards, we found that vegetable plate waste increased from 52% to 58%. Plate waste for starchy vegetables, exclusive of potatoes, was relatively high compared with other subgroups; however, plate waste for white potatoes was the lowest among any type of vegetable. Energy density; cost per 100 g, per serving, and per 100 kcal; and percentage daily value were calculated and used to estimate nutrient density value and nutrient density per dollar. Cost per 100 kcal was highest for red/orange vegetables followed by dark green vegetables; however, nutrient density for red/orange vegetables was the highest in the group and provided the most nutrients per dollar compared with other subgroups. Given that many vegetables are less energy dense, measuring vegetable costs per 100 g and per serving by accounting for nutrient density perhaps is a better way of calculating the cost of vegetables in school meals. PMID:26773034

  2. HH 1158: THE LOWEST LUMINOSITY EXTERNALLY IRRADIATED HERBIG–HARO JET

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Riaz, B.; Whelan, E. T.

    2015-01-01

    We have identified a new externally irradiated Herbig–Haro (HH) jet, HH 1158, within ∼2 pc of the massive OB type stars in the σ Orionis cluster. At an L bol  ∼ 0.1 L ⊙ , HH 1158 is the lowest luminosity irradiated HH jet identified to date in any cluster. Results from the analysis of high-resolution optical spectra indicate asymmetries in the brightness, morphology, electron density, velocity, and the mass outflow rates for the blue and redshifted lobes. We constrain the position angle of the HH 1158 jet at 102° ± 5°. The mass outflow rate and the mean accretion rate for HH 1158 using multiple diagnostics are estimated to be (5.2 ± 2.6) × 10 −10 M ⊙ yr −1 and (3.0 ± 1.0) × 10 −10 M ⊙ yr −1 , respectively. The properties for HH 1158 are notably similar to the externally irradiated HH 444–HH 447 jets previously identified in σ Orionis. In particular, the morphology is such that the weaker jet beam is tilted toward the massive stars, indicating a higher extent of photo-evaporation. The high value for the Hα/[S ii] ratio is also consistent with the ratios measured in other irradiated jets, including HH 444–HH 447. The presence of an extended collimated jet that is bipolar and the evidence of shocked emission knots make HH 1158 the first unique case of irradiated HH jets at the very low-luminosity end, and provides an opportunity to learn the physical properties of very faint HH jet sources

  3. Strategi pencapaian pelanggan pitalebar bergerak di daerah perdesaan tahun 2019 [The strategy of mobile broadband subscriber achievement in rural areas in 2019

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sri Wahyuningsih

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Pemerintah Indonesia memiliki target untuk memberikan akses internet kepada seluruh rakyat Indonesia, termasuk di daerah perdesaan. Daerah perdesaan bagi penyelenggara telekomunikasi kurang memberikan keuntungan karena jumlah pelanggan tidak sebanding dengan biaya investasi yang dikeluarkan. Survei dalam penelitian ini dilakukan di empat desa yaitu Cangkringan, Hambalang, Purwosari dan Kondasatu untuk mengetahui hubungan kondisi masyarakat dengan internet. Hasil survei menunjukkan penggunaan handphone adalah 18,14% untuk telepon, 16,88% untuk SMS dan hanya 3,80% untuk internet. Analisis deskriptif dari data tersebut adalah masyarakat di desa masih belum menggunakan layanan internet secara optimal. Alasannya adalah keterbatasan infrastruktur dan belum ada kesadaran masyarakat. Sudut pandang operator telekomunikasi, mastel Indonesia dan BRTI diperoleh melalui Focus Group Discussion (FGD. Triangulasi data survei dan hasil FGD menghasilkan strategi yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah dan swasta melalui pengembangan ekosistem untuk masyarakat perdesaan. Selain itu, pemerintah dapat memberikan intervensi melalui optimasi penggunaan Biaya Hak Penggunaan Frekuensi untuk pengembangan mobile broadband dan melalui skema dana Universal Service Obligation (USO.*****Indonesian government has a target to provide internet access to all Indonesian people, including in rural areas. For telecommunication provider, rural areas is less profitable because of the number of customers are not comparable with the investment cost incurred. This study was conducted by doing survey in four villages namely Cangkringan, Hambalang, Purwasari, and Kondasatu to determine the condition of the people associated with the development of the internet. The results of the survey showed that 18.14% people use the mobile phone for voice communication, 16.88% for SMS, and only 3.80% for using internet. Villagers have not used the internet service optimally yet. The reason is lack of

  4. Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis of a Wind Power Generation System at Búrfell in Iceland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Birgir Freyr Ragnarsson

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Wind energy harnessing is a new energy production alternative in Iceland. Current installed wind power in Iceland sums to 1.8 MW, which in contrast is 0.1% of the country’s total electricity production. This article is dedicated to the exploration of the potential cost of wind energy production at Búrfell in the south of Iceland. A levelized cost of energy (LCOE approach was applied to the estimation of the potential cost. Weibull simulation is used to simulate wind data for calculations. A confirmation of the power law is done by comparing real data to calculated values. A modified Weibull simulation is verified by comparing results with actual on-site test wind turbines. A wind farm of 99MWis suggested for the site. Key results were the capacity factor (CF at Búrfell being 38.15% on average and that the LCOE for wind energy was estimated as 0.087–0.088 USD/kWh (assuming 10% weighted average cost of capital (WACC, which classifies Búrfell among the lowest LCOE sites for wind energy in Europe.

  5. The importance of CFD methods to the design of huge scrubber systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maier, H.

    2005-01-01

    Due to the influence of the multiphase flow on the scrubber removal performance Austrian Energy and Environment started research end development in co-operation with universities on the simulation of wet scrubber systems using CFD methods (Computational removal performance). In November 2001 the spray banks were reconstructed with a minimum of requirements according to the concept of AE and E. The first experiences in operation already showed a significant improvement. In July 2002 measurements of the SO 2 -profile confirmed the experiences of the client. The high SO 2 peaks nearly disappeared at the absorber wall. Furthermore the changes resulted in a more homogenous SO 2 distribution in the clean gas which was also found out by measurements in the outlet duct. According to the client the LG-ratio could be reduced. Nearly every load case can now be handled with one active spray bank less. With respect to energy consumption of the plant this means a remarkable reduction of operational costs. Compared to that the scrubbers of the FGD system in Neurath will have a flue gas capacity nearly twice much as that of the FGD plant in Heyden. The start up will take place in 2008

  6. End-of-life costs of medical care for advanced stage cancer patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kovačević Aleksandra

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aim. Cancer, one of the leading causes of mortality in the world, imposes a substantial economic burden on each society, including Serbia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the major cancer cost drivers in Serbia. Methods. A retrospective, indepth, bottom-up analysis of two combined databases was performed in order to quantify relevant costs. End-of-life data were obtained from patients with cancer, who deceased within the first year of the established diagnose, including basic demographics, diagnosis, tumour histology, medical resource use and related costs, time and cause of death. All costs were allocated to one of the three categories of cancer health care services: primary care (included home care, hospital outpatient and hospital inpatient care. Results. Exactly 114 patients were analyzed, out of whom a high percent (48.25% had distant metastases at the moment of establishing the diagnosis. Malignant neoplasms of respiratory and intrathoracic organs were leading causes of morbidity. The average costs per patient were significantly different according to the diagnosis, with the highest (13,114.10 EUR and the lowest (4.00 EUR ones observed in the breast cancer and melanoma, respectively. The greatest impact on total costs was observed concerning pharmaceuticals, with 42% of share (monoclonal antibodies amounted to 34% of all medicines and 14% of total costs, followed by oncology medical care (21%, radiation therapy and interventional radiology (11%, surgery (9%, imaging diagnostics (9% and laboratory costs (8%. Conclusion. Cancer treatment incurs high costs, especially for end-of-life pharmaceutical expenses, ensued from medical personnel tendency to improve such patients’ quality of life in spite of nearing the end of life. Reimbursement policy on monoclonal antibodies, in particular at end-stage disease, should rely on cost-effectiveness evidence as well as documented clinical efficiency. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke

  7. Magnetic moments of the lowest-lying singly heavy baryons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Ghil-Seok; Kim, Hyun-Chul

    2018-06-01

    A light baryon is viewed as Nc valence quarks bound by meson mean fields in the large Nc limit. In much the same way a singly heavy baryon is regarded as Nc - 1 valence quarks bound by the same mean fields, which makes it possible to use the properties of light baryons to investigate those of the heavy baryons. A heavy quark being regarded as a static color source in the limit of the infinitely heavy quark mass, the magnetic moments of the heavy baryon are determined entirely by the chiral soliton consisting of a light-quark pair. The magnetic moments of the baryon sextet are obtained by using the parameters fixed in the light-baryon sector. In this mean-field approach, the numerical results of the magnetic moments of the baryon sextet with spin 3/2 are just 3/2 larger than those with spin 1/2. The magnetic moments of the bottom baryons are the same as those of the corresponding charmed baryons.

  8. An epidemiological research and risk factor analysis of functional gastroduodenal disorders in a Chinese naval force

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin YAN

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective To investigate the epidemiology and relative risk factors of functional gastroduodenal disorders (FGD in servicemen of a Chinese naval force. Methods The officers and soldiers in a Chinese naval force were surveyed by multistage stratified random cluster sampling method according to FGID Rome Ⅲ classification and diagnostic criteria. FGD was diagnosed and classified by the international harmonization evaluation method (SA for Rome Ⅲ-DQ. Results 8600 officers and soldiers were included. According to the 7574 valid questionnaires, the incidence of FGD was 16.74%(1268/7574. Among them, the incidence of functional dyspepsia (FD was 9.88%(748/7574, belching 4.48%(339/7574, functional nausea and vomiting 6.62%(501/7574, and adult rumination syndrome 2.38%(180/7574. FGD in naval force was prevalent mainly in 26-35 years old population. A higher incidence was found in persons with higher body mass index (BMI, P<0.05. The incidence in those who had been in military service over 4 years was obviously higher (P<0.05. The incidence was higher in officers than in soldiers (P<0.05. The incidence was higher in administrative staff, military professional personnel, scientific and technical workers, medical practitioners and teachers than that of students and logistic staff (P<0.05. Spicy food, avoidance of certain food, work stress, working in high temperature and extremely hot weather, drinking, noninfectious diarrhea, and history of dysentery might be the most important risk factors, and they showed higher strength of association with the incidence of FGD (P<0.01. Conclusion FGD has a relatively high morbidity rate in naval force population, and it is closely related to dietary habits, working conditions and past history, and attention should be given to this ailment.

  9. Gamma densitometer for measuring Pu density in fuel tubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winn, W.G.

    1982-01-01

    A fuel-gamma-densitometer (FGD) has been developed to examine nondestructively the uniformity of plutonium in aluminum-clad fuel tubes at the Savannah River Plant (SRP). The monitoring technique is γ-ray spectroscopy with a lead-collimated Ge(Li) detector. Plutonium density is correlated with the measured intensity of the 208 keV γ-ray from 237 U (7d) of the 241 Pu (15y) decay chain. The FGD measures the plutonium density within 0.125- or 0.25-inch-diameter areas of the 0.133- to 0.183-inch-thick tube walls. Each measurement yields a density ratio that relates the plutonium density of the measured area to the plutonium density in normal regions of the tube. The technique was used to appraise a series of fuel tubes to be irradated in an SRP reactor. High-density plutonium areas were initially identified by x-ray methods and then examined quantitatively with the FGD. The FGD reliably tested fuel tubes and yielded density ratios over a range of 0.0 to 2.5. FGD measurements examined (1) nonuniform plutonium densities or hot spots, (2) uniform high-density patches, and (3) plutonium density distribution in thin cladding regions. Measurements for tubes with known plutonium density agreed with predictions to within 2%. Attenuation measurements of the 208-keV γ-ray passage through the tube walls agreed to within 2 to 3% of calculated predictions. Collimator leakage measurements agreed with model calculations that predicted less than a 1.5% effect on plutonium density ratios. Finally, FGD measurements correlated well with x-ray transmission and fluoroscopic measurements. The data analysis for density ratios involved a small correction of about 10% for γ-shielding within the fuel tube. For hot spot examinations, limited information for this correction dictated a density ratio uncertainty of 3 to 5%

  10. Societal lifecycle costs of cars with alternative fuels/engines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogden, Joan M.; Williams, Robert H.; Larson, Eric D.

    2004-01-01

    /hybrid electric cars fueled with gasoline, Diesel, Fischer-Tropsch liquids or compressed natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cell cars. The hydrogen fuel cell car stands out as having the lowest externality costs of any option and, when mass produced and with high valuations of externalities, the least projected lifecycle cost. Particular attention is given to strategies that would enhance the prospects that the hydrogen fuel cell car would eventually become the Car of the Future, while pursuing innovations relating to options based on internal combustion engines that would both assist a transition to hydrogen fuel cell cars and provide significant reductions of externality costs in the near term

  11. Nutrient Density and the Cost of Vegetables from Elementary School Lunches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishdorj, Ariun; Capps, Oral; Murano, Peter S

    2016-01-01

    Vegetables are the major source of the dietary fiber, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A and C that are crucial in the diets of children. This study assessed the nutrient content of vegetables offered through the National School Lunch Program and examined the relation between the overall nutrient density of vegetable subgroups and the costs of nutrients offered and wasted before and after the changes in school meal standards. Using data collected from 3 elementary schools before and after the changes in school meal standards, we found that vegetable plate waste increased from 52% to 58%. Plate waste for starchy vegetables, exclusive of potatoes, was relatively high compared with other subgroups; however, plate waste for white potatoes was the lowest among any type of vegetable. Energy density; cost per 100 g, per serving, and per 100 kcal; and percentage daily value were calculated and used to estimate nutrient density value and nutrient density per dollar. Cost per 100 kcal was highest for red/orange vegetables followed by dark green vegetables; however, nutrient density for red/orange vegetables was the highest in the group and provided the most nutrients per dollar compared with other subgroups. Given that many vegetables are less energy dense, measuring vegetable costs per 100 g and per serving by accounting for nutrient density perhaps is a better way of calculating the cost of vegetables in school meals. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

  12. The Externe project. Assessment of the external costs of the natural gas fuel cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holland, M.R.

