Development of Low-Cost Method for Fabrication of Metal Neutron Guides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engelhaupt, Darell [Dawn Research Inc., Madison, AL (United States); Khaykovich, Boris [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Romaine, Suzanne [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States)

2017-12-19

Neutron scattering is one of the most useful methods of studying the structure and dynamics of matter. US DOE neutron scattering research facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among the World’s most advanced, providing researchers with unmatched capabilities for probing the structure and properties of materials, including engineering and biological systems. This task is to develop a lower cost process to optimize and produce the required neutron guides capable of efficiently delivering neutron beams for tens of meters between neutron moderators and instruments. Therefore, our effort is to improve the performance and lower the production cost of neutron guides. Our approach aims at improving guide quality while controlling their rising costs by adopting a novel electroforming replication approach to their fabrication. These guides will be especially advantageous when used near the neutron source since the radiation resistance of nickel is superior to glass. Additionally, we are depositing low-stress nickel from an extremely low impurity solution completely free of stress-reducing agents, which nominally contain and impart sulfur, carbon and other elements that potentially activate in the neutron environment. This is achieved by using a pulsed periodically reversed current methodology. The best guides quote waviness of 0.1 mrad. It is reasonable to prepare just one mandrel of about 0.5 m long, for production of tens of guide segments, saving both the cost and supply time of guides to neutron facilities. We estimate that we can fabricate a single mandrel for the current cost of an individual one-meter guide, but from this, we can produce tens of meters of guide very inexpensively without mandrel refurbishment. While a multilayer coating will add to the overall cost, we expect this will be less than that of commercially available guides today. Therefore, we will produce higher quality guides, which are less susceptible to radiation damage, at the lower cost

Machine cost analysis using the traditional machine-rate method and ChargeOut!

Science.gov (United States)

E. M. (Ted) Bilek

2009-01-01

Forestry operations require ever more use of expensive capital equipment. Mechanization is frequently necessary to perform cost-effective and safe operations. Increased capital should mean more sophisticated capital costing methodologies. However the machine rate method, which is the costing methodology most frequently used, dates back to 1942. CHARGEOUT!, a recently...

Low cost design of microprocessor EDAC circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Li; Yu Lixin; Peng Heping; Zhuang Wei

2015-01-01

An optimization method of error detection and correction (EDAC) circuit design is proposed. The method involves selecting or constructing EDAC codes of low cost hardware, associated with operation scheduling implementation based on 2-input XOR gates structure, and two actions for reducing hardware cells, which can reduce the delay penalties and area costs of the EDAC circuit effectively. The 32-bit EDAC circuit hardware implementation is selected to make a prototype, based on the 180 nm process. The delay penalties and area costs of the EDAC circuit are evaluated. Results show that the time penalty and area cost of the EDAC circuitries are affected with different parity-check matrices and different hardware implementation for the EDAC codes with the same capability of correction and detection code. This method can be used as a guide for low-cost radiation-hardened microprocessor EDAC circuit design and for more advanced technologies. (paper)

CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE--LOW-TECH SOLUTIONS TO THE PADUCAH SCRAP METAL REMOVAL PROJECT ARE PROVIDING SAFE, COST-EFFECTIVE REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SCRAP YARDS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, Dan; Eyman, Jeff

2003-01-01

Between 1974 and 1983, contaminated equipment was removed from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) process buildings as part of an enrichment process upgrade program. The upgrades consisted of the dismantlement, removal, and on-site storage of contaminated equipment, cell components, and scrap material (e.g., metal) from the cascade facilities. Scrap metal including other materials (e.g., drums, obsolete equipment) not related to this upgrade program have thus far accumulated in nine contiguous radiologically-contaminated and non-contaminated scrap yards covering 1.05E5 m2 (26 acres) located in the northwestern portion of the PGDP. This paper presents the sequencing of field operations and methods used to achieve the safe removal and disposition of over 47,000 tonnes (53,000 tons) of metal and miscellaneous items contained in these yards. The methods of accomplishment consist of mobilization, performing nuclear criticality safety evaluations, moving scrap metal to ground level, inspection and segregation, sampling and characterization, scrap metal sizing, packaging and disposal, and finally demobilization. Preventing the intermingling of characteristically hazardous and non-hazardous wastes promotes waste minimization, allowing for the metal and materials to be segregated into 13 separate waste streams. Low-tech solutions such as using heavy equipment to retrieve, size, and package scrap materials in conjunction with thorough planning that integrates safe work practices, commitment to teamwork, and incorporating lessons learned ensures that field operations will be conducted efficiently and safely

Design of low-cost general purpose microcontroller based neuromuscular stimulator.

Science.gov (United States)

Koçer, S; Rahmi Canal, M; Güler, I

2000-04-01

In this study, a general purpose, low-cost, programmable, portable and high performance stimulator is designed and implemented. For this purpose, a microcontroller is used in the design of the stimulator. The duty cycle and amplitude of the designed system can be controlled using a keyboard. The performance test of the system has shown that the results are reliable. The overall system can be used as the neuromuscular stimulator under safe conditions.

A new low-cost method of reclaiming mixed foundry waste sand based on wet-thermal composite reclamation

OpenAIRE

Fan Zitian; Liu Fuchu; Long Wei

2014-01-01

A lot of mixed clay-resin waste sand from large-scale iron foundries is discharged every day; so mixed waste sand reclamation in low cost and high quality has a great realistic significance. In the study to investigate the possibility of reusing two types of waste foundry sands, resin bonded sand and clay bonded sand which came from a Chinese casting factory, a new low-cost reclamation method of the mixed foundry waste sand based on the wet-thermal composite reclamation was proposed. The wast...

Inherently safe in situ uranium recovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krumhansl, James Lee; Beauheim, Richard Louis; Brady, Patrick Vane; Arnold, Bill Walter; Kanney, Joseph F.; McKenna, Sean Andrew

2009-01-01

Expansion of uranium mining in the United States is a concern to some environmental groups and sovereign Native American Nations. An approach which may alleviate some problems is to develop inherently safe in situ uranium recovery ('ISR') technologies. Current ISR technology relies on chemical extraction of trace levels of uranium from aquifers that, once mined, can still contain dissolved uranium and other trace metals that are a health concern. Existing ISR operations are few in number; however, high uranium prices are driving the industry to consider expanding operations nation-wide. Environmental concerns and enforcement of the new 30 ppb uranium drinking water standard may make opening new mining operations more difficult and costly. Here we propose a technological fix: the development of inherently safe in situ recovery (ISISR) methods. The four central features of an ISISR approach are: (1) New 'green' leachants that break down predictably in the subsurface, leaving uranium, and associated trace metals, in an immobile form; (2) Post-leachant uranium/metals-immobilizing washes that provide a backup decontamination process; (3) An optimized well-field design that increases uranium recovery efficiency and minimizes excursions of contaminated water; and (4) A combined hydrologic/geochemical protocol for designing low-cost post-extraction long-term monitoring. ISISR would bring larger amounts of uranium to the surface, leave fewer toxic metals in the aquifer, and cost less to monitor safely - thus providing a 'win-win-win' solution to all stakeholders.

Low Cost Integrated Navigation System for Unmanned Vessel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Changsong

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Large errors of low-cost MEMS inertial measurement unit (MIMU lead to huge navigation errors, even wrong navigation information. An integrated navigation system for unmanned vessel is proposed. It consists of a low-cost MIMU and Doppler velocity sonar (DVS. This paper presents an integrated navigation method, to improve the performance of navigation system. The integrated navigation system is tested using simulation and semi-physical simulation experiments, whose results show that attitude, velocity and position accuracy has improved awfully, giving exactly accurate navigation results. By means of the combination of low-cost MIMU and DVS, the proposed system is able to overcome fast drift problems of the low cost IMU.

Modelling cost-effectiveness of different vasectomy methods in India, Kenya, and Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seamans Yancy

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Vasectomy is generally considered a safe and effective method of permanent contraception. The historical effectiveness of vasectomy has been questioned by recent research results indicating that the most commonly used method of vasectomy – simple ligation and excision (L and E – appears to have a relatively high failure rate, with reported pregnancy rates as high as 4%. Updated methods such as fascial interposition (FI and thermal cautery can lower the rate of failure but may require additional financial investments and may not be appropriate for low-resource clinics. In order to better compare the cost-effectiveness of these different vasectomy methods, we modelled the costs of different vasectomy methods using cost data collected in India, Kenya, and Mexico and effectiveness data from the latest published research. Methods The costs associated with providing vasectomies were determined in each country through interviews with clinic staff. Costs collected were economic, direct, programme costs of fixed vasectomy services but did not include large capital expenses or general recurrent costs for the health care facility. Estimates of the time required to provide service were gained through interviews and training costs were based on the total costs of vasectomy training programmes in each country. Effectiveness data were obtained from recent published studies and comparative cost-effectiveness was determined using cost per couple years of protection (CYP. Results In each country, the labour to provide the vasectomy and follow-up services accounts for the greatest portion of the overall cost. Because each country almost exclusively used one vasectomy method at all of the clinics included in the study, we modelled costs based on the additional material, labour, and training costs required in each country. Using a model of a robust vasectomy program, more effective methods such as FI and thermal cautery reduce the cost per

Development and Implementation of a Low-Cost ex-situ Soil Clean-up Method for Actinide Removal at the AWE Aldermaston Site, U.K

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agnew, K.; Purdie, P.; Agnew, K.; Cundy, A.B.; Hopkinson, L.; Croudace, I.W.; Warwick, P.E.F.

2009-01-01

the treatment method during summer 2008 involved ex-situ, but on-site, treatment of soil wastes in a lined steel cell, using low-cost materials (e.g. portable 12 V batteries, cast iron electrodes), over a 2 month period. The development and field-scale implementation of the remediation technique on a working nuclear site involved the development of a detailed safe system of work, with standard operating and Quality Assurance procedures, and the involvement and cooperation of a range of on-site and off-site organisations. The implications of: - the laboratory and field trial data; and - the site and regulatory requirements for the implementation of the clean-up process for the application of similar remediation or waste management methods on other nuclear sites are described and evaluated here. (authors)

Fail-safe reactivity compensation method for a nuclear reactor

Science.gov (United States)

Nygaard, Erik T.; Angelo, Peter L.; Aase, Scott B.

2018-01-23

The present invention relates generally to the field of compensation methods for nuclear reactors and, in particular to a method for fail-safe reactivity compensation in solution-type nuclear reactors. In one embodiment, the fail-safe reactivity compensation method of the present invention augments other control methods for a nuclear reactor. In still another embodiment, the fail-safe reactivity compensation method of the present invention permits one to control a nuclear reaction in a nuclear reactor through a method that does not rely on moving components into or out of a reactor core, nor does the method of the present invention rely on the constant repositioning of control rods within a nuclear reactor in order to maintain a critical state.

An easy, low-cost method to transfer large-scale graphene onto polyethylene terephthalate as a transparent conductive flexible substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Chih-Sheng; Hsieh, Chien-Kuo

2014-01-01

In this study, we develop a low-cost method for transferring a large-scale graphene film onto a flexible transparent substrate. An easily accessible method for home-made chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and a commercial photograph laminator were utilized to fabricate the low-cost graphene-based transparent conductive flexible substrate. The graphene was developed based on CVD growth on nickel foil using a carbon gas source, and the graphene thin film was easily transferred onto the laminating film via a heated photograph laminator. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were utilized to examine the morphological characteristics of the graphene surface. Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were utilized to examine the microstructure of the graphene. The optical–electronic properties of the transferred graphene flexible thin film were measured by ultraviolet–visible spectrometry and a four-point probe. The advantage of this method is that large-scale graphene-based thin films can be easily obtained. We provide an economical method for fabricating a graphene-based transparent conductive flexible substrate. - Highlight: • We synthesized the large-scale graphene by thermal CVD method. • A low-cost commercial photograph laminator was used to transfer graphene. • A large-scale transparent and flexible graphene substrate was obtained easily

An easy, low-cost method to transfer large-scale graphene onto polyethylene terephthalate as a transparent conductive flexible substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Chih-Sheng; Hsieh, Chien-Kuo, E-mail: jack_hsieh@mail.mcut.edu.tw

2014-11-03

In this study, we develop a low-cost method for transferring a large-scale graphene film onto a flexible transparent substrate. An easily accessible method for home-made chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and a commercial photograph laminator were utilized to fabricate the low-cost graphene-based transparent conductive flexible substrate. The graphene was developed based on CVD growth on nickel foil using a carbon gas source, and the graphene thin film was easily transferred onto the laminating film via a heated photograph laminator. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were utilized to examine the morphological characteristics of the graphene surface. Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were utilized to examine the microstructure of the graphene. The optical–electronic properties of the transferred graphene flexible thin film were measured by ultraviolet–visible spectrometry and a four-point probe. The advantage of this method is that large-scale graphene-based thin films can be easily obtained. We provide an economical method for fabricating a graphene-based transparent conductive flexible substrate. - Highlight: • We synthesized the large-scale graphene by thermal CVD method. • A low-cost commercial photograph laminator was used to transfer graphene. • A large-scale transparent and flexible graphene substrate was obtained easily.

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.

Is safe surgery possible when resources are scarce?

Science.gov (United States)

O'Hara, Nathan N

2015-07-01

The greatest burden of surgical disease exists in low- and middle-income countries, where the quality and safety of surgical treatment cause major challenges. Securing necessary and appropriate medical supplies and infrastructure remains a significant and under-recognised limitation to providing safe and high-quality surgical care in these settings. The majority of surgical instruments are sold in high-income countries. Limited market pressures lead to superfluous designs and inflated costs for these devices. This context creates an opportunity for frugal innovation-the search for designs that will enable low-cost care without compromising quality. Although progressive examples of frugal surgical innovations exist, policy innovation is required to augment design pathways while fostering appropriate safety controls for prospective devices. Many low-cost, high-quality medical technologies will increase access to safe surgical care in low-income countries and have widespread applicability as all countries look to reduce the cost of providing care, without compromising quality. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Sodium heat pipe module test for the SAFE-30 reactor prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reid, Robert S.; Sena, J. Tom; Martinez, Adam L.

2001-01-01

Reliable, long-life, low-cost heat pipes can enable safe, affordable space fission power and propulsion systems. Advanced versions of these systems can in turn allow rapid access to any point in the solar system. Twelve stainless steel-sodium heat pipe modules were built and tested at Los Alamos for use in a non-nuclear thermohydraulic simulation of the SAFE-30 reactor (Poston et al., 2000). SAFE-30 is a near-term, low-cost space fission system demonstration. The heat pipes were designed to remove thermal power from the SAFE-30 core, and transfer this power to an electrical power conversion system. These heat pipe modules were delivered to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in August 2000 and were assembled and tested in a prototypical configuration during September and October 2000. The construction and test of one of the SAFE-30 modules is described

A rapid and low-cost DNA extraction method for isolating ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The price of commercial DNA extraction methods makes the routine use of polymerase chain reaction amplification (PCR) based methods rather costly for scientists in developing countries. A guanidium thiocayante-based DNA extraction method was investigated in this study for the isolation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) DNA ...

A portable low-cost 3D point cloud acquiring method based on structure light

Science.gov (United States)

Gui, Li; Zheng, Shunyi; Huang, Xia; Zhao, Like; Ma, Hao; Ge, Chao; Tang, Qiuxia

2018-03-01

A fast and low-cost method of acquiring 3D point cloud data is proposed in this paper, which can solve the problems of lack of texture information and low efficiency of acquiring point cloud data with only one pair of cheap cameras and projector. Firstly, we put forward a scene adaptive design method of random encoding pattern, that is, a coding pattern is projected onto the target surface in order to form texture information, which is favorable for image matching. Subsequently, we design an efficient dense matching algorithm that fits the projected texture. After the optimization of global algorithm and multi-kernel parallel development with the fusion of hardware and software, a fast acquisition system of point-cloud data is accomplished. Through the evaluation of point cloud accuracy, the results show that point cloud acquired by the method proposed in this paper has higher precision. What`s more, the scanning speed meets the demand of dynamic occasion and has better practical application value.

End-user perspective of low-cost sensors for outdoor air pollution monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Rai, Aakash C; Kumar, Prashant; Pilla, Francesco; Skouloudis, Andreas N; Di Sabatino, Silvana; Ratti, Carlo; Yasar, Ansar; Rickerby, David

2017-12-31

Low-cost sensor technology can potentially revolutionise the area of air pollution monitoring by providing high-density spatiotemporal pollution data. Such data can be utilised for supplementing traditional pollution monitoring, improving exposure estimates, and raising community awareness about air pollution. However, data quality remains a major concern that hinders the widespread adoption of low-cost sensor technology. Unreliable data may mislead unsuspecting users and potentially lead to alarming consequences such as reporting acceptable air pollutant levels when they are above the limits deemed safe for human health. This article provides scientific guidance to the end-users for effectively deploying low-cost sensors for monitoring air pollution and people's exposure, while ensuring reasonable data quality. We review the performance characteristics of several low-cost particle and gas monitoring sensors and provide recommendations to end-users for making proper sensor selection by summarizing the capabilities and limitations of such sensors. The challenges, best practices, and future outlook for effectively deploying low-cost sensors, and maintaining data quality are also discussed. For data quality assurance, a two-stage sensor calibration process is recommended, which includes laboratory calibration under controlled conditions by the manufacturer supplemented with routine calibration checks performed by the end-user under final deployment conditions. For large sensor networks where routine calibration checks are impractical, statistical techniques for data quality assurance should be utilised. Further advancements and adoption of sophisticated mathematical and statistical techniques for sensor calibration, fault detection, and data quality assurance can indeed help to realise the promised benefits of a low-cost air pollution sensor network. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fast and low-cost method for VBES bathymetry generation in coastal areas

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez-Carnero, N.; Aceña, S.; Rodríguez-Pérez, D.; Couñago, E.; Fraile, P.; Freire, J.

2012-12-01

Sea floor topography is key information in coastal area management. Nowadays, LiDAR and multibeam technologies provide accurate bathymetries in those areas; however these methodologies are yet too expensive for small customers (fishermen associations, small research groups) willing to keep a periodic surveillance of environmental resources. In this paper, we analyse a simple methodology for vertical beam echosounder (VBES) bathymetric data acquisition and postprocessing, using low-cost means and free customizable tools such as ECOSONS and gvSIG (that is compared with industry standard ArcGIS). Echosounder data was filtered, resampled and, interpolated (using kriging or radial basis functions). Moreover, the presented methodology includes two data correction processes: Monte Carlo simulation, used to reduce GPS errors, and manually applied bathymetric line transformations, both improving the obtained results. As an example, we present the bathymetry of the Ría de Cedeira (Galicia, NW Spain), a good testbed area for coastal bathymetry methodologies given its extension and rich topography. The statistical analysis, performed by direct ground-truthing, rendered an upper bound of 1.7 m error, at 95% confidence level, and 0.7 m r.m.s. (cross-validation provided 30 cm and 25 cm, respectively). The methodology presented is fast and easy to implement, accurate outside transects (accuracy can be estimated), and can be used as a low-cost periodical monitoring method.

Organizing for low cost space operations - Status and plans

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, C.

1976-01-01

Design features of the Space Transportation System (vehicle reuse, low cost expendable components, simple payload interfaces, standard support systems) must be matched by economical operational methods to achieve low operating and payload costs. Users will be responsible for their own payloads and will be charged according to the services they require. Efficient use of manpower, simple documentation, simplified test, checkout, and flight planning are firm goals, together with flexibility for quick response to varying user needs. Status of the Shuttle hardware, plans for establishing low cost procedures, and the policy for user charges are discussed.

A low-cost MRI compatible keyboard

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Martin Snejbjerg; Heggli, Ole Adrian; Alves da Mota, Patricia

2017-01-01

, presenting a challenging environment for playing an instrument. Here, we present an MRI-compatible polyphonic keyboard with a materials cost of 850 $, designed and tested for safe use in 3T (three Tesla) MRI-scanners. We describe design considerations, and prior work in the field. In addition, we provide...

Simple, Safe, and Cost-Effective Technique for Resected Stomach Extraction in Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Derici, Serhan; Atila, Koray; Bora, Seymen; Yener, Serkan

2016-01-01

Background. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has become a popular operation during the recent years. This procedure requires resection of 80-90% of the stomach. Extraction of gastric specimen is known to be a challenging and costly stage of the operation. In this paper, we report results of a simple and cost-effective specimen extraction technique which was applied to 137 consecutive LSG patients. Methods. Between October 2013 and October 2015, 137 laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy surgeries were performed at Dokuz Eylul University General Surgery Department, Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery Unit. All specimens were extracted through a 15 mm trocar site without using any special device. Results. We noticed one superficial incisional surgical site infection and treated this patient with oral antibiotics. No cases of trocar site hernia were observed. Conclusion. Different techniques have been described for specimen extraction. This simple technique allows extraction of specimen safely in a short time and does not require any special device.

A Performance Improvement Method for Low-Cost Land Vehicle GPS/MEMS-INS Attitude Determination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Cong

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Global positioning system (GPS technology is well suited for attitude determination. However, in land vehicle application, low-cost single frequency GPS receivers which have low measurement quality are often used, and external factors such as multipath and low satellite visibility in the densely built-up urban environment further degrade the quality of the GPS measurements. Due to the low-quality receivers used and the challenging urban environment, the success rate of the single epoch ambiguity resolution for dynamic attitude determination is usually quite low. In this paper, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS—inertial navigation system (INS-aided ambiguity resolution method is proposed to improve the GPS attitude determination performance, which is particularly suitable for land vehicle attitude determination. First, the INS calculated baseline vector is augmented with the GPS carrier phase and code measurements. This improves the ambiguity dilution of precision (ADOP, resulting in better quality of the unconstrained float solution. Second, the undesirable float solutions caused by large measurement errors are further filtered and replaced using the INS-aided ambiguity function method (AFM. The fixed solutions are then obtained by the constrained least squares ambiguity decorrelation (CLAMBDA algorithm. Finally, the GPS/MEMS-INS integration is realized by the use of a Kalman filter. Theoretical analysis of the ADOP is given and experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method can significantly improve the quality of the float ambiguity solution, leading to high success rate and better accuracy of attitude determination.

A Performance Improvement Method for Low-Cost Land Vehicle GPS/MEMS-INS Attitude Determination

Science.gov (United States)

Cong, Li; Li, Ercui; Qin, Honglei; Ling, Keck Voon; Xue, Rui

2015-01-01

Global positioning system (GPS) technology is well suited for attitude determination. However, in land vehicle application, low-cost single frequency GPS receivers which have low measurement quality are often used, and external factors such as multipath and low satellite visibility in the densely built-up urban environment further degrade the quality of the GPS measurements. Due to the low-quality receivers used and the challenging urban environment, the success rate of the single epoch ambiguity resolution for dynamic attitude determination is usually quite low. In this paper, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)—inertial navigation system (INS)-aided ambiguity resolution method is proposed to improve the GPS attitude determination performance, which is particularly suitable for land vehicle attitude determination. First, the INS calculated baseline vector is augmented with the GPS carrier phase and code measurements. This improves the ambiguity dilution of precision (ADOP), resulting in better quality of the unconstrained float solution. Second, the undesirable float solutions caused by large measurement errors are further filtered and replaced using the INS-aided ambiguity function method (AFM). The fixed solutions are then obtained by the constrained least squares ambiguity decorrelation (CLAMBDA) algorithm. Finally, the GPS/MEMS-INS integration is realized by the use of a Kalman filter. Theoretical analysis of the ADOP is given and experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method can significantly improve the quality of the float ambiguity solution, leading to high success rate and better accuracy of attitude determination. PMID:25760057

Low-cost inertial measurement unit.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deyle, Travis Jay

2005-03-01

Sandia National Laboratories performs many expensive tests using inertial measurement units (IMUs)--systems that use accelerometers, gyroscopes, and other sensors to measure flight dynamics in three dimensions. For the purpose of this report, the metrics used to evaluate an IMU are cost, size, performance, resolution, upgradeability and testing. The cost of a precision IMU is very high and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thus the goals and results of this project are as follows: (1) Examine the data flow in an IMU and determine a generic IMU design. (2) Discuss a high cost IMU implementation and its theoretically achievable results. (3) Discuss design modifications that would save money for suited applications. (4) Design and implement a low cost IMU and discuss its theoretically achievable results. (5) Test the low cost IMU and compare theoretical results with empirical results. (6) Construct a more streamlined printed circuit board design reducing noise, increasing capabilities, and constructing a self-contained unit. Using these results, we can compare a high cost IMU versus a low cost IMU using the metrics from above. Further, we can examine and suggest situations where a low cost IMU could be used instead of a high cost IMU for saving cost, size, or both.

Method of safely operating nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ochiai, Kanehiro.

1976-01-01

Purpose: To provide a method of safely operating an nuclear reactor, comprising supporting a load applied to a reactor container partly with secondary container facilities thereby reducing the load borne by the reactor container when water is injected into the core to submerge the core in an emergency. Method: In a reactor emergency, water is injected into the reactor core thereby to submerge the core. Further, water is injected into a gap between the reactor container and the secondary container facilities. By the injection of water into the gap between the reactor container and the secondary container facilities a large apparent mass is applied to the reactor container, as a result of which the reactor container undergoes the same vibration as that of the secondary container facilities. Therefore, the load borne by the reactor container itself is reduced and stress at the bottom part of the reactor container is released. This permits the reactor to be operated more safely. (Moriyama, K.)

Measuring User Compliance and Cost Effectiveness of Safe Drinking Water Programs: A Cluster-Randomized Study of Household Ultraviolet Disinfection in Rural Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Reygadas, Fermín; Gruber, Joshua S; Dreizler, Lindsay; Nelson, Kara L; Ray, Isha

2018-03-01

Low adoption and compliance levels for household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) technologies have made it challenging for these systems to achieve measurable health benefits in the developing world. User compliance remains an inconsistently defined and poorly understood feature of HWTS programs. In this article, we develop a comprehensive approach to understanding HWTS compliance. First, our Safe Drinking Water Compliance Framework disaggregates and measures the components of compliance from initial adoption of the HWTS to exclusive consumption of treated water. We apply this framework to an ultraviolet (UV)-based safe water system in a cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Mexico. Second, we evaluate a no-frills (or "Basic") variant of the program as well as an improved (or "Enhanced") variant, to test if subtle changes in the user interface of HWTS programs could improve compliance. Finally, we perform a full-cost analysis of both variants to assess their cost effectiveness (CE) in achieving compliance. We define "compliance" strictly as the habit of consuming safe water. We find that compliance was significantly higher in the groups where the UV program variants were rolled out than in the control groups. The Enhanced variant performed better immediately postintervention than the Basic, but compliance (and thus CE) degraded with time such that no effective difference remained between the two versions of the program.

System identification of a small low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle using flight data from low-cost sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffer, Nathan Von

Remote sensing has traditionally been done with satellites and manned aircraft. While. these methods can yield useful scientificc data, satellites and manned aircraft have limitations in data frequency, process time, and real time re-tasking. Small low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide greater possibilities for personal scientic research than traditional remote sensing platforms. Precision aerial data requires an accurate vehicle dynamics model for controller development, robust flight characteristics, and fault tolerance. One method of developing a model is system identification (system ID). In this thesis system ID of a small low-cost fixed-wing T-tail UAV is conducted. The linerized longitudinal equations of motion are derived from first principles. Foundations of Recursive Least Squares (RLS) are presented along with RLS with an Error Filtering Online Learning scheme (EFOL). Sensors, data collection, data consistency checking, and data processing are described. Batch least squares (BLS) and BLS with EFOL are used to identify aerodynamic coecoefficients of the UAV. Results of these two methods with flight data are discussed.

Low-Cost Mapping and Publishing Methods for Landscape Architectural Analysis and Design in Slum-Upgrading Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jörg Rekittke

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The research project “Grassroots GIS” focuses on the development of low-cost mapping and publishing methods for slums and slum-upgrading projects in Manila. In this project smartphones, collaborative mapping and 3D visualization applications are systematically employed to support landscape architectural analysis and design work in the context of urban poverty and urban informal settlements. In this paper we focus on the description of the developed methods and present preliminary results of this work-in-progress.

Sliver Solar Cells: High-Efficiency, Low-Cost PV Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evan Franklin

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Sliver cells are thin, single-crystal silicon solar cells fabricated using standard fabrication technology. Sliver modules, composed of several thousand individual Sliver cells, can be efficient, low-cost, bifacial, transparent, flexible, shadow tolerant, and lightweight. Compared with current PV technology, mature Sliver technology will need 10% of the pure silicon and fewer than 5% of the wafer starts per MW of factory output. This paper deals with two distinct challenges related to Sliver cell and Sliver module production: providing a mature and robust Sliver cell fabrication method which produces a high yield of highly efficient Sliver cells, and which is suitable for transfer to industry; and, handling, electrically interconnecting, and encapsulating billions of sliver cells at low cost. Sliver cells with efficiencies of 20% have been fabricated at ANU using a reliable, optimised processing sequence, while low-cost encapsulation methods have been demonstrated using a submodule technique.

A low-cost, high-yield fabrication method for producing optimized biomimetic dry adhesives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sameoto, D; Menon, C

2009-01-01

We present a low-cost, large-scale method of fabricating biomimetic dry adhesives. This process is useful because it uses all photosensitive polymers with minimum fabrication costs or complexity to produce molds for silicone-based dry adhesives. A thick-film lift-off process is used to define molds using AZ 9260 photoresist, with a slow acting, deep UV sensitive material, PMGI, used as both an adhesion promoter for the AZ 9260 photoresist and as an undercutting material to produce mushroom-shaped fibers. The benefits to this process are ease of fabrication, wide range of potential layer thicknesses, no special surface treatment requirements to demold silicone adhesives and easy stripping of the full mold if process failure does occur. Sylgard® 184 silicone is used to cast full sheets of biomimetic dry adhesives off 4'' diameter wafers, and different fiber geometries are tested for normal adhesion properties. Additionally, failure modes of the adhesive during fabrication are noted and strategies for avoiding these failures are discussed. We use this fabrication method to produce different fiber geometries with varying cap diameters and test them for normal adhesion strengths. The results indicate that the cap diameters relative to post diameters for mushroom-shaped fibers dominate the adhesion properties

Low-temperature thermionics in space nuclear power systems with the safe-type fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zrodnikov, A.V.; Yarygin, V.I.; Lazarenko, G.E.; Zabudko, A.N.; Ovcharenko, M.K.; Pyshko, A.P.; Mironov, V.S.; Kuznetsov, R.V.

2007-01-01

The potentialities of the use of the low-temperature thermionic converters (TIC) with the emitter temperature ≤ 1500 K in the space nuclear power system (SNPS) with the SAFE-type (Safe Affordable Fission Engine) fast reactor proposed and developed by common efforts of American experts have been considered. The main directions of the 'SAFE-300-TEG' SNPS (300 kW(thermal)) design update by replacing the thermoelectric converters with the low-temperature high-performance thermionic converters (with the barrier index V B ≤ 1.9 eV and efficiency ≥ 10%) meant for a long-term operation (5 years at least) as the components of the SAFE-300-TIC SNPS for a Lunar base have been discussed. The concept of the SNPS with the SAFE-type fast reactor and low-temperature TICs with specific electric power of about 1.45 W/cm 2 as the components of the SAFE-300-TIC system meeting the Nasa's initial requirements to a Lunar base with the electric power demand of about 30 kW(electrical) for robotic mission has been considered. The results, involving optimization and mass-and-size estimation, show that the SAFE-300-TIC system meets the initial requirements by Nasa to the lunar base power supply. The main directions of the system update aimed at the output electric power increase up to 100 kW(electrical) have also been presented. (authors)

Hidden costs of low-cost screening mammography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cyrlak, D.

1987-01-01

Twenty-two hundred women in Orange County, California, took part in a low-cost mammography screening project sponsored by the American Cancer Society and the KCBS-TV. Patients were followed up by telephone and questioned about actual costs incurred as a result of screening mammography, including costs of repeated and follow-up mammograms, US examinations and surgical consultations. The total number of biopsies, cancers found, and the costs involved were investigated. The authors' results suggest that particularly in centers with a high positive call rate, the cost of screening mammograms accounts for only a small proportion of the medical costs

An effective and low-cost method for DNA extraction from herbal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rhubarb is an important traditional Chinese herbal drug with high secondary metabolites that interfere with DNA extraction procedures and downstream applications, such as DNA restriction and amplification. An effective and low-cost protocol for isolating genomic DNA from root of Rheum tanguticum is described in this ...

Analysis of Methods of Determining the Safe Ship Trajectory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jozef Lisowski

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The paper describes six methods of optimal and game theory and artificial neural network for synthesis of safe control in collision situations at sea. The application of optimal and game control algorithms to determine the own ship safe trajectory during the passing of other encountered ships in good and restricted visibility at sea is presented. The comparison of the safe ship control in collision situation: multi-step matrix non-cooperative and cooperative games, multi-stage positional non-cooperative and cooperative games have been introduced. The considerations have been illustrated with examples of computer simulation of the algorithms to determine safe of own ship trajectories in a navigational situation during passing of eight met ships.

Digital image monitoring to optimise safe port operation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Phelp, D

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a low cost video system ‘Harbour Watch’, which can be used to support safe port operations, especially in developing countries. Preset digital images are geo-referenced and then archived for later analysis to improve...

New Design Methods And Algorithms For High Energy-Efficient And Low-cost Distillation Processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agrawal, Rakesh [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

2013-11-21

This project sought and successfully answered two big challenges facing the creation of low-energy, cost-effective, zeotropic multi-component distillation processes: first, identification of an efficient search space that includes all the useful distillation configurations and no undesired configurations; second, development of an algorithm to search the space efficiently and generate an array of low-energy options for industrial multi-component mixtures. Such mixtures are found in large-scale chemical and petroleum plants. Commercialization of our results was addressed by building a user interface allowing practical application of our methods for industrial problems by anyone with basic knowledge of distillation for a given problem. We also provided our algorithm to a major U.S. Chemical Company for use by the practitioners. The successful execution of this program has provided methods and algorithms at the disposal of process engineers to readily generate low-energy solutions for a large class of multicomponent distillation problems in a typical chemical and petrochemical plant. In a petrochemical complex, the distillation trains within crude oil processing, hydrotreating units containing alkylation, isomerization, reformer, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and NGL (natural gas liquids) processing units can benefit from our results. Effluents from naphtha crackers and ethane-propane crackers typically contain mixtures of methane, ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane, butane and heavier hydrocarbons. We have shown that our systematic search method with a more complete search space, along with the optimization algorithm, has a potential to yield low-energy distillation configurations for all such applications with energy savings up to 50%.