    1997-01-01

    A detailed bottom-up methodology for assessment of the external costs of energy has been developed by a multi-disciplinary, pan-European team as part of the European Commissions's JOULE Programme. The consequences of the generation of electricity from fossil, nuclear and renewable technologies, in terms of damages to human health, buildings and the wider environment, have been assessed within a consistent framework. The potential application of the results in cost-benefit analysis, power system optimisation, emissions charging, etc. is also now under investigation. The analysis starts with definition of the fuel cycle, and specification of the technologies and locations to be considered. Results to date show that for typical modern examples of power plants burning different fossil fuels, externalities (including possible global warming effects) are lowest for gas-burning plant. (R.P.)

  13. Analysis of Economical and Environmental Costs for the Selection of Municipal Solid Waste Treatment and Disposal Scenarios through Multicriteria Analysis (ELECTRE Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorena De Medina-Salas

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Decision-making for the selection of treatment alternatives and landfilling of municipal solid waste (MSW is based on the experience and judgment of those management responsible, without considering multicriteria analysis. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the treatment scenario and landfilling of MSW with the lowest environmental and economic costs in a medium-sized city. The methodology included the definition and data processing of the project (population, generation, and composition of MSW, for 16 years. In the design of scenarios, recycling, composting, incineration with energy recovery, and landfilling treatments were proposed; later, the combinations of treatments for each type of residue were generated. The results showed 36 scenarios, then the ELECTRE method was applied to the five with the lowest economical and environmental costs. Finally from the latter, one dominant scenario was determined: organic waste in composting; plastic, paper, and glass in recycling; and ‘others’ in landfilling. It is concluded that the final decision on the scenario is adapted to the particular conditions of the locality.

  14. Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Quasi-Static Wireless Power Transfer for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Transit Buses: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Lijuan; Gonder, Jeff; Burton, Evan; Brooker, Aaron; Meintz, Andrew; Konan, Arnaud

    2015-11-11

    This study evaluates the costs and benefits associated with the use of a plug-in hybrid electric bus and determines the cost effectiveness relative to a conventional bus and a hybrid electric bus. A sensitivity sweep analysis was performed over a number of a different battery sizes, charging powers, and charging stations. The net present value was calculated for each vehicle design and provided the basis for the design evaluation. In all cases, given present day economic assumptions, the conventional bus achieved the lowest net present value while the optimal plug-in hybrid electric bus scenario reached lower lifetime costs than the hybrid electric bus. The study also performed parameter sensitivity analysis under low market potential assumptions and high market potential assumptions. The net present value of plug-in hybrid electric bus is close to that of conventional bus.

  15. Supply chain cost analysis of long-distance transportation of energy wood in Finland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tahvanainen, Timo; Anttila, Perttu

    2011-01-01

    The increasing use of bioenergy has resulted in a growing demand for long-distance transportation of energy wood. For both biofuels and traditional forest products, the importance of energy efficiency and rail use is growing. A GIS-based model for energy wood supply chains was created and used to simulate the costs for several supply chains in a study area in eastern Finland. Cost curves of ten supply chains for logging residues and full trees based on roadside, terminal and end-facility chipping were analyzed. The average procurement costs from forest to roadside storage were included. Railway transportation was compared to the most commonly used truck transportation options in long-distance transport. The potential for the development of supply chains was analyzed using a sensitivity analysis of 11 modified supply chain scenarios. For distances shorter than 60 km, truck transportation of loose residues and end-facility comminution was the most cost-competitive chain. Over longer distances, roadside chipping with chip truck transportation was the most cost-efficient option. When the transportation distance went from 135 to 165 km, depending on the fuel source, train-based transportation offered the lowest costs. The most cost-competitive alternative for long-distance transport included a combination of roadside chipping, truck transportation to the terminal and train transportation to the plant. Due to the low payload, the energy wood bundle chain with train transportation was not cost-competitive. Reduction of maximum truck weight increased the relative competitiveness of loose residue chains and train-based transportation, while reduction of fuel moisture increased competitiveness, especially of chip trucks.

  16. (Super Variable Costing-Throughput Costing)

    OpenAIRE

    Çakıcı, Cemal

    2006-01-01

    (Super Variable Costing-Throughput Costing) The aim of this study is to explain the super-variable costing method which is a new subject in cost and management accounting and to show it’s working practicly.Shortly, super-variable costing can be defined as a costing method which is use only direct material costs in calculate of product costs and treats all costs except these (direct labor and overhead) as periad costs or operating costs.By using super-variable costing method, product costs ar...

  17. Bevacizumab for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: A Global Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Daniel A; Chen, Qiushi; Ayer, Turgay; Chan, Kelvin K W; Virik, Kiran; Hammerman, Ariel; Brenner, Baruch; Flowers, Christopher R; Hall, Peter S

    2017-06-01

    In the U.S., the addition of bevacizumab to first-line chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) has been demonstrated to provide 0.10 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) at an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $571,000/QALY. Due to variability in pricing, value for money may be different in other countries. Our objective was to establish the cost-effectiveness of bevacizumab in mCRC in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and Israel. We performed the analysis using a previously established Markov model for mCRC. Input data for efficacy, adverse events, and quality of life were considered to be generalizable and therefore identical for all countries. We used country-specific prices for medications, administration, and other health service costs. All costs were converted from local currency to U.S. dollars at the exchange rates in March 2016. We conducted one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses (PSA) to assess the model robustness across parameter uncertainties. Base case results demonstrated that the highest ICER was in the U.S. ($571,000/QALY) and the lowest was in Australia ($277,000/QALY). In Canada, the U.K., and Israel, ICERs ranged between $351,000 and $358,000 per QALY. PSA demonstrated 0% likelihood of bevacizumab being cost-effective in any country at a willingness to pay threshold of $150,000 per QALY. The addition of bevacizumab to first-line chemotherapy for mCRC consistently fails to be cost-effective in all five countries. There are large differences in cost-effectiveness between countries. This study provides a framework for analyzing the value of a cancer drug from the perspectives of multiple international payers. The cost-effectiveness of bevacizumab varies significantly between multiple countries. By conventional thresholds, bevacizumab is not cost-effective in metastatic colon cancer in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, and Israel. © AlphaMed Press 2017.

  18. The Rapid Transit System That Achieves Higher Performance with Lower Life-Cycle Costs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sone, Satoru; Takagi, Ryo

    In the age of traction system made of inverter and ac traction motors, distributed traction system with pure electric brake of regenerative mode has been recognised very advantageous. This paper proposes a new system as the lowest life-cycle cost system for high performance rapid transit, a new architecture and optimum parameters of power feeding system, and a new running method of trains. In Japan, these components of this proposal, i.e. pure electric brake and various countermeasures of reducing loss of regeneration have been already popular but not as yet the new running method for better utilisation of the equipment and for lower life-cycle cost. One example of what are proposed in this paper will be made as Tsukuba Express, which is under construction as the most modern commuter railway in Greater Tokyo area.

  19. The effect of inflation rate on the cost of medical waste management system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jolanta Walery, Maria

    2017-11-01

    This paper describes the optimization study aimed to analyse the impact of the parameter describing the inflation rate on the cost of the system and its structure. The study was conducted on the example of the analysis of medical waste management system in north-eastern Poland, in the Podlaskie Province. The scope of operational research carried out under the optimization study was divided into two stages of optimization calculations with assumed technical and economic parameters of the system. In the first stage, the lowest cost of functioning of the analysed system was generated, whereas in the second one the influence of the input parameter of the system, i.e. the inflation rate on the economic efficiency index (E) and the spatial structure of the system was determined. With the assumed inflation rate in the range of 1.00 to 1.12, the highest cost of the system was achieved at the level of PLN 2022.20/t (increase of economic efficiency index E by ca. 27% in comparison with run 1, with inflation rate = 1.12).

  20. The distribution over time of costs and social net benefits for pertussis immunization programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girard, Dorota Zdanowska

    2010-03-01

    The cost of a six-dose pertussis immunization programs for children and adolescents is investigated in relation to estimators of the price of acellular vaccine, the value of a child's life, levels of vaccination rate and discount rates. We compare the cost of the program maintained over time at 90% with three alternative strategies, each involving a decrease in vaccination coverage. Data from England and Wales, 1966-2005, is used to formalize a delay in occurrence of pertussis cases as a result of a fall in coverage. We first apply the criterion of minimization of the total social cost of pertussis to identify the best cost saving immunization strategy. The results are also discussed in form of the discounted present value of the total social net benefits. We find that the discounted present value of the total social net benefit is maximized when a stable vaccination program at 90% is compared to a gradual decrease in vaccination coverage leading to the lowest vaccination rate. The benefits to society of providing sustained immunization strategy, vaccinating the highest proportion of children and adolescents, are systematically proved on the basis of the second optimisation criterion, independently of the level of estimators applied during economic evaluation for the cost variables.

  1. Gamma-ray monitor for plutonium uniformity in fuel tubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winn, W.G.

    1981-01-01

    Plutonium fuel tubes must be examined for abnormal PuO 2 densities. A fuel-gamma densitometer (FGD) was developed to measure the PuO 2 content within 3.2-mm-diameter areas. The FGD measurement of hot spot densities is an extension of the usual gamma-scanner application of verifying fuel uniformity within a few percent

  2. Use of Linear Programming to Develop Cost-Minimized Nutritionally Adequate Health Promoting Food Baskets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parlesak, Alexandr; Tetens, Inge; Dejgård Jensen, Jørgen; Smed, Sinne; Gabrijelčič Blenkuš, Mojca; Rayner, Mike; Darmon, Nicole; Robertson, Aileen

    2016-01-01

    Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) are developed to promote healthier eating patterns, but increasing food prices may make healthy eating less affordable. The aim of this study was to design a range of cost-minimized nutritionally adequate health-promoting food baskets (FBs) that help prevent both micronutrient inadequacy and diet-related non-communicable diseases at lowest cost. Average prices for 312 foods were collected within the Greater Copenhagen area. The cost and nutrient content of five different cost-minimized FBs for a family of four were calculated per day using linear programming. The FBs were defined using five different constraints: cultural acceptability (CA), or dietary guidelines (DG), or nutrient recommendations (N), or cultural acceptability and nutrient recommendations (CAN), or dietary guidelines and nutrient recommendations (DGN). The variety and number of foods in each of the resulting five baskets was increased through limiting the relative share of individual foods. The one-day version of N contained only 12 foods at the minimum cost of DKK 27 (€ 3.6). The CA, DG, and DGN were about twice of this and the CAN cost ~DKK 81 (€ 10.8). The baskets with the greater variety of foods contained from 70 (CAN) to 134 (DGN) foods and cost between DKK 60 (€ 8.1, N) and DKK 125 (€ 16.8, DGN). Ensuring that the food baskets cover both dietary guidelines and nutrient recommendations doubled the cost while cultural acceptability (CAN) tripled it. Use of linear programming facilitates the generation of low-cost food baskets that are nutritionally adequate, health promoting, and culturally acceptable.

  3. Cost-effectiveness analysis of diarrhoea management approaches in Nigeria: A decision analytical model.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles E Okafor

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Diarrhoea is a leading cause of death in Nigerian children under 5 years. Implementing the most cost-effective approach to diarrhoea management in Nigeria will help optimize health care resources allocation. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of various approaches to diarrhoea management namely: the 'no treatment' approach (NT; the preventive approach with rotavirus vaccine; the integrated management of childhood illness for diarrhoea approach (IMCI; and rotavirus vaccine plus integrated management of childhood illness for diarrhoea approach (rotavirus vaccine + IMCI.Markov cohort model conducted from the payer's perspective was used to calculate the cost-effectiveness of the four interventions. The markov model simulated a life cycle of 260 weeks for 33 million children under five years at risk of having diarrhoea (well state. Disability adjusted life years (DALYs averted was used to quantify clinical outcome. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER served as measure of cost-effectiveness.Based on cost-effectiveness threshold of $2,177.99 (i.e. representing Nigerian GDP/capita, all the approaches were very cost-effective but rotavirus vaccine approach was dominated. While IMCI has the lowest ICER of $4.6/DALY averted, the addition of rotavirus vaccine was cost-effective with an ICER of $80.1/DALY averted. Rotavirus vaccine alone was less efficient in optimizing health care resource allocation.Rotavirus vaccine + IMCI approach was the most cost-effective approach to childhood diarrhoea management. Its awareness and practice should be promoted in Nigeria. Addition of rotavirus vaccine should be considered for inclusion in the national programme of immunization. Although our findings suggest that addition of rotavirus vaccine to IMCI for diarrhoea is cost-effective, there may be need for further vaccine demonstration studies or real life studies to establish the cost-effectiveness of the vaccine in Nigeria.

  4. Marginal costs of water savings from cooling system retrofits: a case study for Texas power plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loew, Aviva; Jaramillo, Paulina; Zhai, Haibo

    2016-10-01

    The water demands of power plant cooling systems may strain water supply and make power generation vulnerable to water scarcity. Cooling systems range in their rates of water use, capital investment, and annual costs. Using Texas as a case study, we examined the cost of retrofitting existing coal and natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) power plants with alternative cooling systems, either wet recirculating towers or air-cooled condensers for dry cooling. We applied a power plant assessment tool to model existing power plants in terms of their key plant attributes and site-specific meteorological conditions and then estimated operation characteristics of retrofitted plants and retrofit costs. We determined the anticipated annual reductions in water withdrawals and the cost-per-gallon of water saved by retrofits in both deterministic and probabilistic forms. The results demonstrate that replacing once-through cooling at coal-fired power plants with wet recirculating towers has the lowest cost per reduced water withdrawals, on average. The average marginal cost of water withdrawal savings for dry-cooling retrofits at coal-fired plants is approximately 0.68 cents per gallon, while the marginal recirculating retrofit cost is 0.008 cents per gallon. For NGCC plants, the average marginal costs of water withdrawal savings for dry-cooling and recirculating towers are 1.78 and 0.037 cents per gallon, respectively.

  5. Failures of TDDFT in describing the lowest intramolecular charge-transfer excitation in para-nitroanilin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksen, J.J.; Sauer, S.P.A.; Mikkelsen, K.V.

    2013-01-01

    We investigate the failure of Time{Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) with the CAM{B3LYP exchange{correlation (xc) functional coupled to the Polarizable Embedding (PE) scheme (PE-CAM-B3LYP) in reproducing the solvatochromic shift of the lowest intense charge{transfer excitation in para...... the electric dipole moments in the gas phase and for 100 solvent congurations. We find that CAM-B3LYP overestimates the amount of charge separation inherent in the ground state and TDDFT/CAM-B3LYP drastically underestimates this amount in the excited charge-transfer state. As the errors in the solvatochromatic...... to benchmark results of TDDFT calculations with CAM-B3LYP for intramolecular charge{transfer excitations in molecular systems similar to pNA against higher{level ab initio wave function methods, like, e.g., CCSD, prior to their use. Using the calculated change in dipole moment upon excitation as a measure...

  6. Preparations for an optical access to the lowest nuclear excitation in {sup 229}Th

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wense, Lars v.d.; Seiferle, Benedict; Thirolf, Peter [Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany); Laatiaoui, Mustapha [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH (Germany)

    2014-07-01

    The isomeric lowest excited nuclear level of {sup 229}Th has been indirectly measured to be 7.6±0.5 eV (163±11 nm). In order to improve the accuracy as prerequisite of an all-optical control, {sup 229m}Th is populated via a 2% decay branch in the α decay of {sup 233}U. The Thorium ions are extracted and cooled with the help of a buffer gas stopping cell and an RFQ-cooler. In order to suppress accompanying α decay chain products other than {sup 229}Th, a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) is used, performance and extraction efficiency measurements were performed. Following the QMS, the Thorium isomers will be collected on a 50 μm micro electrode. The decay of these isomers can then be detected using deep UV optics, presently in the phase of preparation and adjustment. Newest results are presented.

  7. Favorable performance of the DFT methods in predicting the minimum-energy structure of the lowest triplet state of WF4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gutowski, M.; Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

    1999-01-01

    The tetrahedral structure of the lowest triplet state of the WF 4 complex was examined using different variants of the density functional theory (DFT) and conventional ab initio methods. The low-level, conventional, ab initio methods, such as SCF, MP2, MP3, and CISD, predict the tetrahedral structure to be a minimum, whereas the DFT schemes predict an imaginary frequency for the e vibrational mode. Only after recovering electron correlation effects at the MP4 and higher levels, the conventional electronic structure methods also predict the T d structure to be a second-order stationary point. This is not the correlation but the exchange part of the DFT functionals which is responsible for the discrepancy between the DFT and low-level, conventional, ab initio predictions. The lowering of symmetry to C 2v leads to a minimum on the lowest triplet potential energy surface and the electronic energy difference between the T d and C 2v stationary points amounts to 0.85 and 0.96 kcal/mol at the B3LYP and CCSD(T) levels, respectively

  8. A Low-Cost Neutral Zinc-Iron Flow Battery with High Energy Density for Stationary Energy Storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Congxin; Duan, Yinqi; Xu, Wenbin; Zhang, Huamin; Li, Xianfeng

    2017-11-20

    Flow batteries (FBs) are one of the most promising stationary energy-storage devices for storing renewable energy. However, commercial progress of FBs is limited by their high cost and low energy density. A neutral zinc-iron FB with very low cost and high energy density is presented. By using highly soluble FeCl 2 /ZnBr 2 species, a charge energy density of 56.30 Wh L -1 can be achieved. DFT calculations demonstrated that glycine can combine with iron to suppress hydrolysis and crossover of Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ . The results indicated that an energy efficiency of 86.66 % can be obtained at 40 mA cm -2 and the battery can run stably for more than 100 cycles. Furthermore, a low-cost porous membrane was employed to lower the capital cost to less than $ 50 per kWh, which was the lowest value that has ever been reported. Combining the features of low cost, high energy density and high energy efficiency, the neutral zinc-iron FB is a promising candidate for stationary energy-storage applications. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  9. Anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder and the dynamic relationship between these conditions: treatment patterns and cost analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    François, Clément; Despiégel, Nicolas; Maman, Khaled; Saragoussi, Delphine; Auquier, Pascal

    2010-03-01

    To determine the treatment pattern and impact on healthcare costs of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD), and influence of their concomitance and subsequence. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a US reimbursement claims database. Adult patients with an incident diagnosis of anxiety or MDD (index date) were included. Their sociodemographic data, diagnoses, healthcare resource use and associated costs were collected over the 6 months preceding and 12 months following index date. A total of 599,624 patients were identified and included. Patients with phobia or post-traumatic stress disorder had the highest 12-month costs ($8,442 and $8,383, respectively). Patients with social anxiety disorder had the lowest costs ($3,772); generalized anxiety disorder ($6,472) incurred costs similar to MDD ($7,170). Costs were substantially increased with emergence of anxiety during follow-up in MDD patients ($10,031) or emergence of MDD in anxiety patients ($9,387). This was not observed in patients with both anxiety and MDD at index date ($6,148). This study confirms the high burden of costs of anxiety, which were within the same range as MDD. Interestingly, the emergence of anxiety or MDD in the year following a first diagnosis of MDD or anxiety, respectively, increased costs substantially. Major limitations were short follow-up and lack of absenteeism costs.

  10. Estimating the costs of nuclear power: benchmarks and uncertainties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leveque, Francois

    2013-05-01

    The debate on this topic is fairly confusing. Some present electricity production using nuclear power as an affordable solution, others maintain it is too expensive. These widely divergent views prompt fears among consumers and voters that they are being manipulated: each side is just defending its own interests and the true cost of nuclear power is being concealed. Companies and non-government organizations certainly adopt whatever position suits them best. But at the same time, the notion of just one 'true' cost is misleading. As we shall see in this paper there is no such thing as the cost of nuclear power: we must reason in terms of costs and draw a distinction between a private cost and a social cost. The private cost is what an operator examines before deciding whether it is opportune to build a new nuclear power station. This cost varies between different investors, particularly as a function of their attitude to risks. On the other hand the social cost weighs on society, which may take into account the risk of proliferation, or the benefits of avoiding carbon-dioxide emissions, among others. The cost of actually building new plant differs from one country to the next. So deciding whether nuclear power is profitable or not, a benefit for society or not, does not involve determining the real cost, but rather compiling data, developing methods and formulating hypotheses. It is not as easy as inundating the general public with contradictory figures, but it is a more effective way of casting light on economic decisions by industry and government. Without evaluating the costs it is impossible to establish the cost price, required to compare electricity production using nuclear power and rival technologies. Would it be preferable to build a gas-powered plant, a nuclear reactor or a wind farm? Which technology yields the lowest cost per KWh? Under what conditions - financial terms, regulatory framework, carbon pricing - will private investors see an adequate return

  11. Delivery cost of human papillomavirus vaccination of young adolescent girls in Peru, Uganda and Viet Nam.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levin, Carol E; Van Minh, Hoang; Odaga, John; Rout, Swampa Sarit; Ngoc, Diep Nguyen Thi; Menezes, Lysander; Araujo, Maria Ana Mendoza; LaMontagne, D Scott

    2013-08-01

    To estimate the incremental delivery cost of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of young adolescent girls in Peru, Uganda and Viet Nam. Data were collected from a sample of facilities that participated in five demonstration projects for hpv vaccine delivery: school-based delivery was used in Peru, Uganda and Viet Nam; health-centre-based delivery was also used in Viet Nam; and integrated delivery, which involved existing health services, was also used in Uganda. Microcosting methods were used to guide data collection on the use of resources (i.e. staff, supplies and equipment) and data were obtained from government, demonstration project and health centre administrative records. Delivery costs were expressed in 2009 United States dollars (US$). Exclusively project-related expenses and the cost of the vaccine were excluded. The economic delivery cost per vaccine dose ranged from US$ 1.44 for integrated outreach in Uganda to US$ 3.88 for school-based delivery in Peru. In Viet Nam, the lowest cost per dose was US$ 1.92 for health-centre-based delivery. Cost profiles revealed that, in general, the largest contributing factors were project start-up costs and recurrent personnel costs. The delivery cost of HPV vaccine was higher than published costs for traditional vaccines recommended by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). The cost of delivering HPV vaccine to young adolescent girls in Peru, Uganda and Viet Nam was higher than that for vaccines currently in the EPI schedule. The cost per vaccine dose was lower when delivery was integrated into existing health services.

  12. Methanex cuts its methanol costs with Fletcher purchase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Plishner, E.S.

    1993-01-01

    Methanex (Vancouver, BC) will 'significantly reduce' its unit cost of methanol production with the acquisition of all of Fletcher Challenge's (Auckland, NZ) methanol assets. These include the 800,000-m.t./year Cape Horn plant in Chile, one of the world's largest single train facilities. That plant is 'by far' the lowest-cost supplier of delivered methanol to the U.S., says analyst Sam Kanes of Scotia McLeod (Toronto), with gas costs below $1/1,000 cu.ft. Also included in the deal are two New Zealand plants: Petralgas, with capacity for 520,000 m.t./year, and Synfuel. Synfuel has the capacity to produce the equivalent of 1.8 million m.t./year of chemical-grade methanol, or 70,000 m.t./year of gasoline, or a combination. Currently rated at 450,000 m.t./year of methanol, that could double in 1994 with the addition of distillation capacity. After the transaction, Methanex will have a total of 2.4 million m.t./year of methanol capacity, plus marketing agreements for 1.0 million m.t./year. The company has plans to add 1.2 million m.t. of production (in Trinidad and the U.S.) and 0.6 million m.t. of further marketing arrangements over the next year and a half, bringing the total to over 5.0 million m.t./year. Methanex could have 'about twice as much capacity as the Saudis,' according to one consultant

  13. POLA KEBIJAKAN PENTARIFAN JASA LAYANAN BEDAH DI RUMAH SAKIT KHUSUS BEDAH ROPANASURI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rima Semiarty

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available AbstrakDalam rangka globalisasi perlu upaya lebih besar untuk membenahi rumah sakit, termasuk upaya penetapan pola tarif agar tetap bertahan hidup. Rumah Sakit Ropanasuri sebagai rumah sakit dengan pelayanan bedah belum menetapkan pola tarif pelayanan bedah yang merujuk pada biaya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasikan biaya satuan tindakan bedah serta mengidentifikasi tindakan yang mencapai break event point dan kebijakan pola tarif tindakan bedah. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif analisis dengan metoda evaluatif dan analisa tarif yang berlaku selama ini di kamar bedah. Data yang digunakan adalah data isian sekunder dari bagian keuangan dan wawancara serta Focus Group Discussion (FGD dengan para Dokter Bedah. Dari hasil penelitian diperoleh gambaran biaya satuan tindakan bedah dari empat kelompok bedah yaitu digestif, orthopaedi, onkologi dan urologi serta biaya satuan yang memperhitungkan utilisasi untuk empat jenis operasi (minor, medium, mayor, khusus. Ternyata terdapat beberapa tindakan yang tidak mencapai break event point, defisit serta ada yang surplus. Atas dasar perhitungan analisa tarif didapatkan pola kebijakan tarif yang berdasarkan perhitungan unit cost.Kata kunci: tarif – pelayanan bedahAbstractIn the context of globalization, greater efforts for good hospital administration is needed, including efforts to establish the imbursement pattern for hospital survival. Ropanasuri Hospital as a hospital with surgical services has not set a tariff pattern with reference to the cost of surgery. This study aims to identify unit cost of surgery and to identify actions to achieve break-event point tariff policy and the pattern of surgical costs. This descriptive-analysis research study used analytical and evaluative methods on tariffs currently used operating rooms. Data were gathered from secondary data from financial department, and from interviews with focus group discussion (FGD and surgeons involved in the

  14. A cost-effectiveness analysis of the diagnostic strategies for differentiating focal nodular hyperplasia from hepatocellular adenoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suh, Chong Hyun [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Liver Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Namwon Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Namwon-si (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kyung Won [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Liver Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Harvard Medical School, Department of Imaging, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women' s Hospital, Boston, MA (United States); Park, Seong Ho [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Liver Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Shin, Sangjin; Ahn, Jeonghoon [National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency, Division of Healthcare Technology Assessment Research, Department of Economic Evaluation, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Pyo, Junhee [Utrecht University, Collaborating Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Regulation, Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Utrecht (Netherlands); Shinagare, Atul B.; Krajewski, Katherine M.; Ramaiya, Nikhil H. [Harvard Medical School, Department of Imaging, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women' s Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)

    2018-01-15

    We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI (EOB-MRI) strategy compared with conventional MRI strategy and biopsy to differentiate focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) from hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). A decision tree model was constructed to compare the cost-effectiveness of EOB-MRI, conventional MRI with extracellular contrast agents, and biopsy as the initial diagnostic modality in patients with incidentally detected focal liver lesions suspected of being FNH or HCA. We analysed the cost and effectiveness, i.e. probability of successful diagnosis of each strategy. Costs were based on utilisation rates and Medicare reimbursements in the USA and South Korea. In the base case analysis of our decision tree model, the effectiveness of the three strategies was similar. The cost of the EOB-MRI strategy ($1283 in USA, $813 in South Korea) was lowest compared with the biopsy strategy ($1725 in USA, $847 in South Korea) and the conventional MRI strategy ($1750 in USA, $962 in South Korea). One-way, two-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed unchanged results over an acceptable range. EOB-MRI strategy is the most cost-effective strategy for differentiating FNH from HCA in patients with incidentally detected focal liver lesions in a non-cirrhotic liver. (orig.)