Detection of explosives (in particular landmines) by low-cost methods. Final report of an advisory group meeting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

The purpose of this Advisory Group Meeting was to put together experts from several areas of explosives (landmines) detection, both nuclear and non-nuclear, to generate ideas which might lead to development of a low-cost method for detection of explosives (in particular landmines), or to a modification of existing methods. The discussions included nuclear, acoustic, radar, infrared, x-ray, and nuclear quadrupole resonance methods for localizing and characterizing landmines. Many technologies are still under laboratory development. This document includes 8 contributed papers, each of them was indexed and abstracted

Low-cost high purity production

Science.gov (United States)

Kapur, V. K.

1978-01-01

Economical process produces high-purity silicon crystals suitable for use in solar cells. Reaction is strongly exothermic and can be initiated at relatively low temperature, making it potentially suitable for development into low-cost commercial process. Important advantages include exothermic character and comparatively low process temperatures. These could lead to significant savings in equipment and energy costs.

Attitude Determination Method by Fusing Single Antenna GPS and Low Cost MEMS Sensors Using Intelligent Kalman Filter Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available For meeting the demands of cost and size for micronavigation system, a combined attitude determination approach with sensor fusion algorithm and intelligent Kalman filter (IKF on low cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer and single antenna Global Positioning System (GPS is proposed. The effective calibration method is performed to compensate the effect of errors in low cost MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU. The different control strategies fusing the MEMS multisensors are designed. The yaw angle fusing gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer algorithm is estimated accurately under GPS failure and unavailable sideslip situations. For resolving robust control and characters of the uncertain noise statistics influence, the high gain scale of IKF is adjusted by fuzzy controller in the transition process and steady state to achieve faster convergence and accurate estimation. The experiments comparing different MEMS sensors and fusion algorithms are implemented to verify the validity of the proposed approach.

Safety evaluations under the proposed US Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013: animal use and cost estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Jean; Rovida, Costanca

2014-01-01

The proposed Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013 calls for a new evaluation program for cosmetic ingredients in the US, with the new assessments initially dependent on expanded animal testing. This paper considers possible testing scenarios under the proposed Act and estimates the number of test animals and cost under each scenario. It focuses on the impact for the first 10 years of testing, the period of greatest impact on animals and costs. The analysis suggests the first 10 years of testing under the Act could evaluate, at most, about 50% of ingredients used in cosmetics. Testing during this period would cost about $ 1.7-$ 9 billion and 1-11.5 million animals. By test year 10, alternative, high-throughput test methods under development are expected to be available, replacing animal testing and allowing rapid evaluation of all ingredients. Given the high cost in dollars and animal lives of the first 10 years for only about half of ingredients, a better choice may be to accelerate development of high-throughput methods. This would allow evaluation of 100% of cosmetic ingredients before year 10 at lower cost and without animal testing.

A novel method for producing low cost dynamometric wheels based on harmonic elimination techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Gutiérrez-López, María D.; García de Jalón, Javier; Cubillo, Adrián

2015-02-01

A method for producing low cost dynamometric wheels is presented in this paper. For carrying out this method, the metallic part of a commercial wheel is instrumented with strain gauges, which must be grouped in at least three circumferences and in equidistant radial lines. The strain signals of the same circumference are linearly combined to obtain at least two new signals that only depend on the tyre/road contact forces and moments. The influence of factors like the angle rotated by the wheel, the temperature or the centrifugal forces is eliminated in them by removing the continuous component and the largest possible number of harmonics, except the first or the second one, of the strain signals. The contact forces and moments are obtained from these new signals by solving two systems of linear equations with three unknowns each. This method is validated with some theoretical and experimental examples.

Multi-robot system using low-cost infrared sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anubhav Kakkar

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a proposed set of the novel technique, methods, and algorithm for simultaneous path planning, area exploration, area retrieval, obstacle avoidance, object detection, and object retrieval   autonomously by a multi-robot system. The proposed methods and algorithms are built considering the use of low cost infrared sensors with the ultimate function of efficiently exploring the given unknown area and simultaneously identifying desired objects by analyzing the physical characteristics of several of the objects that come across during exploration. In this paper, we have explained the scenario by building a coordinative multi-robot system consisting of two autonomously operated robots equipped with low-cost and low-range infrared sensors to perform the assigned task by analyzing some of the sudden changes in their environment. Along with identifying and retrieving the desired object, the proposed methodology also provide an inclusive analysis of the area being explored. The novelties presented in the paper may significantly provide a cost-effective solution to the problem of area exploration and finding a known object in an unknown environment by demonstrating an innovative approach of using the infrared sensors instead of high cost long range sensors and cameras. Additionally, the methodology provides a speedy and uncomplicated method of traversing a complicated arena while performing all the necessary and inter-related tasks of avoiding the obstacles, analyzing the area as well as objects, and reconstructing the area using all these information collected and interpreted for an unknown environment. The methods and algorithms proposed are simulated over a complex arena to depict the operations and manually tested over a physical environment which provided 78% correct results with respect to various complex parameters set randomly.

High-flow, low-head pumps provide safe passage for Pacific salmon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2004-01-01

The installation of 29 ultra-low head, high capacity submersible pump and auxiliary equipment at the Rocky Reach Dam in Washington State to allow juvenile salmon safe passage on their journey down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean is described. The reputed cost of the project is US$160 million; its purpose is to get juvenile salmon safely around the Rocky Reach Dam without interfering with the dam's original mission of generating electric power. The project is the most expensive fish bypass on any Columbia River dam. Getting the salmon safely around the dam is intended to reduce the impact of hydroelectric power projects on the basin's salmon stocks which are now estimated at less than 10 per cent of their historic size, despite major hatchery programs. The Columbia River has the second largest volume flow of any river in the United States, and millions of people depend on it for employment in water-related industries, and for transportation. The new horizontally installed propeller pump was developed by ITT Flygt; it utilizes planetary gear reduced to match the motor speed with the propeller rpm. Each 90 kW propeller pump has a flow rate of seven cubic meters per second at a head of 0.55 metres. The auxiliary equipment includes 10 racks of flap gates to prevent reverse flow, electric controls, remote supervision, testing, installation and maintenance facilities. It is anticipated that the new bypass will allow the Chelan County Public Utility Department, owners of the facility, to phase out all current spills, except for a 16 per cent spill for 40 days each spring for Sockeye salmon which tend to travel too deep to use the bypass. Prior to installation of this new facility, 60 to 70 per cent of average daily flow in the spring and summer had to be sacrificed to accommodate all species of salmon and steelhead, with corresponding losses of power generating capacity

A Low-Cost Teaching Model of Inguinal Canal: A Useful Method to Teach Surgical Concepts in Hernia Repair

Science.gov (United States)

Ansaloni, Luca; Catena, Fausto; Coccolini, Frederico; Ceresoli, Marco; Pinna, Antonio Daniele

2014-01-01

Objectives: Inguinal canal anatomy and hernia repair is difficult for medical students and surgical residents to comprehend. Methods: Using low-cost material, a 3-dimensional inexpensive model of the inguinal canal was created to allow students to learn anatomical details and landmarks and to perform their own simulated hernia repair. In order to…

Low cost technology for the rapid and safe in-house (hospital-based) preparation of dual - radiotherapeutic (Rx) and radiodiagnostic (Dx) - dosage forms of high specific activity 131I-mIBG for clinical application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noronha, O.P.D.; Sonawane, G.A.; Samuel, A.M.

1998-01-01

Radioiodinated mIBG is finding increasing utility in nuclear medicine. However, its widespread use in developing countries is precluded by logistic constraints owing to the relative instability of the labelled molecule with respect to time and temp., and high costs. This prompted us to develop a low cost in-house batch process technology that could be used for the small-scale preparation of 131 I-mIBG even in a less equipped hospital-based radiopharmacy. The production of large amounts of 131 I-mIBG for clinical use requires sophisticated infrastructure (a scarce resource) to contain / safeguard against internal and external radiation exposures. We have indigenously designed a semi-automated, self-shielded, remote-controlled and safe microplant + process assemblies using easily accessible and cheap inputs, and developed the complete technology for the rapid and safe production of dual dosage forms of 131 I-mIBG, a radiotherapeutic (R x ) single dosage form of high activity along with 1-3 low activity radiodiagnostics (D x ) as multidosage forms. The radioiodide exchange reaction was effected in the solid / melt phase at 190 deg. C in 1.0 h. The radiolabelling yield was ∼80.0-86.0%, and the radiochemical purity > 99.5% and specific activity of R x /D x =900-1300/60-800 MBq ( x dosage forms at 3 weeks. The dosage forms (especially R x ) were only made against firm patient appointment(s). Thus far we have prepared 14 R x (49.0 GBq) and 70 + 14 batches (43.43 GBq) of (∼150 nos.) D x forms, and used them in 14 and > 1100 patients respectively. (author)

A restrictive dose of crystalloids in patients during laparoscopic cholecystectomy is safe and cost-effective: prospective, two-arm parallel, randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belavić M

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Matija Belavić,1 Vlatka Sotošek Tokmadžić,2 Antonija Brozović Krijan,1 Ines Kvaternik,1 Kristina Matijaš,1 Nedjeljko Strikić,3,4 Josip Žunić1,4 1Department of Anesthesiology, Reanimatology, and Intensive Medicine, Karlovac General Hospital, Karlovac, Croatia; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Reanimatology, and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia; 3Department of Abdominal Surgery, Karlovac General Hospital, Karlovac, Croatia; 4Department of Nursing Science, Karlovac University of Applied Sciences, Karlovac, Croatia Purpose: There are no evidence-based guidelines for volume replacement during surgical procedures such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy. However, the administration of a restrictive volume of crystalloids could be more cost-effective and safe. This trial aimed to determine the effectiveness and safety of a restrictive regimen of crystalloids in patients during laparoscopic cholecystectomy by analyzing its cost-effectiveness and 1-year morbidity rate. Patients and methods: In this randomized, prospective study, patients were assigned to one of three groups based on the volume of fluid administered: the restrictive group received 1 mL/kg/hr, the low liberal group received 5 mL/kg/hr, and the high liberal group received 15 mL/kg/hr of Ringer’s solution intraoperatively. There were 40 patients in each group. Each patient’s hemodynamic parameters and laboratory values (arterial blood gas and lactate levels were measured together with their consumption of crystalloids, volatile anesthetics, and analgesics. Results: Analysis of the hemodynamic and laboratory parameters revealed no signs of global hypoperfusion in any of the groups analyzed. There was no significant difference in the duration of surgery and anesthesia, but the consumption of crystalloids, volatile anesthetics, and opioids was significantly lower in the restrictive group, compared with the low and high liberal groups. Although

Low-Cost Experimentation for the Study of Droplet Microfluidics

Science.gov (United States)

Bardin, David; Lee, Abraham P.

2014-01-01

The continued growth of microfluidics into industry settings in areas such as point-of-care diagnostics and targeted therapeutics necessitates a workforce trained in microfluidic technologies and experimental methods. Laboratory courses for students at the university and high school levels will require cost-effective in-class demonstrations that instruct in chip design, fabrication, and experimentation at the microscale. We present a hand-operated pressure pumping system to form monodisperse picoliter to nanoliter droplet streams at low cost, and a series of exercises aimed at instructing in the specific art of droplet formation. Using this setup, the student is able to generate and observe the modes of droplet formation in flow-focusing devices, and the effect of device dimensions on the characteristics of formed droplets. Lastly, at ultra-low cost we demonstrate large plug formation in a T-junction using coffee stirrers as a master mold substitute. Our method reduces the cost of experimentation to enable intuitive instruction in droplet formation, with additional implications for creating droplets in the field or at point-of-care. PMID:25133595

Laboratory Demonstration of Low-Cost Method for Producing Thin Film on Nonconductors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebong, A. U.; And Others

1991-01-01

A low-cost procedure for metallizing a silicon p-n junction diode by electroless nickel plating is reported. The procedure demonstrates that expensive salts can be excluded without affecting the results. The experimental procedure, measurement, results, and discussion are included. (Author/KR)

Sensorless control of low-cost single-phase hybrid switched reluctance motor drive

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Uffe; Lu, Kaiyuan; Rasmussen, Peter Omand

2013-01-01

This paper presents a sensorless-controlled, low-cost, low-power, variable-speed drive system suitable for fan and pump applications. The main advantages of this drive system are the low system cost, simple converter structure, and simple but robust sensorless control technique. The drive motor...... is a special Hybrid Switched Reluctance Motor (HSRM). The proposed sensorless control method utilizes beneficially the stator side permanent magnet field and its performance is motor parameter independent. The unique low-cost drive system solution, simple and robust sensorless control features of this drive...

Sensorless Control of Low-cost Single-phase Hybrid Switched Reluctance Motor Drive

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Uffe; Lu, Kaiyuan; Rasmussen, Peter Omand

2015-01-01

This paper presents a sensorless-controlled, low-cost, low-power, and variable-speed drive system suitable for fan and pump applications. The main advantages of this drive system are the low system cost, simple converter structure, and simple but robust sensorless control technique. The drive motor...... is a special hybrid switched reluctance motor. The proposed sensorless control method beneficially utilizes the stator side PM field and its performance is motor parameter independent. The unique low-cost drive system solution, simple and robust sensorless control features of this drive system, is demonstrated...

State estimation and control for low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles

CERN Document Server

Hajiyev, Chingiz; Yenal Vural, Sıtkı

2015-01-01

This book discusses state estimation and control procedures for a low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The authors consider the use of robust adaptive Kalman filter algorithms and demonstrate their advantages over the optimal Kalman filter in the context of the difficult and varied environments in which UAVs may be employed. Fault detection and isolation (FDI) and data fusion for UAV air-data systems are also investigated, and control algorithms, including the classical, optimal, and fuzzy controllers, are given for the UAV. The performance of different control methods is investigated and the results compared. State Estimation and Control of Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles covers all the important issues for designing a guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system of a low-cost UAV. It proposes significant new approaches that can be exploited by GNC system designers in the future and also reviews the current literature. The state estimation, control and FDI methods are illustrated by examples and MATLAB...

Low cost solar air heater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gill, R.S.; Singh, Sukhmeet; Singh, Parm Pal

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Single glazed low cost solar air heater is more efficient during summer while double glazed is better in winter. ► For the same initial investment, low cost solar air heaters collect more energy than packed bed solar air heater. ► During off season low cost solar air heater can be stored inside as it is light in weight. - Abstract: Two low cost solar air heaters viz. single glazed and double glazed were designed, fabricated and tested. Thermocole, ultraviolet stabilised plastic sheet, etc. were used for fabrication to reduce the fabrication cost. These were tested simultaneously at no load and with load both in summer and winter seasons along with packed bed solar air heater using iron chips for absorption of radiation. The initial costs of single glazed and double glazed are 22.8% and 26.8% of the initial cost of packed bed solar air heater of the same aperture area. It was found that on a given day at no load, the maximum stagnation temperatures of single glazed and double glazed solar air heater were 43.5 °C and 62.5 °C respectively. The efficiencies of single glazed, double glazed and packed bed solar air heaters corresponding to flow rate of 0.02 m 3 /s-m 2 were 30.29%, 45.05% and 71.68% respectively in winter season. The collector efficiency factor, heat removal factor based on air outlet temperature and air inlet temperature for three solar air heaters were also determined.

WPDD workshop on: 'safe, efficient, and cost-effective decommissioning'. Workshop Conclusions/Final Stocktaking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

On September 6-10, 2004 a workshop on 'Safe, Efficient, and Cost-Effective Decommissioning' was held in Rome (Italy) to enable international experts on decommissioning to compare and evaluate respective approaches and experiences in decommissioning nuclear power and fuel cycle facilities and to formulate proposals for future international cooperation in the decommissioning arena. The main messages emerging from the workshop are: - Decommissioning is a mature industrial process and many projects have been safely completed with support of local communities. Technical and scientific issues are well-understood and practical experience and associated lessons are being documented to guide future activities. Emphasis is being placed on effective planning with active programmes of community involvement. - Individual countries need to further develop integrated decommissioning and waste management strategies to ensure that long-term solutions will be available for all wastes generated from decommissioning. National systems are evolving to meet national needs, against a framework provided by the international organisations, and these seem increasingly to favour early dismantling regardless of the availability of waste disposal routes. - Realistic and streamlined regulatory programmes are being developed with feed back from industry experience and are placing more responsibility and accountability on licensees. - Accurate decommissioning waste cost calculation methods is needed. Waste volumes may vary from project to project even for similar installations. There though appears to be a strong case for accumulating data and benchmarking costs for similar plants and processes. Further work and experience exchange on cost comparisons between different strategies (for example clearance and recycling/reuse of materials versus direct surface disposal) would be valuable. - International clearance criteria have been established, with individual countries free to adopt them

Costs of mixed low-level waste stabilization options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwinkendorf, W.E.; Cooley, C.R.

1998-01-01

Selection of final waste forms to be used for disposal of DOE's mixed low-level waste (MLLW) depends on the waste form characteristics and total life cycle cost. In this paper the various cost factors associated with production and disposal of the final waste form are discussed and combined to develop life-cycle costs associated with several waste stabilization options. Cost factors used in this paper are based on a series of treatment system studies in which cost and mass balance analyses were performed for several mixed low-level waste treatment systems and various waste stabilization methods including vitrification, grout, phosphate bonded ceramic and polymer. Major cost elements include waste form production, final waste form volume, unit disposal cost, and system availability. Production of grout costs less than the production of a vitrified waste form if each treatment process has equal operating time (availability) each year; however, because of the lower volume of a high temperature slag, certification and handling costs and disposal costs of the final waste form are less. Both the total treatment cost and life cycle costs are higher for a system producing grout than for a system producing high temperature slag, assuming equal system availability. The treatment costs decrease with increasing availability regardless of the waste form produced. If the availability of a system producing grout is sufficiently greater than a system producing slag, then the cost of treatment for the grout system will be less than the cost for the slag system, and the life cycle cost (including disposal) may be less depending on the unit disposal cost. Treatment and disposal costs will determine the return on investment in improved system availability

A simple, scalable and low-cost method to generate thermal diagnostics of a domestic building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papafragkou, Anastasios; Ghosh, Siddhartha; James, Patrick A.B.; Rogers, Alex; Bahaj, AbuBakr S.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Our diagnostic method uses a single field measurement from a temperature logger. • Building technical performance and occupant behaviour are addressed simultaneously. • Our algorithm learns a thermal model of a home and diagnoses the heating system. • We propose a novel clustering approach to decouple user behaviour from technical performance. • Our diagnostic confidence is enhanced using a large scale deployment. - Abstract: Traditional approaches to understand the problem of the energy performance in the domestic sector include on-site surveys by energy assessors and the installation of complex home energy monitoring systems. The time and money that needs to be invested by the occupants and the form of feedback generated by these approaches often makes them unattractive to householders. This paper demonstrates a simple, low cost method that generates thermal diagnostics for dwellings, measuring only one field dataset; internal temperature over a period of 1 week. A thermal model, which is essentially a learning algorithm, generates a set of thermal diagnostics about the primary heating system, the occupants’ preferences and the impact of certain interventions, such as lowering the thermostat set-point. A simple clustering approach is also proposed to categorise homes according to their building fabric thermal performance and occupants’ energy efficiency with respect to ventilation. The advantage of this clustering approach is that the occupants receive tailored advice on certain actions that if taken will improve the overall thermal performance of a dwelling. Due to the method’s low cost and simplicity it could facilitate government initiatives, such as the ‘Green Deal’ in the UK

Application of low-cost adsorbents for dye removal--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, V K; Suhas

2009-06-01

Dyes are an important class of pollutants, and can even be identified by the human eye. Disposal of dyes in precious water resources must be avoided, however, and for that various treatment technologies are in use. Among various methods adsorption occupies a prominent place in dye removal. The growing demand for efficient and low-cost treatment methods and the importance of adsorption has given rise to low-cost alternative adsorbents (LCAs). This review highlights and provides an overview of these LCAs comprising natural, industrial as well as synthetic materials/wastes and their application for dyes removal. In addition, various other methods used for dye removal from water and wastewater are also complied in brief. From a comprehensive literature review, it was found that some LCAs, in addition to having wide availability, have fast kinetics and appreciable adsorption capacities too. Advantages and disadvantages of adsorbents, favourable conditions for particular adsorbate-adsorbent systems, and adsorption capacities of various low-cost adsorbents and commercial activated carbons as available in the literature are presented. Conclusions have been drawn from the literature reviewed, and suggestions for future research are proposed.

Low-cost distributed solar-thermal-electric power generation

Science.gov (United States)

Der Minassians, Artin; Aschenbach, Konrad H.; Sanders, Seth R.

2004-01-01

Due to their high relative cost, solar electric energy systems have yet to be exploited on a widespread basis. It is believed in the energy community that a technology similar to photovoltaic (PV), but offered at about $1/W would lead to widespread deployment at residential and commercial sites. This paper addresses the investigation and feasibility study of a low-cost solar thermal electricity generation technology, suitable for distributed deployment. Specifically, we discuss a system based on nonimaging solar concentrators, integrated with free-piston Stirling engine devices incorporating integrated electric generation. We target concentrator-collector operation at moderate temperatures, in the range of 125°C to 150°C. This temperature is consistent with use of optical concentrators with concentration ratios on the order of 1-2. These low ratio concentrators admit wide angles of radiation acceptance and are thus compatible with no diurnal tracking, and no or only a few seasonal adjustments. Thus, costs and reliability hazards associated with tracking hardware systems are avoided. Further, we note that in the intended application, there is no shortage of incident solar energy, but rather it is the capital cost of the solar-electric system that is most precious. Thus, we outline a strategy for exploiting solar resources in a cost constrained manner. The paper outlines design issues, and a specific design for an appropriately dimensioned free-piston Stirling engine. Only standard low-cost materials and manufacturing methods are required to realize such a machine.

Minimization of Illness Absenteeism in Primary School Students Using Low-Cost Hygiene Interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tambekar DH

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Objective: Safe water and hygiene intervention was evaluated to assess its impact on students’ health, hygiene practices and reduction in illness absenteeism in primary school students. Method: After evaluatingprimary schools of Amravati district; 50 students with high enteric illness absenteeism were selected for study. Families with problem of in-house water contamination were provided earthen pot with tap for water storage and soap for hand washing at school and home. Household drinking waters (before and after intervention were analyzed for potability. Results: By adopting correct water storage (water container with tap, handling and hand washing practices found to improve health and reduction in 20% illness absenteeism in school. Promoting these interventions and improvement in water-behavioral practices prevented in-house-water contamination. Conclusion: These low cost intervention (water storage container with tap promises to reducing school absenteeism by minimizing risk of transmission of enteric infections by promoting water and student hygiene.

Toward cost-efficient sampling methods

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Peng; Li, Yongli; Wu, Chong; Zhang, Guijie

2015-09-01

The sampling method has been paid much attention in the field of complex network in general and statistical physics in particular. This paper proposes two new sampling methods based on the idea that a small part of vertices with high node degree could possess the most structure information of a complex network. The two proposed sampling methods are efficient in sampling high degree nodes so that they would be useful even if the sampling rate is low, which means cost-efficient. The first new sampling method is developed on the basis of the widely used stratified random sampling (SRS) method and the second one improves the famous snowball sampling (SBS) method. In order to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of two new sampling methods, we compare them with the existing sampling methods in three commonly used simulation networks that are scale-free network, random network, small-world network, and also in two real networks. The experimental results illustrate that the two proposed sampling methods perform much better than the existing sampling methods in terms of achieving the true network structure characteristics reflected by clustering coefficient, Bonacich centrality and average path length, especially when the sampling rate is low.

Reliability Assessment for Low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Paul Michael

Existing low-cost unmanned aerospace systems are unreliable, and engineers must blend reliability analysis with fault-tolerant control in novel ways. This dissertation introduces the University of Minnesota unmanned aerial vehicle flight research platform, a comprehensive simulation and flight test facility for reliability and fault-tolerance research. An industry-standard reliability assessment technique, the failure modes and effects analysis, is performed for an unmanned aircraft. Particular attention is afforded to the control surface and servo-actuation subsystem. Maintaining effector health is essential for safe flight; failures may lead to loss of control incidents. Failure likelihood, severity, and risk are qualitatively assessed for several effector failure modes. Design changes are recommended to improve aircraft reliability based on this analysis. Most notably, the control surfaces are split, providing independent actuation and dual-redundancy. The simulation models for control surface aerodynamic effects are updated to reflect the split surfaces using a first-principles geometric analysis. The failure modes and effects analysis is extended by using a high-fidelity nonlinear aircraft simulation. A trim state discovery is performed to identify the achievable steady, wings-level flight envelope of the healthy and damaged vehicle. Tolerance of elevator actuator failures is studied using familiar tools from linear systems analysis. This analysis reveals significant inherent performance limitations for candidate adaptive/reconfigurable control algorithms used for the vehicle. Moreover, it demonstrates how these tools can be applied in a design feedback loop to make safety-critical unmanned systems more reliable. Control surface impairments that do occur must be quickly and accurately detected. This dissertation also considers fault detection and identification for an unmanned aerial vehicle using model-based and model-free approaches and applies those

Low-Cost Production of Photonic Bandgap Materials Through Bubbling

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

O'Brien, Daniel J; Wetzel, Eric D

2007-01-01

.... This report proposes a simple low-cost method for PBGM production. A device has been constructed that produces micrometer-sized, monodisperse bubbles that can be assembled into a crystal lattice by surface tension...

Qualitative performance and economic analysis of low cost solar fish driers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moshood Keke Mustapha

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Qualitative performance and economic analysis of five low cost solar driers were evaluated at the Zoology and Physics Laboratories of the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. The solar driers were constructed from mosquito net, plastic, aluminum and glass with black stone inserted in it. The driers were found to be better than the other driers because they are cheap, reliable, safe to use, easy to repair, well insulated, and cost effective. The solar driers are compact, efficient with drying of fish with lowest moisture content achieved within a few days and the dried products of good quality, with long shelf life, highly acceptable to consumers. The driers save man-hour, money, use renewable energy, with no operational or maintenance costs. The driers have a long life span, with net income to fisher folks very high and the payback time for the driers very low. The adoption of the driers will contribute to the economy of rural populace in the developing countries where there is no electricity and the challenges of deforestation are becoming prominent. The improved low cost solar driers will ensure food safety and security and assist in combating climate change resulting from burning of wood and fossil fuel.

SIR (Safe Integral Reactor) - reducing size can reduce cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayns, M.R.

1991-01-01

Traditional engineering economics have favoured the advantages of larger size as a means of reducing specific capital costs and hence unit generating costs. For large and small plants utilising the same concept, e.g. a small four-loop PWR vs a large four-loop PWR with the same number of components, economies of scale are well established. If, however, a smaller plant is sized to take advantage of features which are only feasible at smaller outputs, is of simpler design, with the advantage taken of the simplified design to produce the most cost-effective layout, and incorporates fewer, more easily replaceable components with minimal assembly on site, it is possible to produce a plant which is competitive with larger plant of more traditional design. When 'system' effects, such as better matching of installed capacity to the growth in demand and the fact that a smaller total capacity will be needed to meet a given demand with a specified level of confidence, are taken into account, it can be shown that a utility's overall cash-flow position can be improved with lower associated absolute financial risks. The UK/US Safe Integral Reactor (SIR) is an integral pressurized water reactor in the 300-400 MW(e) range which utilises conventional water reactor technology in a way not feasible at the very large, sizes of recent years. The SIR concept is briefly explained and its technical and economic advantages in terms of simplicity, construction, maintenance, availability, decommissioning, safety and siting described. The results of system analyses which demonstrate the overall financial advantages to a utility are presented. (author)

[Cost management: the implementation of the activity-based costing method in sterile processing department].

Science.gov (United States)

Jericó, Marli de Carvalho; Castilho, Valéria

2010-09-01

This exploratory case study was performed aiming at implementing the Activity-based Costing (ABC) method in a sterile processing department (SPD) of a major teaching hospital. Data collection was performed throughout 2006. Documentary research techniques and non participant closed observation were used. The ABC implementation allowed for learning the activity-based costing of both the chemical and physical disinfection cycle/load: (dollar 9.95) and (dollar 12.63), respectively; as well as the cost for sterilization by steam under pressure (autoclave) (dollar 31.37) and low temperature steam and gaseous formaldehyde sterilization (LTSF) (dollar 255.28). The information provided by the ABC method has optimized the overall understanding of the cost driver process and provided the foundation for assessing performance and improvement in the SPD processes.

Biochar-based water treatment systems as a potential low-cost and sustainable technology for clean water provision.

Science.gov (United States)

Gwenzi, Willis; Chaukura, Nhamo; Noubactep, Chicgoua; Mukome, Fungai N D

2017-07-15

Approximately 600 million people lack access to safe drinking water, hence achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030) calls for rapid translation of recent research into practical and frugal solutions within the remaining 13 years. Biochars, with excellent capacity to remove several contaminants from aqueous solutions, constitute an untapped technology for drinking water treatment. Biochar water treatment has several potential merits compared to existing low-cost methods (i.e., sand filtration, boiling, solar disinfection, chlorination): (1) biochar is a low-cost and renewable adsorbent made using readily available biomaterials and skills, making it appropriate for low-income communities; (2) existing methods predominantly remove pathogens, but biochars remove chemical, biological and physical contaminants; (3) biochars maintain organoleptic properties of water, while existing methods generate carcinogenic by-products (e.g., chlorination) and/or increase concentrations of chemical contaminants (e.g., boiling). Biochars have co-benefits including provision of clean energy for household heating and cooking, and soil application of spent biochar improves soil quality and crop yields. Integrating biochar into the water and sanitation system transforms linear material flows into looped material cycles, consistent with terra preta sanitation. Lack of design information on biochar water treatment, and environmental and public health risks constrain the biochar technology. Seven hypotheses for future research are highlighted under three themes: (1) design and optimization of biochar water treatment; (2) ecotoxicology and human health risks associated with contaminant transfer along the biochar-soil-food-human pathway, and (3) life cycle analyses of carbon and energy footprints of biochar water treatment systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A low cost microwave synthesis method for preparation of gold nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ngo Vo Ke Thanh; Lam Quang Vinh; Nguyen Dang Giang; Huynh Thanh Dat

2014-01-01

The gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in 15-20 nm size range have attention for fabrication of smart sensing devices in biomedical sciences as diagnostic tools. Citrate capped GNPs are negatively charged, which can be exploited for electrostatic interactions with some positively charged biomolecules like antibody. In this study, we are developing a low-cost technique by using a common microwave system with medium power for synthesizing gold nanoparticles with using sodium citrate (Na 3 Ct) reduction in chloroauric acid (HAuCl 4 .3H 2 O). It was found that the comparing with normal thermal method, the reaction by the microwave irradiation was much faster. Besides, the effects the sodium citrate concentration and optical properties of gold nanoparticles were studied. The optical properties of gold nanoparticles suspension were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis). Maximum absorbance wavelengths (λ max ) for gold nanoparticles are ∼ 518-524 nm with the size of 12-25 nm. The size of gold nanoparticles decreases with increasing concentration of sodium citrate. Besides, the morphology of gold nanoparticles have a spherical shape with face-centered-cubic (fcc) crystalline structure. (author)

Comprehensive low-cost reliability centered maintenance. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rotton, S.J.; Dozier, I.J.; Thow, R.

1995-09-01

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a maintenance optimization approach that all electric utilities can apply to power plant systems. The Electric Power Research Institute and PECO Energy Company jointly sponsored this Comprehensive Low-Cost Reliability Centered Maintenance project to demonstrate that the standard RCM methodology could be streamlined to reduce the cost of analysis while maintaining a high quality product. EPRI's previous investigation of streamlined RCM methods being pioneered in the nuclear industry indicated that PECO Energy could expect to optimize its maintenance program at reduced cost by carefully controlling the scope without sacrificing documentation or technical quality. Using the insights obtained from these previous studies, three methods were defined in this project and were demonstrated in a large scale application to 60 systems at both the Limerick Generating Station and the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station

Low energy, low cost, efficient CO{sub 2} capture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michael C. Trachtenberg; Lihong Bao; David A. Smith; Remy Dumortier [Carbozyme, Inc., Monmouth Junction, NJ (United States)

2006-07-01

This paper discusses the development and some characteristics of a new, enzyme-based, contained liquid membrane contactor to capture CO{sub 2}. The enzyme carbonic anhydrase catalyzes the removal of CO{sub 2} while the membrane contactor increases the surface area to allow the reduction of the size of the system. The modular system design is easily scaled to any required size reducing the investment costs. The system captures CO{sub 2} at a low energy and low cost promising to be a cost effective technology for CO{sub 2} capture. 5 refs., 7 figs.

Rock breaking methods to replace blasting

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Huisheng; Xie, Xinghua; Feng, Yuqing

2018-03-01

The method of breaking rock by blasting has a high efficiency and the cost is relatively low, but the associated vibration, flyrock, production of toxic gases since the 1970’s, the Western developed countries began to study the safety of breaking rock. This paper introduces different methods and their progress to safely break rock. Ideally, safe rock breaking would have little vibration, no fly stone, and no toxic gases, which can be widely used in municipal engineering, road excavation, high-risk mining, quarrying and complex environment.

A low-cost MRI compatible keyboard

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Martin Snejbjerg; Heggli, Ole Adrian; Alves da Mota, Patricia

2017-01-01

, presenting a challenging environment for playing an instrument. Here, we present an MRI-compatible polyphonic keyboard with a materials cost of 850 $, designed and tested for safe use in 3T (three Tesla) MRI-scanners. We describe design considerations, and prior work in the field. In addition, we provide...... recommendations for future designs and comment on the possibility of using the keyboard in magnetoencephalography (MEG) systems. Preliminary results indicate a comfortable playing experience with no disturbance of the imaging process....

Low-cost digital counting interface for fermentation gas measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erdman, M.D.; Deluiche, S.R.

1985-05-01

Laboratory- and pilot-scale volumetric measurement of fermentation gas can be readily determined with a standard wet-test gas meter. The initial cost of the meter, however, is quite prohibitive for experimental work and researchers have searched for other means of quantifying gas production. Techniques using calibrated floating gas holders, liquid displacement, flexible membranes, and conventional gas meters have been reported. Many of these methods lack a high degree of accuracy for small gas volumes. Residential gas meters such as those manufactured by Singer company, and others appear well suited for this application as long as a relatively dry gas is passed through the meter and a method is developed to subdivide the meter scale and record the results. The objective of this report was to construct a low cost, accurate, digital counting interface for concurrent operation with a low cost bellows-type gas meter. Although initially constructed for use in gas measurement studies, the interface can be used in other applications where digital output or computer interfacing are desired. 2 references.

Optimization Method of a Low Cost, High Performance Ceramic Proppant by Orthogonal Experimental Design

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Y.; Tian, Y. M.; Wang, K. Y.; Li, G.; Zou, X. W.; Chai, Y. S.

2017-09-01

This study focused on optimization method of a ceramic proppant material with both low cost and high performance that met the requirements of Chinese Petroleum and Gas Industry Standard (SY/T 5108-2006). The orthogonal experimental design of L9(34) was employed to study the significance sequence of three factors, including weight ratio of white clay to bauxite, dolomite content and sintering temperature. For the crush resistance, both the range analysis and variance analysis reflected the optimally experimental condition was weight ratio of white clay to bauxite=3/7, dolomite content=3 wt.%, temperature=1350°C. For the bulk density, the most important factor was the sintering temperature, followed by the dolomite content, and then the ratio of white clay to bauxite.