  15. A cost-effectiveness analysis of the diagnostic strategies for differentiating focal nodular hyperplasia from hepatocellular adenoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suh, Chong Hyun; Kim, Kyung Won; Park, Seong Ho; Shin, Sangjin; Ahn, Jeonghoon; Pyo, Junhee; Shinagare, Atul B.; Krajewski, Katherine M.; Ramaiya, Nikhil H.

    2018-01-01

    We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI (EOB-MRI) strategy compared with conventional MRI strategy and biopsy to differentiate focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) from hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). A decision tree model was constructed to compare the cost-effectiveness of EOB-MRI, conventional MRI with extracellular contrast agents, and biopsy as the initial diagnostic modality in patients with incidentally detected focal liver lesions suspected of being FNH or HCA. We analysed the cost and effectiveness, i.e. probability of successful diagnosis of each strategy. Costs were based on utilisation rates and Medicare reimbursements in the USA and South Korea. In the base case analysis of our decision tree model, the effectiveness of the three strategies was similar. The cost of the EOB-MRI strategy ($1283 in USA, $813 in South Korea) was lowest compared with the biopsy strategy ($1725 in USA, $847 in South Korea) and the conventional MRI strategy ($1750 in USA, $962 in South Korea). One-way, two-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed unchanged results over an acceptable range. EOB-MRI strategy is the most cost-effective strategy for differentiating FNH from HCA in patients with incidentally detected focal liver lesions in a non-cirrhotic liver. (orig.)

  16. Variation in the Cost of Managing Actinic Keratosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregory, Tanner; Liu, Guodong; Leslie, Douglas L.; Miller, Jeffrey J.

    2017-01-01

    Importance Actinic keratosis (AK), a skin growth induced by ultraviolet light exposure, requires chronic management because a small proportion can progress into squamous cell skin cancer. Spending for AK management was more than $1 billion in 2004. Investigating geographic variation in AK spending presents an opportunity to decrease waste or recoup excess spending. Objective To evaluate geographic variation in health care cost for management of AKs and the association with patient-related and health-related factors. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort study was performed using data from the MarketScan medical claims database of 488 324 continuously enrolled members with 2 or more claims for AK. Data from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2012, was used. Main Outcomes and Measures Annual costs of care were calculated for outpatient visits, AK destruction, and medications for AKs, and the total of these components. Costs were adjusted for inflation to 2014 US dollars. To display cost variation, we calculated the ratio of mean cost in the highest quintile (Q5) relative to the mean in the lowest quintile (Q1), or the Q5:Q1 ratio; Q5:Q1 ratios were adjusted based on age, sex, history of nonmelanoma skin cancer, US geographic region, and population density (metropolitan statistical area). Results Overall, data from 488 324 continuously enrolled members (mean [SD] age, 53.1 [7.5] years; 243 662 women) with 2 or more claims for AK were included. Overall, patients had 1 085 985 claims related to AK, and dermatologists accounted for 71.0% of claims. The 2-year total cost was $111.5 million, with $52.4 million in 2011 and $59.1 million in 2012. The unadjusted Q5:Q1 ratios for total annual cost per patient ranged from 9.49 to 15.10. Adjusted ratios ranged from 1.72 to 1.80. Conclusions and Relevance There is variation in AK management cost within and between regions. This is not fully explained by differences in patient characteristics such as

  17. Financial costs for families of children with Type 1 diabetes in lower-income countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogle, G D; Kim, H; Middlehurst, A C; Silink, M; Jenkins, A J

    2016-06-01

    To assess the direct costs of necessary consumables for minimal care of a child with Type 1 diabetes in countries where the public health system does not regularly provide such care. Supply costs were collected between January 2013 and February 2015 from questionnaires submitted by centres requesting International Diabetes Federation Life for a Child Program support. All 20 centres in 15 countries agreed to the use of their responses. Annual costs for minimal care were estimated for: 18 × 10 ml 100 IU/ml insulin, 1/3 cost of a blood glucose meter, two blood glucose test strips/day, two syringes/week, and four HbA1c tests/year. Costs were expressed in US dollars, and as % of gross national income (purchasing power parity) per capita. The ranges (median) for the minimum supply costs through the private system were: insulin 10 ml 100 IU/ml equivalent vial: $5.10-$25 ($8.00); blood glucose meter: $15-$121 ($33.33); test strip: $0.15-$1.20 ($0.50); syringe: $0.10-$0.56 ($0.20); and HbA1c : $4.90-$20 ($9.75). Annual costs ranged from $255 (Pakistan) to $1,185 (Burkina Faso), with a median of $553. Annual % gross national income costs were 12-370% (median 56%). For the lowest 20% income earners the annual cost ranged 20-1535% (median 153%). St Lucia and Mongolia were the only countries whose governments consistently provided insulin. No government provided meters and strips, which were the most expensive supplies (62% of total cost). In less-resourced countries, even minimal care is beyond many families' means. In addition, families face additional costs such as consultations, travel and indirect costs. Action to prevent diabetes-related death and morbidity is needed. © 2015 Diabetes UK.

  18. [Psychoactive drugs and costs in the Madrid III (Valdemoro) prison].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Algora-Donoso, I; Varela-González, O

    2008-01-01

    Annual pharmaceutical expenditures in prisons increases dramatically and the rising costs of psychoactive drugs have especially contributed to this. These drugs are often prescribed in order to find therapeutic uses in the field of personality disorders, addictions, and dysfunctional behaviours that are not included in the authorized indications (compassionate use). This study has enabled a detailed description of the use of psychoactive drugs at the Madrid III prison, a centre with one of the lowest levels of pharmaceutical expenditure in this autonomous community. During a two-week period, all prescriptions of psychoactive drugs were collected and registered along with data of several possible conditioning factors. 20.5% of the population was receiving some kind of psychoactive drug; 76% of those inmates undergoing treatment were receiving one or two substances; 65% were taking anxiolytics, 38% antidepressants and 27% antipsychotics. The total amount of psychoactive drugs consumed was 9,840 defined daily doses, 46% of which were anxiolytics, 17% antidepressants and 14% antipsychotics. The total cost of the fortnight's treatment was euros 5,379 with a saving of euro 611 due to requesting and selecting offers carried out by the pharmacist. 72% of the costs were spent on anti-psychotics and the newer psychoactive drugs, representing 66% of the prescriptions, accounted for 98% of expenditure. The prescriber was one of the key influential factors over the amount, type and cost of the treatments. There are signs that compassionate use of current antipsychotics and antiepileptics, and newer antidepressants are a main cause of the dramatic increase in the costs, with cost-efficiency not always clearly demonstrated. These results are not an isolated fact restricted only to prisons, as demonstrated by consumption data published by the National Health System in the same year.

  19. Costs and trade-offs of grazer-induced defenses in Scenedesmus under deficient resource

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xuexia; Wang, Jun; Chen, Qinwen; Chen, Ge; Huang, Yuan; Yang, Zhou

    2016-01-01

    The green alga Scenedesmus obliquus can form inducible defensive morphs under grazing threat. Costs and trade-offs of inducible defense are expected to accompany the benefits of defensive morphs, but are hard to detect under nutrient-sufficient experimental conditions. To test the existence of costs associated with inducible defense, we cultured S. obliquus along resource availability gradients in the presence or absence of infochemical cues from Daphnia, and measured the strength of defensive colony formation and fitness characters. Under the lowest phosphorous concentration, the expression of inducible defensive colony resulted in decreased growth rate, which provides direct evidence for physiological costs. Along the gradient reduction of phosphorous concentration or light intensity, inducible defense in S. obliquus showed a decreasing trend. However, the photosynthetic efficiency of S. obliquus was barely affected by its defense responses, suggesting that the negative correlations between resource availability and colony formation of this alga may be due to resource-based trade-offs in the allocation of limited resources. Thus, our results indicated that expression of inducible defense of S. obliquus was impaired under insufficient phosphorus or light. Furthermore, under severe phosphate deficiency, obvious physiological costs of inducible defense could be detected even though defensive colony formation also decreased significantly. PMID:26932369

  20. The advantageous way of getting the lowest uncertainty values of elemental concentration by INAA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cincu, Em.; Manea, I.; Manu, V.; Barbos, D.

    2007-01-01

    Analysts in a NAA accredited laboratory bear full responsibility for the report on the material they investigated. The document has to contain the most accurate values that can be, as confidence to further use of the material on the market. To this end, analysts are expected to use the standardization method providing the lowest element concentration uncertainty and carefully quantify every factor that may contribute to the validity of the results. The question is which method is the most advantageous one from this perspective and in what conditions. This paper presents a comparison between results of the elemental analysis of a CRM sample by INAA, as obtained through two standardization methods and three calculations variants applied to the same experimental data. The results were discussed in terms of uncertainty and of the E n statistical criterion recommended for inter-comparison exercises. The influence of the nuclear reaction and decay data was studied in several cases. (author)

  1. Cost-Utility Analysis of Depot Atypical Antipsychotics for Chronic Schizophrenia in Croatia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jukic, Vlado; Jakovljevic, Miro; Filipcic, Igor; Herceg, Miroslav; Silic, Ante; Tomljanovic, Tatjana; Zilbershtein, Roman; Jensen, Rasmus C D; Hemels, Michiel E H; Einarson, Thomas R

    As a nation with a developing economy, Croatia is faced with making choices between pharmaceutical products, including depot injectable antipsychotics. We conducted a pharmacoeconomic analysis to determine the cost-effectiveness of atypical depots in Croatia. A 1-year decision-analytic framework modeled drug use. We determined the average direct cost to the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance of using depot formulations of paliperidone palmitate long-acting injectable (PP-LAI), risperidone LAI (RIS-LAI), or olanzapine LAI (OLZ-LAI). An expert panel plus literature-derived clinical rates populated the core model, along with costs adjusted to 2012 by using the Croatian consumer price index. Clinical outcomes included quality-adjusted life-years, hospitalization rates, emergency room treatment rates, and relapse days. Robustness of results was examined with one-way sensitivity analyses on important inputs; overall, all inputs were varied over 10,000 simulations in a Monte Carlo analysis. Costs (quality-adjusted life-years) per patient were €5061 (0.817) for PP-LAI, €5168 (0.807) for RIS-LAI, and €6410 (0.812) for OLZ-LAI. PP-LAI had the fewest relapse days, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. Results were sensitive against RIS-LAI with respect to drug costs and adherence rates, but were generally robust overall, dominating OLZ-LAI in 77.3% and RIS-LAI in 56.8% of the simulations. PP-LAI dominated the other drugs because it had the lowest cost and best clinical outcomes. Compared with depots of olanzapine and risperidone and oral olanzapine, PP-LAI was the cost-effective atypical LAI for treating chronic schizophrenia in Croatia. Using depot paliperidone in place of either olanzapine or risperidone would reduce the overall costs of caring for these patients. Copyright © 2013, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc.

  2. The cost of severe haemophilia in Europe: the CHESS study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Hara, Jamie; Hughes, David; Camp, Charlotte; Burke, Tom; Carroll, Liz; Diego, Daniel-Anibal Garcia

    2017-05-31

    Severe haemophilia is associated with major psychological and economic burden for patients, caregivers, and the wider health care system. This burden has been quantified and documented for a number of European countries in recent years. However, few studies have taken a standardised methodology across multiple countries simultaneously, and sought to amalgamate all three levels of burden for severe disease. The overall aim of the 'Cost of Haemophilia in Europe: a Socioeconomic Survey' (CHESS) study was to capture the annualised economic and psychosocial burden of severe haemophilia in five European countries. A cross-section of haemophilia specialists (surveyed between January and April 2015) provided demographic and clinical information and 12-month ambulatory and secondary care activity for patients via an online survey. In turn, patients provided corresponding direct and indirect non-medical cost information, including work loss and out-of-pocket expenses, as well as information on quality of life and adherence. The direct and indirect costs for the patient sample were calculated and extrapolated to population level. Clinical reports for a total of 1,285 patients were received. Five hundred and fifty-two patients (43% of the sample) provided information on indirect costs and health-related quality of life via the PSC. The total annual cost of severe haemophilia across the five countries for 2014 was estimated at EUR 1.4 billion, or just under EUR 200,000 per patient. The highest per-patient costs were in Germany (mean EUR 319,024) and the lowest were in the United Kingdom (mean EUR 129,365), with a study average of EUR 199,541. As expected, consumption of clotting factor replacement therapy represented the vast majority of costs (up to 99%). Indirect costs are driven by patient and caregiver work loss. The results of the CHESS study reflect previous research findings suggesting that costs of factor replacement therapy account for the vast majority of the cost

  3. Cost-effectiveness of maternal GBS immunization in low-income sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Louise B; Kim, Sun-Young; Cosgriff, Ben; Pentakota, Sri Ram; Schrag, Stephanie J; Sobanjo-Ter Meulen, Ajoke; Verani, Jennifer R; Sinha, Anushua

    2017-12-14

    A maternal group B streptococcal (GBS) vaccine could prevent neonatal sepsis and meningitis. Its cost-effectiveness in low-income sub-Saharan Africa, a high burden region, is unknown. We used a decision tree model, with Markov nodes to project infants' lifetimes, to compare maternal immunization delivered through routine antenatal care with no immunization. 37 countries were clustered on the basis of economic and health resources and past public health performance. Vaccine efficacy for covered serotypes was ranged from 50% to 90%. The model projected EOGBS (early-onset) and LOGBS (late-onset) cases and deaths, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), healthcare costs (2014 US$), and cost-effectiveness for a representative country in each of the four clusters: Guinea-Bissau, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana. Maximum vaccination costs/dose were estimated to meet two cost-effectiveness benchmarks, 0.5 GDP and GDP per capita/DALY, for ranges of disease incidence (reported and adjusted for under-reporting) and vaccine efficacy. At coverage equal to the proportion of pregnant women with≥4 antenatal visits (ANC4) and serotype-specific vaccine efficacy of 70%, maternal GBS immunization would prevent one-third of GBS cases and deaths in Uganda and Nigeria, where ANC4 is 50%, 42-43% in Guinea-Bissau (ANC4=65%), and 55-57% in Ghana (ANC4=87%). At a vaccination cost of $7/dose, maternal immunization would cost $320-$350/DALY averted in Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, and Ghana, less than half these countries' GDP per capita. In Uganda, which has the lowest case fatality ratios, the cost would be $573/DALY. If the vaccine prevents a small proportion of stillbirths, it would be even more cost-effective. Vaccination cost/dose, disease incidence, and case fatality were key drivers of cost/DALY in sensitivity analyses. Maternal GBS immunization could be a cost-effective intervention in low-income sub-Saharan Africa, with cost-effectiveness ratios similar to other recently introduced vaccines

  4. Evolution of antiretroviral drug costs in Brazil in the context of free and universal access to AIDS treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunn, Amy S; Fonseca, Elize M; Bastos, Francisco I; Gruskin, Sofia; Salomon, Joshua A

    2007-11-13

    Little is known about the long-term drug costs associated with treating AIDS in developing countries. Brazil's AIDS treatment program has been cited widely as the developing world's largest and most successful AIDS treatment program. The program guarantees free access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for all people living with HIV/AIDS in need of treatment. Brazil produces non-patented generic antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), procures many patented ARVs with negotiated price reductions, and recently issued a compulsory license to import one patented ARV. In this study, we investigate the drivers of recent ARV cost trends in Brazil through analysis of drug-specific prices and expenditures between 2001 and 2005. We compared Brazil's ARV prices to those in other low- and middle-income countries. We analyzed trends in drug expenditures for HAART in Brazil from 2001 to 2005 on the basis of cost data disaggregated by each ARV purchased by the Brazilian program. We decomposed the overall changes in expenditures to compare the relative impacts of changes in drug prices and drug purchase quantities. We also estimated the excess costs attributable to the difference between prices for generics in Brazil and the lowest global prices for these drugs. Finally, we estimated the savings attributable to Brazil's reduced prices for patented drugs. Negotiated drug prices in Brazil are lowest for patented ARVs for which generic competition is emerging. In recent years, the prices for efavirenz and lopinavir-ritonavir (lopinavir/r) have been lower in Brazil than in other middle-income countries. In contrast, the price of tenofovir is US$200 higher per patient per year than that reported in other middle-income countries. Despite precipitous price declines for four patented ARVs, total Brazilian drug expenditures doubled, to reach US$414 million in 2005. We find that the major driver of cost increases was increased purchase quantities of six specific drugs: patented lopinavir

  5. Evolution of antiretroviral drug costs in Brazil in the context of free and universal access to AIDS treatment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy S Nunn

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Little is known about the long-term drug costs associated with treating AIDS in developing countries. Brazil's AIDS treatment program has been cited widely as the developing world's largest and most successful AIDS treatment program. The program guarantees free access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART for all people living with HIV/AIDS in need of treatment. Brazil produces non-patented generic antiretroviral drugs (ARVs, procures many patented ARVs with negotiated price reductions, and recently issued a compulsory license to import one patented ARV. In this study, we investigate the drivers of recent ARV cost trends in Brazil through analysis of drug-specific prices and expenditures between 2001 and 2005.We compared Brazil's ARV prices to those in other low- and middle-income countries. We analyzed trends in drug expenditures for HAART in Brazil from 2001 to 2005 on the basis of cost data disaggregated by each ARV purchased by the Brazilian program. We decomposed the overall changes in expenditures to compare the relative impacts of changes in drug prices and drug purchase quantities. We also estimated the excess costs attributable to the difference between prices for generics in Brazil and the lowest global prices for these drugs. Finally, we estimated the savings attributable to Brazil's reduced prices for patented drugs. Negotiated drug prices in Brazil are lowest for patented ARVs for which generic competition is emerging. In recent years, the prices for efavirenz and lopinavir-ritonavir (lopinavir/r have been lower in Brazil than in other middle-income countries. In contrast, the price of tenofovir is US$200 higher per patient per year than that reported in other middle-income countries. Despite precipitous price declines for four patented ARVs, total Brazilian drug expenditures doubled, to reach US$414 million in 2005. We find that the major driver of cost increases was increased purchase quantities of six specific drugs

  6. Cost-Benefit and Performance of Handmade Carpets Produced with Wool, Untreated and Chemical Treated Jute Pile Yarns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Shravan Kumar; Goswami, Kamal Kanti

    2018-03-01

    Jute is a natural fibre which is used to make different type of products due to low cost, easy availability and eco-friendliness. However, the stiffness and harshness of jute fibre affect the use of jute in many products like pile yarns in hand knotted carpets. In this research, a study has been done on the application of jute pile yarns in Persian hand knotted carpet. Three types of commercial yarns (wool, untreated jute and woollenized jute) as well as three types of chemical treated jute yarns (hydrogen peroxide bleached, softened bleached and woollenized yarns) have been applied as pile yarns in Persian hand knotted carpets. Cost-benefit analysis of hand knotted carpets shows that manufacturing cost of wool carpet is lower than others. The contribution of manpower charges is higher than material cost during carpet manufacturing. Hand knotted carpet shows the lowest pile abrasion loss and highest compression recovery when wool is used as pile. Wool hand knotted carpet shows higher compression than untreated and treated jute carpets.

  7. Medical therapy v. PCI in stable coronary artery disease: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijeysundera, Harindra C; Tomlinson, George; Ko, Dennis T; Dzavik, Vladimir; Krahn, Murray D

    2013-10-01

    Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with either drug-eluting stents (DES) or bare metal stents (BMS) reduces angina and repeat procedures compared with optimal medical therapy alone. It remains unclear if these benefits are sufficient to offset their increased costs and small increase in adverse events. Cost utility analysis of initial medical therapy v. PCI with either BMS or DES. . Markov cohort decision model. Data Sources. Propensity-matched observational data from Ontario, Canada, for baseline event rates. Effectiveness and utility data obtained from the published literature, with costs from the Ontario Case Costing Initiative. Patients with stable coronary artery disease, confirmed after angiography, stratified by risk of restenosis based on diabetic status, lesion size, and lesion length. Time Horizon. Lifetime. Perspective. Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Interventions. Optimal medical therapy, PCI with BMS or DES. Lifetime costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). of Base Case Analysis. In the overall population, medical therapy had the lowest lifetime costs at $22,952 v. $25,081 and $25,536 for BMS and DES, respectively. Medical therapy had a quality-adjusted life expectancy of 10.1 v. 10.26 QALYs for BMS, producing an ICER of $13,271/QALY. The DES strategy had a quality-adjusted life expectancy of only 10.20 QALYs and was dominated by the BMS strategy. This ranking was consistent in all groups stratified by restenosis risk, except diabetic patients with long lesions in small arteries, in whom DES was cost-effective compared with medical therapy (ICER of $18,826/QALY). Limitations. There is the possibility of residual unobserved confounding. In patients with stable coronary artery disease, an initial BMS strategy is cost-effective.

  8. Cost, Energy, and Environmental Impact of Automated Electric Taxi Fleets in Manhattan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, Gordon S; Greenblatt, Jeffery B; Gerke, Brian F

    2018-04-17

    Shared automated electric vehicles (SAEVs) hold great promise for improving transportation access in urban centers while drastically reducing transportation-related energy consumption and air pollution. Using taxi-trip data from New York City, we develop an agent-based model to predict the battery range and charging infrastructure requirements of a fleet of SAEVs operating on Manhattan Island. We also develop a model to estimate the cost and environmental impact of providing service and perform extensive sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of our predictions. We estimate that costs will be lowest with a battery range of 50-90 mi, with either 66 chargers per square mile, rated at 11 kW or 44 chargers per square mile, rated at 22 kW. We estimate that the cost of service provided by such an SAEV fleet will be $0.29-$0.61 per revenue mile, an order of magnitude lower than the cost of service of present-day Manhattan taxis and $0.05-$0.08/mi lower than that of an automated fleet composed of any currently available hybrid or internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV). We estimate that such an SAEV fleet drawing power from the current NYC power grid would reduce GHG emissions by 73% and energy consumption by 58% compared to an automated fleet of ICEVs.

  9. Low-level exposure of guinea pigs and marmosets to sarin vapour in air: Lowest-observable-adverse-effect level (LOAEL) for miosis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Helden, H.P.M. van; Trap, H.C.; Kuijpers, W.C.; Oostdijk, J.P.; Benschop, H.P.; Langenberg, J.P.

    2004-01-01

    The purpose of this pilot study was to indicate, for low-level exposure of conscious guinea pigs and marmoset monkeys to sarin vapour in air, the lowest-observable-adverse-effect level (LOAEL) of sarin for miosis. This is the concentration × time (C·t) value (t = 5 h) of exposure at which miosis

  10. Power Plant Bromide Discharges and Downstream Drinking Water Systems in Pennsylvania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Good, Kelly D; VanBriesen, Jeanne M

    2017-10-17

    Coal-fired power plants equipped with wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems have been implicated in increasing bromide levels and subsequent increases in disinfection byproducts at downstream drinking water plants. Bromide was not included as a regulated constituent in the recent steam electric effluent limitations guidelines and standards (ELGs) since the U.S. EPA analysis suggested few drinking water facilities would be affected by bromide discharges from power plants. The present analysis uses a watershed approach to identify Pennsylvania drinking water intakes downstream of wet FGD discharges and to assess the potential for bromide discharge effects. Twenty-two (22) public drinking water systems serving 2.5 million people were identified as being downstream of at least one wet FGD discharge. During mean August conditions (generally low-flow, minimal dilution) in receiving rivers, the median predicted bromide concentrations contributed by wet FGD at Pennsylvania intake locations ranged from 5.2 to 62 μg/L for the Base scenario (including only natural bromide in coal) and from 16 to 190 μg/L for the Bromide Addition scenario (natural plus added bromide for mercury control); ranges depend on bromide loads and receiving stream dilution capacity.

  11. Personality traits predict treatment outcome with an antidepressant in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanum, L; Malt, U F

    2000-09-01

    We investigated the relationship between personality traits and response to treatment with the tetracyclic antidepressant mianserin or placebo in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGD) without psychopathology. Forty-eight patients completed the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, Neuroticism Extroversion Openness -Personality Inventory (NEO-PI), and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), neuroticism + lie subscales, before they were consecutively allocated to a 7-week double-blind treatment study with mianserin or placebo. Treatment response to pain and target symptoms were recorded daily with the Visual Analogue Scale and Clinical Global Improvement Scale at every visit. A low level of neuroticism and little concealed aggressiveness predicted treatment outcome with the antidepressant drug mianserin in non-psychiatric patients with FGD. Inversely, moderate to high neuroticism and marked concealed aggressiveness predicted poor response to treatment. These findings were most prominent in women. Personality traits were better predictors of treatment outcome than serotonergic sensitivity assessed with the fenfluramine test. Assessment of the personality traits negativism, irritability, aggression, and neuroticism may predict response to drug treatment of FGD even when serotonergic sensitivity is controlled for. If confirmed in future studies, the findings point towards a more differential psychopharmacologic treatment of FGD.

  12. Electron mobility on the surface of liquid Helium: influence of surface level atoms and depopulation of lowest subbands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grigoriev, P. D.; Dyugaev, A. M.; Lebedeva, E. V.