Low-Cost and Rapid Fabrication of Metallic Nanostructures for Sensitive Biosensors Using Hot-Embossing and Dielectric-Heating Nanoimprint Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuang-Li Lee

2017-07-01

Full Text Available We propose two approaches—hot-embossing and dielectric-heating nanoimprinting methods—for low-cost and rapid fabrication of periodic nanostructures. Each nanofabrication process for the imprinted plastic nanostructures is completed within several seconds without the use of release agents and epoxy. Low-cost, large-area, and highly sensitive aluminum nanostructures on A4 size plastic films are fabricated by evaporating aluminum film on hot-embossing nanostructures. The narrowest bandwidth of the Fano resonance is only 2.7 nm in the visible light region. The periodic aluminum nanostructure achieves a figure of merit of 150, and an intensity sensitivity of 29,345%/RIU (refractive index unit. The rapid fabrication is also achieved by using radio-frequency (RF sensitive plastic films and a commercial RF welding machine. The dielectric-heating, using RF power, takes advantage of the rapid heating/cooling process and lower electric power consumption. The fabricated capped aluminum nanoslit array has a 5 nm Fano linewidth and 490.46 nm/RIU wavelength sensitivity. The biosensing capabilities of the metallic nanostructures are further verified by measuring antigen–antibody interactions using bovine serum albumin (BSA and anti-BSA. These rapid and high-throughput fabrication methods can benefit low-cost, highly sensitive biosensors and other sensing applications.

Long life, low cost, rechargeable AgZn battery for non-military applications

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Curtis C.

1996-03-01

Of the rechargeable (secondary) battery systems with mature technology, the silver oxide-zinc system (AgZn) safely offers the highest power and energy (watts and watt hours) per unit of volume and mass. As a result they have long been used for aerospace and defense applications where they have also proven their high reliability. In the past, the expense associated with the cost of silver and the resulting low production volume have limited their commercial application. However, the relative low cost of silver now make this system feasible in many applications where high energy and reliability are required. One area of commercial potential is power for a new generation of sophisticated, portable medical equipment. AgZn batteries have recently proven ``enabling technology'' for power critical, advanced medical devices. By extending the cycle calendar life to the system (offers both improved performance and lower operating cost), a combination is achieved which may enable a wide range of future electrical devices. Other areas where AgZn batteries have been used in nonmilitary applications to provide power to aid in the development of commercial equipment have been: (a) Electrically powered vehicles; (b) Remote sensing in nuclear facilities; (c) Special effects equipment for movies; (d) Remote sensing in petroleum pipe lines; (e) Portable computers; (f) Fly by wire systems for commercial aircraft; and (g) Robotics. However none of these applications have progressed to the level where the volume required will significantly lower cost.

Percutaneous Revision of a Testicular Prosthesis is Safe, Cost-effective, and Provides Good Patient Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugene B. Cone

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Office-based percutaneous revision of a testicular prosthesis has never been reported. A patient received a testicular prosthesis but was dissatisfied with the firmness of the implant. In an office setting, the prosthesis was inflated with additional fluid via a percutaneous approach. Evaluated outcomes included patient satisfaction, prosthesis size, recovery time, and cost savings. The patient was satisfied, with no infection, leak, or complication after more than 1 year of follow-up, at significantly less cost than revision surgery. Percutaneous adjustment of testicular prosthesis fill-volume can be safe, inexpensive, and result in good patient satisfaction.

Low-cost carriers fare competition effect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carmona Benitez, R.B.; Lodewijks, G.

2010-01-01

This paper examines the effects that low-cost carriers (LCC’s) produce when entering new routes operated only by full-service carriers (FSC’s) and routes operated by low-cost carriers in competition with full-service carriers. A mathematical model has been developed to determine what routes should

Low-cost photonic sensors for carbon dioxide exchange rate measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Bieda, Marcin S.; Sobotka, Piotr; Lesiak, Piotr; Woliński, Tomasz R.

2017-10-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement has an important role in atmosphere monitoring. Usually, two types of measurements are carried out. The first one is based on gas concentration measurement while the second involves gas exchange rate measurement between earth surface and atmosphere [1]. There are several methods which allow gas concentration measurement. However, most of them require expensive instrumentation or large devices (i.e. gas chambers). In order to precisely measure either CO2 concentration or CO2 exchange rate, preferably a sensors network should be used. These sensors must have small dimensions, low power consumption, and they should be cost-effective. Therefore, this creates a great demand for a robust low-power and low-cost CO2 sensor [2,3]. As a solution, we propose a photonic sensor that can measure CO2 concentration and also can be used to measure gas exchange by using the Eddy covariance method [1].

Ratio methods for cost-effective field sampling of commercial radioactive low-level wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberhardt, L.L.; Simmons, M.A.; Thomas, J.M.

1985-07-01

In many field studies to determine the quantities of radioactivity at commercial low-level radioactive waste sites, preliminary appraisals are made with field radiation detectors, or other relatively inaccurate devices. More accurate determinations are subsequently made with procedures requiring chemical separations or other expensive analyses. Costs of these laboratory determinations are often large, so that adequate sampling may not be achieved due to budget limitations. In this report, we propose double sampling as a way to combine the expensive and inexpensive aproaches to substantially reduce overall costs. The underlying theory was developed for human and agricultural surveys, and is partially based on assumptions that are not appropriate for commercial low-level waste sites. Consequently, extensive computer simulations were conducted to determine whether the results can be applied in circumstances of importance to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This report gives the simulation details, and concludes that the principal equations are appropriate for most studies at commercial low-level waste sites. A few points require further research, using actual commercial low-level radioactive waste site data. The final section of the report provides some guidance (via an example) for the field use of double sampling. Details of the simulation programs are available from the authors. Major findings are listed in the Executive Summary. 9 refs., 9 figs., 30 tabs

Low-cost photoplethysmograph solutions using the Raspberry Pi

OpenAIRE

Nagy, Tamas; Gingl, Zoltan

2013-01-01

Photoplethysmography is a prevalent, non-invasive heart monitoring method. In this paper an implementation of photoplethysmography on the Raspberry Pi is presented. Two modulation techniques are discussed, which make possible to measure these signals by the Raspberry Pi, using an external sound card as A/D converter. Furthermore, it is shown, how can digital signal processing improve signal quality. The presented methods can be used in low-cost cardiac function monitoring, in telemedicine app...

Inexpensive and Safe DNA Gel Electrophoresis Using Household Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Ens, S.; Olson, A. B.; Dudley, C.; Ross, N. D., III; Siddiqi, A. A.; Umoh, K. M.; Schneegurt, M. A.

2012-01-01

Gel electrophoresis is the single most important molecular biology technique and it is central to life sciences research, but it is often too expensive for the secondary science classroom or homeschoolers. A simple safe low-cost procedure is described here that uses household materials to construct and run DNA gel electrophoresis. Plastic…

Strategies to fight low-cost rivals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Nirmalya

2006-12-01

Companies find it challenging and yet strangely reassuring to take on opponents whose strategies, strengths, and weaknesses resemble their own. Their obsession with familiar rivals, however, has blinded them to threats from disruptive, low-cost competitors. Successful price warriors, such as the German retailer Aldi, are changing the nature of competition by employing several tactics: focusing on just one or a few consumer segments, delivering the basic product or providing one benefit better than rivals do, and backing low prices with superefficient operations. Ignoring cutprice rivals is a mistake because they eventually force companies to vacate entire market segments. Price wars are not the answer, either: Slashing prices usually lowers profits for incumbents without driving the low-cost entrants out of business. Companies take various approaches to competing against cut-price players. Some differentiate their products--a strategy that works only in certain circumstances. Others launch low-cost businesses of their own, as many airlines did in the 1990s--a so-called dual strategy that succeeds only if companies can generate synergies between the existing businesses and the new ventures, as the financial service providers HSBC and ING did. Without synergies, corporations are better off trying to transform themselves into low-cost players, a difficult feat that Ryanair accomplished in the 1990s, or into solution providers. There will always be room for both low-cost and value-added players. How much room each will have depends not only on the industry and customers' preferences, but also on the strategies traditional businesses deploy.

Low-cost silicon wafer dicing using a craft cutter

KAUST Repository

Fan, Yiqiang

2014-05-20

This paper reports a low-cost silicon wafer dicing technique using a commercial craft cutter. The 4-inch silicon wafers were scribed using a crafter cutter with a mounted diamond blade. The pre-programmed automated process can reach a minimum die feature of 3 mm by 3 mm. We performed this scribing process on the top polished surface of a silicon wafer; we also created a scribing method for the back-unpolished surface in order to protect the structures on the wafer during scribing. Compared with other wafer dicing methods, our proposed dicing technique is extremely low cost (lower than $1,000), and suitable for silicon wafer dicing in microelectromechanical or microfluidic fields, which usually have a relatively large die dimension. The proposed dicing technique is also usable for dicing multiple project wafers, a process where dies of different dimensions are diced on the same wafer.

low-cost apparatus from locally available materials for teaching

African Journals Online (AJOL)

unesco

twofold: i) to design and produce appropriate low cost apparatus from locally .... How are the low-cost and manufactured apparatus compared in terms of cost and efficiency? ... BASIC TOOLS FOR THE LOW COST APPARATUS PRODUCTION.

MOCA: A Low-Power, Low-Cost Motion Capture System Based on Integrated Accelerometers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisabetta Farella

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Human-computer interaction (HCI and virtual reality applications pose the challenge of enabling real-time interfaces for natural interaction. Gesture recognition based on body-mounted accelerometers has been proposed as a viable solution to translate patterns of movements that are associated with user commands, thus substituting point-and-click methods or other cumbersome input devices. On the other hand, cost and power constraints make the implementation of a natural and efficient interface suitable for consumer applications a critical task. Even though several gesture recognition solutions exist, their use in HCI context has been poorly characterized. For this reason, in this paper, we consider a low-cost/low-power wearable motion tracking system based on integrated accelerometers called motion capture with accelerometers (MOCA that we evaluated for navigation in virtual spaces. Recognition is based on a geometric algorithm that enables efficient and robust detection of rotational movements. Our objective is to demonstrate that such a low-cost and a low-power implementation is suitable for HCI applications. To this purpose, we characterized the system from both a quantitative point of view and a qualitative point of view. First, we performed static and dynamic assessment of movement recognition accuracy. Second, we evaluated the effectiveness of user experience using a 3D game application as a test bed.

Low Cost Benefit Suggestions.

Science.gov (United States)

Doyel, Hoyt W.; McMillan, John D.

1980-01-01

Outlines eight low-cost employee benefits and summarizes their relative advantages. The eight include a stock ownership program, a sick leave pool, flexible working hours, production incentives, and group purchase plans. (IRT)

Soluble protein isolated from low cost fish and fish wastes

OpenAIRE

Lekshmy Nair, A.; Gopakumar, K.

1982-01-01

The method of preparation, composition, amino acid content, protein efficiency ratio and areas of possible application of water soluble protein isolates from low cost fish and fish wastes are discussed in detail in this communication.

Low Cost, Low Power, High Sensitivity Magnetometer

Science.gov (United States)

2008-12-01

which are used to measure the small magnetic signals from brain. Other types of vector magnetometers are fluxgate , coil based, and magnetoresistance...concentrator with the magnetometer currently used in Army multimodal sensor systems, the Brown fluxgate . One sees the MEMS fluxgate magnetometer is...Guedes, A.; et al., 2008: Hybrid - LOW COST, LOW POWER, HIGH SENSITIVITY MAGNETOMETER A.S. Edelstein*, James E. Burnette, Greg A. Fischer, M.G

Development of a low cost, low temperature cryocooler using the Gifford McMahon cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Ramanayaka, A.; Mani, R.

2008-03-01

Although Helium is the second most abundant element, its concentration in the earth's atmosphere is fairly low and constant, as the portion that escapes from the atmosphere is replace by new emission. Historically, Helium was extracted as a byproduct of natural gas production, and stored in gas fields in a National Helium Reserve, in an attempt to conserve this interesting element. National policy has changed and the cost of liquid Helium has increased rapidly in the recent past. These new circumstances have created new interest in alternative eco-friendly methods to realizing and maintaining low temperatures in the laboratory. There have been number of successful attempts at making low temperature closed cycle Helium refrigerators by modifying an existing closed cycle system, and usually the regenerator has been replaced in order to achieve the desired results. Here, we discus our attempt to fabricate a low cost, low temperature closed cycle Helium refrigerator starting from a 15K Gifford McMahon system. We reexamine the barriers to realizing lower temperature here and our attempts at overcoming them.

The friction cost method: a comment.

Science.gov (United States)

Johannesson, M; Karlsson, G

1997-04-01

The friction cost method has been proposed as an alternative to the human-capital approach of estimating indirect costs. We argue that the friction cost method is based on implausible assumptions not supported by neoclassical economic theory. Furthermore consistently applying the friction cost method would mean that the method should also be applied in the estimation of direct costs, which would mean that the costs of health care programmes are substantially decreased. It is concluded that the friction cost method does not seem to be a useful alternative to the human-capital approach in the estimation of indirect costs.

Cost-Effective Integration of Efficient Low-Lift Base Load Cooling Equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Wei; Winiarski, David W.; Katipamula, Srinivas; Armstrong, Peter R.

2008-01-14

The long-term goal of DOE’s Commercial Buildings Integration subprogram is to develop cost-effective technologies and building practices that will enable the design and construction of net Zero Energy Buildings — commercial buildings that produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis — by 2025. To support this long-term goal, DOE further called for — as part of its FY07 Statement of Needs — the development by 2010 of “five cost-effective design technology option sets using highly efficient component technologies, integrated controls, improved construction practices, streamlined commissioning, maintenance and operating procedures that will make new and existing commercial buildings durable, healthy and safe for occupants.” In response, PNNL proposed and DOE funded a scoping study investigation of one such technology option set, low-lift cooling, that offers potentially exemplary HVAC energy performance relative to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. The primary purpose of the scoping study was to estimate the national technical energy savings potential of this TOS.

Low-cost fabrication and performance testing of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micromixers using an improved print-and-Peel (PAP) method

Science.gov (United States)

Abagon, Ma. Victoria; Buendia, Neil Daniel; Jasper Caracas, Corine; July Yap, Kristian

2018-03-01

The research presents different configurations of microfluidic mixers made from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fabricated using an improved, low-cost print-and-peel (PAP) method. Processes, such as mixing, operated in the micro scale allow decreased equipment size-to-production capacity ratio and decreased energy consumption per unit product. In the study, saturated solutions of blue and yellow food dyes were introduced inside the channels using a LEGO® improvised microsyringe pump. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the average depth of the fabricated micromixers which was found to be around 14 ¼m. The flows were observed and images were taken using a light microscope. The color intensities of the images were then measured using MATLAB®. From the relationship between color intensity and concentration, the mixing indices were calculated and found to be 0.9435 to 0.9941, which falls within the standard mixing index range (0.8 - 1.0) regardless of the flow rate and the configuration of the micromixer as verified through the two-way ANOVA. From the cost analysis, the cost of the device fabricated in this study is a hundred-fold less than expenses from standard fabrication procedures. Hence, the fabricated device provides an alternative for micromixers produced from expensive and conventional lithographic methods.

Comparison of SUREPAK life cycle costs to other methods of low-level radioactive waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winston, S.J.; Little, C.C.

1985-01-01

Comparisons of costs of low-level radioactive waste management techniques invariably degenerate into parochial arguments over differences in commercial objectives. The purpose of this paper is to establish a common basis for comparing technologies and then to examine the result as a complete cycle instead of a snapshot view taken at an arbitrary point in the progression. One objective is to portray cost sensitivity in terms of the options available for waste management. A second, perhaps less obvious, point is the definition of cost factors hidden from the short-term view. The final objective is to show the cumulative effects of costs externally imposed without reference to the technology employed (e.g., legislated surcharges based on arbitrary parameters)

Development and Performance Evaluation of a Low Cost Waste ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The design, development and performance evaluation of a low cost waste-water treatment plant had been carried out. The aim was to harness the usefulness of waste-waters from residential, institutional and commercial sources. The facultative lagoon method of waste-water treatment was adopted. Biological analysis of ...

Low-cost digital GPS receiver with software carrier detection

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, M. H.

1988-08-01

The satellite navigation system global positioning system (GPS) will play a major role in the field of navigation. It will be able to compete with all previously existing radio navigation systems. Low-cost receivers will be built for a number of civilian users, such as general aviation, sea and land navigation. To permit production at low cost for the civil market, a new technique for a C/A (course and acquisition) code receiver has been developed. All the signal detecting and processing is carried out with the digital signal processing software in a Texas Instruments TMS 320C10. The advantage of this method is that complex functions can be effected in a computer program instead of in analog or digital circuits. This reduces the costs of the parts used in the receiver and also avoids calibration. Taken together, these two features greatly reduce the price of a navigation set. This paper discusses the underlying principles leading to this new receiver.

Low-cost satellite mechanical design and construction

Science.gov (United States)

Boisjolie-Gair, Nathaniel; Straub, Jeremy

2017-05-01

This paper presents a discussion of techniques for low-cost design and construction of a CubeSat mechanical structure that can serve as a basis for academic programs and a starting point for government, military and commercial large-scale sensing networks, where the cost of each node must be minimized to facilitate system affordability and lower the cost and associated risk of losing any node. Spacecraft Design plays a large role in manufacturability. An intentionally simplified mechanical design is presented which reduces machining costs, as compared to more intricate designs that were considered. Several fabrication approaches are evaluated relative to the low-cost goal.

Low cost strategies for microbiological purification of drinking water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qazi, J.I.; Saleem, F.

2005-01-01

Effects of sunlight intensities and freezing on prevalence of coliform bacteria in water were assessed in this study. Fish pond water indicated 1100 figure of most probable number (MPN) of coliforms, while on MacConkey agar they appeared uncountable. When this water was exposed to sunlight it was found that a exposure of 1.5 hours in ceramic containers covered by petri plates and those with magnifying lenses of 3X powers indicated 58 and 78% reduction in the coliforms, respectively. Corresponding figures for 3 hours exposure were found to be 100 percent less than the control MPN value. Freezing with subsequent thawing also reduced the microbial population. The experiments reported here are suggestive to construct simple low cost water treatment plants to provide microbiologically safe drinking water. Antibiotics sensitivity and resistant patterns of coliforms for tetracycline, piperacillin, streptomycin, metronidazole, erythromycin and chloramphenicol in connection to pre- and post treatments are indicated. (author)

Assessment of bio-safety of low-cost polyurethane urologic stents used in developing countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nobhojit Roy

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Ureteral stents, despite their ubiquitous use, have not been evaluated for their safety and strength after removal from the patient. While literature is available from the industry with regards to manufacturing and specifications of stents, what happens to a stent after it is inserted into the body, still needs to be explored. Materials and Methods: We conducted a methodical study of 153 consecutive patients with urological problems who were stented with inexpensive polyurethane stents. Once removed from the patients, the stents were analyzed for breakload, tensile strength, elongation, pH, decomposition temperature, residue as well as diameter change. Results: There was no significant change in the physical and mechanical properties of the stent after clinical use and the variance was within the acceptable range of biomaterials. There was minimal leaching of material and color change in all stents. Conclusion: The cheap polyurethane stents were found to be safe for use in patients, for the short time periods of in situ stenting. The degradation of physical and chemical properties of the stent was not significant. Thus it can be safely said that the stents currently in widespread use are cost-effective and physically safe for short spans of time.

``Low-cost Electronic nose evaluated on Thai-herb of Northern-Thailand samples using multivariate analysis methods''

Science.gov (United States)

na ayudhaya, Paisarn Daungjak; Klinbumrung, Arrak; Jaroensutasinee, Krisanadej; Pratontep, Sirapat; Kerdcharoen, Teerakiat

2009-05-01

In case of species of natural and aromatic plant originated from the northern Thailand, sensory characteristics, especially odours, have unique identifiers of herbs. The instruments sensory analysis have performed by several of differential of sensing, so call `electronic nose', to be a significantly and rapidly for chemometrics. The signal responses of the low cost electronic nose were evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA). The aims of this paper evaluated various of Thai-herbs grown in Northern of Thailand as data preprocessing tools of the Low-cost electronic nose (enNU-PYO1). The essential oil groups of Thai herbs such as Garlic, Lemongrass, Shallot (potato onion), Onion, Zanthoxylum limonella (Dennst.) Alston (Thai name is Makaen), and Kaffir lime leaf were compared volatilized from selected fresh herbs. Principal component analysis of the original sensor responses did clearly distinguish either all samples. In all cases more than 97% for cross-validated group were classified correctly. The results demonstrated that it was possible to develop in a model to construct a low-cost electronic nose to provide measurement of odoriferous herbs.

Sensing of the atmospheric variation using Low Cost GNSS Receiver

Science.gov (United States)

Bramanto, Brian; Gumilar, Irwan; Sidiq, Teguh P.; Kuntjoro, Wedyanto; Tampubolon, Daniel A.

2018-05-01

As the GNSS signals transmitted through the atmosphere, they are delayed by interference of TEC (Total Electron Content) in the ionosphere and water vapor in the troposphere. By using inverse-problem, name GNSS Meteorology, those parameters can be obtained precisely and several researches has approved and supported that method. However, the geodetic GNSS receivers are relatively high cost (30,000 to 70,000 each) to be established on a regular and uniform network. This research aims to investigate the potential use of low cost GNSS receiver (less than 2,000) to observe the atmospheric dynamic both in ionosphere and troposphere. Results indicated that low cost GNSS receiver is a promising tools to sensing the atmospheric dynamic, however, further processing is needed to enhance the data quality. It is found that both of ionosphere and troposphere dynamic has diurnal periodic component.

Fabrication of low cost soft tissue prostheses with the desktop 3D printer.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yong; Xue, Guang-huai; Fu, Jian-zhong

2014-11-27

Soft tissue prostheses such as artificial ear, eye and nose are widely used in the maxillofacial rehabilitation. In this report we demonstrate how to fabricate soft prostheses mold with a low cost desktop 3D printer. The fabrication method used is referred to as Scanning Printing Polishing Casting (SPPC). Firstly the anatomy is scanned with a 3D scanner, then a tissue casting mold is designed on computer and printed with a desktop 3D printer. Subsequently, a chemical polishing method is used to polish the casting mold by removing the staircase effect and acquiring a smooth surface. Finally, the last step is to cast medical grade silicone into the mold. After the silicone is cured, the fine soft prostheses can be removed from the mold. Utilizing the SPPC method, soft prostheses with smooth surface and complicated structure can be fabricated at a low cost. Accordingly, the total cost of fabricating ear prosthesis is about $30, which is much lower than the current soft prostheses fabrication methods.

Biomass Combustion Control and Stabilization Using Low-Cost Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ján Piteľ

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper describes methods for biomass combustion process control and burning stabilization based on low-cost sensing of carbon monoxide emissions and oxygen concentration in the flue gas. The designed control system was tested on medium-scale biomass-fired boilers and some results are evaluated and presented in the paper.

Digitizing pediatric chest radiographs: comparison of low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruess, L.; Shiels, K.C.; Cho, K.H.; O'Connor, S.C.; Uyehara, C.F.T.; Person, D.A.; Whitton, R.K.

2001-01-01

Objective: To compare low-cost, off-the-shelf technology for digitizing pediatric chest radiographs. Materials and methods: Forty pediatric chest radiographs (hard copy), each with a single abnormality, were digitized using a commercial film digitizer and two low-cost methods: a digital camera and a flatbed scanner. A stratified, randomized, block design was used where 20 readers evaluated 40 different images to determine the ability to accurately detect the abnormality. Readers then rated all 160 images (40 images x 4 methods) for conspicuity of the abnormality and overall image quality. Results: Abnormalities were correctly identified on 82.3 % of hard copy images, 82.9 % of flatbed scanner images, 74.3 % of film digitizer images, and 69.7 % of digital camera images (p flatbed scanner > film digitizer > digital camera images. Conclusion: A low-cost flatbed scanner yielded digital pediatric chest images which were significantly superior to digital camera images While flatbed scanner images were interpreted with the equivalent diagnostic accuracy of hard copy images, they were rated lower for image quality and lesion conspicuity. (orig.)

Low-cost evacuated-tube solar collector appendices. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beecher, D.T.

1980-05-31

A low cost solar heat energy collector module and array has been designed using the evacuated tube, selective absorber, air cooled concept. Glass tubing as used in fluorescent lamps with automatic sealing methods is a key feature of the evacuated tube design. A molded fiber glass concentrating reflector panel and sheet metal header assembly are proposed. Major design problems involved included the cost of materials and labor, thermal expansion and distortion problems, high stagnation and operating temperatures, isolation, thermal efficiency, sealing, joining, air pressure drop, and weight of the preassembled module. A cost of less than $5 per active square foot of collecting surface has been estimated for materials and labor of the module and its mounting frame.

Determination production costs using PBC method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Todić Vladimir V.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Basic characteristics of modern markets make requirements in quality increasing, decreasing prices and shortening delivery of products. In the middle of this requirements are production costs for whose determination are developed many traditional and alternative methods including PBC method (Process Based Costing. This method enables precisely locating and calculating indirect production costs, and with determined direct costs enables determination of total production costs. This paper shows usage of PBC method for determination production costs for three forms of processing cutting tools.

Stochastic Industrial Source Detection Using Lower Cost Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Thoma, E.; George, I. J.; Brantley, H.; Deshmukh, P.; Cansler, J.; Tang, W.

2017-12-01

Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) can be emitted from a variety of sources in industrial facilities, energy production, and commercial operations. Stochastic industrial sources (SISs) represent a subcategory of emissions from fugitive leaks, variable area sources, malfunctioning processes, and improperly controlled operations. From the shared perspective of industries and communities, cost-effective detection of mitigable SIS emissions can yield benefits such as safer working environments, cost saving through reduced product loss, lower air shed pollutant impacts, and improved transparency and community relations. Methods for SIS detection can be categorized by their spatial regime of operation, ranging from component-level inspection to high-sensitivity kilometer scale surveys. Methods can be temporally intensive (providing snap-shot measures) or sustained in both time-integrated and continuous forms. Each method category has demonstrated utility, however, broad adoption (or routine use) has thus far been limited by cost and implementation viability. Described here are a subset of SIS methods explored by the U.S EPA's next generation emission measurement (NGEM) program that focus on lower cost methods and models. An emerging systems approach that combines multiple forms to help compensate for reduced performance factors of lower cost systems is discussed. A case study of a multi-day HAP emission event observed by a combination of low cost sensors, open-path spectroscopy, and passive samplers is detailed. Early field results of a novel field gas chromatograph coupled with a fast HAP concentration sensor is described. Progress toward near real-time inverse source triangulation assisted by pre-modeled facility profiles using the Los Alamos Quick Urban & Industrial Complex (QUIC) model is discussed.

SIR - small is safe [in reactor design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayns, M.

1989-01-01

A joint USA-UK venture has been initiated to design a small nuclear reactor which offers low capital cost, greater flexibility and a potentially lower environmental impact. Called Safe Integral Reactor (SIR), the lead unit could be built in the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's (UKAEA's) Winfrith site if the design is accepted by the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII). This article describes the 320 MWe reactor unit that is the basis of the design being developed. (author)

Unsynchronized scanning with a low-cost laser range finder for real-time range imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Hatipoglu, Isa; Nakhmani, Arie

2017-06-01

Range imaging plays an essential role in many fields: 3D modeling, robotics, heritage, agriculture, forestry, reverse engineering. One of the most popular range-measuring technologies is laser scanner due to its several advantages: long range, high precision, real-time measurement capabilities, and no dependence on lighting conditions. However, laser scanners are very costly. Their high cost prevents widespread use in applications. Due to the latest developments in technology, now, low-cost, reliable, faster, and light-weight 1D laser range finders (LRFs) are available. A low-cost 1D LRF with a scanning mechanism, providing the ability of laser beam steering for additional dimensions, enables to capture a depth map. In this work, we present an unsynchronized scanning with a low-cost LRF to decrease scanning period and reduce vibrations caused by stop-scan in synchronized scanning. Moreover, we developed an algorithm for alignment of unsynchronized raw data and proposed range image post-processing framework. The proposed technique enables to have a range imaging system for a fraction of the price of its counterparts. The results prove that the proposed method can fulfill the need for a low-cost laser scanning for range imaging for static environments because the most significant limitation of the method is the scanning period which is about 2 minutes for 55,000 range points (resolution of 250x220 image). In contrast, scanning the same image takes around 4 minutes in synchronized scanning. Once faster, longer range, and narrow beam LRFs are available, the methods proposed in this work can produce better results.

Satellite-aided survey sampling and implementation in low- and middle-income contexts: a low-cost/low-tech alternative.

Science.gov (United States)

Haenssgen, Marco J

2015-01-01

The increasing availability of online maps, satellite imagery, and digital technology can ease common constraints of survey sampling in low- and middle-income countries. However, existing approaches require specialised software and user skills, professional GPS equipment, and/or commercial data sources; they tend to neglect spatial sampling considerations when using satellite maps; and they continue to face implementation challenges analogous to conventional survey implementation methods. This paper presents an alternative way of utilising satellite maps and digital aides that aims to address these challenges. The case studies of two rural household surveys in Rajasthan (India) and Gansu (China) compare conventional survey sampling and implementation techniques with the use of online map services such as Google, Bing, and HERE maps. Modern yet basic digital technology can be integrated into the processes of preparing, implementing, and monitoring a rural household survey. Satellite-aided systematic random sampling enhanced the spatial representativeness of the village samples and entailed savings of approximately £4000 compared to conventional household listing, while reducing the duration of the main survey by at least 25 %. This low-cost/low-tech satellite-aided survey sampling approach can be useful for student researchers and resource-constrained research projects operating in low- and middle-income contexts with high survey implementation costs. While achieving transparent and efficient survey implementation at low costs, researchers aiming to adopt a similar process should be aware of the locational, technical, and logistical requirements as well as the methodological challenges of this strategy.

Low cost sensing technology for type 2 diabetes monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Sarswat, Prashant; Free, Michael

2015-03-01

Alpha-hydroxybutyrate (2-hydroxybutyrate or α-HB) is becoming more widely recognized as an important metabolic biomarker that has been shown to be highly correlated with prediabetes and other metabolic diseases. In 2012 there were 86 million Americans with prediabetes, many of whom are not aware they have prediabetes, but could be diagnosed and treated to prevent type 2 diabetes if a simple, low-cost, convenient test were available. We have developed new, low-cost, accurate α-HB detection methods that can be used for the detection and monitoring of diseases such as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, β-cell dysfunction, and early hyperglycemia. The new sensing method utilizes a diol recognition moiety, additives and a photoinitiator to detect α-HB at levels near 1 micro g/l in the presence of serum compounds such as lactic acid, sodium pyruvate, and glucose. The objective of this research is to improve the understanding of the interactions that enhance α-HB detection to enable additional improvements in α-HB detection as well as improvements in other biosensor applications.

Open-Source 3-D Platform for Low-Cost Scientific Instrument Ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C; Wijnen, B; Pearce, J M

2016-08-01

The combination of open-source software and hardware provides technically feasible methods to create low-cost, highly customized scientific research equipment. Open-source 3-D printers have proven useful for fabricating scientific tools. Here the capabilities of an open-source 3-D printer are expanded to become a highly flexible scientific platform. An automated low-cost 3-D motion control platform is presented that has the capacity to perform scientific applications, including (1) 3-D printing of scientific hardware; (2) laboratory auto-stirring, measuring, and probing; (3) automated fluid handling; and (4) shaking and mixing. The open-source 3-D platform not only facilities routine research while radically reducing the cost, but also inspires the creation of a diverse array of custom instruments that can be shared and replicated digitally throughout the world to drive down the cost of research and education further. © 2016 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Automated packaging platform for low-cost high-performance optical components manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Ku, Robert T.

2004-05-01

(LOS), its subsequent automated testing and burn/in process; and the placement of the LOS into a package body and hermetically sealing the package. The LOS and Package automated assembler robots have achieved a metrics of less than 1 um accuracy and 0.1 um resolution. The paper also discusses a method for the critical alignment of a single-mode fiber as the last step of the manufacturing process. This approach is in contrast to the conventional manual assembly where sub-micron fiber alignment and fixation steps are performed much earlier during the assembly process. Finally the paper discusses the value of this automated platform manufacturing approach as a key enabler for low cost small form factor optical components for the new XFP MSA class of transceiver modules.

A low-cost colorimeter.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, N B; Riley, C; Sheya, M S; Hosseinmardi, M M

1984-01-01

A need for a colorimeter with low capital and maintenance costs has been suggested for countries with foreign exchange problems and no local medical instrumentation industry. This paper puts forward a design for such a device based on a domestic light-bulb, photographic filters and photovoltaic cells. The principle of the design is the use of a balancing technique involving twin light paths for test solution and reference solution and an electronic bridge circuit. It is shown that proper selection of the components will allow the cost objectives to be met and also provide acceptable linearity, precision, accuracy and repeatability.

Choosing and Using Safe Water Technologies: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya

OpenAIRE

Luoto, Jill Emily

2010-01-01

This dissertation examines the decision-making of poor rural Kenyan households with respect to the adoption of point-of-use (POU) safe water technologies designed to expand access to safe drinking water in the developing world. Low-cost POU products such as chlorine and filters substantially reduce diarrhea, which kills two million children in poor countries each year. Nevertheless, POU products remain little used in many parts of the developing world, even when they are widely available at s...

Low Cost/Low Noise Variable Pitch Ducted Fan, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ACI proposes a design for a Propulsor (Low Cost/Low Noise Variable Pitch Ducted Fan) that has wide application in all sectors of Aviation. Propulsor hardware of this...

The Solar Umbrella: A Low-cost Demonstration of Scalable Space Based Solar Power

Science.gov (United States)

Contreras, Michael T.; Trease, Brian P.; Sherwood, Brent

2013-01-01

Within the past decade, the Space Solar Power (SSP) community has seen an influx of stakeholders willing to entertain the SSP prospect of potentially boundless, base-load solar energy. Interested parties affiliated with the Department of Defense (DoD), the private sector, and various international entities have all agreed that while the benefits of SSP are tremendous and potentially profitable, the risk associated with developing an efficient end to end SSP harvesting system is still very high. In an effort to reduce the implementation risk for future SSP architectures, this study proposes a system level design that is both low-cost and seeks to demonstrate the furthest transmission of wireless power to date. The overall concept is presented and each subsystem is explained in detail with best estimates of current implementable technologies. Basic cost models were constructed based on input from JPL subject matter experts and assume that the technology demonstration would be carried out by a federally funded entity. The main thrust of the architecture is to demonstrate that a usable amount of solar power can be safely and reliably transmitted from space to the Earth's surface; however, maximum power scalability limits and their cost implications are discussed.