    2008-01-01

    The temperature dependence of electron mobility is examined. We calculate the contribution to the electron scattering rate from the surface level atoms (SLAs), proposed in [10]. This contribution is substantial at low temperatures T < 0.5, when the He vapor concentration is exponentially small. We also study the effect of depopulation of the lowest energy subband, which leads to an increase in the electron mobility at high temperature. The results explain certain long-standing discrepancies between the existing theory and experiment on electron mobility on the surface of liquid helium

  13. Energy wood resources availability and delivery cost in Northwest Russia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gerasimov, Yuri; Karjalainen, Timo [Finnish Forest Research Inst., Joensuu (Finland)], E-mail: yuri.gerasimov@metla.fi

    2013-10-01

    Availability of solid by-products from wood harvesting and mechanical wood processing was estimated as sources for energy production based on recent actual harvesting, sawmill, and plywood production in Northwest Russia at 30 million m{sup 3}. Nearly 70% of the energy wood, 20 million m{sup 3}, was from harvesting, consisting of non-industrial round wood, unused branches and tops, defective wood resulting from logging, and spruce stumps removed after final felling. Over 30%, 10 million m{sup 3}, of the available volume was from sawmills and plywood mills, i.e. wood chips, sawdust, and bark. Due to current low utilization of energy wood for bioenergy in Northwest Russia, delivery cost of energy wood to the potential border-crossing points in Finland was analyzed for three means of transport: railways, roadways, and waterways. Nearly 28 million m{sup 3} of the energy wood could be transported by railways and 2 million m{sup 3} by roadways and waterways. The costs were lowest by roadways from the nearby border areas (10-15 Euro/m{sup 3} for wood processing by-products and 16-22 Euro/m{sup 3} for forest chips). The costs by railways varied from 12 to 27 Euro/m{sup 3} on shorter distances to 47-58 Euro/m{sup 3} on longer distances. Waterway transportation was the most expensive, about 28-48 Euro/m{sup 3}. It should be emphasized that we have estimated availability and delivery costs of energy wood, not prices which are defined by the market based on supply and demand.

  14. Cost and quality of fuels for electric utility plants 1991

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-01-01

    Data for 1991 and 1990 receipts and costs for fossil fuels discussed in the Executive Summary are displayed in Tables ES1 through ES7. These data are for electric generating plants with a total steam-electric and combined-cycle nameplate capacity of 50 or more megawatts. Data presented in the Executive Summary on generation, consumption, and stocks of fossil fuels at electric utilities are based on data collected on the Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-759, ''Monthly Power Plant Report.'' These data cover all electric generating plants. The average delivered cost of coal, petroleum, and gas each decreased in 1991 from 1990 levels. Overall, the average annual cost of fossil fuels delivered to electric utilities in 1991 was $1.60 per million Btu, a decrease of $0.09 per million Btu from 1990. This was the lowest average annual cost since 1978 and was the result of the abundant supply of coal, petroleum, and gas available to electric utilities. US net generation of electricity by all electric utilities in 1991 increased by less than I percent--the smallest increase since the decline that occurred in 1982.3 Coal and gas-fired steam net generation, each, decreased by less than I percent and petroleum-fired steam net generation by nearly 5 percent. Nuclear-powered net generation, however, increased by 6 percent. Fossil fuels accounted for 68 percent of all generation; nuclear, 22 percent; and hydroelectric, 10 percent. Sales of electricity to ultimate consumers in 1991 were 2 percent higher than during 1990

  15. Cost Estimation and Comparison of Carbon Capture and Storage Technology with Wind Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ABDULLAH MENGAL

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage is one of the significant solutions to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuelled electricity generation plants and minimize the effect of global warming. Economic analysis of CCS technology is, therefore, essential for the feasibility appraisal towards CO2 reduction. In this paper LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity Generation has been estimated with and without CCS technology for fossil fuel based power plants of Pakistan and also further compared with computed LCOE of WE (Wind Energy based power plants of the Pakistan. The results of this study suggest that the electricity generation costs of the fossil fuel power plants increase more than 44% with CCS technology as compared to without CCS technology. The generation costs are also found to be 10% further on higher side when considering efficiency penalty owing to installation of CCS technology. In addition, the CO2 avoided costs from natural gas plant are found to be 40 and 10% higher than the local coal and imported coal plants respectively. As such, the electricity generation cost of 5.09 Rs/kWh from WE plants is found to be competitive even when fossil fuel based plants are without CCS technology, with lowest cost of 5.9 Rs./kWh of CCNG (Combined Cycle Natural Gas plant. Based on analysis of results of this study and anticipated future development of efficient and cheap WE technologies, it is concluded that WE based electricity generation would be most appropriate option for CO2 reduction for Pakistan.

  16. Costs of informal nursing care for patients with neurologic disorders: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diederich, Freya; König, Hans-Helmut; Mietzner, Claudia; Brettschneider, Christian

    2018-01-02

    To systematically review the economic burden of informal nursing care (INC), often called informal care, caused by multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson disease (PD), and epilepsy, with special attention to disease severity. We systematically searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and NHS Economic Evaluation Database for articles on the cost of illness of the diseases specified. Title, abstract, and full-text review were conducted in duplicate by 2 researchers. The distribution of hours and costs of INC were extracted and used to compare the relevance of INC across included diseases and disease severity. Seventy-one studies were included (44 on MS, 17 on PD, and 10 on epilepsy). Studies on epilepsy reported an average of 2.3-54.5 monthly hours of INC per patient. For PD, average values of 42.9-145.9 hours and for MS average values of 9.2-249 hours per patient per month were found. In line with utilized hours, costs of INC were lowest for epilepsy (interquartile range [IQR] 229-1,466 purchasing power parity US dollars [PPP-USD]) and similar for MS (IQR 4,454-11,222 PPP-USD) and PD (IQR 1,440-7,117 PPP-USD). In addition, costs of INC increased with disease severity and accounted for 38% of total health care costs in severe MS stages on average. The course of diseases and disease severity matter for the amount of INC used by patients. For each of the neurologic disorders, an increase in the costs of INC, due to increasing disease severity, considerably contributes to the rise in total health care costs. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

  17. Supraorbital Versus Endoscopic Endonasal Approaches for Olfactory Groove Meningiomas: A Cost-Minimization Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandhoke, Gurpreet S; Pease, Matthew; Smith, Kenneth J; Sekula, Raymond F

    2017-09-01

    To perform a cost-minimization study comparing the supraorbital and endoscopic endonasal (EEA) approach with or without craniotomy for the resection of olfactory groove meningiomas (OGMs). We built a decision tree using probabilities of gross total resection (GTR) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak rates with the supraorbital approach versus EEA with and without additional craniotomy. The cost (not charge or reimbursement) at each "stem" of this decision tree for both surgical options was obtained from our hospital's finance department. After a base case calculation, we applied plausible ranges to all parameters and carried out multiple 1-way sensitivity analyses. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses confirmed our results. The probabilities of GTR (0.8) and CSF leak (0.2) for the supraorbital craniotomy were obtained from our series of 5 patients who underwent a supraorbital approach for the resection of an OGM. The mean tumor volume was 54.6 cm 3 (range, 17-94.2 cm 3 ). Literature-reported rates of GTR (0.6) and CSF leak (0.3) with EEA were applied to our economic analysis. Supraorbital craniotomy was the preferred strategy, with an expected value of $29,423, compared with an EEA cost of $83,838. On multiple 1-way sensitivity analyses, supraorbital craniotomy remained the preferred strategy, with a minimum cost savings of $46,000 and a maximum savings of $64,000. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis found the lowest cost difference between the 2 surgical options to be $37,431. Compared with EEA, supraorbital craniotomy provides substantial cost savings in the treatment of OGMs. Given the potential differences in effectiveness between approaches, a cost-effectiveness analysis should be undertaken. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. A geographically resolved method to estimate levelized power plant costs with environmental externalities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhodes, Joshua D.; King, Carey; Gulen, Gürcan; Olmstead, Sheila M.; Dyer, James S.; Hebner, Robert E.; Beach, Fred C.; Edgar, Thomas F.; Webber, Michael E.

    2017-01-01

    In this analysis we developed and applied a geographically-resolved method to calculate the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of new power plants on a county-by-county basis while including estimates of some environmental externalities. We calculated the LCOE for each county of the contiguous United States for 12 power plant technologies. The minimum LCOE option for each county varies based on local conditions, capital and fuel costs, environmental externalities, and resource availability. We considered ten scenarios that vary input assumptions. We present the results in a map format to facilitate comparisons by fuel, technology, and location. For our reference analysis, which includes a cost of $62/tCO_2 for CO_2 emissions natural gas combined cycle, wind, and nuclear are most often the lowest-LCOE option. While the average cost increases when internalizing the environmental externalities (carbon and air pollutants) is small for some technologies, the local cost differences are as high as $0.62/kWh for coal (under our reference analysis). These results display format, and online tools could serve as an educational tool for stakeholders when considering which technologies might or might not be a good fit for a given locality subject to system integration considerations. - Highlights: • We propose a method to add externalities to LCOE. • We present the least cost technology for every county in the US. • The cheapest technology depends on many characteristics of that locale. • We present online tools for users to change our assumptions. • Our tools are useful in discussing the impact of policy on the cost of electricity.

  19. Hidden costs of antiretroviral treatment: the public health efficiency of drug packaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreu-Crespo À

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Àngels Andreu-Crespo,1,* Josep M Llibre,2,3,* Glòria Cardona-Peitx,1 Ferran Sala-Piñol,1 Bonaventura Clotet,2,4 Xavier Bonafont-Pujol1 1Pharmacy Department, 2HIV Unit and “Lluita contra la SIDA” Foundation, University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, 3Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 4Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVIC-UCC, Vic, Barcelona, Spain *These authors contributed equally to the work Abstract: While the overall percentage of unused antiretroviral medicines returned to the hospital pharmacy is low, their cost is quite high. Adverse events, treatment failure, pharmacokinetic interactions, pregnancy, or treatment simplification are common reasons for unplanned treatment changes. Socially inefficient antiretroviral packages prevent the reuse of drugs returned to the hospital pharmacy. We defined antiretroviral package categories based on the excellence of drug packaging and analyzed the number of pills and costs of drugs returned during a period of 1 year in a hospital-based HIV unit attending to 2,413 treated individuals. A total of 6,090 pills (34% of all returned antiretrovirals – with a cost of 47,139.91€ – would be totally lost, mainly due to being packed up in the lowest efficiency packages. Newer treatments are packaged in low-excellence categories of packages, thus favoring the maintenance of these hidden costs in the near future. Therefore, costs of this low-efficiency drug packaging, where medication packages are started but not completed, in high-cost medications are substantial and should be properly addressed. Any improvement in the packaging by the manufacturer, and favoring the choice of drugs supplied through efficient packages (when efficacy, toxicity, and convenience are similar, should minimize the treatment expenditures paid by national health budgets. Keywords: antiretroviral treatment, cost efficacy, drug packaging, treatment change

  20. An indirect comparison and cost per responder analysis of adalimumab, methotrexate and apremilast in the treatment of methotrexate-naïve patients with psoriatic arthritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Betts, Keith A; Griffith, Jenny; Friedman, Alan; Zhou, Zheng-Yi; Signorovitch, James E; Ganguli, Arijit

    2016-01-01

    Apremilast was recently approved for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). However, no studies compare apremilast with methotrexate or biologic therapies, so its relative comparative efficacy remains unknown. This study compared the response rates and incremental costs per responder associated with methotrexate, apremilast, and biologics for the treatment of active PsA. A systematic literature review was performed to identify phase 3 randomized controlled clinical trials of approved biologics, methotrexate, and apremilast in the methotrexate-naïve PsA population. Using Bayesian methods, a network meta-analysis was conducted to indirectly compare rates of achieving a ≥20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology component scores (ACR20). The number needed to treat (NNT) and the incremental costs per ACR20 responder (2014 US$) relative to placebo were estimated for each of the therapies. Three trials (MIPA for methotrexate, PALACE-4 for apremilast, and ADEPT for adalimumab) met all inclusion criteria. The NNTs relative to placebo were 2.63 for adalimumab, 6.69 for apremilast, and 8.31 for methotrexate. Among methotrexate-naïve PsA patients, the 16 week incremental costs per ACR20 responder were $3622 for methotrexate, $26,316 for adalimumab, and $45,808 for apremilast. The incremental costs per ACR20 responder were $222,488 for apremilast vs. methotrexate. Among methotrexate-naive PsA patients, adalimumab was found to have the lowest NNT for one additional ACR20 response and methotrexate was found to have the lowest incremental costs per ACR20 responder. There was no statistical evidence of greater efficacy for apremilast vs. methotrexate. A head-to-head trial between apremilast and methotrexate is recommended to confirm this finding.

  1. Cost-efficacy analysis of hormonal treatments for advanced prostate cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Iannazzo

    2008-09-01

    resulted the most effective therapy, but also the one associated with the highest expected cost. Orchiectomy was marginally less effective but at the same time generated the lowest cost and, thus, represented the most cost/effective strategy. Nonetheless, its application in actual clinical practice is difficult and quite always refused by patients. Among the class of LHRH-agonists leuprorelin (considering the less costly brand, Eligard® dominated the alternatives and, thus, could provide an excellent therapeutic strategy.