Ranking of healthcare programmes based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care in hospital pharmacy practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Brisseau, Lionel; Bussières, Jean-François; Bois, Denis; Vallée, Marc; Racine, Marie-Claude; Bonnici, André

2013-02-01

To establish a consensual and coherent ranking of healthcare programmes that involve the presence of ward-based and clinic-based clinical pharmacists, based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. This descriptive study was derived from a structured dialogue (Delphi technique) among directors of pharmacy department. We established a quantitative profile of healthcare programmes at five sites that involved the provision of ward-based and clinic-based pharmaceutical care. A summary table of evidence established a unique quality rating per inpatient (clinic-based) or outpatient (ward-based) healthcare programme. Each director rated the perceived impact of pharmaceutical care per inpatient or outpatient healthcare programme on three fields: health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. They agreed by consensus on the final ranking of healthcare programmes. A ranking was assigned for each of the 18 healthcare programmes for outpatient care and the 17 healthcare programmes for inpatient care involving the presence of pharmacists, based on health outcome, health costs and safe delivery of care. There was a good correlation between ranking based on data from a 2007-2008 Canadian report on hospital pharmacy practice and the ranking proposed by directors of pharmacy department. Given the often limited human and financial resources, managers should consider the best evidence available on a profession's impact to plan healthcare services within an organization. Data are few on ranking healthcare programmes in order to prioritize which healthcare programme would mostly benefit from the delivery of pharmaceutical care by ward-based and clinic-based pharmacists. © 2012 The Authors. IJPP © 2012 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Inertial measurement unit–based iterative pose compensation algorithm for low-cost modular manipulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunhan Lin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It is a necessary mean to realize the accurate motion control of the manipulator which uses end-effector pose correction method and compensation method. In this article, first, we established the kinematic model and error model of the modular manipulator (WUST-ARM, and then we discussed the measurement methods and precision of the inertial measurement unit sensor. The inertial measurement unit sensor is mounted on the end-effector of modular manipulator, to get the real-time pose of the end-effector. At last, a new inertial measurement unit–based iterative pose compensation algorithm is proposed. By applying this algorithm in the pose compensation experiment of modular manipulator which is composed of low-cost rotation joints, the results show that the inertial measurement unit can obtain a higher precision when in static state; it will accurately feedback to the control system with an accurate error compensation angle after a brief delay when the end-effector moves to the target point, and after compensation, the precision errors of roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle are reached at 0.05°, 0.01°, and 0.27° respectively. It proves that this low-cost method provides a new solution to improve the end-effector pose of low-cost modular manipulator.

a Framework for Low-Cost Multi-Platform VR and AR Site Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Wallgrün, J. O.; Huang, J.; Zhao, J.; Masrur, A.; Oprean, D.; Klippel, A.

2017-11-01

Low-cost consumer-level immersive solutions have the potential to revolutionize education and research in many fields by providing virtual experiences of sites that are either inaccessible, too dangerous, or too expensive to visit, or by augmenting in-situ experiences using augmented and mixed reality methods. We present our approach for creating low-cost multi-platform virtual and augmented reality site experiences of real world places for education and research purposes, making extensive use of Structure-from-Motion methods as well as 360° photography and videography. We discuss several example projects, for the Mayan City of Cahal Pech, Iceland's Thrihnukar volcano, the Santa Marta informal settlement in Rio, and for the Penn State Campus, and we propose a framework for creating and maintaining such applications by combining declarative content specification methods with a central linked-data based spatio-temporal information system.

A low-cost and portable realization on fringe projection three-dimensional measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Suzhi; Tao, Wei; Zhao, Hui

2015-12-01

Fringe projection three-dimensional measurement is widely applied in a wide range of industrial application. The traditional fringe projection system has the disadvantages of high expense, big size, and complicated calibration requirements. In this paper we introduce a low-cost and portable realization on three-dimensional measurement with Pico projector. It has the advantages of low cost, compact physical size, and flexible configuration. For the proposed fringe projection system, there is no restriction to camera and projector's relative alignment on parallelism and perpendicularity for installation. Moreover, plane-based calibration method is adopted in this paper that avoids critical requirements on calibration system such as additional gauge block or precise linear z stage. What is more, error sources existing in the proposed system are introduced in this paper. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed low cost and portable fringe projection system.

Development of a Low-Cost Attitude Sensor for Agricultural Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

The objective of this research was to develop a low-cost attitude sensor for agricultural vehicles. The attitude sensor was composed of three vibratory gyroscopes and two inclinometers. A sensor fusion algorithm was developed to estimate tilt angles (roll and pitch) by least-squares method. In the a...

An accurate calibration method for accelerometer nonlinear scale factor on a low-cost three-axis turntable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, Jianye; Zhang, Chunxi; Cai, Qingzhong

2014-01-01

Strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) requirements are very demanding on gyroscopes and accelerometers as well as on calibration. To improve the accuracy of SINS, high-accuracy calibration is needed. Adding the accelerometer nonlinear scale factor into the model and reducing estimation errors is essential for improving calibration methods. In this paper, the inertial navigation error model is simplified, including only velocity and tilt errors. Based on the simplified error model, the relationship between the navigation errors (the rates of change of velocity errors) and the inertial measurement unit (IMU) calibration parameters is presented. A tracking model is designed to estimate the rates of change of velocity errors. With a special calibration procedure consisting of six rotation sequences, the accelerometer nonlinear scale factor errors can be computed by the estimates of the rates of change of velocity errors. Simulation and laboratory test results show that the accelerometer nonlinear scale factor can be calibrated with satisfactory accuracy on a low-cost three-axis turntable in several minutes. The comparison with the traditional calibration method highlights the superior performance of the proposed calibration method without precise orientation control. In addition, the proposed calibration method saves a lot of time in comparison with the multi-position calibration method. (paper)

Comparison of Two Educational Methods on Nurses' Adoption of Safe Patient Handling Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Folami, Florence

2010-01-01

Musculoskeletal injuries caused by patient lifting and transfers are a concern to health care workers. The Safe Patient Handling Act calls for all health care organizations to move to mechanical assistance from previous manual methods of transfers. This research analyzed two different educational programs that addressed safe patient handling for…

Production low cost plastic scintillator by using commercial polystyrene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

Plastic Scintillators can be described as solid materials which contain organic fluorescent compounds dissolved within a polymer matrix. Transparent plastics commonly used for light scintillation are Polystyrene (or PS, poly-vinyl-benzene) and polyvinyl-toluene (or PVT, poly-methyl-styron). By changing the composition of plastic Scintillators some features such as light yield, radiation hardening, decay time etc. can be controlled. Plastic scintillation detectors have been used in nuclear and high energy physics for many decades. Among their benefits are fast response, ease of manufacture and versatility. Their main drawbacks are radiation resistance and cost. Many research projects have concentrated on improving the fundamental properties of plastic scintillators, but little attention has focussed on their cost and easier manufacturing techniques. First plastic Scintillators were produced in 1950's. Activities for production of low cost Scintillators accelerated in second half of 1970's. In 1975 acrylic based Plexipop Scintillator was developed. Despite its low cost, since its structure was not aromatic the light yield of Plexipop was about one quarter of classical Scintillators. Problems arising from slow response time and weak mechanical properties in scintillators developed, has not been solved until 1980. Within the last decade extrusion method became very popular in preparation of low cost and high quality plastic scintillators. In this activity, preliminary studies for low cost plastic scintillator production by using commercial polystyrene pellets and extrusion plus compression method were aimed. For this purpose, PS blocks consist of commercial fluorescent dopant were prepared in June 2008 by use of the extruder and pres in SANAEM. Molds suitable for accoupling to extruder were designed and manufactured and optimum production parameters such as extrusion temperature profile, extrusion rate and moulding pressure were obtained hence, PS Scintillator Blocks

Costing methods for nuclear desalination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1966-01-01

The question of the methods used for costing desalination plants has been recognized as very important in the economic choice of a plant and its optimization. The fifth meeting of the Panel on the Use of Nuclear Energy in Saline Water Conversion, convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency in April 1965, noted this fact and recommended the preparation of a report on suitable methods for costing and evaluating nuclear desalination schemes. The Agency has therefore prepared this document, which was reviewed by an international panel of experts that met in Vienna from 18 to 22 April, 1966. The report contains a review of the underlying principles for costing desalination plants and of the various methods that have been proposed for allocating costs in dual-purpose plants. The effect of the different allocation methods on the water and power costs is shown at the end of the report. No attempt is made to recommend any particular method, but the possible limitations of each are indicated. It is hoped that this report will help those involved in the various phases of desalination projects

Low-Cost Servomotor Driver for PFM Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Aragon-Jurado, David; Morgado-Estevez, Arturo; Perez-Peña, Fernando

2017-12-31

Servomotors have already been around for some decades and they are extremely popular among roboticists due to their simple control technique, reliability and low-cost. They are usually controlled by using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and this paper aims to keep the idea of simplicity and low-cost, while introducing a new control technique: Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM). The objective of this paper is to focus on our development of a low-cost servomotor controller which will allow the research community to use them with PFM. A low-cost commercial servomotor is used as the base system for the development: a small PCB that fits inside the case and allocates all the electronic components to control the motor has been designed to replace the original. The potentiometer is retained as the feedback sensor and a microcontroller is responsible for controlling the position of the motor. The paper compares the performance of a PWM and a PFM controlled servomotor. The comparison shows that the servomotor with our controller achieves a faster mechanism for switching targets and a lower latency. This controller can be used with neuromorphic systems to remove the conversion from events to PWM.

Low profile, low cost, new geometry integrated inductors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ouyang, Ziwei; Thomsen, Ole Cornelius; Andersen, Michael A. E.

2011-01-01

windings with well-defined thickness. Many advantages and disadvantages are described in depth. In this work, inverse coupling and direct coupling in the new geometry integrated inductors have been analyzed. Coupling characteristic caused by a special saturation behavior has been emphasis. And also...... variable inductors caused by the special saturation behavior may be utilized in some applications. The new integrated inductors make it possible to build low-profile, low-cost, flexibility DC/DC converters, and it can be extensively designed for the low-voltage and high-current required by the modern...

Frugal Biotech Applications of Low-Temperature Plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Machala, Zdenko; Graves, David B

2017-09-01

Gas discharge low-temperature air plasma can be utilized for a variety of applications, including biomedical, at low cost. We term these applications 'frugal plasma' - an example of frugal innovation. We demonstrate how simple, robust, low-cost frugal plasma devices can be used to safely disinfect instruments, surfaces, and water. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The high cost of low-acuity ICU outliers.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahl, Deborah; Wojtal, Greg G; Breslow, Michael J; Holl, Randy; Huguez, Debra; Stone, David; Korpi, Gloria

2012-01-01

Direct variable costs were determined on each hospital day for all patients with an intensive care unit (ICU) stay in four Phoenix-area hospital ICUs. Average daily direct variable cost in the four ICUs ranged from $1,436 to $1,759 and represented 69.4 percent and 45.7 percent of total hospital stay cost for medical and surgical patients, respectively. Daily ICU cost and length of stay (LOS) were higher in patients with higher ICU admission acuity of illness as measured by the APACHE risk prediction methodology; 16.2 percent of patients had an ICU stay in excess of six days, and these LOS outliers accounted for 56.7 percent of total ICU cost. While higher-acuity patients were more likely to be ICU LOS outliers, 11.1 percent of low-risk patients were outliers. The low-risk group included 69.4 percent of the ICU population and accounted for 47 percent of all LOS outliers. Low-risk LOS outliers accounted for 25.3 percent of ICU cost and incurred fivefold higher hospital stay costs and mortality rates. These data suggest that severity of illness is an important determinant of daily resource consumption and LOS, regardless of whether the patient arrives in the ICU with high acuity or develops complications that increase acuity. The finding that a substantial number of long-stay patients come into the ICU with low acuity and deteriorate after ICU admission is not widely recognized and represents an important opportunity to improve patient outcomes and lower costs. ICUs should consider adding low-risk LOS data to their quality and financial performance reports.

Portable low-cost flat panel detectors for real-time digital radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iovea, Mihai; Neagu, Marian; Stefanescu, Bogdan; Mateiasi, Gabriela; Porosnicu, Ioana; Angheluta, Elena

2015-01-01

The X-ray inspection is one of the most common used non-destructive testing methods in industry applications, but for the portable X-ray digital solution are not so many accessible, low-cost and versatile detection devices. The efficiency of a non-destructive X-ray portable device is represented by the quality of digital images, by its low acquisition time combined with a high resolution, in condition of low noise and at an affordable cost. The paper presents two X-ray portable imaging systems developed by us, suitable also for aerospace NDT applications, which are also very versatile for being easily adapted for other fields that requires mobile solutions. The first device described in the paper represent a portable large-size (210 mm X 550 mm) and high-resolution (27/54 microns) flat panel detector based on linear translation of a X-Ray TDI detector, destined for various components/parts real-time transmission measurements. The second system it is also a flat panel detectors, with a size of 510 mm X 610 mm, with the detector size from 0.2 mm until 1.5 mm, which can operate by applying the dual-energy method, very useful for discriminating materials by evaluating their Atomic effective number. The high resolution and low-cost of this flat-panels widens their applicability by covering large requirements, from identifying unwanted materials within a structure until detection of very thin cracks in complex components.

Portable low-cost flat panel detectors for real-time digital radiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iovea, Mihai; Neagu, Marian; Stefanescu, Bogdan; Mateiasi, Gabriela; Porosnicu, Ioana; Angheluta, Elena [Accent Pro 2000 S.R.L., Bucharest (Romania)

2015-07-01

The X-ray inspection is one of the most common used non-destructive testing methods in industry applications, but for the portable X-ray digital solution are not so many accessible, low-cost and versatile detection devices. The efficiency of a non-destructive X-ray portable device is represented by the quality of digital images, by its low acquisition time combined with a high resolution, in condition of low noise and at an affordable cost. The paper presents two X-ray portable imaging systems developed by us, suitable also for aerospace NDT applications, which are also very versatile for being easily adapted for other fields that requires mobile solutions. The first device described in the paper represent a portable large-size (210 mm X 550 mm) and high-resolution (27/54 microns) flat panel detector based on linear translation of a X-Ray TDI detector, destined for various components/parts real-time transmission measurements. The second system it is also a flat panel detectors, with a size of 510 mm X 610 mm, with the detector size from 0.2 mm until 1.5 mm, which can operate by applying the dual-energy method, very useful for discriminating materials by evaluating their Atomic effective number. The high resolution and low-cost of this flat-panels widens their applicability by covering large requirements, from identifying unwanted materials within a structure until detection of very thin cracks in complex components.

Low-cost in vitro fertilization: current insights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teoh PJ

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Pek Joo Teoh, Abha MaheshwariAberdeen Fertility Centre, Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UKAbstract: Despite the development of in vitro fertilization (IVF more than 30 years ago, the cost of treatment remains high. Furthermore, over the years, more sophisticated technologies and expensive medications have been introduced, making IVF increasingly inaccessible despite the increasing need. Globally, the option to undergo IVF is only available to a privileged few. In recent years, there has been growing interest in exploring strategies to reduce the cost of IVF treatment, which would allow the service to be provided in low-resource settings. In this review, we explore the various ways in which the cost of this treatment can be reduced.Keywords: IVF, low-cost, accessible, developing world

Nuclear power production: The financial costs. Background paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, P.

1993-11-01

For many years, the Canadian nuclear industry has priced itself on its ability to provide safe, reliable and low-cost electricity to consumers. While nuclear power has indeed proved to be a relatively safe generator of electricity, its performance with respect to reliability and cost has declined noticeably in recent years. This paper documents the deteriorating cost performance of the industry, in comparison with that of its traditional competitor in power generation. It also breaks down the total costs into its component parts, assessing the key factors underlying the trends that are worsening the competitive position of the industry: a rise in initial capital costs, unanticipated technical difficulties resulting in additional capital costs, and the increasing operating expenses associated with poorer-than-expected reactor performance. (author). 8 refs., 2 tabs., 1 fig

A Simple, Fast, Low Cost, HPLC/UV Validated Method for Determination of Flutamide: Application to Protein Binding Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Esmaeilzadeh, Sara; Valizadeh, Hadi; Zakeri-Milani, Parvin

2016-06-01

The main goal of this study was development of a reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for flutamide quantitation which is applicable to protein binding studies. Ultrafilteration method was used for protein binding study of flutamide. For sample analysis, flutamide was extracted by a simple and low cost extraction method using diethyl ether and then was determined by HPLC/UV. Acetanilide was used as an internal standard. The chromatographic system consisted of a reversed-phase C8 column with C8 pre-column, and the mobile phase of a mixture of 29% (v/v) methanol, 38% (v/v) acetonitrile and 33% (v/v) potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer (50 mM) with pH adjusted to 3.2. Acetanilide and flutamide were eluted at 1.8 and 2.9 min, respectively. The linearity of method was confirmed in the range of 62.5-16000 ng/ml (r(2) > 0.99). The limit of quantification was shown to be 62.5 ng/ml. Precision and accuracy ranges found to be (0.2-1.4%, 90-105%) and (0.2-5.3 %, 86.7-98.5 %) respectively. Acetanilide and flutamide capacity factor values of 1.35 and 2.87, tailing factor values of 1.24 and 1.07 and resolution values of 1.8 and 3.22 were obtained in accordance with ICH guidelines. Based on the obtained results a rapid, precise, accurate, sensitive and cost-effective analysis procedure was proposed for quantitative determination of flutamide.

Assessment of bio-safety of low-cost polyurethane urologic stents used in developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Nobhojit; Waingankar, Santosh; Aggarwal, Gaurav

2012-04-01

Ureteral stents, despite their ubiquitous use, have not been evaluated for their safety and strength after removal from the patient. While literature is available from the industry with regards to manufacturing and specifications of stents, what happens to a stent after it is inserted into the body, still needs to be explored. We conducted a methodical study of 153 consecutive patients with urological problems who were stented with inexpensive polyurethane stents. Once removed from the patients, the stents were analyzed for breakload, tensile strength, elongation, pH, decomposition temperature, residue as well as diameter change. There was no significant change in the physical and mechanical properties of the stent after clinical use and the variance was within the acceptable range of biomaterials. There was minimal leaching of material and color change in all stents. The cheap polyurethane stents were found to be safe for use in patients, for the short time periods of in situ stenting. The degradation of physical and chemical properties of the stent was not significant. Thus it can be safely said that the stents currently in widespread use are cost-effective and physically safe for short spans of time.

Cost Effective Recovery of Low-TDS Frac Flowback Water for Re-use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Claire Henderson; Harish Acharya; Hope Matis; Hareesh Kommepalli; Brian Moore; Hua Wang

2011-03-31

disposal costs and regulations, a parametric value assessment tool was created to assess the economic attractiveness of a given flowback recovery process relative to conventional disposal for any combination of anticipated flowback TDS and local disposal cost. It is concluded that membrane systems in combination with appropriate pretreatment technologies can provide cost-effective recovery of low-TDS flow-back water for either beneficial reuse or safe surface discharge.

A low-cost method for visible fluorescence imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarver, Crissy L; Pusey, Marc

2017-12-01

A wide variety of crystallization solutions are screened to establish conditions that promote the growth of a diffraction-quality crystal. Screening these conditions requires the assessment of many crystallization plates for the presence of crystals. Automated systems for screening and imaging are very expensive. A simple approach to imaging trace fluorescently labeled protein crystals in crystallization plates has been devised, and can be implemented at a cost as low as $50. The proteins β-lactoglobulin B, trypsin and purified concanavalin A (ConA) were trace fluorescently labeled using three different fluorescent probes: Cascade Yellow (CY), Carboxyrhodamine 6G (CR) and Pacific Blue (PB). A crystallization screening plate was set up using β-lactoglobulin B labeled with CR, trypsin labeled with CY, ConA labeled with each probe, and a mixture consisting of 50% PB-labeled ConA and 50% CR-labeled ConA. The wells of these plates were imaged using a commercially available macro-imaging lens attachment for smart devices that have a camera. Several types of macro lens attachments were tested with smartphones and tablets. Images with the highest quality were obtained with an iPhone 6S and an AUKEY Ora 10× macro lens. Depending upon the fluorescent probe employed and its Stokes shift, a light-emitting diode or a laser diode was used for excitation. An emission filter was used for the imaging of protein crystals labeled with CR and crystals with two-color fluorescence. This approach can also be used with microscopy systems commonly used to observe crystallization plates.

Impact of Costing and Cost Analysis Methods on the Result of the Period: Methods Based on Partial Cost Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toma Maria

2017-01-01

Looking from this perspective, in the present paper we have proposed that objectives, to approach the full cost calculation methods based on partial costs (direct-costing on the product or direct-costing evolved, and comparing them to determine the effect they have on the outcome of the period.

Production cost methods and data

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffe, R. E.; Fujita, T.

1975-01-01

The general gas cost equation for utility financing is presented. Modifications and assumptions made in order to apply the cost equation to hydrogen production are described. Cost data are given for various methods of hydrogen production. The cost matrix procedure is briefly discussed.

A FRAMEWORK FOR LOW-COST MULTI-PLATFORM VR AND AR SITE EXPERIENCES

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J. O. Wallgrün

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Low-cost consumer-level immersive solutions have the potential to revolutionize education and research in many fields by providing virtual experiences of sites that are either inaccessible, too dangerous, or too expensive to visit, or by augmenting in-situ experiences using augmented and mixed reality methods. We present our approach for creating low-cost multi-platform virtual and augmented reality site experiences of real world places for education and research purposes, making extensive use of Structure-from-Motion methods as well as 360° photography and videography. We discuss several example projects, for the Mayan City of Cahal Pech, Iceland’s Thrihnukar volcano, the Santa Marta informal settlement in Rio, and for the Penn State Campus, and we propose a framework for creating and maintaining such applications by combining declarative content specification methods with a central linked-data based spatio-temporal information system.

Development of a practical costing method for hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Pengyu; Toyabe, Shin-Ichi; Akazawa, Kouhei

2006-03-01

To realize an effective cost control, a practical and accurate cost accounting system is indispensable in hospitals. In traditional cost accounting systems, the volume-based costing (VBC) is the most popular cost accounting method. In this method, the indirect costs are allocated to each cost object (services or units of a hospital) using a single indicator named a cost driver (e.g., Labor hours, revenues or the number of patients). However, this method often results in rough and inaccurate results. The activity based costing (ABC) method introduced in the mid 1990s can prove more accurate results. With the ABC method, all events or transactions that cause costs are recognized as "activities", and a specific cost driver is prepared for each activity. Finally, the costs of activities are allocated to cost objects by the corresponding cost driver. However, it is much more complex and costly than other traditional cost accounting methods because the data collection for cost drivers is not always easy. In this study, we developed a simplified ABC (S-ABC) costing method to reduce the workload of ABC costing by reducing the number of cost drivers used in the ABC method. Using the S-ABC method, we estimated the cost of the laboratory tests, and as a result, similarly accurate results were obtained with the ABC method (largest difference was 2.64%). Simultaneously, this new method reduces the seven cost drivers used in the ABC method to four. Moreover, we performed an evaluation using other sample data from physiological laboratory department to certify the effectiveness of this new method. In conclusion, the S-ABC method provides two advantages in comparison to the VBC and ABC methods: (1) it can obtain accurate results, and (2) it is simpler to perform. Once we reduce the number of cost drivers by applying the proposed S-ABC method to the data for the ABC method, we can easily perform the cost accounting using few cost drivers after the second round of costing.

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.

The segregation of silver nanoparticles in low-cost ceramic water filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larimer, Curtis; Ostrowski, Nicole; Speakman, Jacquelyn; Nettleship, Ian

2010-01-01

As an impregnated constituent in low-cost ceramic water filters, silver nanoparticles have a demonstrated antibacterial effect. The bactericidal mechanism is believed to be based on direct contact between silver and the cell wall of a contaminant organism. In this study microstructural analysis was used to examine the effect of the processing method on the distribution of silver nanoparticles in the filter material. Silver nanofluid was impregnated into fired clay ceramic samples by a low-cost soak-and-dry method. Analyses of filter samples by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and digital optical topological mapping showed that silver was concentrated in near surface pores, a condition that is not optimal for highest probability of silver contact. A simple experiment showed that segregation of silver occurs during the drying phase of impregnation. Drying curves showed that 90% of contained liquid evaporates from the external surface.

Feasibility of a low-cost hearing screening in rural Indiana

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Khalid M. Khan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hearing loss remains a neglected public health issue in the rural and agricultural communities in the United States and therefore, promotion of a low-cost hearing screening may be important for these underserved populations. The major objectives of our study were to assess feasibility of a low-cost telephone-administered hearing test in rural Indiana and to identify the challenges, barriers and viable implementation strategies associated with this test. Also, we evaluated whether a focus group session could change the hearing health attitude of rural residents. Methods We recruited 126 adults from six rural Indiana counties who participated in study activities in the following order: 1 a pre-focus group demographic, knowledge and attitude survey, 2 a focus group for discussing the feasibility of a telephone-administered hearing screening, 3 a post focus group attitude survey and 4 hearing was screened using an audiometer and self-assessment scale. These activities generated both qualitative and quantitative data, which were subsequently analyzed. Results Hearing impairment was perceived as an important public health issue. Many participants expressed interests to try the low-cost National Hearing Test (NHT. However, participants recommended NHT to be facilitated by community organizations to provide access to landline phones. The focus group turned out to be an excellent awareness building activity producing significant improvement in hearing health attitudes. Comparison of self and audiometric evaluations indicated underestimation of hearing handicap in our rural study population. Conclusions The study results underscore the urgent need for an effective strategy to promote low-cost hearing screening in rural US communities.

Application of low-cost methodologies for mobile phone app development.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Melvyn; Cheow, Enquan; Ho, Cyrus Sh; Ng, Beng Yeong; Ho, Roger; Cheok, Christopher Cheng Soon

2014-12-09

The usage of mobile phones and mobile phone apps in the recent decade has indeed become more prevalent. Previous research has highlighted a method of using just the Internet browser and a text editor to create an app, but this does not eliminate the challenges faced by clinicians. More recently, two methodologies of app development have been shared, but there has not been any disclosures pertaining to the costs involved. In addition, limitations such as the distribution and dissemination of the apps have not been addressed. The aims of this research article are to: (1) highlight a low-cost methodology that clinicians without technical knowledge could use to develop educational apps; (2) clarify the respective costs involved in the process of development; (3) illustrate how limitations pertaining to dissemination could be addressed; and (4) to report initial utilization data of the apps and to share initial users' self-rated perception of the apps. In this study, we will present two techniques of how to create a mobile app using two of the well-established online mobile app building websites. The costs of development are specified and the methodology of dissemination of the apps will be shared. The application of the low-cost methodologies in the creation of the "Mastering Psychiatry" app for undergraduates and "Déjà vu" app for postgraduates will be discussed. A questionnaire survey has been administered to undergraduate students collating their perceptions towards the app. For the Mastering Psychiatry app, a cumulative total of 722 users have used the mobile app since inception, based on our analytics. For the Déjà vu app, there has been a cumulative total of 154 downloads since inception. The utilization data demonstrated the receptiveness towards these apps, and this is reinforced by the positive perceptions undergraduate students (n=185) had towards the low-cost self-developed apps. This is one of the few studies that have demonstrated the low-cost

Activity based costing (ABC Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prof. Ph.D. Saveta Tudorache

2008-05-01

Full Text Available In the present paper the need and advantages are presented of using the Activity BasedCosting method, need arising from the need of solving the information pertinence issue. This issue has occurreddue to the limitation of classic methods in this field, limitation also reflected by the disadvantages ofsuch classic methods in establishing complete costs.

A Low-Cost Data Acquisition System for Automobile Dynamics Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

González, Alejandro; Olazagoitia, José Luis; Vinolas, Jordi

2018-01-27

This project addresses the need for the implementation of low-cost acquisition technology in the field of vehicle engineering: the design, development, manufacture, and verification of a low-cost Arduino-based data acquisition platform to be used in <80 Hz data acquisition in vehicle dynamics, using low-cost accelerometers. In addition to this, a comparative study is carried out of professional vibration acquisition technologies and low-cost systems, obtaining optimum results for low- and medium-frequency operations with an error of 2.19% on road tests. It is therefore concluded that these technologies are applicable to the automobile industry, thereby allowing the project costs to be reduced and thus facilitating access to this kind of research that requires limited resources.

Low-Cost Method to Monitor Patient Adherence to HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Using Multiplex Cathepsin Zymography.

Science.gov (United States)

Platt, Manu O; Evans, Denise; Keegan, Philip M; McNamara, Lynne; Parker, Ivana K; Roberts, LaDeidra M; Caulk, Alexander W; Gleason, Rudolph L; Seifu, Daniel; Amogne, Wondwossen; Penny, Clement

2016-01-01

Monitoring patient adherence to HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) by patient survey is inherently error prone, justifying a need for objective, biological measures affordable in low-resource settings where HIV/AIDS epidemic is highest. In preliminary studies conducted in Ethiopia and South Africa, we observed loss of cysteine cathepsin activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HIV-positive patients on ART. We optimized a rapid protocol for multiplex cathepsin zymography to quantify cysteine cathepsins, and prospectively enrolled 350 HIV-positive, ART-naïve adults attending the Themba Lethu Clinic, Johannesburg, South Africa, to test if suppressed cathepsin activity could be a biomarker of ART adherence (103 patients were included in final analysis). Poor adherence was defined as detectable viral load (>400 copies/ml) or simplified medication adherence questionnaire, 4-6 months after ART initiation. 86 % of patients with undetectable viral loads after 6 months were cathepsin negative, and cathepsin-positive patients were twice as likely to have detectable viral loads (RR 2.32 95 % CI 1.26-4.29). Together, this demonstrates proof of concept that multiplex cathepsin zymography may be an inexpensive, objective method to monitor patient adherence to ART. Low cost of this electrophoresis-based assay makes it a prime candidate for implementation in resource-limited settings.

Low cost method to monitor patient adherence to HIV antiretroviral therapy using multiplex cathepsin zymography

Science.gov (United States)

Platt, Manu O.; Evans, Denise; Keegan, Philip M.; McNamara, Lynne; Parker, Ivana K.; Roberts, LaDeidra M.; Caulk, Alexander W.; Gleason, Rudolph L.; Seifu, Daniel; Amogne, Wondwossen; Penny, Clement

2015-01-01

Monitoring patient adherence to HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) by patient survey is inherently error-prone, justifying a need for objective, biological measures affordable in low resource settings where HIV/AIDS epidemic is highest. In preliminary studies conducted in Ethiopia and South Africa, we observed loss of cysteine cathepsin activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of HIV-positive patients on ART. We optimized a rapid protocol for multiplex cathepsin zymography to quantify cysteine cathepsins, and prospectively enrolled 350 HIV-positive, ART naïve adults attending the Themba Lethu Clinic, Johannesburg, South Africa, to test if suppressed cathepsin activity could be a biomarker of ART adherence (103 patients were included in final analysis). Poor adherence was defined as detectable viral load (>400 copies/ml) or simplified medication adherence questionnaire (SMAQ), 4–6 months after ART initiation. 86% of patients with undetectable viral loads after 6 months were cathepsin negative, and cathepsin positive patients were twice as likely to have detectable viral loads (RR 2.32 95% CI 1.26–4.29). Together, this demonstrates proof of concept that multiplex cathepsin zymography may be an inexpensive, objective method to monitor patient adherence to ART. Low cost of this electrophoresis based assay makes it a prime candidate for implementation in resource limited settings. PMID:26589706

A New Environmentally Safe Formulation and of Low Cost for Prolonged Release System of Atrazine and Diuron

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gracy karla da Rocha Cortes

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Diuron and atrazine were incorporated in new formulations developed with the purpose to improve herbicides action through release systems, as well as to reduce the environmental toxicity. A low cost formulation (ALG/ESC was obtained by combining sodium alginate (ALG with fish scales of the Piau fish (ESC from the Leporinus elongatus species. From the crosslinking of ALG/ESC with CaCl2, the formulation ALG/ESC-CaCl2 was obtained. For ALG/ESC-CaCl2, the results are successful, showing a prolonged release of 3.5 and 4.5 days for atrazine and diuron, respectively. Based on parameters of an empirical equation used to fit the herbicide release data, it appears that the release systems of diuron and atrazine from ALG/ESC-CaCl2 are by diffusion processes due to anomalous transport, which did not follow Fick’s laws of diffusion. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v9i3.994

Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring Methods to Assess Compliance With Smoke-Free Regulations: A Multi-Center Study in Six Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson-Morris, Angela; Bleymann, Kayleigh; Lyall, Elaine; Aslam, Fouad; Bam, Tara Singh; Chowdhury, Ishrat; Daouda, Elhadj Adam; Espinosa, Mariana; Romo, Jonathan; Singh, Rana J; Semple, Sean

2016-05-01

Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have enacted legislation banning smoking in public places, yet enforcement remains challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using a validated low-cost methodology (the Dylos DC1700) to provide objective evidence of smoke-free (SF) law compliance in hospitality venues in urban LMIC settings, where outdoor air pollution levels are generally high. Teams measured indoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and systematically observed smoking behavior and SF signage in a convenience sample of hospitality venues (bars, restaurants, cafes, and hotels) covered by existing SF legislation in Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, Chad, Bangladesh, and India. Outdoor air PM2.5 was also measured on each sampling day. Data were collected from 626 venues. Smoking was observed during almost one-third of visits with substantial differences between countries-from 5% in India to 72% in Chad. After excluding venues where other combustion sources were observed, secondhand smoke (SHS) derived PM2.5 was calculated by subtracting outdoor ambient PM2.5 concentrations from indoor measurements and was, on average, 34 µg/m(3) in venues with observed smoking-compared to an average value of 0 µg/m(3) in venues where smoking was not observed (P hospitality venues in LMICs. Air quality monitoring can provide objective scientific data on SHS and air quality levels in venues to assess the effectiveness of SF laws and identify required improvements. Equipment costs and high outdoor air pollution levels have hitherto limited application in LMICs. This study tested the feasibility of using a validated low-cost methodology in hospitality venues in six LMIC urban settings and suggests this is a viable method for improving knowledge about SHS exposure and can provide indicative data on compliance with SF legislation. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and

High-Efficient Low-Cost Photovoltaics Recent Developments

CERN Document Server

Petrova-Koch, Vesselinka; Goetzberger, Adolf

2009-01-01

A bird's-eye view of the development and problems of recent photovoltaic cells and systems and prospects for Si feedstock is presented. High-efficient low-cost PV modules, making use of novel efficient solar cells (based on c-Si or III-V materials), and low cost solar concentrators are in the focus of this book. Recent developments of organic photovoltaics, which is expected to overcome its difficulties and to enter the market soon, are also included.

A fast and low-cost spray method for prototyping and depositing surface-enhanced Raman scattering arrays on microfluidic paper based device.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bowei; Zhang, Wei; Chen, Lingxin; Lin, Bingcheng

2013-08-01

In this study, a fast, low-cost, and facile spray method was proposed. This method deposits highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the paper-microfluidic scheme. The procedures for substrate preparation were studied including different strategies to synthesize AgNPs and the optimization of spray cycles. In addition, the morphologies of the different kinds of paper substrates were characterized by SEM and investigated by their SERS signals. The established method was found to be favorable for obtaining good sensitivity and reproducible results. The RSDs of Raman intensity of randomly analyzing 20 spots on the same paper or different filter papers depositing AgNPs are both below 15%. The SERS enhancement factor is approximately 2 × 10(7) . The whole fabrication is very rapid, robust, and does not require specific instruments. Furthermore, the total cost for 1000 pieces of chip is less than $20. These advantages demonstrated the potential for growing SERS applications in the area of environmental monitoring, food safety, and bioanalysis in the future. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Safety effects of low-cost engineering measures. An observational study in a Portuguese multilane road.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira Gomes, Sandra; Cardoso, João Lourenço

2012-09-01

Single carriageway multilane roads are not, in general, a very safe type of road, mainly because of the high number of seriously injured victims in head-on collisions, when compared with dual carriageway multilane roads, with a median barrier. In this paper the results of a study on the effect of the application of several low cost engineering measures, aimed at road infrastructure correction and road safety improvement on a multilane road (EN6), are presented. The study was developed by the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC) for the Portuguese Road Administration and involved a comparison of selected aspects of motorized traffic behaviour (traffic volumes and speeds) measured in several sections of EN6, as well as monitoring of road safety developments in the same road. The applied low cost engineering measures allowed a reduction of 10% in the expected annual number of personal injury accidents and a 70% decrease in the expected annual number of head-on collisions; the expected annual frequency of accidents involving killed and seriously injured persons was reduced by 26%. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cultural Heritage Recording Utilising Low-Cost Closerange Photogrammetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Kirchhöfer

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Cultural heritage is under a constant threat of damage or even destruction and comprehensive and accurate recording is necessary to attenuate the risk of losing heritage or serve as basis for reconstruction. Cost effective and easy to use methods are required to record cultural heritage, particularly during a world recession, and close-range photogrammetry has proven potential in this area. Off-the-shelf digital cameras can be used to rapidly acquire data at low cost, allowing non-experts to become involved. Exterior orientation of the camera during exposure ideally needs to be established for every image, traditionally requiring known coordinated target points. Establishing these points is time consuming and costly and using targets can be often undesirable on sensitive sites. MEMS-based sensors can assist in overcoming this problem by providing small-size and low-cost means to directly determine exterior orientation for close-range photogrammetry. This paper describes development of an image-based recording system, comprising an off-the-shelf digital SLR camera, a MEMS-based 3D orientation sensor and a GPS antenna. All system components were assembled in a compact and rigid frame that allows calibration of rotational and positional offsets between the components. The project involves collaboration between English Heritage and Loughborough University and the intention is to assess the system’s achievable accuracy and practicability in a heritage recording environment. Tests were conducted at Loughborough University and a case study at St. Catherine’s Oratory on the Isle of Wight, UK. These demonstrate that the data recorded by the system can indeed meet the accuracy requirements for heritage recording at medium accuracy (1-4cm, with either a single or even no control points. As the recording system has been configured with a focus on low-cost and easy-to-use components, it is believed to be suitable for heritage recording by non

Ensuring a Safe Technological Revolution

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

much lower, and the performance gained can dramatically reduce life -cycle costs. Validated cost data are scarce, and accurate AM cost models need to be...reduce costs, minimize obsolescence issues and improve both capability and readi- ness across the entire life cycle of naval systems—including both the...of naval weapon systems. The Navy is actively engaging its various communi- ties to align needs and ensure that AM can be safely acceler- ated and

Unmanned Aerial Systems Traffic Management (UTM): Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

Science.gov (United States)

Rios, Joseph

2016-01-01

Currently, there is no established infrastructure to enable and safely manage the widespread use of low-altitude airspace and UAS flight operations. Given this, and understanding that the FAA faces a mandate to modernize the present air traffic management system through computer automation and significantly reduce the number of air traffic controllers by FY 2020, the FAA maintains that a comprehensive, yet fully automated UAS traffic management (UTM) system for low-altitude airspace is needed. The concept of UTM is to begin by leveraging concepts from the system of roads, lanes, stop signs, rules and lights that govern vehicles on the ground today. Building on its legacy of work in air traffic management (ATM), NASA is working with industry to develop prototype technologies for a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system that would evolve airspace integration procedures for enabling safe, efficient low-altitude flight operations that autonomously manage UAS operating in an approved low-altitude airspace environment. UTM is a cloud-based system that will autonomously manage all traffic at low altitudes to include UASs being operated beyond visual line of sight of an operator. UTM would thus enable safe and efficient flight operations by providing fully integrated traffic management services such as airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, severe weather and wind avoidance, congestion management, terrain avoidance, route planning re-routing, separation management, sequencing spacing, and contingency management. UTM removes the need for human operators to continuously monitor aircraft operating in approved areas. NASA envisions concepts for two types of UTM systems. The first would be a small portable system, which could be moved between geographical areas in support of operations such as precision agriculture and public safety. The second would be a Persistent system, which would support low-altitude operations in an approved area by providing continuous automated

A Rapid and Low-Cost PCR Thermal Cycler for Low Resource Settings.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grace Wong

Full Text Available Many modern molecular diagnostic assays targeting nucleic acids are typically confined to developed countries or to the national reference laboratories of developing-world countries. The ability to make technologies for the rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases broadly available in a portable, low-cost format would mark a revolutionary step forward in global health. Many molecular assays are also developed based on polymerase chain reactions (PCR, which require thermal cyclers that are relatively heavy (>20 pounds and need continuous electrical power. The temperature ramping speed of most economical thermal cyclers are relatively slow (2 to 3 °C/s so a polymerase chain reaction can take 1 to 2 hours. Most of all, these thermal cyclers are still too expensive ($2k to $4k for low-resource setting uses.In this article, we demonstrate the development of a low-cost and rapid water bath based thermal cycler that does not require active temperature control or continuous power supply during PCR. This unit costs $130 to build using commercial off-the-shelf items. The use of two or three vacuum-insulated stainless-steel Thermos food jars containing heated water (for denaturation and annealing/extension steps and a layer of oil on top of the water allow for significantly stabilized temperatures for PCR to take place. Using an Arduino-based microcontroller, we automate the "archaic" method of hand-transferring PCR tubes between water baths.We demonstrate that this innovative unit can deliver high speed PCR (17 s per PCR cycle with the potential to go beyond the 1,522 bp long amplicons tested in this study and can amplify from templates down to at least 20 copies per reaction. The unit also accepts regular PCR tubes and glass capillary tubes. The PCR efficiency of our thermal cycler is not different from other commercial thermal cyclers. When combined with a rapid nucleic acid detection approach, the thermos thermal cycler (TTC can enable on-site molecular

An Open-source Low-cost Portable Apparatus for Soil Fauna Sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Daliakopoulos, Ioannis; Wagner, Karl; Grillakis, Manolis; Apostolakis, Antonios; Tsanis, Ioannis

2016-04-01

A low-cost apparatus for the extraction of living soil animals from soil or litter samples is presented. The main unit consists of a modular bank system with three horizontal shelves designed to accommodate lamps and soil samples over funnel and jar systems for animal collection, thus serving as a practical and standardized modification of the well-documented Berlese-Tullgren funnel. Shelves are vertically adjustable, sliding on 5 mm threaded rods and securing with wing nuts for easy assembly/disassembly and stability. Shelf material is 4 mm plywood (or similar), laser-cut (or similar) to accommodate lamp sockets, tubes and funnels at respective levels. Soil samples are inserted in 10 cm tubes from standard Ø50 mm PVC piping that can also function as direct collection corers for softer soils. Tubes are fitted in the tube bank shelf, each directly under a 25 W reflector lamp and over a funnel and jar system. Lamps are located 25 mm over the tubes' top creating a relatively constant 10 oC temperature gradient that drives soil animals away from heat and light, and towards the bottom end of the tube which is fitted with a suitable fabric mesh. Standard 106 ml panelled jars, filled with a safe-to-handle preservative (e.g. propylene glycol) to the lower end of the funnel fitted in them, trap and preserve soil organisms until identification. The apparatus offers flat-pack portability and scalability using low-cost standard material. Design specifications and Drawing eXchange Format (dxf) files for apparatus reproduction are provided.

Optical incremental rotary encoder in low-cost-design; Optischer inkrementaler Drehgeber in Low-Cost-Bauweise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hopp, David; Pruss, Christof; Osten, Wolfgang [Stuttgart Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Technische Optik; Seybold, Jonathan; Mayer, Volker [Hans-Schickard-Gesellschaft, Stuttgart (DE). Inst. fuer Mikroaufbautechnik (IMAT); Kueck, Heinz [Hans-Schickard-Gesellschaft, Stuttgart (DE). Inst. fuer Mikroaufbautechnik (IMAT); Stuttgart Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Zeitmesstechnik, Fein- und Mikrotechnik

2010-07-01

We have developed a new concept for low-cost optical encoders to come up to meet the increasing demand for inexpensive rotary sensors. The principal idea is to use a micro patterned plastic disc with metal coating, as it is used for Compact Discs or DVDs. Such encoder discs can be manufactured by an efficient injection compression moulding process. With this well established technique it is possible to achieve highly precise micro patterns while running a cost effective process for high volume production. (orig.)

Low cost methods of treatment of agricultural effluents in warm climates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parker, C.D.

Treatment of effluents by anaerobic-aerobic lagoons, flood and spray irrigation and grass filtration is outlined and there are 4 examples of plants disposing respectively of waste from a domestic population with a cannery, vegetable and milk processing plants and a slaughterhouse; 2 wineries and a brandy distillery; a milk processing plant; and a potato processing plant. In the 3rd example high-strength dairy factory effluent (12,000 mg BOD/1) is fermented to methane and CO/sub 2/ with a daily yield of 59,000 cubic feet gas from 35,000 gal of waste; the outflow from fermenters and low strength waste (2500 mg BOD/1) is treated in a lagoon which removes greater than 90% BOD and passes to an oxidation ditch before irrigating pasture. A cost comparison of the various systems is included.

Development of low-cost digital subtraction angiography system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ando, Yutaka; Kobayashi, Takeshi; Imai, Yutaka; Yagishita, Akira; Kunieda, Etsuo.

1983-01-01

We developed a simple and low-cost DSA system. This system consists of a conventional fluoroscopic equipment for the GI tract and a mini-computer (GAMMA-11) which are connected each other with a video-disc recorder. The uniqueness of our system are 1. low-cost, 2. low-radiation dose, 3. off-line processing, 4. flexibility of software. The analysis of the time-density curve and image processing will bring us a more usefull information than DSA alone. (author)

The influence of management and construction methods in the repair costs of Spain’s low-volume road network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eutiquio Gallego

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the entire process of the implementation of the Spanish low volume road network, including the design criteria, the construction techniques and the management policies during all the periods. The current situation of low volume roads in Spain was analyzed with respect to the legal framework and their actual condition. In addition, the budget required for the repair of 41 low volume roads throughout Spain was calculated in order to statistically analyze the influence of the pavement materials and the period of construction. The main conclusions were that low volume roads constructed during the 1970´s are currently those in the best state of repair and those requiring the lower repair costs, even lower than those constructed after 1980´s. In addition, low volume roads constructed with higher quality materials and using standardized techniques required five times lower repair costs than those made of lower quality materials.

Safety Evaluations Under the Proposed US Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013 : Animal Use and Cost Estimates

OpenAIRE

Knight, Jean; Rovida, Costanza

2014-01-01

The proposed Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2013 calls for a new evaluation program for cosmetic ingredients in the US, with the new assessments initially dependent on expanded animal testing. This paper considers possible testing scenarios under the proposed Act and estimates the number of test animals and cost under each scenario. It focuses on the impact for the first 10 years of testing, the period of greatest impact on animals and costs. The analysis suggests the first ...

Composting Used as a Low Cost Method for Pathogen Elimination in Sewage Sludge in Mérida, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Rojas-Herrera

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Spreading sewage sludge from municipal wastewater (MWW treatment on land is still a common practice in developing countries. However, it is well known that sewage sludge without special treatment contains various pollutants, which are (reintroduced into the environment by sludge landspreading and which might in turn have harmful effects on the environment and human health. This is more dangerous in places like Merida, Mexico, where soil is calcareous with fractures along the ground and thin layers of humus. Consequently, any liquid and semisolid wastes have the potential of percolating to the subsurface and contaminate the aquifer. The main aim of this work was using composting as a low cost process to eliminate pathogens contained in sewage sludge from MWW treatment in order to use the final product for land spreading in a safe way for both environment and human health. Two piles for composting process at real scale were settled using a mixture of sewage sludge from municipal waste water and green waste. Composting was carried out by windrow process and it was monitored during four weeks. Concentration of helminth eggs, salmonella and faecal coliforms were measured twice a week to observe its behavior and, as a control process, Temperature, Moisture Content (MC, and pH were also measured. After 30 days of composting sludge from municipal waste water system, salmonella was eliminated by 99%, faecal coliforms by 96% and helminth eggs by 81%. After 3 months compost reached GI = 160%, so did not show any phytotoxicity to seeds.

Is total pancreatectomy as feasible, safe, efficacious, and cost-effective as pancreaticoduodenectomy? A single center, prospective, observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Casadei, Riccardo; Ricci, Claudio; Taffurelli, Giovanni; Guariniello, Anna; Di Gioia, Anthony; Di Marco, Mariacristina; Pagano, Nico; Serra, Carla; Calculli, Lucia; Santini, Donatella; Minni, Francesco

2016-09-01

Total pancreatectomy is actually considered a viable option in selected patients even if large comparative studies between partial versus total pancreatectomy are not currently available. Our aim was to evaluate whether total pancreatectomy can be considered as feasible, safe, efficacious, and cost-effective as pancreaticoduodenectomy. A single center, prospective, observational trial, regarding postoperative outcomes, long-term results, and cost-effectiveness, in a tertiary referral center was conducted, comparing consecutive patients who underwent elective total pancreatectomy and/or pancreaticoduodenectomy. Seventy-three consecutive elective total pancreatectomies and 184 pancreaticoduodenectomies were compared. There were no significant differences regarding postoperative outcomes and overall survival. The quality of life, evaluated in 119 patients according to the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, showed that there were no significant differences regarding the five items considered. The mean EQ-5D-5L score was similar in the two procedures (total pancreatectomy = 0.872, range 0.345-1.000; pancreaticoduodenectomy = 0.832, range 0.393-1.000; P = 0.320). The impact of diabetes according to the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) questionnaire did not show any significant differences except for question 13 (total pancreatectomy = 0.60; pancreaticoduodenectomy = 0.19; P = 0.022). The cost-effectiveness analysis suggested that the quality-adjusted life year was not significantly different between the two procedures (total pancreatectomy = 0.910, range 0.345-1.000; pancreaticoduodenectomy = 0.910, range -0.393-1.000; P = 0.320). From this study, it seems reasonable to suggest that total pancreatectomy can be considered as safe, feasible, and efficacious as PD and acceptable in terms of cost-effectiveness.

Development of low-cost silicon crystal growth techniques for terrestrial photovoltaic solar energy conversion

Science.gov (United States)

Zoutendyk, J. A.

1976-01-01

Because of the growing need for new sources of electrical energy, photovoltaic solar energy conversion is being developed. Photovoltaic devices are now being produced mainly from silicon wafers obtained from the slicing and polishing of cylindrically shaped single crystal ingots. Inherently high-cost processes now being used must either be eliminated or modified to provide low-cost crystalline silicon. Basic to this pursuit is the development of new or modified methods of crystal growth and, if necessary, crystal cutting. If silicon could be grown in a form requiring no cutting, a significant cost saving would potentially be realized. Therefore, several techniques for growth in the form of ribbons or sheets are being explored. In addition, novel techniques for low-cost ingot growth and cutting are under investigation.

Assessment of the irrigation feasibility of low-cost filtered municipal wastewater for red amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L cv. Surma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gokul Chandra Biswas

2015-09-01

.14%. The healthy plants/pot ratio (93.62% was significantly higher for T5, even higher than the control (85.19%. Additionally, the average plant height for T5 (8.097 in. was statistically identical to the control (8.633 in.. The average number of leaves for T5 (10 was near to the control (12. Finally, the minimum amount of heavy metals accumulated in the plants of T5, whereas the maximum accumulation rate varied among treatments. The accumulated levels of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn were within the safe limit; however, the concentrations of Pb and As exceeded their safe limits. The results showed that the low-cost filtration method potentially allows municipal wastewater to be used in irrigation for agricultural production.

Lab-on-Blu-ray: Low-cost analyte detection on a disk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Donolato, Marco; Antunes, Paula Soares Martins; Burger, Robert

2014-01-01

In this work, we present for the first time a centrifugal microfluidic system for the detection of analytes in blood using a low cost (< 10$) blu-ray pickup head for detection. The microfluidic operations are carried out on a disk, while the detection method is based on optical measurements of th...

Low-cost, low-weight CNG cylinder development. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Richards, Mark E.; Melford, K.; Wong, J.; Gambone, L.

1999-09-01

This program was established to develop and commercialize new high-strength steel-lined, composite hoop-wrapped compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinders for vehicular applications. As much as 70% of the cost of natural gas vehicles can be related to on-board natural gas storage costs. The cost and weight targets for this program represent significant savings in each characteristic when compared to comparable containers available at the initiation of the program. The program objectives were to optimize specific weight and cost goals, yielding CNG cylinders with dimensions that should, allowing for minor modifications, satisfy several vehicle market segments. The optimization process encompassed material, design, and process improvement. In optimizing the CNG cylinder design, due consideration was given to safety aspects relative to national, international, and vehicle manufacturer cylinder standards and requirements. The report details the design and development effort, encompassing plant modifications, material selection, design issues, tooling development, prototype development, and prototype testing. Extenuating circumstances prevented the immediate commercialization of the cylinder designs, though significant progress was made towards improving the cost and performance of CNG cylinders. A new low-cost fiber was successfully employed while the weight target was met and the cost target was missed by less than seven percent.

Low-cost uncooled VOx infrared camera development

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chuan; Han, C. J.; Skidmore, George D.; Cook, Grady; Kubala, Kenny; Bates, Robert; Temple, Dorota; Lannon, John; Hilton, Allan; Glukh, Konstantin; Hardy, Busbee

2013-06-01

The DRS Tamarisk® 320 camera, introduced in 2011, is a low cost commercial camera based on the 17 µm pixel pitch 320×240 VOx microbolometer technology. A higher resolution 17 µm pixel pitch 640×480 Tamarisk®640 has also been developed and is now in production serving the commercial markets. Recently, under the DARPA sponsored Low Cost Thermal Imager-Manufacturing (LCTI-M) program and internal project, DRS is leading a team of industrial experts from FiveFocal, RTI International and MEMSCAP to develop a small form factor uncooled infrared camera for the military and commercial markets. The objective of the DARPA LCTI-M program is to develop a low SWaP camera (costs less than US $500 based on a 10,000 units per month production rate. To meet this challenge, DRS is developing several innovative technologies including a small pixel pitch 640×512 VOx uncooled detector, an advanced digital ROIC and low power miniature camera electronics. In addition, DRS and its partners are developing innovative manufacturing processes to reduce production cycle time and costs including wafer scale optic and vacuum packaging manufacturing and a 3-dimensional integrated camera assembly. This paper provides an overview of the DRS Tamarisk® project and LCTI-M related uncooled technology development activities. Highlights of recent progress and challenges will also be discussed. It should be noted that BAE Systems and Raytheon Vision Systems are also participants of the DARPA LCTI-M program.

A safe and efficient method to retrieve mesenchymal stem cells from three-dimensional fibrin gels.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrion, Bita; Janson, Isaac A; Kong, Yen P; Putnam, Andrew J

2014-03-01

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) display multipotent characteristics that make them ideal for potential therapeutic applications. MSCs are typically cultured as monolayers on tissue culture plastic, but there is increasing evidence suggesting that they may lose their multipotency over time in vitro and eventually cease to retain any resemblance to in vivo resident MSCs. Three-dimensional (3D) culture systems that more closely recapitulate the physiological environment of MSCs and other cell types are increasingly explored for their capacity to support and maintain the cell phenotypes. In much of our own work, we have utilized fibrin, a natural protein-based material that serves as the provisional extracellular matrix during wound healing. Fibrin has proven to be useful in numerous tissue engineering applications and has been used clinically as a hemostatic material. Its rapid self-assembly driven by thrombin-mediated alteration of fibrinogen makes fibrin an attractive 3D substrate, in which cells can adhere, spread, proliferate, and undergo complex morphogenetic programs. However, there is a significant need for simple cost-effective methods to safely retrieve cells encapsulated within fibrin hydrogels to perform additional analyses or use the cells for therapy. Here, we present a safe and efficient protocol for the isolation of MSCs from 3D fibrin gels. The key ingredient of our successful extraction method is nattokinase, a serine protease of the subtilisin family that has a strong fibrinolytic activity. Our data show that MSCs recovered from 3D fibrin gels using nattokinase are not only viable but also retain their proliferative and multilineage potentials. Demonstrated for MSCs, this method can be readily adapted to retrieve any other cell type from 3D fibrin gel constructs for various applications, including expansion, bioassays, and in vivo implantation.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING METHOD IN DETERMINING SELLING PRICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhtarudin Muhtarudin

2017-08-01

-Based Costing method. After applying the latter cost determining the method there turned out to be a significant difference in the shoe production cost resulted from the inaccurate price calculation in the former method, as here a selling price is fixed by marking-up efforts aiming to cover the production cost. Determining a selling price in this way causes the selling price to be too low; thus it cannot optimize the profit. Keywords: Activity-Based Costing; Production Cost; Selling Price

Low-Cost Solar Water Heating Research and Development Roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hudon, K.; Merrigan, T.; Burch, J.; Maguire, J.

2012-08-01

The market environment for solar water heating technology has changed substantially with the successful introduction of heat pump water heaters (HPWHs). The addition of this energy-efficient technology to the market increases direct competition with solar water heaters (SWHs) for available energy savings. It is therefore essential to understand which segment of the market is best suited for HPWHs and focus the development of innovative, low-cost SWHs in the market segment where the largest opportunities exist. To evaluate cost and performance tradeoffs between high performance hot water heating systems, annual energy simulations were run using the program, TRNSYS, and analysis was performed to compare the energy savings associated with HPWH and SWH technologies to conventional methods of water heating.

Scalable Light Module for Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Light- Emitting Diode Luminaires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tarsa, Eric [Cree, Inc., Goleta, CA (United States)

2015-08-31

During this two-year program Cree developed a scalable, modular optical architecture for low-cost, high-efficacy light emitting diode (LED) luminaires. Stated simply, the goal of this architecture was to efficiently and cost-effectively convey light from LEDs (point sources) to broad luminaire surfaces (area sources). By simultaneously developing warm-white LED components and low-cost, scalable optical elements, a high system optical efficiency resulted. To meet program goals, Cree evaluated novel approaches to improve LED component efficacy at high color quality while not sacrificing LED optical efficiency relative to conventional packages. Meanwhile, efficiently coupling light from LEDs into modular optical elements, followed by optimally distributing and extracting this light, were challenges that were addressed via novel optical design coupled with frequent experimental evaluations. Minimizing luminaire bill of materials and assembly costs were two guiding principles for all design work, in the effort to achieve luminaires with significantly lower normalized cost ($/klm) than existing LED fixtures. Chief project accomplishments included the achievement of >150 lm/W warm-white LEDs having primary optics compatible with low-cost modular optical elements. In addition, a prototype Light Module optical efficiency of over 90% was measured, demonstrating the potential of this scalable architecture for ultra-high-efficacy LED luminaires. Since the project ended, Cree has continued to evaluate optical element fabrication and assembly methods in an effort to rapidly transfer this scalable, cost-effective technology to Cree production development groups. The Light Module concept is likely to make a strong contribution to the development of new cost-effective, high-efficacy luminaries, thereby accelerating widespread adoption of energy-saving SSL in the U.S.

Low-cost ultra-wide genotyping using Roche/454 pyrosequencing for surveillance of HIV drug resistance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawn M Dudley

Full Text Available Great efforts have been made to increase accessibility of HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART in low and middle-income countries. The threat of wide-scale emergence of drug resistance could severely hamper ART scale-up efforts. Population-based surveillance of transmitted HIV drug resistance ensures the use of appropriate first-line regimens to maximize efficacy of ART programs where drug options are limited. However, traditional HIV genotyping is extremely expensive, providing a cost barrier to wide-scale and frequent HIV drug resistance surveillance.We have developed a low-cost laboratory-scale next-generation sequencing-based genotyping method to monitor drug resistance. We designed primers specifically to amplify protease and reverse transcriptase from Brazilian HIV subtypes and developed a multiplexing scheme using multiplex identifier tags to minimize cost while providing more robust data than traditional genotyping techniques. Using this approach, we characterized drug resistance from plasma in 81 HIV infected individuals collected in São Paulo, Brazil. We describe the complexities of analyzing next-generation sequencing data and present a simplified open-source workflow to analyze drug resistance data. From this data, we identified drug resistance mutations in 20% of treatment naïve individuals in our cohort, which is similar to frequencies identified using traditional genotyping in Brazilian patient samples.The developed ultra-wide sequencing approach described here allows multiplexing of at least 48 patient samples per sequencing run, 4 times more than the current genotyping method. This method is also 4-fold more sensitive (5% minimal detection frequency vs. 20% at a cost 3-5× less than the traditional Sanger-based genotyping method. Lastly, by using a benchtop next-generation sequencer (Roche/454 GS Junior, this approach can be more easily implemented in low-resource settings. This data provides proof-of-concept that next

A safe inexpensive method to isolate high quality plant and fungal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The most commonly used plant DNA isolation methods use toxic and hazardous chemicals (phenol, chloroform), which require special equipment to minimize exposure and may limit their use in certain environments. Commercial DNA extraction kits are convenient and usually safe, but their availability to certain developing ...

Novel Technique for Safe Primary Trocar Insertion in Laparoscopy: Chou's Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pan-Hsin Chou

2005-06-01

Conclusion: The results with this novel method incorporating the unique concept of directly holding the fascia suggest it to be relatively safe, simple, and economic. The risk of major vascular injury was decreased to nil by this technique and the chance of visceral injury was also minimal.

Activity – based costing method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Èuchranová Katarína

2001-06-01

Full Text Available Activity based costing is a method of identifying and tracking the operating costs directly associated with processing items. It is the practice of focusing on some unit of output, such as a purchase order or an assembled automobile and attempting to determine its total as precisely as poccible based on the fixed and variable costs of the inputs.You use ABC to identify, quantify and analyze the various cost drivers (such as labor, materials, administrative overhead, rework. and to determine which ones are candidates for reduction.A processes any activity that accepts inputs, adds value to these inputs for customers and produces outputs for these customers. The customer may be either internal or external to the organization. Every activity within an organization comprimes one or more processes. Inputs, controls and resources are all supplied to the process.A process owner is the person responsible for performing and or controlling the activity.The direction of cost through their contact to partial activity and processes is a new modern theme today. Beginning of this method is connected with very important changes in the firm processes.ABC method is a instrument , that bring a competitive advantages for the firm.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

Science.gov (United States)

Kopardekar, Parimal H.

2016-01-01

Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) Enabling Civilian Low-Altitude Airspace and Unmanned Aircraft System Operations What is the problem? Many beneficial civilian applications of UAS have been proposed, from goods delivery and infrastructure surveillance, to search and rescue, and agricultural monitoring. Currently, there is no established infrastructure to enable and safely manage the widespread use of low-altitude airspace and UAS operations, regardless of the type of UAS. A UAS traffic management (UTM) system for low-altitude airspace may be needed, perhaps leveraging concepts from the system of roads, lanes, stop signs, rules and lights that govern vehicles on the ground today, whether the vehicles are driven by humans or are automated. What system technologies is NASA exploring? Building on its legacy of work in air traffic management for crewed aircraft, NASA is researching prototype technologies for a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system that could develop airspace integration requirements for enabling safe, efficient low-altitude operations. While incorporating lessons learned from the today's well-established air traffic management system, which was a response that grew out of a mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon in the early days of commercial aviation, the UTM system would enable safe and efficient low-altitude airspace operations by providing services such as airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, severe weather and wind avoidance, congestion management, terrain avoidance, route planning and re-routing, separation management, sequencing and spacing, and contingency management. One of the attributes of the UTM system is that it would not require human operators to monitor every vehicle continuously. The system could provide to human managers the data to make strategic decisions related to initiation, continuation, and termination of airspace operations. This approach would ensure that only authenticated UAS could operate

Developing methods of controlling quality costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gorbunova A. V.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines issues of managing quality costs, problems of applying economic methods of quality control, implementation of progressive methods of quality costs management in enterprises with the view of improving the efficiency of their evaluation and analysis. With the aim of increasing the effectiveness of the cost management mechanism, authors introduce controlling as a tool of deviation analysis from the standpoint of the process approach. A list of processes and corresponding evaluation criteria in the quality management system of enterprises is introduced. Authors also introduce the method of controlling quality costs and propose it for the practical application, which allows them to determine useful and unnecessary costs at the existing operating plant. Implementing the proposed recommendations in the system of cost management at an enterprise will allow to improve productivity of processes operating and reduce wasted expense on the quality of the process on the basis of determining values of useful and useless costs of quality according to criteria of processes functioning in the system of quality management.

Application of the Activity-Based Costing Method for Unit-Cost Calculation in a Hospital

Science.gov (United States)

Javid, Mahdi; Hadian, Mohammad; Ghaderi, Hossein; Ghaffari, Shahram; Salehi, Masoud

2016-01-01

Background: Choosing an appropriate accounting system for hospital has always been a challenge for hospital managers. Traditional cost system (TCS) causes cost distortions in hospital. Activity-based costing (ABC) method is a new and more effective cost system. Objective: This study aimed to compare ABC with TCS method in calculating the unit cost of medical services and to assess its applicability in Kashani Hospital, Shahrekord City, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on accounting data of Kashani Hospital in 2013. Data on accounting reports of 2012 and other relevant sources at the end of 2012 were included. To apply ABC method, the hospital was divided into several cost centers and five cost categories were defined: wage, equipment, space, material, and overhead costs. Then activity centers were defined. ABC method was performed into two phases. First, the total costs of cost centers were assigned to activities by using related cost factors. Then the costs of activities were divided to cost objects by using cost drivers. After determining the cost of objects, the cost price of medical services was calculated and compared with those obtained from TCS. Results: The Kashani Hospital had 81 physicians, 306 nurses, and 328 beds with the mean occupancy rate of 67.4% during 2012. Unit cost of medical services, cost price of occupancy bed per day, and cost per outpatient service were calculated. The total unit costs by ABC and TCS were respectively 187.95 and 137.70 USD, showing 50.34 USD more unit cost by ABC method. ABC method represented more accurate information on the major cost components. Conclusion: By utilizing ABC, hospital managers have a valuable accounting system that provides a true insight into the organizational costs of their department. PMID:26234974

Efficacy of Low-Cost PC-Based Aviation Training Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savern l Reweti

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore whether a full cost flight training device (FTD was significantly better for simulator training than a low cost PC-Based Aviation Training Device (PCATD. Background: A quasi-transfer study was undertaken to ascertain whether a Civil Aviation Authority certified Flight Training Device (FTD was more effective at improving pilot proficiency in the performance of a standard VFR traffic pattern (Overhead Rejoin Procedure than a customised low cost PCATD. Methodology: In this quasi-transfer study, a high fidelity FTD rather than an aircraft was used to test both training and transfer tasks. Ninety-three pilots were recruited to participate in the study. Contribution: The use of PCATDs is now well established for pilot training, especially for Instrument Flight Rules (IFR skills training. However, little substantive research has been undertaken to examine their efficacy for VFR training. Findings: There was no evidence of a pre-test/post-test difference in VFR task perfor-mance between participants trained on the PCATD and the FTD, when post tested on the FTD. The use of both PCATD and FTD demonstrated signifi-cant improvements in VFR task performance compared to a control group that received no PCATD or FTD training. Recommendations for Practitioners\t: We discuss the possibility that low cost PCATDs may be a viable alternative for flight schools wishing to use a flight simulator but not able to afford a FTD. Recommendation for Researchers: We discuss the introduction of improved low cost technologies that allow PCATDs to be used more effectively for training in VFR procedures. The development and testing of new technologies requires more research. Impact on Society: Flight training schools operate in a difficult economic environment with continued increases in the cost of aircraft maintenance, compliance costs, and aviation fuel. The increased utilisation of low cost PCATD’s especially for VFR

Development of a Practical Costing Method for Hospitals

OpenAIRE

Cao, Pengyu; Toyabe, Shin-ichi; Akazawa, Kouhei

2006-01-01

To realize an effective cost control, a practical and accurate cost accounting system is indispensable in hospitals. In traditional cost accounting systems, the volume-based costing (VBC) is the most popular cost accounting method. In this method, the indirect costs are allocated to each cost object (services or units of a hospital) using a single indicator named a cost driver (e.g., Labor hours, revenues or the number of patients). However, this method often results in rough and inaccurate r...

The Reliability, Impact, and Cost-Effectiveness of Value-Added Teacher Assessment Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, Stuart S.

2012-01-01

This article reviews evidence regarding the intertemporal reliability of teacher rankings based on value-added methods. Value-added methods exhibit low reliability, yet are broadly supported by prominent educational researchers and are increasingly being used to evaluate and fire teachers. The article then presents a cost-effectiveness analysis…

Applying Activity Based Costing (ABC) Method to Calculate Cost Price in Hospital and Remedy Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajabi, A; Dabiri, A

2012-01-01

Activity Based Costing (ABC) is one of the new methods began appearing as a costing methodology in the 1990's. It calculates cost price by determining the usage of resources. In this study, ABC method was used for calculating cost price of remedial services in hospitals. To apply ABC method, Shahid Faghihi Hospital was selected. First, hospital units were divided into three main departments: administrative, diagnostic, and hospitalized. Second, activity centers were defined by the activity analysis method. Third, costs of administrative activity centers were allocated into diagnostic and operational departments based on the cost driver. Finally, with regard to the usage of cost objectives from services of activity centers, the cost price of medical services was calculated. The cost price from ABC method significantly differs from tariff method. In addition, high amount of indirect costs in the hospital indicates that capacities of resources are not used properly. Cost price of remedial services with tariff method is not properly calculated when compared with ABC method. ABC calculates cost price by applying suitable mechanisms but tariff method is based on the fixed price. In addition, ABC represents useful information about the amount and combination of cost price services.