  2. Socioeconomic differences in the cost, availability and quality of healthy food in Sydney.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawford, Belinda; Byun, Roy; Mitchell, Emily; Thompson, Susan; Jalaludin, Bin; Torvaldsen, Siranda

    2017-12-01

    To compare the cost of a basket of staple foods, together with the availability and quality of fresh fruit and vegetables, by supermarket store type in high and low socioeconomic suburbs of Sydney. A food basket survey was undertaken in 100 supermarkets in the 20 highest and 20 lowest socioeconomic suburbs of Sydney. We assessed the cost of 46 foods, the range of 30 fresh fruit and vegetables and the quality of ten fresh fruit and vegetables. Two major supermarket retailers, a discount supermarket chain and independent grocery stores were surveyed. The food basket was significantly cheaper in low compared to high socioeconomic suburbs ($177 vs $189, ptype and socioeconomic status of suburb. Implications for public health: A nationwide food and nutrition surveillance system is required to inform public health policy and practice initiatives. In addition to the food retail environment, these initiatives must address the underlying contributors to inequity and food insecurity for disadvantaged groups. © 2017 The Authors.

  3. Planning and production of a low cost cryostat for electrical characterization of materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torsoni, G.B.; Carvalho, C.L.; Brito, G.A.

    2010-01-01

    The system BSCCO can show three main Bi 2 Sr 2 CuO, Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O and Bi 2 Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O with critical temperatures around 20 K, 80 K and 110 K, respectively. Therefore, it is fundamental to study these materials in details at lowest temperatures, with simple systems and low cost equipment. In this work was projected a cryogenic system with capacity to reach temperatures below the liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K). Based on thermodynamic principles, which is used with liquid nitrogen system, with the vacuum application and control, it has been achieved temperatures about 63 K (freezing nitrogen temperature) in the sample holder. With the availability of a large range temperature becomes possible to identify at least two superconducting phases as in system BSCCO, which also involves a cost/benefit ratio more favorable, avoiding the use of more expensive refrigerates as liquid helium. (author)

  4. Impact of a cost constraint on nutritionally adequate food choices for French women: an analysis by linear programming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darmon, Nicole; Ferguson, Elaine L; Briend, André

    2006-01-01

    To predict, for French women, the impact of a cost constraint on the food choices required to provide a nutritionally adequate diet. Isocaloric daily diets fulfilling both palatability and nutritional constraints were modeled in linear programming, using different cost constraint levels. For each modeled diet, total departure from an observed French population's average food group pattern ("mean observed diet") was minimized. To achieve the nutritional recommendations without a cost constraint, the modeled diet provided more energy from fish, fresh fruits and green vegetables and less energy from animal fats and cheese than the "mean observed diet." Introducing and strengthening a cost constraint decreased the energy provided by meat, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, vegetable fat, and yogurts and increased the energy from processed meat, eggs, offal, and milk. For the lowest cost diet (ie, 3.18 euros/d), marked changes from the "mean observed diet" were required, including a marked reduction in the amount of energy from fresh fruits (-85%) and green vegetables (-70%), and an increase in the amount of energy from nuts, dried fruits, roots, legumes, and fruit juices. Nutrition education for low-income French women must emphasize these affordable food choices.

  5. Cost of wind energy: comparing distant wind resources to local resources in the midwestern United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoppock, David C; Patiño-Echeverri, Dalia

    2010-11-15

    The best wind sites in the United States are often located far from electricity demand centers and lack transmission access. Local sites that have lower quality wind resources but do not require as much power transmission capacity are an alternative to distant wind resources. In this paper, we explore the trade-offs between developing new wind generation at local sites and installing wind farms at remote sites. We first examine the general relationship between the high capital costs required for local wind development and the relatively lower capital costs required to install a wind farm capable of generating the same electrical output at a remote site,with the results representing the maximum amount an investor should be willing to pay for transmission access. We suggest that this analysis can be used as a first step in comparing potential wind resources to meet a state renewable portfolio standard (RPS). To illustrate, we compare the cost of local wind (∼50 km from the load) to the cost of distant wind requiring new transmission (∼550-750 km from the load) to meet the Illinois RPS. We find that local, lower capacity factor wind sites are the lowest cost option for meeting the Illinois RPS if new long distance transmission is required to access distant, higher capacity factor wind resources. If higher capacity wind sites can be connected to the existing grid at minimal cost, in many cases they will have lower costs.

  6. Uncertainties in Early-Stage Capital Cost Estimation of Process Design – A Case Study on Biorefinery Design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheali, Peam; Gernaey, Krist V.; Sin, Gürkan

    2015-01-01

    Capital investment, next to the product demand, sales, and production costs, is one of the key metrics commonly used for project evaluation and feasibility assessment. Estimating the investment costs of a new product/process alternative during early-stage design is a challenging task, which is especially relevant in biorefinery research where information about new technologies and experience with new technologies is limited. A systematic methodology for uncertainty analysis of cost data is proposed that employs: (a) bootstrapping as a regression method when cost data are available; and, (b) the Monte Carlo technique as an error propagation method based on expert input when cost data are not available. Four well-known models for early-stage cost estimation are reviewed and analyzed using the methodology. The significance of uncertainties of cost data for early-stage process design is highlighted using the synthesis and design of a biorefinery as a case study. The impact of uncertainties in cost estimation on the identification of optimal processing paths is indeed found to be profound. To tackle this challenge, a comprehensive techno-economic risk analysis framework is presented to enable robust decision-making under uncertainties. One of the results using order-of-magnitude estimates shows that the production of diethyl ether and 1,3-butadiene are the most promising with the lowest economic risks (among the alternatives considered) of 0.24 MM$/a and 4.6 MM$/a, respectively.

  7. Uncertainties in Early-Stage Capital Cost Estimation of Process Design – A Case Study on Biorefinery Design

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheali, Peam; Gernaey, Krist V.; Sin, Gürkan, E-mail: gsi@kt.dtu.dk [Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark)

    2015-02-06

    Capital investment, next to the product demand, sales, and production costs, is one of the key metrics commonly used for project evaluation and feasibility assessment. Estimating the investment costs of a new product/process alternative during early-stage design is a challenging task, which is especially relevant in biorefinery research where information about new technologies and experience with new technologies is limited. A systematic methodology for uncertainty analysis of cost data is proposed that employs: (a) bootstrapping as a regression method when cost data are available; and, (b) the Monte Carlo technique as an error propagation method based on expert input when cost data are not available. Four well-known models for early-stage cost estimation are reviewed and analyzed using the methodology. The significance of uncertainties of cost data for early-stage process design is highlighted using the synthesis and design of a biorefinery as a case study. The impact of uncertainties in cost estimation on the identification of optimal processing paths is indeed found to be profound. To tackle this challenge, a comprehensive techno-economic risk analysis framework is presented to enable robust decision-making under uncertainties. One of the results using order-of-magnitude estimates shows that the production of diethyl ether and 1,3-butadiene are the most promising with the lowest economic risks (among the alternatives considered) of 0.24 MM$/a and 4.6 MM$/a, respectively.

  8. Effect of Body Mass Index and Psychosocial Traits on Total Knee Replacement Costs in Patients with Osteoarthritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waimann, Christian A; Fernandez-Mazarambroz, Rodrigo J; Cantor, Scott B; Lopez-Olivo, Maria A; Barbo, Andrea G; Landon, Glenn C; Siff, Sherwin J; Lin, Heather; Suarez-Almazor, Maria E

    2016-08-01

    Clinical and psychosocial attributes are associated with clinical outcomes after total knee replacement (TKR) surgery in patients with osteoarthritis (OA), but their relationship with TKR-related costs is less clear. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of clinical and psychosocial attributes on TKR costs. We conducted a 6-month prospective cohort study of patients with knee OA who underwent TKR. We examined baseline demographic, clinical [body mass index (BMI) and comorbidities], and psychosocial attributes (social support, locus of control, coping, depression, anxiety, stress, and self-efficacy); baseline and 6-month OA clinical outcomes [Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function]; and 6-month direct and indirect TKR-related costs. Multiple regression was performed to identify determinants of TKR-related costs. We included 212 patients; 66% were women, 71% were white, and the mean age was 65.2 years. The mean baseline WOMAC pain score was 55 (SD 19) and WOMAC function score was 54 (SD 20). Mean total TKR-related costs were US$30,831 (SD $9893). Multivariate regression analyses showed that increasing BMI and anxiety levels and decreasing levels of positive social interactions were associated with increased costs. A lower cost scenario with a lower range of normal BMI (19.5), highest positive social interaction, and no anxiety predicted TKR costs to be $22,247. Predicted costs in obese patients (BMI 36) with lowest positive social interaction and highest anxiety were $58,447. Increased baseline BMI, anxiety, and poor social support lead to higher TKR-related costs in patients with knee OA. Preoperative interventions targeting these factors may reduce TKR-related costs, and therefore be cost-effective.

  9. Introducing a GP copayment in Australia: Who would carry the cost burden?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elkins, Rosemary Kate; Schurer, Stefanie

    2017-05-01

    Recent policy changes designed to contain unsustainable health expenditure growth imply that many more Australians may soon be charged a copayment to consult a GP. We explore the distributional consequences associated with a range of hypothetical GP copayment scenarios using nationally-representative Australian survey data. For each scenario, we estimate the cost burden that individuals and households across the income distribution would need to absorb to maintain their current GP service utilisation. Even when concessional patients are charged a third or a quarter of the non-concessional copayment rate, the average estimated cost burden in the lowest income quartile is typically between three and six times that of the highest, and the average cost burden for women is significantly higher than for men within every income quartile. These disparities are intensified for those with a chronic illness. We conclude that the widespread implementation of GP copayments would disproportionately burden lower-income families, who experience higher rates of chronic illness, higher demand for GP services, and lower capacity to absorb price increases. The regressive nature of GP copayments is reduced when concessional and child patients are exempted entirely, highlighting the importance of supporting GPs-particularly in disadvantaged areas-to maintain bulk-billing arrangements for vulnerable patient groups. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Assessing the impact of changes in the electricity price structure on dairy farm energy costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Upton, J.; Murphy, M.; Shalloo, L.; Groot Koerkamp, P.W.G.; De Boer, I.J.M.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Choosing electricity tariffs with a low off-peak rate results in financial savings. • Cost saving potential within an electricity tariff is the greatest on large farms. • Earlier AM milking with later PM milking helps reduce electricity consumption. - Abstract: This study aims to provide information on the changes in electricity consumption and costs on dairy farms, through the simulation of various electricity tariffs that may exist in the future and how these tariffs interact with changes in farm management (i.e. shifting the milking operation to an earlier or later time of the day). A previously developed model capable of simulating electricity consumption and costs on dairy farms (MECD) was used to simulate five different electricity tariffs (Flat, Day and Night, Time of Use Tariff 1 (TOU1), TOU2 and Real Time Pricing (RTP)) on three representative Irish dairy farms: a small farm (SF), a medium farm (MF) and a large farm (LF). The Flat tariff consisted of one electricity price for all time periods, the Day and Night tariff consisted of two electricity prices, a high rate from 09:00 to 00:00 h and a low rate thereafter. The TOU tariff structure was similar to that of the Day and Night tariff except that a peak price band was introduced between 17:00 and 19:00 h. The RTP tariff varied dynamically according to the electricity demand on the national grid. The model used in these simulations was a mechanistic mathematical representation of the electricity consumption that simulated farm equipment under the following headings; milk cooling system, water heating system, milking machine system, lighting systems, water pump systems and the winter housing facilities. The effect of milking start time was simulated to determine the effect on electricity consumption and costs at farm level. The earliest AM milking start time and the latest PM milking start time resulted in the lowest energy consumption. The difference between the lowest and highest

  11. Prevalence and Cost Analysis of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): A Role for Neuromodulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elsamadicy, Aladine A; Yang, Siyun; Sergesketter, Amanda R; Ashraf, Bilal; Charalambous, Lefko; Kemeny, Hanna; Ejikeme, Tiffany; Ren, Xinru; Pagadala, Promila; Parente, Beth; Xie, Jichun; Lad, Shivanand P

    2017-09-29

    The diagnosis and treatment of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is challenging and there is a paucity of data describing its overall cost burden and quantifying its impact on the US healthcare system. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and healthcare utilization costs associated with CRPS. A retrospective longitudinal study was performed using the Truven MarketScan® database to identify patients with a new indexed diagnosis of CRPS (Type I, II, or both) from 2001 to 2012. We collected total, outpatient, and pain prescription costs three years prior to CRPS diagnosis (baseline), at year of CRPS diagnosis, and eight-year post-CRPS diagnosis. A longitudinal multivariate analysis was used to model the estimated total and pain prescription cost ratios comparing patients diagnosed before and after CRPS. We included 35,316 patients with a newly indexed diagnosis of CRPS (Type I: n = 18,703, Type II: n = 14,599, Unspecified: n = 2014). Baseline characteristics were similar between the CRPS cohorts. Compared to two- and three-year baseline costs, one-year prior to diagnosis for all CRPS patients yielded the highest interquartile median [IQR] costs: total costs $7904[$3469, $16,084]; outpatient costs $6706[$3119, $12,715]; and pain prescription costs $1862[$147, $7649]. At the year of CRPS diagnosis, the median [IQR] costs were significantly higher than baseline costs: total costs $8508[$3943, $16,666]; outpatient costs $7251[$3527, $13,568]; and pain prescription costs $2077[$140, $8856]. Over the eight-year period after CRPS diagnosis, costs between all the years were similar, ranging from the highest (one-year) to lowest (seven-years), $4845 to $3888. The median total cumulative cost 8-years after CRPS diagnosis was $43,026 and $12,037 for pain prescription costs. [Correction added on 06 November 2017 after first online publication: the preceding sentence has been updated to demonstrate the median cumulative cost in replacement of the

  12. Effects of Pop III to PopII transition on the lowest metallicity stars in dwarf galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yimiao; Keres, Dusan; FIRE Team

    2018-01-01

    We examine the effects of the enrichments from Population III (Pop III) stars on the formation and properties of the first generation of the Population II (Pop II) stars. Pop III stars begin to transition towards Pop II stars when the metals dispersed in Pop III supernovae pollute the nearby gas. However, details of this transition are still largely unknown. We use dwarf galaxy simulations from the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project to identify the star-forming gas that is likely to be pre-enriched by Pop III supernovae and follow the stars that form in such gas. This pre-enrichment will leave the signature in the lowest metallicity stars that can be used to better constrain the details of the Pop III-to-Pop II transition.