Solidification as low cost technology prior to land filling of industrial hazardous waste sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Sebaie, O; Ahmed, M; Ramadan, M

2000-01-01

The aim of this study is to stabilize and solidify two different treated industrial hazardous waste sludges, which were selected from factories situated close to Alexandria. They were selected to ensure their safe transportation and landfill disposal by reducing their potential leaching of hazardous elements, which represent significant threat to the environment, especially the quality of underground water. The selected waste sludges have been characterized. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Cement Kiln Dust (CKD) from Alexandria Portland Cement Company, and Calcium Sulphate as a by-product from the dye industry were used as potential solidification additives to treat the selected treated waste sludges from tanning and dyes industry. Waste sludges as well as the solidified wastes have been leach-tested, using the General Acid Neutralization Capacity (GANC) procedure. Concentration of concerning metals in the leachates was determined to assess changes in the mobility of major contaminants. The treated tannery waste sludge has an acid neutralization capacity much higher than that of the treated dyes waste sludge. Experiment results demonstrated the industrial waste sludge solidification mix designs, and presented the reduction of contaminant leaching from two types of waste sludges. The main advantages of solidification are that it is simple and low cost processing which includes readily available low cost solidification additives that will convert industrial hazardous waste sludges into inert materials.

Low-cost automatic activity data recording system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moraes M.F.D.

1997-01-01

Full Text Available We describe a low-cost, high quality device capable of monitoring indirect activity by detecting touch-release events on a conducting surface, i.e., the animal's cage cover. In addition to the detecting sensor itself, the system includes an IBM PC interface for prompt data storage. The hardware/software design, while serving for other purposes, is used to record the circadian activity rhythm pattern of rats with time in an automated computerized fashion using minimal cost computer equipment (IBM PC XT. Once the sensor detects a touch-release action of the rat in the upper portion of the cage, the interface sends a command to the PC which records the time (hours-minutes-seconds when the activity occurred. As a result, the computer builds up several files (one per detector/sensor containing a time list of all recorded events. Data can be visualized in terms of actograms, indicating the number of detections per hour, and analyzed by mathematical tools such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT or cosinor. In order to demonstrate method validation, an experiment was conducted on 8 Wistar rats under 12/12-h light/dark cycle conditions (lights on at 7:00 a.m.. Results show a biological validation of the method since it detected the presence of circadian activity rhythm patterns in the behavior of the rats

Low-cost, highly transparent flexible low-e coating film to enable electrochromic windows with increased energy savings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berland, Brian [ITN Energy Systems, Inc., Littleton, CO (United States); Hollingsworth, Russell [ITN Energy Systems, Inc., Littleton, CO (United States)

2015-03-31

Five Quads of energy are lost through windows annually in the U.S. Low-e coatings are increasingly employed to reduce the wasted energy. Most commonly, the low-e coating is an oxide material applied directly to the glass at high temperature. With over 100,000,000 existing homes, a retrofit product is crucial to achieve widespread energy savings. Low-e films, i.e. coatings on polymeric substrates, are now also available to meet this need. However, the traditional oxide materials and process is incompatible with low temperature plastics. Alternate high performing low-e films typically incorporate materials that limit visible transmission to 35% or less. Further, the cost is high. The objective of this award was to develop a retrofit, integrated low-e/electrochromic window film to dramatically reduce energy lost through windows. While field testing of state-of-the-art electrochromic (EC) windows show the energy savings are maximized if a low-e coating is used in conjunction with the EC, available low-e films have a low visible transmission (~70% or less) that limits the achievable clear state and therefore, appearance and energy savings potential. Comprehensive energy savings models were completed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). A parametric approach was used to project energy usage for windows with a large range of low-e properties across all U.S. climate zones, without limiting the study to materials that had already been produced commercially or made in a lab. The model enables projection of energy savings for low-e films as well as integrated low-e/EC products. This project developed a novel low-e film, optimized for compatibility with EC windows, using low temperature, high deposition rate processes for the growth of low-e coatings on plastic films by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Silica films with good density and optical properties were demonstrated at deposition rates as high as 130Å/sec. A simple bi-layer low-e stack of

A Low-Cost Data Acquisition System for Automobile Dynamics Applications

Science.gov (United States)

González, Alejandro; Vinolas, Jordi

2018-01-01

This project addresses the need for the implementation of low-cost acquisition technology in the field of vehicle engineering: the design, development, manufacture, and verification of a low-cost Arduino-based data acquisition platform to be used in project costs to be reduced and thus facilitating access to this kind of research that requires limited resources. PMID:29382039

Application of the Activity-Based Costing Method for Unit-Cost Calculation in a Hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Javid, Mahdi; Hadian, Mohammad; Ghaderi, Hossein; Ghaffari, Shahram; Salehi, Masoud

2015-05-17

Choosing an appropriate accounting system for hospital has always been a challenge for hospital managers. Traditional cost system (TCS) causes cost distortions in hospital. Activity-based costing (ABC) method is a new and more effective cost system. This study aimed to compare ABC with TCS method in calculating the unit cost of medical services and to assess its applicability in Kashani Hospital, Shahrekord City, Iran.‎ This cross-sectional study was performed on accounting data of Kashani Hospital in 2013. Data on accounting reports of 2012 and other relevant sources at the end of 2012 were included. To apply ABC method, the hospital was divided into several cost centers and five cost categories were defined: wage, equipment, space, material, and overhead costs. Then activity centers were defined. ABC method was performed into two phases. First, the total costs of cost centers were assigned to activities by using related cost factors. Then the costs of activities were divided to cost objects by using cost drivers. After determining the cost of objects, the cost price of medical services was calculated and compared with those obtained from TCS.‎ The Kashani Hospital had 81 physicians, 306 nurses, and 328 beds with the mean occupancy rate of 67.4% during 2012. Unit cost of medical services, cost price of occupancy bed per day, and cost per outpatient service were calculated. The total unit costs by ABC and TCS were respectively 187.95 and 137.70 USD, showing 50.34 USD more unit cost by ABC method. ABC method represented more accurate information on the major cost components. By utilizing ABC, hospital managers have a valuable accounting system that provides a true insight into the organizational costs of their department.

Low-cost solar array structure development

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, A. H.

1981-06-01

Early studies of flat-plate arrays have projected costs on the order of $50/square meter for installed array support structures. This report describes an optimized low-cost frame-truss structure that is estimated to cost below $25/square meter, including all markups, shipping an installation. The structure utilizes a planar frame made of members formed from light-gauge galvanized steel sheet and is supposed in the field by treated-wood trusses that are partially buried in trenches. The buried trusses use the overburden soil to carry uplift wind loads and thus to obviate reinforced-concrete foundations. Details of the concept, including design rationale, fabrication and assembly experience, structural testing and fabrication drawings are included.

A Low-Cost, Precision Hydrometer for Classroom Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Michael D.

1983-01-01

Describes a low cost hydrometer which can be assembled by students using stock laboratory items with a total retail cost of 17 cents. Includes list of required materials (with supplies) and experimental results on the instrument's accuracy. (JM)

Low-cost safety enhancements for stop-controlled and signalized intersections

Science.gov (United States)

2009-05-01

The purpose of this document is to present information on suggested effective, low-cost intersection countermeasures developed using intersection safety research results and input from an intersection safety expert panel. These low-cost countermeasur...

Testing low cost anaerobic digestion (AD) systems

Science.gov (United States)

To evaluate the potential for low technology and low cost digesters for small dairies, BARC and researchers from the University of Maryland installed six modified Taiwanese-model field-scale (FS) digesters near the original dairy manure digester. The FS units receive the same post-separated liquid ...

Use of Low-Cost Methods of Soil Erosion Control In Kisii District, South Western kenya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nzabi, A.W; Makini, F; Onyango, M; Mureithi, J.G

1999-01-01

Kisii District has a topography of undulating hills and is prone to severe soil erosion. The average rainfall is 1900 mm and occurs in biomodal pattern. During a participatory appraisal survey in 1995, farmers indicated that soil erosion in the area had contributed to decline in soil fertility resulting in low crop yields. To address this problem, an on-farm trial was conducted in 1996 at Nyamonyo village to test the effectiveness of four low cost methods of controlling soil erosion. These included maize stover trash line, sweet potatoes,Penicum maximum var. Makarikari grass strip and vetiveria zizanioides (Vertiver) grass strip. A treatment without soil erosion control measure was included. The trial was planted in three farms which acted as replicates. The treatments were planted in runoff plots measuring 4 x 2 m in which had a maize crop were laid down in a randomized complete block design. Surface runoff and eroded soils were collected in 50-l buckets. The experimental site had a slope ranging from 16 to 35%. Preliminary results indicated that maize stover trash line and sweet potato strips were more effective in controlling soil erosion than the grass strips. As the season progressed the grass strips became increasingly more effective in erosion control. The trail is still continuing but results indicate that for short term soil erosion control, maize stover trash lines and sweet potatoes are more effective while Makarikari and Vertiver grass strips are promising as long term soil erosion control measure

Solution-deposited CIGS thin films for ultra-low-cost photovoltaics

Science.gov (United States)

Eldada, Louay A.; Hersh, Peter; Stanbery, Billy J.

2010-09-01

We describe the production of photovoltaic modules with high-quality large-grain copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin films obtained with the unique combination of low-cost ink-based precursors and a reactive transfer printing method. The proprietary metal-organic inks contain a variety of soluble Cu-, In- and Ga- multinary selenide materials; they are called metal-organic decomposition (MOD) precursors, as they are designed to decompose into the desired precursors. Reactive transfer is a two-stage process that produces CIGS through the chemical reaction between two separate precursor films, one deposited on the substrate and the other on a printing plate in the first stage. In the second stage, these precursors are rapidly reacted together under pressure in the presence of heat. The use of two independent thin films provides the benefits of independent composition and flexible deposition technique optimization, and eliminates pre-reaction prior to the synthesis of CIGS. In a few minutes, the process produces high quality CIGS films, with large grains on the order of several microns, and preferred crystallographic orientation, as confirmed by compositional and structural analysis by XRF, SIMS, SEM and XRD. Cell efficiencies of 14% and module efficiencies of 12% were achieved using this method. The atmospheric deposition processes include slot die extrusion coating, ultrasonic atomization spraying, pneumatic atomization spraying, inkjet printing, direct writing, and screen printing, and provide low capital equipment cost, low thermal budget, and high throughput.

Trifluoromethanesulfonic Anhydride as a Low-Cost and Versatile Trifluoromethylation Reagent.

Science.gov (United States)

Ouyang, Yao; Xu, Xiu-Hua; Qing, Feng-Ling

2018-04-19

A large number of reagents have been developed for the synthesis of trifluoromethylated compounds. However, an ongoing challenge in trifluoromethylation reaction is the use of less expensive and practical trifluoromethyl sources. We report herein the unprecedented direct trifluoromethylation of (hetero)arenes using trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride as a radical trifluoromethylation reagent by merging photoredox catalysis and pyridine activation. Furthermore, introduction of both the CF 3 and OTf groups of the trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride into internal alkynes to access tetrasubstituted trifluoromethylated alkenes was achieved. Since trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride is a low-cost and abundant chemical, this method provides a cost-efficient and practical route to trifluoromethylated compounds. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Technology for low cost solid rocket boosters.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciepluch, C.

1971-01-01

A review of low cost large solid rocket motors developed at the Lewis Research Center is given. An estimate is made of the total cost reduction obtainable by incorporating this new technology package into the rocket motor design. The propellant, case material, insulation, nozzle ablatives, and thrust vector control are discussed. The effect of the new technology on motor cost is calculated for a typical expandable 260-in. booster application. Included in the cost analysis is the influence of motor performance variations due to specific impulse and weight changes. It is found for this application that motor costs may be reduced by up to 30% and that the economic attractiveness of future large solid rocket motors will be improved when the new technology is implemented.

Low Cost Processing of Commingled Thermoplastic Composites

Science.gov (United States)

Chiasson, Matthew Lee

A low cost vacuum consolidation process has been investigated for use with commingled thermoplastic matrix composites. In particular, the vacuum consolidation behaviour of commingled polypropylene/glass fibre and commingled nylon/carbon fibre precursors were studied. Laminates were consolidated in a convection oven under vacuum pressure. During processing, the consolidation of the laminate packs was measured by use of non-contact eddy current sensors. The consolidation curves are then used to tune an empirical consolidation model. The overall quality of the resulting laminates is also discussed. Dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and mechanical tensile testing were also performed in order to determine the effects of varying processing parameters on the physical and mechanical properties of the laminates. Through this analysis, it was determined that the nylon/carbon fibre blend was not suitable for vacuum consolidation, while the polypropylene/glass fibre blend is a viable option for vacuum consolidation. The ultimate goal of this work is to provide a foundation from which low cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) components can be designed and manufactured from thermoplastic matrix composites using a low cost processing technique as an alternative to traditional thermoset composite materials.

Developing methods of controlling quality costs

OpenAIRE

Gorbunova A. V.; Maximova O. N.; Ekova V. A.

2017-01-01

The article examines issues of managing quality costs, problems of applying economic methods of quality control, implementation of progressive methods of quality costs management in enterprises with the view of improving the efficiency of their evaluation and analysis. With the aim of increasing the effectiveness of the cost management mechanism, authors introduce controlling as a tool of deviation analysis from the standpoint of the process approach. A list of processes and corresponding eva...

SELF-ASSEMBLED ROV AND PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SURVEYS WITH LOW COST TECHNIQUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Costa

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In last years, ROVs, have been employed to explore underwater environments and have played an important role for documentation and surveys in different fields of scientific application. In 2017, the Laboratorio di Fotogrammetria of Iuav University of Venice has decided to buy an OpenRov, a low cost ROV that could be assembled by ourselves to add some external components for our necessities, to document archaeological sites. The paper is related to the photogrammetric survey for the documentation of underwater environments and to the comparison between different solutions applied on a case studio, five marble columns on a sandy bottom at 5 meters deep. On the lateral sides of the ROV, we have applied two GoPro Hero4 Session, which have documented the items both with a series of images and with a video. The geometric accuracy of the obtained 3D model has been evaluated through comparison with a photogrammetric model realized with a professional reflex camera, Nikon D610. Some targets have been topographically surveyed with a trilateration and have been used to connected in the same reference system the different models, allowing the comparisons of the point clouds. Remote Operating Vehicles offer not only safety for their operators, but are also a relatively low cost alternative. The employment of a low-cost vehicle adapted to the necessities of surveys support a request for safer, cheaper and efficient methods for exploring underwater environments.

Mucuna pruriens for Parkinson's disease: Low-cost preparation method, laboratory measures and pharmacokinetics profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassani, Erica; Cilia, Roberto; Laguna, Janeth; Barichella, Michela; Contin, Manuela; Cereda, Emanuele; Isaias, Ioannis U; Sparvoli, Francesca; Akpalu, Albert; Budu, Kwabena Ofosu; Scarpa, Maria Teresa; Pezzoli, Gianni

2016-06-15

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition. Levodopa (LD) is the gold standard therapy for PD patients. Most PD patients in low-income areas cannot afford long-term daily Levodopa therapy. The aim of our study was to investigate if Mucuna pruriens (MP), a legume with high LD content that grows in tropical regions worldwide, might be potential alternative for poor PD patients. We analyzed 25 samples of MP from Africa, Latin America and Asia. We measured the content in LD in various MP preparations (dried, roasted, boiled). LD pharmacokinetics and motor response were recorded in four PD patients, comparing MP vs. LD+Dopa-Decarboxylase Inhibitor (DDCI) formulations. Median LD concentration in dried MP seeds was 5.29%; similar results were obtained in roasted powder samples (5.3%), while boiling reduced LD content up to 70%. Compared to LD+DDCI, MP extract at similar LD dose provided less clinical benefit, with a 3.5-fold lower median AUC. Considering the lack of a DDCI, MP therapy may provide clinical benefit only when content of LD is at least 3.5-fold the standard LD+DDCI. If long-term MP proves to be safe and effective in controlled clinical trials, it may be a sustainable alternative therapy for PD in low-income countries. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The SafeCOP ECSEL Project: Safe Cooperating Cyber-Physical Systems Using Wireless Communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pop, Paul; Scholle, Detlef; Hansson, Hans

2016-01-01

This paper presents an overview of the ECSEL project entitled "Safe Cooperating Cyber-Physical Systems using Wireless Communication" (SafeCOP), which runs during the period 2016 -- 2019. SafeCOP targets safety-related Cooperating Cyber-Physical Systems (CO-CPS) characterised by use of wireless...... detection of abnormal behaviour, triggering if needed a safe degraded mode. SafeCOP will also develop methods and tools, which will be used to produce safety assurance evidence needed to certify cooperative functions. SafeCOP will extend current wireless technologies to ensure safe and secure cooperation...

Hybrid” airlines – Generating value between low-cost and traditional

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stoenescu Cristina

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Over the last years, the rise of low-cost airlines has determined significant changes in the airline industry and has shaped the evolution of the existing business models. Low-cost airlines started by offering basic services at very low prices; traditional airlines responded by equally cutting costs and reinventing the services offered, with an orientation towards braking down the fare and implementing add-ons, in order to become cost-efficient. As traditional airlines developed strategies to become competitive in this new environment, low-cost airlines started focusing on new ways of enhancing passenger experience and attracting new market segments. As a result, the fragmentation of the market segments addressed by low cost carriers and traditional airlines became less obvious and the characteristics of both business models started to blend at all levels (airline operation, distribution channels, loyalty programs, fleet selection. Thus, this new competition became the foundation of the development of a new „hybrid” carrier, between the low-cost and the traditional models. This article investigates the characteristics of the newly created business model, both from a theoretical perspective and by analysing several case studies. A particular attention will be granted to the evolution of the Romanian carrier Blue Air towards the “hybrid” model. The article focuses on determining the position of the “hybrid” airline in a market with carriers situated along both sides of this business model: lower cost vs. “better” experience and raises the question on how value can be generated in this context. Another aspect tackled is the understanding of the new segmentation of the market, as a consequence of the development of the new business model. In order to achieve this purpose, a survey has been conducted, aiming to mark out the travel preferences of the passengers travelling through the Henri Coandă International Airport.

Safe havens in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paldam, Martin

2013-01-01

Eleven safe havens exist in Europe providing offshore banking and low taxes. Ten of these states are very small while Switzerland is moderately small. All 11 countries are richer than their large neighbors. It is shown that causality is from small to safe haven to wealth, and that theoretically...... equilibriums are likely to exist where a certain regulation is substantially lower in a small country than in its big neighbor. This generates a large capital inflow to the safe havens. The pool of funds that may reach the safe havens is shown to be huge. It is far in excess of the absorptive capacity...... of the safe havens, but it still explains, why they are rich. Microstates offer a veil of anonymity to funds passing through, and Switzerland offers safe storage of funds....

Low-Mode Conformational Search Method with Semiempirical Quantum Mechanical Calculations: Application to Enantioselective Organocatalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamachi, Takashi; Yoshizawa, Kazunari

2016-02-22

A conformational search program for finding low-energy conformations of large noncovalent complexes has been developed. A quantitatively reliable semiempirical quantum mechanical PM6-DH+ method, which is able to accurately describe noncovalent interactions at a low computational cost, was employed in contrast to conventional conformational search programs in which molecular mechanical methods are usually adopted. Our approach is based on the low-mode method whereby an initial structure is perturbed along one of its low-mode eigenvectors to generate new conformations. This method was applied to determine the most stable conformation of transition state for enantioselective alkylation by the Maruoka and cinchona alkaloid catalysts and Hantzsch ester hydrogenation of imines by chiral phosphoric acid. Besides successfully reproducing the previously reported most stable DFT conformations, the conformational search with the semiempirical quantum mechanical calculations newly discovered a more stable conformation at a low computational cost.

SAFE-AXISYM, Stress Analysis of Axisymmetric Composite Structure by Finite Elements Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornell, D.C.

1967-01-01

1 - Nature of physical problem solved: SAFE-AXISYM is a program for the analysis of multi-material axisymmetric composite structures. It is designed for the analysis of heterogeneous structures such as reinforced and/or prestressed concrete vessels. The structure is assumed to be linearly elastic, and only bodies of revolution subjected to axisymmetric loading can be treated. 2 - Method of solution: SAFE-AXISYM uses a finite element method with a modified Gauss-Seidel iteration scheme. A reference grid subdivides the structure into ring-like small, finite elements, the vertices of which are called nodes. The grid may be generated by hand, by the computer or by a combination of the two methods. Each node has two degrees of freedom, translation in the and in the axial direction. Both zero and non-zero fixed displacement constraints may be assumed, and the loading condition may be mechanical and/or thermal. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Multi-material structures with varying rigidities converge very slowly. Not valid for incompressible materials. Maximum number of nodes = 475. Maximum number of elements = 1100

Cost-effectiveness of human papillomavirus vaccination in low and middle income countries: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Fesenfeld, Michaela; Hutubessy, Raymond; Jit, Mark

2013-08-20

The World Health Organization recommends establishing that human papillomavirus vaccination is cost-effective before vaccine introduction. We searched Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library to 1 April 2012 for economic evaluations of human papillomavirus vaccination in low and middle income countries. We found 25 articles, but almost all low income countries and many middle income countries lacked country-specific studies. Methods, assumptions and consequently results varied widely, even for studies conducted for the same country. Despite the heterogeneity, most studies conclude that vaccination is likely to be cost-effective and possibly even cost saving, particularly in settings without organized cervical screening programmes. However, study uncertainty could be reduced by clarity about vaccine prices and vaccine delivery costs. The review supports extending vaccination to low income settings where vaccine prices are competitive, donor funding is available, cervical cancer burden is high and screening options are limited. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Manufacturing of Low Cost, Durable Membrane Electrode Assemblies Engineered for Rapid Conditioning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Busby, Colin [W. L. Gore & Associates Inc., Newark, DE (United States)

2017-05-23

Over the past 20 years significant progress in membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) technology development for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) has resulted in the PEMFC technology approaching a commercial reality for transportation applications. However, there remain two primary technical challenges to be addressed in the MEA. First and foremost is meeting the automotive cost targets: Producing a fuel cell stack cost competitive with today’s internal combustion engine. In addition to the material cost, MEA (and other components) and stack assembly production methods must be amenable for use in low cost, high speed, automotive assembly line. One impediment to this latter goal is that stack components must currently go through a long and tedious conditioning procedure before they produce optimal power. This so-called “break-in” can take many hours, and can involve quite complex voltage, temperature and/or pressure steps. These break-in procedures must be simplified and the time required reduced if fuel cells are to become a viable automotive engine. The second challenge is to achieve the durability targets in real-world automotive duty cycle operations. Significant improvements in cost, break-in time, and durability for the key component of fuel cell stacks, MEAs were achieved in this project. Advanced modeling was used to guide design of the new MEA to maximize performance and durability. A new, innovative process and manufacturing approach utilizing direct in-line coating using scalable, cost-competitive, continuous high volume 3-layer rolled-good manufacturing processes was developed and validated by single cell and short stack testing. In addition, the direct coating methods employed were shown to reduce the cost for sacrificial films. Furthermore, Gore has demonstrated a 10 µm reinforced membrane that is used in the new low-cost process and can meet automotive power density and durability targets. Across a wide range of operating conditions, the

Contrast in low-cost operational concepts for orbiting satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Walyus, Keith D.; Reis, James; Bradley, Arthur J.

2002-12-01

Older spacecraft missions, especially those in low Earth orbit with telemetry intensive requirements, required round-the-clock control center staffing. The state of technology relied on control center personnel to continually examine data, make decisions, resolve anomalies, and file reports. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a prime example of this description. Technological advancements in hardware and software over the last decade have yielded increases in productivity and operational efficiency, which result in lower cost. The re-engineering effort of HST, which has recently concluded, utilized emerging technology to reduce cost and increase productivity. New missions, of which NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer Satellite (TRACE) is an example, have benefited from recent technological advancements and are more cost-effective than when HST was first launched. During its launch (1998) and early orbit phase, the TRACE Flight Operations Team (FOT) employed continually staffed operations. Yet once the mission entered its nominal phase, the FOT reduced their staffing to standard weekday business hours. Operations were still conducted at night and during the weekends, but these operations occurred autonomously without compromising their high standards for data collections. For the HST, which launched in 1990, reduced cost operations will employ a different operational concept, when the spacecraft enters its low-cost phase after its final servicing mission in 2004. Primarily due to the spacecraft"s design, the HST Project has determined that single-shift operations will introduce unacceptable risks for the amount of dollars saved. More importantly, significant cost-savings can still be achieved by changing the operational concept for the FOT, while still maintaining round-the-clock staffing. It"s important to note that the low-cost solutions obtained for one satellite may not be applicable for other satellites. This paper will contrast the differences between

Cost effectiveness of medical devices to diagnose pre-eclampsia in low-resource settings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoë M. McLaren

Full Text Available Background: Maternal mortality remains a major health challenge facing developing countries, with pre-eclampsia accounting for up to 17% of maternal deaths. Diagnosis requires skilled health providers and devices that are appropriate for low-resource settings. This study presents the first cost-effectiveness analysis of multiple medical devices used to diagnose pre-eclampsia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs. Methods: Blood pressure and proteinuria measurement devices, identified from compendia for LMICs, were included. We developed a decision tree framework to assess the cost-effectiveness of each device using parameter values that reflect the general standard of care based on a survey of relevant literature and expert opinion. We examined the sensitivity of our results using one-way and second-order probabilistic multivariate analyses. Results: Because the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs averted for each device were very similar, the results were influenced by the per-use cost ranking. The most cost-effective device combination was a semi-automatic blood pressure measurement device and visually read urine strip test with the lowest combined per-use cost of $0.2004 and an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of $93.6 per DALY gained relative to a baseline with no access to diagnostic devices. When access to treatment is limited, it is more cost-effective to improve access to treatment than to increase testing rates or diagnostic device sensitivity. Conclusions: Our findings were not sensitive to changes in device sensitivity, however they were sensitive to changes in the testing rate and treatment rate. Furthermore, our results suggest that simple devices are more cost-effective than complex devices. The results underscore the desirability of two design features for LMICs: ease of use and accuracy without calibration. Our findings have important implications for policy makers, health economists, health care providers and

Single-incision laparoscopic appendectomy using homemade glove port at low cost

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sang Myoung Lee

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of this study was to report homemade glove port technique for single-incision laparoscopic appendectomy (SILA. Materials and Methods: Our homemade glove port was composed of a size 6 latex sterile surgical glove, a sterilized plastic bangle, and three pieces of silicon tube (5 cm in length that were used as the suction tube. Clinical data were retrospectively collected from those patients who underwent SILA at Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital, Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea between February 2014 and June 2014, including patient demographics, and operative and postoperative outcomes. To compare the outcomes, a retrospective review was performed for those patients who underwent conventional laparoscopic appendectomy (CLA between October 2013 and January 2014. Both SILA and CLA were performed by the same surgical team. Results: The SILA and CLA groups included 37 and 57 patients, respectively. The mean age, weight, body mass index (BMI, operation time, and pathologic diagnosis of gangrenous appendicitis were not significantly different between the two groups. However, the mean hospital stay in the CLA group was significantly (P = 0.018 longer than that in the SILA group (4.2 days vs 3.5 days. There was no conversion to open surgery in both the groups. Of the cases who underwent SILA, 10 (27.0% needed insertion of additional port and drain. There was one (3.2% complication of umbilical surgical site infection. Conclusion: In this study, SILA, with homemade glove port, was technically feasible and safe at low cost.

Single-Phase Hybrid Switched Reluctance Motor for Low-Power Low-Cost Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, Kaiyuan; Rasmussen, Peter Omand; Jakobsen, Uffe

2011-01-01

This paper presents a new single-phase, Hybrid Switched Reluctance (HSR) motor for low-cost, low-power, pump or fan drive systems. Its single-phase configuration allows use of a simple converter to reduce the system cost. Cheap ferrite magnets are used and arranged in a special flux concentration...... manner to increase effectively the torque density and efficiency of this machine. The efficiency of this machine is comparable to the efficiency of a traditional permanent magnet machine in the similar power range. The cogging torque, due to the existence of the permanent magnetic field, is beneficially...

A complete low cost radon detection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayrak, A.; Barlas, E.; Emirhan, E.; Kutlu, Ç.; Ozben, C.S.

2013-01-01

Monitoring the 222 Rn activity through the 1200 km long Northern Anatolian fault line, for the purpose of earthquake precursory, requires large number of cost effective radon detectors. We have designed, produced and successfully tested a low cost radon detection system (a radon monitor). In the detector circuit of this monitor, First Sensor PS100-7-CER-2 windowless PIN photodiode and a custom made transempedence/shaping amplifier were used. In order to collect the naturally ionized radon progeny to the surface of the PIN photodiode, a potential of 3500 V was applied between the conductive hemi-spherical shell and the PIN photodiode. In addition to the count rate of the radon progeny, absolute pressure, humidity and temperature were logged during the measurements. A GSM modem was integrated to the system for transferring the measurements from the remote locations to the data process center. - Author-Highlights: • Low cost radon detection. • Integrated GSM modem for early warning of radon anomalies. • Radon detection in environment

Printable low-cost sensor systems for healthcare smart textiles

Science.gov (United States)

Rai, Pratyush; Kumar, Prashanth S.; Oh, Sechang; Kwon, Hyeokjun; Mathur, Gyanesh N.; Varadan, Vijay K.

2011-04-01

Smart textiles-based wearable health monitoring systems (ST-HMS) have been presented as elegant solutions to the requirements of individuals across a wide range of ages. They can be used to monitor young or elderly recuperating /convalescent patients either in hospital or at home, or they can be used by young athletes to monitor important physiological parameters to better design their training or fitness program. Business and academic interests, all over the world, have fueled a great deal of work in the development of this technology since 1990. However, two important impediments to the development of ST-HMS are:-integration of flexible electrodes, flexible sensors, signal conditioning circuits and data logging or wireless transmission devices into a seamless garment and a means to mass manufacture the same, while keeping the costs low. Roll-to-roll printing and screen printing are two low cost methods for large scale manufacturing on flexible substrates and can be extended to textiles as well. These two methods are, currently, best suited for planar structures. The sensors, integrated with wireless telemetry, facilitate development of a ST-HMS that allows for unobtrusive health monitoring. In this paper, we present our results with planar screen printable sensors based on conductive inks which can be used to monitor EKG, abdominal respiration effort, blood pressure, pulse rate and body temperature. The sensor systems were calibrated, and tested for sensitivity, reliability and robustness to ensure reuse after washing cycles.

Voltage control in Z-source inverter using low cost microcontroller for undergraduate approach

Science.gov (United States)

Zulkifli, Shamsul Aizam; Sewang, Mohd Rizal; Salimin, Suriana; Shah, Noor Mazliza Badrul

2017-09-01

This paper is focussing on controlling the output voltage of Z-Source Inverter (ZSI) using a low cost microcontroller with MATLAB-Simulink that has been used for interfacing the voltage control at the output of ZSI. The key advantage of this system is the ability of a low cost microcontroller to process the voltage control blocks based on the mathematical equations created in MATLAB-Simulink. The Proportional Integral (PI) control equations are been applied and then, been downloaded to the microcontroller for observing the changes on the voltage output regarding to the changes on the reference on the PI. The system has been simulated in MATLAB and been verified with the hardware setup. As the results, the Raspberry Pi and Arduino that have been used in this work are able to respond well when there is a change of ZSI output. It proofed that, by applying/introducing this method to student in undergraduate level, it will help the student to understand more on the process of the power converter combine with a control feedback function that can be applied at low cost microcontroller.

Low cost, multiscale and multi-sensor application for flooded area mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Giordan

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Flood mapping and estimation of the maximum water depth are essential elements for the first damage evaluation, civil protection intervention planning and detection of areas where remediation is needed. In this work, we present and discuss a methodology for mapping and quantifying flood severity over floodplains. The proposed methodology considers a multiscale and multi-sensor approach using free or low-cost data and sensors. We applied this method to the November 2016 Piedmont (northwestern Italy flood. We first mapped the flooded areas at the basin scale using free satellite data from low- to medium-high-resolution from both the SAR (Sentinel-1, COSMO-Skymed and multispectral sensors (MODIS, Sentinel-2. Using very- and ultra-high-resolution images from the low-cost aerial platform and remotely piloted aerial system, we refined the flooded zone and detected the most damaged sector. The presented method considers both urbanised and non-urbanised areas. Nadiral images have several limitations, in particular in urbanised areas, where the use of terrestrial images solved this limitation. Very- and ultra-high-resolution images were processed with structure from motion (SfM for the realisation of 3-D models. These data, combined with an available digital terrain model, allowed us to obtain maps of the flooded area, maximum high water area and damaged infrastructures.

Detection of Salmonella enterica in Meat in Less than 5 Hours by a Low-Cost and Noncomplex Sample Preparation Method

Science.gov (United States)

Hoorfar, J.; Hansen, F.; Christensen, J.; Mansdal, S.; Josefsen, M. H.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Salmonella is recognized as one of the most important foodborne bacteria and has wide health and socioeconomic impacts worldwide. Fresh pork meat is one of the main sources of Salmonella, and efficient and fast methods for detection are therefore necessary. Current methods for Salmonella detection in fresh meat usually include >16 h of culture enrichment, in a few cases meat, consisting of a 3-h enrichment in standard buffered peptone water and a real-time PCR-compatible sample preparation method based on filtration, centrifugation, and enzymatic digestion, followed by fast-cycling real-time PCR detection. The method was validated in an unpaired comparative study against the Nordic Committee on Food Analysis (NMKL) reference culture method 187. Pork meat samples (n = 140) were either artificially contaminated with Salmonella at 0, 1 to 10, or 10 to 100 CFU/25 g of meat or naturally contaminated. Cohen's kappa for the degree of agreement between the rapid method and the reference was 0.64, and the relative accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for the rapid method were 81.4, 95.1, and 97.9%, respectively. The 50% limit of detections (LOD50s) were 8.8 CFU/25 g for the rapid method and 7.7 CFU/25 g for the reference method. Implementation of this method will enable faster release of Salmonella low-risk meat, providing savings for meat producers, and it will help contribute to improved food safety. IMPORTANCE While the cost of analysis and hands-on time of the presented rapid method were comparable to those of reference culture methods, the fast product release by this method can provide the meat industry with a competitive advantage. Not only will the abattoirs save costs for work hours and cold storage, but consumers and retailers will also benefit from fresher meat with a longer shelf life. Furthermore, the presented sample preparation might be adjusted for application in the detection of other pathogenic bacteria in different sample types. PMID:27986726

Cost-effective treatment of low-risk carcinoma not invading bladder muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, David A; Rink, Michael; Cha, Eugene K; Xylinas, Evanguelos; Chughtai, Bilal; Scherr, Douglas S; Shariat, Shahrokh F; Lee, Richard K

2013-03-01

Study Type - Therapy (cost effectiveness analysis) Level of Evidence 2a What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Bladder cancer is one of the costliest malignancies to treat throughout the life of a patient. The most cost-effective management for low-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer is not known. The current study shows that employing cystoscopic office fulguration for low-risk appearing bladder cancer recurrences can materially impact the cost-effectiveness of therapy. In a follow-up protocol where office fulguration is routinely employed for low-risk bladder cancers, peri-operative intravesical chemotherapy may not provide any additional cost-effectiveness benefit. To examine the cost-effectiveness of fulguration vs transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) with and without perioperative intravesical chemotherapy (PIC) for managing low-risk carcinoma not invading bladder muscle (NMIBC). Low-risk NMIBC carries a low progression rate, lending support to the use of office-based fulguration for small recurrences rather than traditional TURBT. A Markov state transition model was created to simulate treatment of NMIBC with vs without PIC, with recurrence treated by formal TURBT vs treatment with fulguration. Costing data were obtained from the Medicare Resource Based Relative Value Scale. Data regarding the success of PIC were obtained from the peer-reviewed literature, as were corresponding utilities for bladder cancer-related procedures. Sensitivity analyses were performed. At 5-year follow-up, a strategy of fulguration without PIC was the most cost-effective (mean cost-effectiveness = US $654.8/quality-adjusted life year), despite a lower recurrence rate with PIC. Both fulguration strategies dominated each TURBT strategy. Sensitivity analysis showed that fulguration without PIC dominated all other strategies when the recurrence rate after PIC was increased to ≥14.2% per year. Similarly, the cost-effectiveness of TURBT becomes more

Comparison of porosity assessment techniques for low-cost ceramic membranes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria-Magdalena Lorente-Ayza

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Several characterization methods were applied to low cost ceramic membranes developed for wastewater treatment in membrane bioreactors (MBRs and/or tertiary treatments. The membranes were prepared by four different procedures (uniaxial pressing and extrusion, both with and without starch addition to generate pores. The pore size of these symmetric ceramic membranes was measured by two different methods: bubble point and intrusion mercury porosimetry. A good agreement between both methods was achieved, confirming the validity of the bubble point method for the measurement of the mean pore size of membranes. Air and water permeations of these ceramic membranes were also studied. The relationship between the permeation of both fluids is consistent with the ratio of viscosities, according to the Hagen–Poiseuille equation.

Comparison of porosity assessment techniques for low-cost ceramic membranes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lorente-Ayza, M.M.; Perez-Fernandez, O.; Alcala, R.; Sanchez, A.; Mestre, S.; Coronas, J.; Menendez, M.

2017-07-01

Several characterization methods were applied to low cost ceramic membranes developed for wastewater treatment in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and/or tertiary treatments. The membranes were prepared by four different procedures (uniaxial pressing and extrusion, both with and without starch addition to generate pores). The pore size of these symmetric ceramic membranes was measured by two different methods: bubble point and intrusion mercury porosimetry. A good agreement between both methods was achieved, confirming the validity of the bubble point method for the measurement of the mean pore size of membranes. Air and water permeations of these ceramic membranes were also studied. The relationship between the permeation of both fluids is consistent with the ratio of viscosities, according to the Hagen–Poiseuille equation. (Author)

Pregnancy termination in Matlab, Bangladesh: trends and correlates of use of safer and less-safe methods.

Science.gov (United States)

DaVanzo, Julie; Rahman, Mizanur

2014-09-01

Menstrual regulation (MR), a relatively safe form of pregnancy termination, is legal in Bangladesh during the early stages of pregnancy. However, little is known about the factors associated with whether women who terminate pregnancies choose this method or a less-safe one. Data from the Matlab Demographic Surveillance System on 122,691 pregnancies-5,221 (4.3%) of which were terminated-were used to examine trends between 1989 and 2008 in termination and in use of safer methods (MR or dilation and curettage) and less-safe (all other) methods of pregnancy termination. Logistic and multinomial logistic regressions were used to assess factors associated with whether women terminate pregnancies and whether they use safer methods. Sixty-seven percent of pregnancy terminations were by safer methods and 33% by less-safe means. The proportion of pregnancies that were terminated increased between 1989 and 2008; this increase was entirely due to increased use of safer methods. Women younger than 18 and those 25 or older were more likely than women aged 20-24 to terminate their pregnancies (odds ratios ranged from 1.5 among women aged 16-17 or 25-29 to 26.1 among those aged 45 or older). Among women who terminated their pregnancies, those aged 25-44 were more likely than those aged 20-24 to use a safer method. Compared with women who had no formal education, those with some education were more likely to terminate their pregnancies and to do so using safer methods. A growing proportion of pregnancies in Matlab are terminated, and these terminations are increasingly done using safer methods.

Preliminary Tests of a New Low-Cost Photogrammetric System

Science.gov (United States)

Santise, M.; Thoeni, K.; Roncella, R.; Sloan, S. W.; Giacomini, A.

2017-11-01

This paper presents preliminary tests of a new low-cost photogrammetric system for 4D modelling of large scale areas for civil engineering applications. The system consists of five stand-alone units. Each of the units is composed of a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (RPi2B) single board computer connected to a PiCamera Module V2 (8 MP) and is powered by a 10 W solar panel. The acquisition of the images is performed automatically using Python scripts and the OpenCV library. Images are recorded at different times during the day and automatically uploaded onto a FTP server from where they can be accessed for processing. Preliminary tests and outcomes of the system are discussed in detail. The focus is on the performance assessment of the low-cost sensor and the quality evaluation of the digital surface models generated by the low-cost photogrammetric systems in the field under real test conditions. Two different test cases were set up in order to calibrate the low-cost photogrammetric system and to assess its performance. First comparisons with a TLS model show a good agreement.

PRELIMINARY TESTS OF A NEW LOW-COST PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Santise

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents preliminary tests of a new low-cost photogrammetric system for 4D modelling of large scale areas for civil engineering applications. The system consists of five stand-alone units. Each of the units is composed of a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (RPi2B single board computer connected to a PiCamera Module V2 (8 MP and is powered by a 10 W solar panel. The acquisition of the images is performed automatically using Python scripts and the OpenCV library. Images are recorded at different times during the day and automatically uploaded onto a FTP server from where they can be accessed for processing. Preliminary tests and outcomes of the system are discussed in detail. The focus is on the performance assessment of the low-cost sensor and the quality evaluation of the digital surface models generated by the low-cost photogrammetric systems in the field under real test conditions. Two different test cases were set up in order to calibrate the low-cost photogrammetric system and to assess its performance. First comparisons with a TLS model show a good agreement.

Low cost thermal solar collector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abugderah, M. M.; Schneider, E. L.; Tontini, M. V.

2006-01-01

Solar energy is a good alternative in the economy of the electric energy mainly for the water heating. However, the solar heaters used demand a high initial investment, becoming the warm water from solar energy inaccessible to a large part of the society. Thus, a low cost solar heater was developed, constructed and tested in the chemical engineering department of West Parana State University-Unioeste. This equipment consists of 300 cans, divided in 30 columns of 10 cans each, all painted in black to enhance the obsorption of the solar radiation. The columns are connected to a pipe of pvc of 8 liters with 0.085m of external diameter. The equipment is capable to heat 120 liters of water in temperatures around 60 degree centigrade. The heater is insolated in its inferior part with cardboard and aluminum, covered with a transparent plastic in its superior. The system still counts with a insulated thermal reservoir, which can conserve the water in temperatures adjusted for the night non-solar days domestic use. The advantage of the constructed is it low cost material. The results are given an graphical tabular from showing acceptable efficiencies.(Autho

Low cost nuclear data printer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Punnachiya, S.; Aungkultewaraksa, S.; Pengphol, S.

1988-01-01

The data printer is essential for nuclear radiation measuring system. A low cost nuclear data printer is developed from an electronic printing calculator. It can transfer the counting data from scaler and printout. The basic concept is that the BCD data is transferred and converted to decimal data sequentially by the interfacing circuit. After the counting time is ended, each digit is transferred to the printing calculator by data bus, digit by digit, until all the data are transferred and printed out. The low cost nuclear data printer consists of a CASIO model HR-8 electronic printing calculator and a printer interface model either NT 2602 or NT 2603 which are designed for printing out 6 digit data from the counter/timer CANBERRA model 1772. In this research the NT 2602 interface is designed only to transfer and printing out data. While the NT 2603 interface is designed to transfer, print out and average data. The NT 2603 can average from 2 to 9 sets of counting data. This data interfacing technique can be applied to work with all scientific instruments having readout as digital display and all kinds of electronic printing calculator

A low cost, safe, disposable, rapid and self-sustainable paper-based platform for diagnostic testing: lab-on-paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, M N; Veigas, B; Jacob, J M; Santos, D S; Martins, R; Fortunato, E; Gomes, J; Inácio, J; Baptista, P V

2014-01-01

There is a strong interest in the use of biopolymers in the electronic and biomedical industries, mainly towards low-cost applications. The possibility of developing entirely new kinds of products based on cellulose is of current interest, in order to enhance and to add new functionalities to conventional paper-based products. We present our results towards the development of paper-based microfluidics for molecular diagnostic testing. Paper properties were evaluated and compared to nitrocellulose, the most commonly used material in lateral flow and other rapid tests. Focusing on the use of paper as a substrate for microfluidic applications, through an eco-friendly wax-printing technology, we present three main and distinct colorimetric approaches: (i) enzymatic reactions (glucose detection); (ii) immunoassays (antibodies anti-Leishmania detection); (iii) nucleic acid sequence identification (Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex detection). Colorimetric glucose quantification was achieved through enzymatic reactions performed within specific zones of the paper-based device. The colouration achieved increased with growing glucose concentration and was highly homogeneous, covering all the surface of the paper reaction zones in a 3D sensor format. These devices showed a major advantage when compared to the 2D lateral flow glucose sensors, where some carryover of the coloured products usually occurs. The detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies in canine sera was conceptually achieved using a paper-based 96-well enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay format. However, optimization is still needed for this test, regarding the efficiency of the immobilization of antigens on the cellulose fibres. The detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis nucleic acids integrated with a non-cross-linking gold nanoprobe detection scheme was also achieved in a wax-printed 384-well paper-based microplate, by the hybridization with a species-specific probe. The obtained results with the above

A low cost, safe, disposable, rapid and self-sustainable paper-based platform for diagnostic testing: lab-on-paper

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, M. N.; Veigas, B.; Jacob, J. M.; Santos, D. S.; Gomes, J.; Baptista, P. V.; Martins, R.; Inácio, J.; Fortunato, E.

2014-03-01

There is a strong interest in the use of biopolymers in the electronic and biomedical industries, mainly towards low-cost applications. The possibility of developing entirely new kinds of products based on cellulose is of current interest, in order to enhance and to add new functionalities to conventional paper-based products. We present our results towards the development of paper-based microfluidics for molecular diagnostic testing. Paper properties were evaluated and compared to nitrocellulose, the most commonly used material in lateral flow and other rapid tests. Focusing on the use of paper as a substrate for microfluidic applications, through an eco-friendly wax-printing technology, we present three main and distinct colorimetric approaches: (i) enzymatic reactions (glucose detection); (ii) immunoassays (antibodies anti-Leishmania detection); (iii) nucleic acid sequence identification (Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex detection). Colorimetric glucose quantification was achieved through enzymatic reactions performed within specific zones of the paper-based device. The colouration achieved increased with growing glucose concentration and was highly homogeneous, covering all the surface of the paper reaction zones in a 3D sensor format. These devices showed a major advantage when compared to the 2D lateral flow glucose sensors, where some carryover of the coloured products usually occurs. The detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies in canine sera was conceptually achieved using a paper-based 96-well enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay format. However, optimization is still needed for this test, regarding the efficiency of the immobilization of antigens on the cellulose fibres. The detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis nucleic acids integrated with a non-cross-linking gold nanoprobe detection scheme was also achieved in a wax-printed 384-well paper-based microplate, by the hybridization with a species-specific probe. The obtained results with the above

Evaluation of Low-Cost Mitigation Measures Implemented to Improve Air Quality in Nursery and Primary Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Sá, Juliana P; Branco, Pedro T B S; Alvim-Ferraz, Maria C M; Martins, Fernando G; Sousa, Sofia I V

2017-05-31

Indoor air pollution mitigation measures are highly important due to the associated health impacts, especially on children, a risk group that spends significant time indoors. Thus, the main goal of the work here reported was the evaluation of mitigation measures implemented in nursery and primary schools to improve air quality. Continuous measurements of CO₂, CO, NO₂, O₃, CH₂O, total volatile organic compounds (VOC), PM₁, PM 2.5 , PM 10 , Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and radon, as well as temperature and relative humidity were performed in two campaigns, before and after the implementation of low-cost mitigation measures. Evaluation of those mitigation measures was performed through the comparison of the concentrations measured in both campaigns. Exceedances to the values set by the national legislation and World Health Organization (WHO) were found for PM 2.5 , PM 10 , CO₂ and CH₂O during both indoor air quality campaigns. Temperature and relative humidity values were also above the ranges recommended by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). In general, pollutant concentrations measured after the implementation of low-cost mitigation measures were significantly lower, mainly for CO₂. However, mitigation measures were not always sufficient to decrease the pollutants' concentrations till values considered safe to protect human health.

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.

A simple, fast and low-cost turn-on fluorescence method for dopamine detection using in situ reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Xiulan; Zhu, Yonggang; Li, Xie; Guo, Xuhong; Zhang, Bo; Jia, Xin

2016-01-01

A simple, fast and low-cost method for dopamine (DA) detection based on turn-on fluorescence using resorcinol is developed. The rapid reaction between resorcinol and DA allows the detection to be performed within 5 min, and the reaction product (azamonardine) with high quantum yield generates strong fluorescence signal for sensitive optical detection. The detection exhibits a high sensitivity to DA with a wide linear range of 10 nM–20 μM and the limit of detection is estimated to be 1.8 nM (S/N = 3). This approach has been successfully applied to determine DA concentrations in human urine samples with satisfactory quantitative recovery of 97.84%–103.50%, which shows great potential in clinical diagnosis. - Highlights: • A turn-on fluorescence technique is developed for dopamine detection by using one-step selective reaction between resorcinol and dopamine. • The limit of detection is 1.8 nM (S/N = 3). • This detection could be completed within 5 min. • The method has been demonstrated to successfully detect dopamine in human urine samples with high recovery ratio of 97.84%–103.50%.

A simple, fast and low-cost turn-on fluorescence method for dopamine detection using in situ reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Xiulan [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Engineering Research Center of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003 (China); Zhu, Yonggang [Microfluidics and Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, CSIRO Manufacturing, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, Victoria, 3168 (Australia); Li, Xie [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Engineering Research Center of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003 (China); Guo, Xuhong [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Engineering Research Center of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003 (China); State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237 (China); Zhang, Bo [Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Phytomedicine Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmacy, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832000 (China); Jia, Xin, E-mail: jiaxin@shzu.edu.cn [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Engineering Research Center of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003 (China); and others

2016-11-09

A simple, fast and low-cost method for dopamine (DA) detection based on turn-on fluorescence using resorcinol is developed. The rapid reaction between resorcinol and DA allows the detection to be performed within 5 min, and the reaction product (azamonardine) with high quantum yield generates strong fluorescence signal for sensitive optical detection. The detection exhibits a high sensitivity to DA with a wide linear range of 10 nM–20 μM and the limit of detection is estimated to be 1.8 nM (S/N = 3). This approach has been successfully applied to determine DA concentrations in human urine samples with satisfactory quantitative recovery of 97.84%–103.50%, which shows great potential in clinical diagnosis. - Highlights: • A turn-on fluorescence technique is developed for dopamine detection by using one-step selective reaction between resorcinol and dopamine. • The limit of detection is 1.8 nM (S/N = 3). • This detection could be completed within 5 min. • The method has been demonstrated to successfully detect dopamine in human urine samples with high recovery ratio of 97.84%–103.50%.

Design, construction and testing of a low-cost flat plate solar energy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A low-cost flat plate solar energy collector has been designed and constructed with locally available materials such as mild steel and black paint of absorptance 0.94. On testing, an average daily efficiency of 55.6% was obtained. The methods are simple and illustrate the fact that construction of efficient collectors are ...

METHODS FOR DETERMINATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF LOGISTICS COSTS

OpenAIRE

Mihaela STET

2016-01-01

The paper is dealing with the problems of logistics costs, highlighting some methods for estimation and determination of specific costs for different transport modes in freight distribution. There are highlighted, besides costs of transports, the other costs in supply chain, as well as costing methods used in logistics activities. In this context, there are also revealed some optimization means of transport costs in logistics chain.

Feasibility of a Low-Cost, Interactive Gaming System to Assess Balance in Older Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Courtney D; Clevenger, Carolyn K; Wolf, Rachel A; Lin, James S; Johnson, Theodore M; Wolf, Steven L

2016-01-01

The use of low-cost interactive game technology for balance rehabilitation has become more popular recently, with generally good outcomes. Very little research has been undertaken to determine whether this technology is appropriate for balance assessment. The Wii balance board has good reliability and is comparable to a research-grade force plate; however, recent studies examining the relationship between Wii Fit games and measures of balance and mobility demonstrate conflicting findings. This study found that the Wii Fit was feasible for community-dwelling older women to safely use the balance board and quickly learn the Wii Fit games. The Ski Slalom game scores were strongly correlated with several balance and mobility measures, whereas Table Tilt game scores were not. Based on these findings, the Ski Slalom game may have utility in the evaluation of balance problems in community-dwelling older adults.

High-precision and low-cost vibration generator for low-frequency calibration system

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Rui-Jun; Lei, Ying-Jun; Zhang, Lian-Sheng; Chang, Zhen-Xin; Fan, Kuang-Chao; Cheng, Zhen-Ying; Hu, Peng-Hao

2018-03-01

Low-frequency vibration is one of the harmful factors that affect the accuracy of micro-/nano-measuring machines because its amplitude is significantly small and it is very difficult to avoid. In this paper, a low-cost and high-precision vibration generator was developed to calibrate an optical accelerometer, which is self-designed to detect low-frequency vibration. A piezoelectric actuator is used as vibration exciter, a leaf spring made of beryllium copper is used as an elastic component, and a high-resolution, low-thermal-drift eddy current sensor is applied to investigate the vibrator’s performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the vibration generator can achieve steady output displacement with frequency range from 0.6 Hz to 50 Hz, an analytical displacement resolution of 3.1 nm and an acceleration range from 3.72 mm s-2 to 1935.41 mm s-2 with a relative standard deviation less than 1.79%. The effectiveness of the high-precision and low-cost vibration generator was verified by calibrating our optical accelerometer.

Low-cost in vitro fertilization: current insights

Science.gov (United States)

Teoh, Pek Joo; Maheshwari, Abha

2014-01-01

Despite the development of in vitro fertilization (IVF) more than 30 years ago, the cost of treatment remains high. Furthermore, over the years, more sophisticated technologies and expensive medications have been introduced, making IVF increasingly inaccessible despite the increasing need. Globally, the option to undergo IVF is only available to a privileged few. In recent years, there has been growing interest in exploring strategies to reduce the cost of IVF treatment, which would allow the service to be provided in low-resource settings. In this review, we explore the various ways in which the cost of this treatment can be reduced. PMID:25187741

THE MARKETING MIX FOR LOW COST HEALTHCARE

OpenAIRE

Julie George; Dr. Manita D. Shah

2017-01-01

The Indian health care industry has a history of dealing with poor doctor-patient ratio, shortage of medical professionals, poor health infrastructure, and low expenditure on healthcare information technology; steep out of pocket spending (OOP), low health insurance coverage, inadequate government spending, poor access to health care facilities and social stigma related to diseases. The unique mindset and ability for frugality has successfully been applied in offering low cost healthcare of u...

Low-cost encapsulation materials for terrestrial solar cell modules

Science.gov (United States)

Cuddihy, E. F.; Baum, B.; Willis, P.

1979-01-01

The paper presents the findings of material surveys intended to identify low cost materials which could be functional as encapsulants (by 1986) for terrestrial solar cell modules. Economic analyses have indicated that in order to meet the low cost goal of $2.70 per sq m, some or all of the following material technologies must be developed or advanced: (1) UV screening outer covers; (2) elastomeric acrylics; (3) weatherproofing and waterproofing of structural wood and paper products; (4) transparent UV stabilizers for the UV-sensitive transparent pottants; and (5) cost-effective utilization of silicone and fluorocarbon materials.

Investment opportunity : the FPL low-cost solar dry kiln

Science.gov (United States)

George B. Harpole

1988-01-01

Two equations are presented that may be used to estimate a maximum investment limit and working capital requirements for the FPL low-cost solar dry kiln systems. The equations require data for drying cycle time, green lumber cost, and kiln-dried lumber costs. Results are intended to provide a preliminary estimate.

Filmless versus film-based systems in radiographic examination costs: an activity-based costing method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sase Yuji

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since the shift from a radiographic film-based system to that of a filmless system, the change in radiographic examination costs and costs structure have been undetermined. The activity-based costing (ABC method measures the cost and performance of activities, resources, and cost objects. The purpose of this study is to identify the cost structure of a radiographic examination comparing a filmless system to that of a film-based system using the ABC method. Methods We calculated the costs of radiographic examinations for both a filmless and a film-based system, and assessed the costs or cost components by simulating radiographic examinations in a health clinic. The cost objects of the radiographic examinations included lumbar (six views, knee (three views, wrist (two views, and other. Indirect costs were allocated to cost objects using the ABC method. Results The costs of a radiographic examination using a filmless system are as follows: lumbar 2,085 yen; knee 1,599 yen; wrist 1,165 yen; and other 1,641 yen. The costs for a film-based system are: lumbar 3,407 yen; knee 2,257 yen; wrist 1,602 yen; and other 2,521 yen. The primary activities were "calling patient," "explanation of scan," "take photographs," and "aftercare" for both filmless and film-based systems. The cost of these activities cost represented 36.0% of the total cost for a filmless system and 23.6% of a film-based system. Conclusions The costs of radiographic examinations using a filmless system and a film-based system were calculated using the ABC method. Our results provide clear evidence that the filmless system is more effective than the film-based system in providing greater value services directly to patients.

METHODS FOR DETERMINATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF LOGISTICS COSTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela STET

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper is dealing with the problems of logistics costs, highlighting some methods for estimation and determination of specific costs for different transport modes in freight distribution. There are highlighted, besides costs of transports, the other costs in supply chain, as well as costing methods used in logistics activities. In this context, there are also revealed some optimization means of transport costs in logistics chain.

Design of low cost glaucoma screening

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niessen, A. G.; Langerhorst, C. T.; Geijssen, H. C.; Greve, E. L.

1997-01-01

In 1991 the Netherlands Glaucoma Patient Association organized a glaucoma screening survey. This survey was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a low cost screening setting. During a screening period of 8 days, 1259 subjects over the age of 49 years were examined by a team of

An objective and cross-sectional examination of sun-safe behaviours in New South Wales primary schools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dean A. Dudley

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous evaluations have supported the link between sun protection policies and improved sun protection behaviours. However these evaluations have relied on self-reported data. Methods A cross-sectional design as part of an ongoing 18-month cluster-controlled trial in primary schools (n = 20 was used. Researchers conducted direct observations to record students’ hat use and teachers’ use of sun protective measures during recess and lunch. Researchers also recorded the volume of sunscreen consumed in each school. Results Only 60% of primary school children wear a sun-safe hat during their breaks when observed using objective measures. Weak correlations were observed between the wearing of a sun-safe hat and a school’s socio-economic status (r = 0.26. All other independent variables measured had only very weak correlations (r < 0.19 with sun-safe hat wearing behaviour of students. Sunscreen consumption by school students during the school day is negligible. Conclusions A large percentage of NSW primary schools in this study wear sun-safe hats during the school day but this is well below what has been reported in previous national surveys. Given the finite resources of schools and the correlation, though small, with SES status for these behaviours, it behoves researchers to investigate low-cost solutions to these problems. Further qualitative data will also be needed to inform the enablers and barriers for sun-safe behaviour interventions to be adopted in NSW primary schools.

A low-cost, orientation-insensitive microwave water-cut sensor printed on a pipe surface

KAUST Repository

Karimi, Muhammad Akram; Arsalan, Muhammad; Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

commercial WC sensors. The presented sensor has been realized by using extremely low cost methods of screen-printing and reusable 3D printed mask. Complete characterization of the proposed WC sensor, both in horizontal and vertical orientations, has been

Low-Cost IoT: A Holistic Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Augusto Ciuffoletti

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The key factors for a successful smart-city project are its initial cost and its scalability. The initial cost depends on several inter-related aspects that cannot be designed and optimized separately. After the pilot deployment, scaling-up takes place only if the cost remains affordable: an initial financial support may induce dependencies from technologies that become unsustainable in the long period. In addition, the initial adoption of an emerging technology that fails to affirm may jeopardize investment return. This paper investigates a smart-village use case, the success of which strongly depends on the initial cost and scalability, exploring a low-cost way for Internet of Things (IoT. We propose a simple conceptual framework for cost evaluation, and we verify its effectiveness with an exhaustive use case: a prototype sensor designed and tested with its surrounding eco-system. Using experimental results, we can estimate both performance and cost for a pilot system made of fifty sensors deployed in an urban area. We show that such cost grows linearly with system size, taking advantage of widely adopted technologies. The code and the design of the prototype are available, so that all steps are reproducible.

Optimal treatment cost allocation methods in pollution control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Wenying; Fang Dong; Xue Dazhi

1999-01-01

Total emission control is an effective pollution control strategy. However, Chinese application of total emission control lacks reasonable and fair methods for optimal treatment cost allocation, a critical issue in total emission control. The author considers four approaches to allocate treatment costs. The first approach is to set up a multiple-objective planning model and to solve the model using the shortest distance ideal point method. The second approach is to define degree of satisfaction for cost allocation results for each polluter and to establish a method based on this concept. The third is to apply bargaining and arbitration theory to develop a model. The fourth is to establish a cooperative N-person game model which can be solved using the Shapley value method, the core method, the Cost Gap Allocation method or the Minimum Costs-Remaining Savings method. These approaches are compared using a practicable case study

Asymptotically Safe Dark Matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sannino, Francesco; Shoemaker, Ian M.

2015-01-01

We introduce a new paradigm for dark matter (DM) interactions in which the interaction strength is asymptotically safe. In models of this type, the coupling strength is small at low energies but increases at higher energies, and asymptotically approaches a finite constant value. The resulting...... searches are the primary ways to constrain or discover asymptotically safe dark matter....

Synergistic methods for the production of high-strength and low-cost boron carbide

Science.gov (United States)

Wiley, Charles Schenck

2011-12-01

Boron carbide (B4C) is a non-oxide ceramic in the same class of nonmetallic hard materials as silicon carbide and diamond. The high hardness, high elastic modulus and low density of B4C make it a nearly ideal material for personnel and vehicular armor. B4C plates formed via hot-pressing are currently issued to U.S. soldiers and have exhibited excellent performance; however, hot-pressed articles contain inherent processing defects and are limited to simple geometries such as low-curvature plates. Recent advances in the pressureless sintering of B4C have produced theoretically-dense and complex-shape articles that also exhibit superior ballistic performance. However, the cost of this material is currently high due to the powder shape, size, and size distribution that are required, which limits the economic feasibility of producing such a product. Additionally, the low fracture toughness of pure boron carbide may have resulted in historically lower transition velocities (the projectile velocity range at which armor begins to fail) than competing silicon carbide ceramics in high-velocity long-rod tungsten penetrator tests. Lower fracture toughness also limits multi-hit protection capability. Consequently, these requirements motivated research into methods for improving the densification and fracture toughness of inexpensive boron carbide composites that could result in the development of a superior armor material that would also be cost-competitive with other high-performance ceramics. The primary objective of this research was to study the effect of titanium and carbon additives on the sintering and mechanical properties of inexpensive B4C powders. The boron carbide powder examined in this study was a sub-micron (0.6 mum median particle size) boron carbide powder produced by H.C. Starck GmbH via a jet milling process. A carbon source in the form of phenolic resin, and titanium additives in the form of 32 nm and 0.9 mum TiO2 powders were selected. Parametric studies of

Safe waste management practices in beryllium facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhat, P.N.; Soundararajan, S.; Sharma, D.N.

2012-01-01

Beryllium, an element with the atomic symbol Be, atomic number 4, has very high stiffness to weight ratio and low density. It has good electrical conductive properties with low coefficient of thermal expansion. These properties make the metal beryllium very useful in varied technological endeavours, However, beryllium is recognised as one of the most toxic metals. Revelation of toxic effects of beryllium resulted in institution of stringent health and safety practices in beryllium handling facilities. The waste generated in such facilities may contain traces of beryllium. Any such waste should be treated as toxic waste and suitable safe waste management practices should be adopted. By instituting appropriate waste management practice and through a meticulously incorporated safety measures and continuous surveillance exercised in such facilities, total safety can be ensured. This paper broadly discusses health hazards posed by beryllium and safe methods of management of beryllium bearing wastes. (author)

Cost-benefit analysis of a sustainable safe road traffic system. Contribution to the conference `Traffic safety on two continents', Lisbon, Portugal, September 22-24, 1997.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poppe, F.

1997-01-01

In this report it is shown, using cost-benefit techniques, that for different variations of estimates, investments in a sustainable safe road traffic system are profitable from a societal point of view. (A)

Directions of organisational and low-cost energy saving of engineering enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dzhedzhula Viacheslav V.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyses directions of energy saving of industrial enterprises. Taking into account the tendency to continuous growth of cost of energy resources, introduction of measures that would allow reduction of energy consumption of enterprises is an urgent task. One of the most important obstacles in the process of introduction of energy efficient solutions are fund limits and low awareness of owners and managers of industrial enterprises. The article offers a new classification of energy saving measures: apart from traditional expense and organisation measures it introduces the low-cost measures notion. It offers to consider low-cost those measures that are realised by the enterprise by means of own funds, moreover, their repayment term is not more than one year. It offers analytical expression for identification of annual funds saving from introduction of low-cost measures. It considers the process of identification of saving of funds from introduction of some of the main low-cost measures in detail: replacement of lighting units, balancing of ventilation networks and elimination of water leakages from pipelines and water supply equipment. Based on the analysis of bibliography information the article provides a list of main measures on energy saving, which could be referred to the low-cost ones. The proposed approaches would allow paying more attention to practical aspects of realisation of the concept of energy saving in the industry.

Low cost plastic scintillator by using commercial polystyrene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oktar, O.; Ari, G.; Guenduez, O.; Demirel, H.; Demirbas, A.

2009-01-01

Plastic scintillation detectors have been used in nuclear and high energy physics for many decades. Among their benefits are fast response, ease of manufacture and versatility. Their main drawbacks are radiation resistance and cost. Plastic Scintillators can be described as solid materials which contain organic fluorescent compounds dissolved within a polymer matri10. Transparent plastics commonly used for light scintillation are Polystyrene (or PS, poly-vinyl-benzene) and polyvinyl-toluene (or PVT, poly-methyl-styron). In this activity, preliminary studies for low cost plastic scintillator production by using commercial polystyrene pellets and extrusion method were aimed. For this purpose, PS blocks consist of commercial fluorescent dopant were prepared by an extruder in SANAEM. Molds suitable for extruder were designed and manufactured and optimum production parameters such as extrusion temperature profile, extrusion rate and pressure were obtained. Plastic blocks prepared were optically and mechanically tested and its response against various radioactive sources was measured.This study has shown that plastic scintillators imported can be produced in SANAEM domestically and be used for detection of radioactive materials within the country or border gates.

Low cost method for manufacturing a data acquisition system with USB connectivity

Science.gov (United States)

Niculescu, V.; Dobre, R. A.; Popovici, E.

2016-06-01

In the process of designing and manufacturing an electronic system the digital oscilloscope plays an essential role but it also represents one of the most expensive equipment present on the typical workbench. In order to make electronic design more accessible to students and hobbyists, an affordable data acquisition system was imagined. The paper extensively presents the development and testing of a low cost, medium speed, data acquisition system which can be used in a wide range of electronic measurement and debugging applications, assuring also great portability due to the small physical dimensions. Each hardware functional block and is thoroughly described, highlighting the challenges that occurred as well as the solutions to overcome them. The entire system was successfully manufactured using high quality components to assure increased reliability, and high frequency PCB materials and techniques were preferred. The measured values determined based on test signals were compared to the ones obtained using a digital oscilloscope available on the market and differences less than 1% were observed.

Low cost submarine robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ponlachart Chotikarn

2010-10-01

Full Text Available A submarine robot is a semi-autonomous submarine robot used mainly for marine environmental research. We aim todevelop a low cost, semi-autonomous submarine robot which is able to travel underwater. The robot’s structure was designedand patented using a novel idea of the diving system employing a volume adjustment mechanism to vary the robot’s density.A light weight, flexibility and small structure provided by PVC can be used to construct the torpedo-liked shape robot.Hydraulic seal and O-ring rubbers are used to prevent water leaking. This robot is controlled by a wired communicationsystem.

Uncertainty in air quality observations using low-cost sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Castell, Nuria; Dauge, Franck R.; Dongol, Rozina; Vogt, Matthias; Schneider, Philipp

2016-04-01

Air pollution poses a threat to human health, and the WHO has classified air pollution as the world's largest single environmental health risk. In Europe, the majority of the population lives in areas where air quality levels frequently exceed WHO's ambient air quality guidelines. The emergence of low-cost, user-friendly and very compact air pollution platforms allowing observations at high spatial resolution in near real-time, provides us with new opportunities to simultaneously enhance existing monitoring systems as well as enable citizens to engage in more active environmental monitoring (citizen science). However the data sets generated by low-cost sensors show often questionable data quality. For many sensors, neither their error characteristics nor how their measurement capability holds up over time or through a range of environmental conditions, have been evaluated. We have conducted an exhaustive evaluation of the commercial low-cost platform AQMesh (measuring NO, NO2, CO, O3, PM10 and PM2.5) in laboratory and in real-world conditions in the city of Oslo (Norway). Co-locations in field of 24 platforms were conducted over a 6 month period (April to September 2015) allowing to characterize the temporal variability in the performance. Additionally, the field performance included the characterization on different monitoring urban monitoring sites characteristic of both traffic and background conditions. All the evaluations have been conducted against CEN reference method analyzers maintained according to the Norwegian National Reference Laboratory quality system. The results show clearly that a good performance in laboratory does not imply similar performance in real-world outdoor conditions. Moreover, laboratory calibration is not suitable for subsequent measurements in urban environments. In order to reduce the errors, sensors require on-site field calibration. Even after such field calibration, the platforms show a significant variability in the performance

Development and Evaluation of A Novel and Cost-Effective Approach for Low-Cost NO₂ Sensor Drift Correction.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Li; Westerdahl, Dane; Ning, Zhi

2017-08-19

Emerging low-cost gas sensor technologies have received increasing attention in recent years for air quality measurements due to their small size and convenient deployment. However, in the diverse applications these sensors face many technological challenges, including sensor drift over long-term deployment that cannot be easily addressed using mathematical correction algorithms or machine learning methods. This study aims to develop a novel approach to auto-correct the drift of commonly used electrochemical nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sensor with comprehensive evaluation of its application. The impact of environmental factors on the NO₂ electrochemical sensor in low-ppb concentration level measurement was evaluated in laboratory and the temperature and relative humidity correction algorithm was evaluated. An automated zeroing protocol was developed and assessed using a chemical absorbent to remove NO₂ as a means to perform zero correction in varying ambient conditions. The sensor system was operated in three different environments in which data were compared to a reference NO₂ analyzer. The results showed that the zero-calibration protocol effectively corrected the observed drift of the sensor output. This technique offers the ability to enhance the performance of low-cost sensor based systems and these findings suggest extension of the approach to improve data quality from sensors measuring other gaseous pollutants in urban air.