  13. Il costo del lavoro in Italia e nei paesi della CEE. (Labour cost in Italy and the E.E.C. countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. VANNUTELLI

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The European Community Statistical Institute (ECSI began conducting annual surveys of labour costs in 14 industrial sectors of the Community countries in 1959. The present article illustrates the principal results of the fourth survey that relates to 1962 and is now in course of publication. The analysis is confined to data regarding to labour cost shown as borne by the enterprises, and does not take account of studies made by ECSI of workers’ incomes in various countries. In particular, the author considers the data on the cost of labour in Italy. The data is brought up to date for 1963 and 1964 to show the changes that have taken place in Italy’s position with respect to previous years. While in the surveys tom 1959 and 1960 Italy was shown to have the lowest labour cost among Common Market countries, it now comes in first in the classification and has in almost every case registered a labour cost very near to the highest figure.JEL: E24, J30

  14. In-patient costs of agitation and containment in a mental health catchment area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serrano-Blanco, Antoni; Rubio-Valera, Maria; Aznar-Lou, Ignacio; Baladón Higuera, Luisa; Gibert, Karina; Gracia Canales, Alfredo; Kaskens, Lisette; Ortiz, José Miguel; Salvador-Carulla, Luis

    2017-06-06

    There is a scarce number of studies on the cost of agitation and containment interventions and their results are still inconclusive. We aimed to calculate the economic consequences of agitation events in an in-patient psychiatric facility providing care for an urban catchment area. A mixed approach combining secondary analysis of clinical databases, surveys and expert knowledge was used to model the 2013 direct costs of agitation and containment events for adult inpatients with mental disorders in an area of 640,572 adult inhabitants in South Barcelona (Spain). To calculate costs, a seven-step methodology with novel definition of agitation was used along with a staff survey, a database of containment events, and data on aggressive incidents. A micro-costing analysis of specific containment interventions was used to estimate both prevalence and direct costs from the healthcare provider perspective, by means of a mixed approach with a probabilistic model evaluated on real data. Due to the complex interaction of the multivariate covariances, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to have empirical bounds of variability. During 2013, 918 patients were admitted to the Acute Inpatient Unit. Of these, 52.8% were men, with a mean age of 44.6 years (SD = 15.5), 74.4% were compulsory admissions, 40.1% were diagnosed with schizophrenia or non-affective psychosis, with a mean length of stay of 24.6 days (SD = 16.9). The annual estimate of total agitation events was 508. The cost of containment interventions ranges from 282€ at the lowest level of agitation to 822€ when verbal containment plus seclusion and restraint have to be used. The annual total cost of agitation was 280,535€, representing 6.87% of the total costs of acute hospitalisation in the local area. Agitation events are frequent and costly. Strategies to reduce their number and severity should be implemented to reduce costs to the Health System and alleviate patient suffering.

  15. Heat savings and heat generation technologies: Modelling of residential investment behaviour with local health costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zvingilaite, Erika; Klinge Jacobsen, Henrik

    2015-01-01

    The trade-off between investing in energy savings and investing in individual heating technologies with high investment and low variable costs in single family houses is modelled for a number of building and consumer categories in Denmark. For each group the private economic cost of providing heating comfort is minimised. The private solution may deviate from the socio-economical optimal solution and we suggest changes to policy to incentivise the individuals to make choices more in line with the socio-economic optimal mix of energy savings and technologies. The households can combine their primary heating source with secondary heating e.g. a woodstove. This choice results in increased indoor air pollution with fine particles causing health effects. We integrate health cost due to use of woodstoves into household optimisation of heating expenditures. The results show that due to a combination of low costs of primary fuel and low environmental performance of woodstoves today, included health costs lead to decreased use of secondary heating. Overall the interdependence of heat generation technology- and heat saving-choice is significant. The total optimal level of heat savings for private consumers decrease by 66% when all have the option to shift to the technology with lowest variable costs. - Highlights: • Heat saving investment and heat technology choice are interdependent. • Health damage costs should be included in private heating choice optimisation. • Flexibility in heating technology choice reduce the optimal level of saving investments. • Models of private and socioeconomic optimal heating produce different technology mix. • Rebound effects are moderate but varies greatly among consumer categories

  16. An Economic Evaluation of Tofacitinib Treatment in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Modeling the Cost of Treatment Strategies in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Claxton, Lindsay; Jenks, Michelle; Taylor, Matthew; Wallenstein, Gene; Mendelsohn, Alan M; Bourret, Jeffrey A; Singh, Amitabh; Moynagh, Dermot; Gerber, Robert A

    2016-09-01

    epidemiological data. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the impact of varying key parameters, including treatment-switching probability, product rebate, major rates of adverse drug reaction, and ACR20 rates, on the model outcomes. Tofacitinib combination therapy after MTX failure was associated with the lowest cost per member per month (PMPM) over a 2-year time frame at $5.53, compared with $6.49 for adalimumab, $6.43 for etanercept, $5.95 for certolizumab, and $5.89 for tocilizumab. Similar savings were observed when all biologics were administered as monotherapy. Tofacitinib combination therapy was also associated with the lower PMPM cost compared with adalimumab combination therapy in the TNF-IR analysis. Tofacitinib was also among the lowest cost per ACR20 responder in each analysis. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that tofacitinib would potentially be cost saving even in the least optimistic scenarios. This analysis suggests that tofacitinib 5 mg BID following MTX failure is a lower cost per patient treatment option when used either as monotherapy or combination therapy, compared with adalimumab, etanercept, certolizumab and tocilizumab biologic regimens. Tofacitinib + MTX in TNF-IR patients was also predicted to be a lower-cost treatment option compared with adalimumab+MTX and was associated with the lowest cost per ACR 20/50/70 responder. This study was funded by Pfizer, which determined the research topic and paid York Health Economics Consortium to develop the analysis and conduct the research. York Health Economics Consortium has received consultancy fees from Pfizer. Gerber, Wallenstein, Mendelsohn, Bourret, Singh, and Moynagh are employees and shareholders of Pfizer. Editorial support was funded by Pfizer and was provided by Claxton, Jenks, and Taylor, who are employees of York Health Economics Consortium. Study concept and design were contributed primarily by Taylor, Jenks, Gerber, and Singh, along with the other authors. Gerber, Moynagh, and Singh

  17. Cost-analysis of an oral health outreach program for preschool children in a low socioeconomic multicultural area in Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wennhall, Inger; Norlund, Anders; Matsson, Lars; Twetman, Svante

    2010-01-01

    The aim was to calculate the total and the net costs per child included in a 3-year caries preventive program for preschool children and to make estimates of expected lowest and highest costs in a sensitivity analysis. The direct costs for prevention and dental care were applied retrospectively to a comprehensive oral health outreach project for preschool children conducted in a low-socioeconomic multi-cultural urban area. The outcome was compared with historical controls from the same area with conventional dental care. The cost per minute for the various dental professions was added to the cost of materials, rental facilities and equipment based on accounting data. The cost for fillings was extracted from a specified per diem list. Overhead costs were assumed to correspond to 50% of salaries and all costs were calculated as net present value per participating child in the program and expressed in Euro. The results revealed an estimated total cost of 310 Euro per included child (net present value) in the 3-year program. Half of the costs were attributed to the first year of the program and the costs of manpower constituted 45% of the total costs. When the total cost was reduced with the cost of conventional care and the revenue of avoided fillings, the net cost was estimated to 30 Euro. A sensitivity analysis displayed that a net gain could be possible with a maximal outcome of the program. In conclusion, the estimated net costs were displayed and available to those considering implementation of a similar population-based preventive program in areas where preschool children are at high caries risk.

  18. Implant Optimisation for Primary Hip Replacement in Patients over 60 Years with Osteoarthritis: A Cohort Study of Clinical Outcomes and Implant Costs Using Data from England and Wales.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon S Jameson

    Full Text Available Hip replacement is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures worldwide; hundreds of implant configurations provide options for femoral head size, joint surface material and fixation method with dramatically varying costs. Robust comparative evidence to inform the choice of implant is needed. This retrospective cohort study uses linked national databases from England and Wales to determine the optimal type of replacement for patients over 60 years undergoing hip replacement for osteoarthritis.Implants included were the commonest brand from each of the four types of replacement (cemented, cementless, hybrid and resurfacing; the reference prosthesis was the cemented hip procedure. Patient reported outcome scores (PROMs, costs and risk of repeat (revision surgery were examined. Multivariable analyses included analysis of covariance to assess improvement in PROMs (Oxford hip score, OHS, and EQ5D index (9159 linked episodes and competing risks modelling of implant survival (79,775 procedures. Cost of implants and ancillary equipment were obtained from National Health Service procurement data.EQ5D score improvements (at 6 months were similar for all hip replacement types. In females, revision risk was significantly higher in cementless hip prostheses (hazard ratio, HR = 2.22, p<0.001, when compared to the reference hip. Although improvement in OHS was statistically higher (22.1 versus 20.5, p<0.001 for cementless implants, this small difference is unlikely to be clinically important. In males, revision risk was significantly higher in cementless (HR = 1.95, p = 0.003 and resurfacing implants, HR = 3.46, p<0.001, with no differences in OHS. Material costs were lowest with the reference implant (cemented, range £1103 to £1524 and highest with cementless implants (£1928 to £4285. Limitations include the design of the study, which is intrinsically vulnerable to omitted variables, a paucity of long-term implant survival data (reflecting the

  19. Identifying efficient dairy heifer producers using production costs and data envelopment analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinrichs, A J; Jones, C M; Gray, S M; Heinrichs, P A; Cornelisse, S A; Goodling, R C

    2013-01-01

    During November and December 2011, data were collected from 44 dairy operations in 13 Pennsylvania counties. Researchers visited each farm to collect information regarding management practices and feeding, and costs for labor, health, bedding, and reproduction for replacement heifers from birth until first calving. Costs per heifer were broken up into 4 time periods: birth until weaning, weaning until 6 mo of age, 6 mo of age until breeding age, and heifers from breeding to calving. Milk production records for each herd were obtained from Dairy Herd Improvement. The average number of milking cows on farms in this study was 197.8 ± 280.1, with a range from 38 to 1,708. Total cost averaged $1,808.23 ± $338.62 from birth until freshening. Raising calves from birth to weaning cost $217.49 ± 86.21; raising heifers from weaning age through 6 mo of age cost $247.38 ± 78.89; raising heifers from 6 mo of age until breeding cost $607.02 ± 192.28; and total cost for bred heifers was $736.33 ± 162.86. Feed costs were the largest component of the cost to raise heifers from birth to calving, accounting for nearly 73% of the total. Data envelopment analysis determined that 9 of the 44 farms had no inefficiencies in inputs or outputs. These farms best combined feed and labor investments, spending, on average, $1,137.40 and $140.62/heifer for feed and labor. These heifers calved at 23.7 mo of age and produced 88.42% of the milk produced by older cows. In contrast, the 35 inefficient farms spent $227 more on feed and $78 more on labor per heifer for animals that calved 1.6 mo later and produced only 82% of the milk made by their mature herdmates. Efficiency was attained by herds with the lowest input costs, but herds with higher input costs were also able to be efficient if age at calving was low and milk production was high for heifers compared with the rest of the herd. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Antimicrobial prescribing patterns of surgical speciality in a tertiary care hospital in India: Role of persuasive intervention for changing antibiotic prescription behaviour

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chand Wattal

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Inappropriate use of antibiotics globally has been linked to increase in antibiotic resistance. Objectives: This interventional study assessed the impact of antibiotic prescription feedback and focus group discussions (FGD on hospital-based prescribers before and after the FGD. Study Design: The present study was performed at a tertiary care centre in New Delhi, wherein 45 units from surgical specialities were included for FGD. Thirty-five units were assessed for the antibiotic usage during 12 months pre-intervention and 3 and 6 months post-intervention period. The outcome measured was a change in antibiotic prescription rates reflected as daily defined doses per 100 bed days as defined by the World Health Organisation. Results: Reduction in the level of antibiotic consumption was observed in 15 of 35 units (42.85% during the 3 months post-intervention period, which was significant (P < 0.05 in 3/35 (8.57% surgical units. A significant reduction (P < 0.05 was observed for the units of endoscopic gynaecology, super-speciality and transplant surgery units B and C, and orthopaedic unit C during the 6 months period. Decreasing trend (P < 0.05 was observed in 2/35 (5.71% units during the entire period. Overall reduction of antibiotic consumption (1.88% was observed, with an increase in the use of low-end antibiotics and a decrease in the use of high-end antibiotics. Conclusion: The present study clearly demonstrates a weak impact of FGD in changing antibiotic prescribing behaviour. Further analysis of the sustainability of FGD and its long-term impact on antimicrobial resistance needs to be evaluated. The effect of continuous educational sessions and multifaceted interventions cannot be ignored.