Volume reduction equipment for low-level radwastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, J.; Schlich, E.

1982-01-01

Volume reduction of low-level radwaste has been used for years in Germany to reduce the on-site storage capacity which is required until an ultimate disposal site is available. The incineration of trash is a well established cost effective method for dry active waste volume reduction and now liquid radwaste treatment is gaining the operational experience which establishes it as a routine procedure. Resin pyrolysis is a promising new development which when successfully implemented will augment the other systems by safely volume reducing a radwaste which is of increasing concern

Performance Evaluation and Community Application of Low-Cost Sensors for Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide

Science.gov (United States)

This study reports on the performance of electrochemical-based low-cost sensors and their use in a community application. CairClip sensors were collocated with federal reference and equivalent methods and operated in a network of sites by citizen scientists (community members) in...

Development of a low-cost double rotor axial flux motor with soft magnetic composite and ferrite permanent magnet materials

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chengcheng; Zhu, Jianguo; Wang, Youhua; Guo, Youguang; Lei, Gang; Liu, Xiaojing

2015-05-01

This paper proposes a low-cost double rotor axial flux motor (DRAFM) with low cost soft magnetic composite (SMC) core and ferrite permanent magnets (PMs). The topology and operating principle of DRAFM and design considerations for best use of magnetic materials are presented. A 905 W 4800 rpm DRAFM is designed for replacing the high cost NdFeB permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) in a refrigerator compressor. By using the finite element method, the electromagnetic parameters and performance of the DRAFM operated under the field oriented control scheme are calculated. Through the analysis, it is shown that that the SMC and ferrite PM materials can be good candidates for low-cost electric motor applications.

Low Cost, High-Throughput 3-D Pulmonary Imager Using Hyperpolarized Contrast Agents and Low-Field MRI

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

greater gas polarizations and production amounts/ throughputs- benefiting in particular from the advent of com- pact, high-power, relatively low- cost ...Award Number: W81XWH-15-1-0271 TITLE: Low- Cost , High-Throughput 3-D Pulmonary Imager Using Hyperpolarized Contrast Agents and Low-Field MRI...DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the

Weak form implementation of the semi-analytical finite element (SAFE) method for a variety of elastodynamic waveguides

Science.gov (United States)

Hakoda, Christopher; Lissenden, Clifford; Rose, Joseph L.

2018-04-01

Dispersion curves are essential to any guided wave NDE project. The Semi-Analytical Finite Element (SAFE) method has significantly increased the ease by which these curves can be calculated. However, due to misconceptions regarding theory and fragmentation based on different finite-element software, the theory has stagnated, and adoption by researchers who are new to the field has been slow. This paper focuses on the relationship between the SAFE formulation and finite element theory, and the implementation of the SAFE method in a weak form for plates, pipes, layered waveguides/composites, curved waveguides, and arbitrary cross-sections is shown. The benefits of the weak form are briefly described, as is implementation in open-source and commercial finite element software.

Conceptual bases of the brand valuation by cost method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.Y. Studinska

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The necessity of valuing intangible assets in accordance with international trends is substantiated. The brand is seen as more important component of intangible assets, as an effective management tool company. The benefits and uses of brand evaluation results are investigated. System monocriterion cost brand evaluation methods is analyzed. In particular, methods that require evaluation by the time factor (current and forecast methods and methods for factor comparison base (relative and absolute. The cost method of brand valuation through market transactions in accordance J.Common’s classification is considered in detail. The explanation of the difference between method a summation of all costs and method of brand valuation through market transactions is provided. The advantages and disadvantages considered cost method of brand valuation are investigated. The cost method as the relative-predicted of the brand valuation, «The method of determining the proportion of the brand from the discounted total costs» is grounded

Design and development of a low-cost biphasic charge-balanced functional electric stimulator and its clinical validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shendkar, Chandrashekhar; Lenka, Prasanna K; Biswas, Abhishek; Kumar, Ratnesh; Mahadevappa, Manjunatha

2015-10-01

Functional electric stimulators that produce near-ideal, charge-balanced biphasic stimulation waveforms with interphase delay are considered safer and more efficacious than conventional stimulators. An indigenously designed, low-cost, portable FES device named InStim is developed. It features a charge-balanced biphasic single channel. The authors present the complete design, mathematical analysis of the circuit and the clinical evaluation of the device. The developed circuit was tested on stroke patients affected by foot drop problems. It was tested both under laboratory conditions and in clinical settings. The key building blocks of this circuit are low dropout regulators, a DC-DC voltage booster and a single high-power current source OP-Amp with current-limiting capabilities. This allows the device to deliver high-voltage, constant current, biphasic pulses without the use of a bulky step-up transformer. The advantages of the proposed design over the currently existing devices include improved safety features (zero DC current, current-limiting mechanism and safe pulses), waveform morphology that causes less muscle fatigue, cost-effectiveness and compact power-efficient circuit design with minimal components. The device is also capable of producing appropriate ankle dorsiflexion in patients having foot drop problems of various Medical Research Council scale grades.

Filmless versus film-based systems in radiographic examination costs: an activity-based costing method.

Science.gov (United States)

Muto, Hiroshi; Tani, Yuji; Suzuki, Shigemasa; Yokooka, Yuki; Abe, Tamotsu; Sase, Yuji; Terashita, Takayoshi; Ogasawara, Katsuhiko

2011-09-30

Since the shift from a radiographic film-based system to that of a filmless system, the change in radiographic examination costs and costs structure have been undetermined. The activity-based costing (ABC) method measures the cost and performance of activities, resources, and cost objects. The purpose of this study is to identify the cost structure of a radiographic examination comparing a filmless system to that of a film-based system using the ABC method. We calculated the costs of radiographic examinations for both a filmless and a film-based system, and assessed the costs or cost components by simulating radiographic examinations in a health clinic. The cost objects of the radiographic examinations included lumbar (six views), knee (three views), wrist (two views), and other. Indirect costs were allocated to cost objects using the ABC method. The costs of a radiographic examination using a filmless system are as follows: lumbar 2,085 yen; knee 1,599 yen; wrist 1,165 yen; and other 1,641 yen. The costs for a film-based system are: lumbar 3,407 yen; knee 2,257 yen; wrist 1,602 yen; and other 2,521 yen. The primary activities were "calling patient," "explanation of scan," "take photographs," and "aftercare" for both filmless and film-based systems. The cost of these activities cost represented 36.0% of the total cost for a filmless system and 23.6% of a film-based system. The costs of radiographic examinations using a filmless system and a film-based system were calculated using the ABC method. Our results provide clear evidence that the filmless system is more effective than the film-based system in providing greater value services directly to patients.

Low Cost Vision Based Personal Mobile Mapping System

Science.gov (United States)

Amami, M. M.; Smith, M. J.; Kokkas, N.

2014-03-01

Mobile mapping systems (MMS) can be used for several purposes, such as transportation, highway infrastructure mapping and GIS data collecting. However, the acceptance of these systems is not wide spread and their use is still limited due the high cost and dependency on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). A low cost vision based personal MMS has been produced with an aim to overcome these limitations. The system has been designed to depend mainly on cameras and use of low cost GNSS and inertial sensors to provide a bundle adjustment solution with initial values. The system has the potential to be used indoor and outdoor. The system has been tested indoors and outdoors with different GPS coverage, surrounded features, and narrow and curvy paths. Tests show that the system is able to work in such environments providing 3D coordinates of better than 10 cm accuracy.

Low Cost Vision Based Personal Mobile Mapping System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. M. Amami

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Mobile mapping systems (MMS can be used for several purposes, such as transportation, highway infrastructure mapping and GIS data collecting. However, the acceptance of these systems is not wide spread and their use is still limited due the high cost and dependency on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS. A low cost vision based personal MMS has been produced with an aim to overcome these limitations. The system has been designed to depend mainly on cameras and use of low cost GNSS and inertial sensors to provide a bundle adjustment solution with initial values. The system has the potential to be used indoor and outdoor. The system has been tested indoors and outdoors with different GPS coverage, surrounded features, and narrow and curvy paths. Tests show that the system is able to work in such environments providing 3D coordinates of better than 10 cm accuracy.

Novel Sample Preparation Method for Safe and Rapid Detection of Bacillus anthracis Spores in Environmental Powders and Nasal Swabs

OpenAIRE

Luna, Vicki A.; King, Debra; Davis, Carisa; Rycerz, Tony; Ewert, Matthew; Cannons, Andrew; Amuso, Philip; Cattani, Jacqueline

2003-01-01

Bacillus anthracis spores have been used as a biological weapon in the United States. We wanted to develop a safe, rapid method of sample preparation that provided safe DNA for the detection of spores in environmental and clinical specimens. Our method reproducibly detects B. anthracis in samples containing

The Simulation of the Recharging Method Based on Solar Radiation for an Implantable Biosensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yun; Song, Yong; Kong, Xianyue; Li, Maoyuan; Zhao, Yufei; Hao, Qun; Gao, Tianxin

2016-09-10

A method of recharging implantable biosensors based on solar radiation is proposed. Firstly, the models of the proposed method are developed. Secondly, the recharging processes based on solar radiation are simulated using Monte Carlo (MC) method and the energy distributions of sunlight within the different layers of human skin have been achieved and discussed. Finally, the simulation results are verified experimentally, which indicates that the proposed method will contribute to achieve a low-cost, convenient and safe method for recharging implantable biosensors.

Low-Cost, High-Throughput 3-D Pulmonary Imager Using Hyperpolarized Contrast Agents and Low-Field MRI

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

low- cost and high-throughput was a key element proposed for this project, which we believe will be of significant benefit to the patients suffering...Award Number: W81XWH-15-1-0272 TITLE: Low- Cost , High-Throughput 3-D Pulmonary Imager Using Hyperpolarized Contrast Agents and Low-Field MRI...STATEMENT: Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s

Designing a Low-Cost Multifunctional Infant Incubator.

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Kevin; Gibson, Aaron; Wong, Don; Tilahun, Dagmawi; Selock, Nicholas; Good, Theresa; Ram, Geetha; Tolosa, Leah; Tolosa, Michael; Kostov, Yordan; Woo, Hyung Chul; Frizzell, Michael; Fulda, Victor; Gopinath, Ramya; Prasad, J Shashidhara; Sudarshan, Hanumappa; Venkatesan, Arunkumar; Kumar, V Sashi; Shylaja, N; Rao, Govind

2014-06-01

Every year, an unacceptably large number of infant deaths occur in developing nations, with premature birth and asphyxia being two of the leading causes. A well-regulated thermal environment is critical for neonatal survival. Advanced incubators currently exist, but they are far too expensive to meet the needs of developing nations. We are developing a thermodynamically advanced low-cost incubator suitable for operation in a low-resource environment. Our design features three innovations: (1) a disposable baby chamber to reduce infant mortality due to nosocomial infections, (2) a passive cooling mechanism using low-cost heat pipes and evaporative cooling from locally found clay pots, and (3) insulated panels and a thermal bank consisting of water that effectively preserve and store heat. We developed a prototype incubator and visited and presented our design to our partnership hospital site in Mysore, India. After obtaining feedback, we have determined realistic, nontrivial design requirements and constraints in order to develop a new prototype incubator for clinical trials in hospitals in India. © 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Examination of a University-Affiliated Safe Ride Program

Science.gov (United States)

Gieck, D. Joseph; Slagle, David M.

2010-01-01

A university-affiliated safe ride program was evaluated to determine whether these programs can reduce drunk-driving related costs. Data was collected from 187 safe ride passengers during three nights of operation. Among the passengers, 93% were enrolled at a local University, 31% were younger than 21, and 40% reported a prior alcohol-related…

Cost-benefit of three different methods for studying Mediterranean rocky benthic assemblages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natàlia Sant

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Here we compare the applicability, the information provided and the cost-benefit of three sampling methods usually used in the study of rocky benthic assemblages. For comparative purposes, sampling was performed seasonally and along a depth gradient (0-50 m in the Cabrera Archipelago (western Mediterranean. The destructive scraping (collection method was the least cost-effective but provided the best qualitative and quantitative information. The in situ visual method was the most time-effective but provided low levels of taxonomic resolution and its accuracy decreased with depth due to the increasing difficulty of recognizing species in situ due to nitrogen narcosis, reduced light and cold. The photoquadrat method showed intermediate values of cost-effectiveness and information but was not suitable for multilayered assemblages, as it only accounted for the overstory. A canonical correspondence analysis showed that depth was highlighted as the main environmental gradient (16.0% of variance by the three methods. However, differences due to the sampling method (7.9% of variance were greater than differences due to temporal variability (5.8% of variance, suggesting that the three methods are valid but their selection has to be carefully assessed in relation to the targeted assemblages and the specific goals of each study.

Analysis on Occupants’ Satisfaction for Safety Performance Assessment in Low Cost Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Husin Husrul Nizam

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The delivery performance of the low cost housing is questioned since the occupants are prone towards safety hazards in the housing complex, such as structural instability and falling building fragments. Without defining the occupants’ requirements for the development of low cost housing, the prevailing safety factors are hard to be determined. This paper explores the rationale of safety performance assessment in the low cost housing by considering the occupants’ participation to achieve a better safety provision during occupancy period. Questionnaire survey was distributed to 380 occupants of the low cost housing in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. The result shows that 80.8% of the respondents had expressed their dissatisfaction with the safety performance of the lift. By referring to the mode of ranking level, the most significant aspect rated by the respondents is Building Safety Features, with 51.6% respondents. The attained aspects can be fundamental parameters which can be considered in the future development of low cost housing.

Waste Management Facilities cost information for low-level waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shropshire, D.; Sherick, M.; Biadgi, C.

1995-06-01

This report contains preconceptual designs and planning level life-cycle cost estimates for managing low-level waste. The report`s information on treatment, storage, and disposal modules can be integrated to develop total life-cycle costs for various waste management options. A procedure to guide the US Department of Energy and its contractor personnel in the use of cost estimation data is also summarized in this report.

Evaluation of Low-Cost Mitigation Measures Implemented to Improve Air Quality in Nursery and Primary Schools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana P. Sá

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Indoor air pollution mitigation measures are highly important due to the associated health impacts, especially on children, a risk group that spends significant time indoors. Thus, the main goal of the work here reported was the evaluation of mitigation measures implemented in nursery and primary schools to improve air quality. Continuous measurements of CO2, CO, NO2, O3, CH2O, total volatile organic compounds (VOC, PM1, PM2.5, PM10, Total Suspended Particles (TSP and radon, as well as temperature and relative humidity were performed in two campaigns, before and after the implementation of low-cost mitigation measures. Evaluation of those mitigation measures was performed through the comparison of the concentrations measured in both campaigns. Exceedances to the values set by the national legislation and World Health Organization (WHO were found for PM2.5, PM10, CO2 and CH2O during both indoor air quality campaigns. Temperature and relative humidity values were also above the ranges recommended by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE. In general, pollutant concentrations measured after the implementation of low-cost mitigation measures were significantly lower, mainly for CO2. However, mitigation measures were not always sufficient to decrease the pollutants’ concentrations till values considered safe to protect human health.

AUTOMATED LOW-COST PHOTOGRAMMETRY FOR FLEXIBLE STRUCTURE MONITORING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. H. Wang

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Structural monitoring requires instruments which can provide high precision and accuracy, reliable measurements at good temporal resolution and rapid processing speeds. Long-term campaigns and flexible structures are regarded as two of the most challenging subjects in monitoring engineering structures. Long-term monitoring in civil engineering is generally considered to be labourintensive and financially expensive and it can take significant effort to arrange the necessary human resources, transportation and equipment maintenance. When dealing with flexible structure monitoring, it is of paramount importance that any monitoring equipment used is able to carry out rapid sampling. Low cost, automated, photogrammetric techniques therefore have the potential to become routinely viable for monitoring non-rigid structures. This research aims to provide a photogrammetric solution for long-term flexible structural monitoring purposes. The automated approach was achieved using low-cost imaging devices (mobile phones to replace traditional image acquisition stations and substantially reduce the equipment costs. A self-programmed software package was developed to deal with the hardware-software integration and system operation. In order to evaluate the performance of this low-cost monitoring system, a shaking table experiment was undertaken. Different network configurations and target sizes were used to determine the best configuration. A large quantity of image data was captured by four DSLR cameras and four mobile phone cameras respectively. These image data were processed using photogrammetric techniques to calculate the final results for the system evaluation.

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.

A Comparison of Visual Evoked Potential (VEP)-Based Methods for the Low-Cost Emotiv EPOC Neuroheadset

OpenAIRE

Hvaring, Fredrik Tron; Ulltveit-Moe, Andreas H

2014-01-01

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) enable interaction with computers through electrical brain signals recorded from the scalp through an electroencephalogram (EEG). These BCIs are characterized by expensive equipment and long setup times, which limits their commercial use. In this thesis, a BCI was implemented that uses the low-cost EEG acquisition device Emotiv EPOC and visual evoked potentials (VEPs), which are potentials in the EEG elicited by visual stimulus. A structured literature review ...

Construction of a low-cost luximeter

Science.gov (United States)

Pedroso, L. S.; de Macedo, J. A.; de Araújo, M. S. T.; Voelzke, M. R.

2016-04-01

This paper proposes the construction of an electronic instrument called digital luximeter, combining simplicity and low cost, making it simpler and cheaper than those on the market. Its construction tends to facilitate dissemination and access to this type of measuring instrument between high school teachers and educational institutions, making it ideal to be a science lab.

Low-cost carbon-silicon nanocomposite anodes for lithium ion batteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Badi, Nacer; Erra, Abhinay Reddy; Hernandez, Francisco C Robles; Okonkwo, Anderson O; Hobosyan, Mkhitar; Martirosyan, Karen S

2014-01-01

The specific energy of the existing lithium ion battery cells is limited because intercalation electrodes made of activated carbon (AC) materials have limited lithium ion storage capacities. Carbon nanotubes, graphene, and carbon nanofibers are the most sought alternatives to replace AC materials but their synthesis cost makes them highly prohibitive. Silicon has recently emerged as a strong candidate to replace existing graphite anodes due to its inherently large specific capacity and low working potential. However, pure silicon electrodes have shown poor mechanical integrity due to the dramatic expansion of the material during battery operation. This results in high irreversible capacity and short cycle life. We report on the synthesis and use of carbon and hybrid carbon-silicon nanostructures made by a simplified thermo-mechanical milling process to produce low-cost high-energy lithium ion battery anodes. Our work is based on an abundant, cost-effective, and easy-to-launch source of carbon soot having amorphous nature in combination with scrap silicon with crystalline nature. The carbon soot is transformed in situ into graphene and graphitic carbon during mechanical milling leading to superior elastic properties. Micro-Raman mapping shows a well-dispersed microstructure for both carbon and silicon. The fabricated composites are used for battery anodes, and the results are compared with commercial anodes from MTI Corporation. The anodes are integrated in batteries and tested; the results are compared to those seen in commercial batteries. For quick laboratory assessment, all electrochemical cells were fabricated under available environment conditions and they were tested at room temperature. Initial electrochemical analysis results on specific capacity, efficiency, and cyclability in comparison to currently available AC counterpart are promising to advance cost-effective commercial lithium ion battery technology. The electrochemical performance observed for

Comparing Methods for Estimating Direct Costs of Adverse Drug Events.

Science.gov (United States)

Gyllensten, Hanna; Jönsson, Anna K; Hakkarainen, Katja M; Svensson, Staffan; Hägg, Staffan; Rehnberg, Clas

2017-12-01

To estimate how direct health care costs resulting from adverse drug events (ADEs) and cost distribution are affected by methodological decisions regarding identification of ADEs, assigning relevant resource use to ADEs, and estimating costs for the assigned resources. ADEs were identified from medical records and diagnostic codes for a random sample of 4970 Swedish adults during a 3-month study period in 2008 and were assessed for causality. Results were compared for five cost evaluation methods, including different methods for identifying ADEs, assigning resource use to ADEs, and for estimating costs for the assigned resources (resource use method, proportion of registered cost method, unit cost method, diagnostic code method, and main diagnosis method). Different levels of causality for ADEs and ADEs' contribution to health care resource use were considered. Using the five methods, the maximum estimated overall direct health care costs resulting from ADEs ranged from Sk10,000 (Sk = Swedish krona; ~€1,500 in 2016 values) using the diagnostic code method to more than Sk3,000,000 (~€414,000) using the unit cost method in our study population. The most conservative definitions for ADEs' contribution to health care resource use and the causality of ADEs resulted in average costs per patient ranging from Sk0 using the diagnostic code method to Sk4066 (~€500) using the unit cost method. The estimated costs resulting from ADEs varied considerably depending on the methodological choices. The results indicate that costs for ADEs need to be identified through medical record review and by using detailed unit cost data. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost-effectiveness evaluation of an RCT in rehabilitation after lumbar spinal fusion: a low-cost, behavioural approach is cost-effective over individual exercise therapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, Rikke; Laurberg, Ida; Christensen, Finn B

2008-01-01

Recently, Christensen et al. reported the clinical effects of a low-cost rehabilitation program equally efficient to a relatively intensive program of individual, physiotherapist-guided exercise therapy. Yet, the low-cost approach is not fully supported as an optimal strategy until a full......-scale economic evaluation, including extra-hospital effects such as service utilization in the primary health care sector and return-to-work, is conducted. The objective of this study was to conduct such evaluation i.e. investigate the cost-effectiveness of (1) a low-cost rehabilitation regimen...... with a behavioural element and (2) a regimen of individual exercise therapy, both in comparison with usual practice, from a health economic, societal perspective. Study design was a cost-effectiveness evaluation of an RCT with a 2-year follow-up. Ninety patients having had posterolateral or circumferential fusion...

Technical considerations for designing low-cost, long-wave infrared objectives

Science.gov (United States)

Desroches, Gerard; Dalzell, Kristy; Robitaille, Blaise

2014-06-01

With the growth of uncooled infrared imaging in the consumer market, the balance between cost implications and performance criteria in the objective lens must be examined carefully. The increased availability of consumer-grade, long-wave infrared cameras is related to a decrease in military usage but it is also due to the decreasing costs of the cameras themselves. This has also driven up demand for low-cost, long-wave objectives that can resolve smaller pixels while maintaining high performance. Smaller pixels are traditionally associated with high cost objectives because of higher resolution requirements but, with careful consideration of all the requirements and proper selection of materials, costs can be moderated. This paper examines the cost/performance trade-off implications associated with optical and mechanical requirements of long-wave infrared objectives. Optical performance, f-number, field of view, distortion, focus range and thermal range all affect the cost of the objective. Because raw lens material cost is often the most expensive item in the construction, selection of the material as well as the shape of the lens while maintaining acceptable performance and cost targets were explored. As a result of these considerations, a low-cost, lightweight, well-performing objective was successfully designed, manufactured and tested.

Simplified Occupancy Grid Indoor Mapping Optimized for Low-Cost Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Garrido

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a mapping system that is suitable for small mobile robots. An ad hoc algorithm for mapping based on the Occupancy Grid method has been developed. The algorithm includes some simplifications in order to be used with low-cost hardware resources. The proposed mapping system has been built in order to be completely autonomous and unassisted. The proposal has been tested with a mobile robot that uses infrared sensors to measure distances to obstacles and uses an ultrasonic beacon system for localization, besides wheel encoders. Finally, experimental results are presented.

Hot forming and quenching pilot process development for low cost and low environmental impact manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Roger W.; Foster, Alistair; Herrmann Praturlon, Anja

2017-09-01

The Hot Forming and in-tool Quenching (HFQ®) process is a proven technique to enable complex shaped stampings to be manufactured from high strength aluminium. Its widespread uptake for high volume production will be maximised if it is able to wholly amortise the additional investment cost of this process compared to conventional deep drawing techniques. This paper discusses the use of three techniques to guide some of the development decisions taken during upscaling of the HFQ® process. Modelling of Process timing, Cost and Life-cycle impact were found to be effective tools to identify where development budget could be focused in order to be able to manufacture low cost panels of different sizes from many different alloys in a sustainable way. The results confirm that raw material cost, panel trimming, and artificial ageing were some of the highest contributing factors to final component cost. Additionally, heat treatment and lubricant removal stages played a significant role in the overall life-cycle assessment of the final products. These findings confirmed development priorities as novel furnace design, fast artificial ageing and low-cost alloy development.

Design of a low-cost hybrid powertrain with large fuel savings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkel, van K.; Romers, L.H.J.; Vroemen, B.G.; Hofman, T.; Steinbuch, M.

2010-01-01

This paper presents a new design of a low-cost hybrid powertrain with large fuel savings. The hybrid powertrain contains only low-cost mechanical components, such as a flywheel module and a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Noelectrical motor/generator or battery is used. Based on

Providing strong Security and high privacy in low-cost RFID networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

David, Mathieu; Prasad, Neeli R.

2009-01-01

Since the dissemination of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags is getting larger and larger, the requirement for strong security and privacy is also increasing. Low-cost and ultra-low-cost tags are being implemented on everyday products, and their limited resources constraints the security...

Low-cost production of solar-cell panels

Science.gov (United States)

Bickler, D. B.; Gallagher, B. D.; Sanchez, L. E.

1980-01-01

Large-scale production model combines most modern manufacturing techniques to produce silicon-solar-cell panels of low costs by 1982. Model proposes facility capable of operating around the clock with annual production capacity of 20 W of solar cell panels.

Cost-effectiveness analyses of self-harm strategies aimed at reducing the mortality of pesticide self-poisonings in Sri Lanka

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Lizell Bustamante; Eddleston, Michael; Hansen, Kristian Schultz

2015-01-01

using this method. The aim of the present study is to assess the cost-effectiveness of an ongoing safe storage intervention currently taking place in a rural Sri Lankan district and to model the cost-effectiveness of implementing the safe storage intervention as well as four potential interventions...... (legislative, medical management, follow-up contact and mobile phone contact) on a national level. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Study design for all the strategies is a cost-effectiveness analysis. A governmental perspective is adopted. The time horizon for tracking the associated costs and health outcomes...... of the safe storage intervention on district level runs over 3 years. The time horizon is extended to 5 years when modelling a full national roll-out of the respective interventions. The discounting of costs and health outcomes are undertaken at the recommended real rate of 3%. Threshold analyses...

Cost-effective and low-technology options for simulation and training in neonatology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruno, Christie J; Glass, Kristen M

2016-11-01

The purpose of this review is to explore low-cost options for simulation and training in neonatology. Numerous cost-effective options exist for simulation and training in neonatology. Lower cost options are available for teaching clinical skills and procedural training in neonatal intubation, chest tube insertion, and pericardiocentesis, among others. Cost-effective, low-cost options for simulation-based education can be developed and shared in order to optimize the neonatal simulation training experience. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Survey and Classification of Large Woody Debris (LWD in Streams Using Generated Low-Cost Geomatic Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damian Ortega-Terol

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Water authorities are required to have a survey of large woody debris (LWD in river channels and to manage this aspect of the stream habitat, making decisions on removing, positioning or leaving LWD in a natural state. The main objective of this study is to develop a new methodology that assists in decision making for sustainable management of river channels by using generated low-cost, geomatic products to detect LWD. The use of low-cost photogrammetry based on the use of economical, conventional, non-metric digital cameras mounted on low-cost aircrafts, together with the use of the latest computational vision techniques and open-source geomatic tools, provides useful geomatic products. The proposed methodology, compared with conventional photogrammetry or other traditional methods, led to a cost savings of up to 45%. This work presents several contributions for the area of free and open source software related to Geographic Information System (FOSSGIS applications to LWD management in streams, while developing a QGIS [1] plugin that characterizes the risk from the automatic calculation of geometrical parameters.

Evaluation of a Low-Cost Bubble CPAP System Designed for Resource-Limited Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Desmond J; Carroll, Ryan W; Kacmarek, Robert M

2018-04-01

Respiratory compromise is a leading contributor to global neonatal death. CPAP is a method of treatment that helps maintain lung volume during expiration, promotes comfortable breathing, and improves oxygenation. Bubble CPAP is an effective alternative to standard CPAP. We sought to determine the reliability and functionality of a low-cost bubble CPAP device designed for low-resource settings. The low-cost bubble CPAP device was compared to a commercially available bubble CPAP system. The devices were connected to a lung simulator that simulated neonates of 4 different weights with compromised respiratory mechanics (∼1, ∼3, ∼5, and ∼10 kg). The devices' abilities to establish and maintain pressure and flow under normal conditions as well as under conditions of leak were compared. Multiple combinations of pressure levels (5, 8, and 10 cm H 2 O) and flow levels (3, 6, and 10 L/min) were tested. The endurance of both devices was also tested by running the systems continuously for 8 h and measuring the changes in pressure and flow. Both devices performed equivalently during the no-leak and leak trials. While our testing revealed individual differences that were statistically significant and clinically important (>10% difference) within specific CPAP and flow-level settings, no overall comparisons of CPAP or flow were both statistically significant and clinically important. Each device delivered pressures similar to the desired pressures, although the flows delivered by both machines were lower than the set flows in most trials. During the endurance trials, the low-cost device was marginally better at maintaining pressure, while the commercially available device was better at maintaining flow. The low-cost bubble CPAP device evaluated in this study is comparable to a bubble CPAP system used in developed settings. Extensive clinical trials, however, are necessary to confirm its effectiveness. Copyright © 2018 by Daedalus Enterprises.

A safe and cost-effective PMMA carbon source for MgB{sub 2}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ranot, Mahipal; Shinde, K. P.; Oh, Y. S.; Kang, S. H.; Chung, K. C. [Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon (Korea, Republic of); Jang, S. H. [Kiswire Advanced Technology Ltd, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Sinha, B. B. [National Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Mumbai, Mumbai (India); Bhardwaj, A. [Dept. of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon (Korea, Republic of)

2017-03-15

Carbon is proven to be very effective in pinning the magnetic vortices and improving the superconducting performance of MgB2 at high fields. In this work, we have used polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymer as a safe and cost effective carbon source. The effects of molecular weight of PMMA on crystal structure, microstructure as well as on superconducting properties of MgB2 were studied. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that there is a noticeable shift in (100) and (110) Bragg reflections towards higher angles, while no shift was observed in (002) reflections for MgB2 doped with different molecular weights of PMMA. This indicates that carbon could be substituted in the boron honeycomb layers without affecting the interlayer interactions. As compared to undoped MgB2, substantial enhancement in Jc(H) properties was obtained for PMMA-doped MgB2 samples both at 5 K and 20 K. The enhancement could be attributed to the effective carbon substitution for boron and the refinement of crystallite size by PMMA doping.

Low Cost Night Vision System for Intruder Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Liang S.; Yusoff, Wan Azhar Wan; R, Dhinesh; Sak, J. S.

2016-02-01

The growth in production of Android devices has resulted in greater functionalities as well as lower costs. This has made previously more expensive systems such as night vision affordable for more businesses and end users. We designed and implemented robust and low cost night vision systems based on red-green-blue (RGB) colour histogram for a static camera as well as a camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), using OpenCV library on Intel compatible notebook computers, running Ubuntu Linux operating system, with less than 8GB of RAM. They were tested against human intruders under low light conditions (indoor, outdoor, night time) and were shown to have successfully detected the intruders.

Development of Advanced Life Cycle Costing Methods for Technology Benefit/Cost/Risk Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Yackovetsky, Robert (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The overall objective of this three-year grant is to provide NASA Langley's System Analysis Branch with improved affordability tools and methods based on probabilistic cost assessment techniques. In order to accomplish this objective, the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL) needs to pursue more detailed affordability, technology impact, and risk prediction methods and to demonstrate them on variety of advanced commercial transports. The affordability assessment, which is a cornerstone of ASDL methods, relies on the Aircraft Life Cycle Cost Analysis (ALCCA) program originally developed by NASA Ames Research Center and enhanced by ASDL. This grant proposed to improve ALCCA in support of the project objective by updating the research, design, test, and evaluation cost module, as well as the engine development cost module. Investigations into enhancements to ALCCA include improved engine development cost, process based costing, supportability cost, and system reliability with airline loss of revenue for system downtime. A probabilistic, stand-alone version of ALCCA/FLOPS will also be developed under this grant in order to capture the uncertainty involved in technology assessments. FLOPS (FLight Optimization System program) is an aircraft synthesis and sizing code developed by NASA Langley Research Center. This probabilistic version of the coupled program will be used within a Technology Impact Forecasting (TIF) method to determine what types of technologies would have to be infused in a system in order to meet customer requirements. A probabilistic analysis of the CER's (cost estimating relationships) within ALCCA will also be carried out under this contract in order to gain some insight as to the most influential costs and the impact that code fidelity could have on future RDS (Robust Design Simulation) studies.

Mars Relay Satellite: Key to Enabling Low-Cost Exploration Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Hastrup, R.; Cesarone, R.; Miller, A.

1993-01-01

Recently, there has been increasing evidence of a renewed focus on Mars exploration both by NASA and the international community. The thrust of this renewed interest appears to be manifesting itself in numerous low-cost missions employing small, light weight elements, which utilize advanced technologies including integrated microelectronics. A formidable problem facing these low-cost missions is communications with Earth. Providing adequate direct-link performance has very significant impacts on spacecraft power, pointing, mass and overall complexity. Additionally, for elements at or near the surface of Mars, there are serious connectivity constraints, especially at higher latitudes, which lose view of Earth for up to many months at a time. This paper will discuss the role a Mars relay satellite can play in enabling and enhancing low-cost missions to Mars...

A low-cost, high-resolution, video-rate imaging optical radar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sackos, J.T.; Nellums, R.O.; Lebien, S.M.; Diegert, C.F. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Grantham, J.W.; Monson, T. [Air Force Research Lab., Eglin AFB, FL (United States)

1998-04-01

Sandia National Laboratories has developed a unique type of portable low-cost range imaging optical radar (laser radar or LADAR). This innovative sensor is comprised of an active floodlight scene illuminator and an image intensified CCD camera receiver. It is a solid-state device (no moving parts) that offers significant size, performance, reliability, and simplicity advantages over other types of 3-D imaging sensors. This unique flash LADAR is based on low cost, commercially available hardware, and is well suited for many government and commercial uses. This paper presents an update of Sandia`s development of the Scannerless Range Imager technology and applications, and discusses the progress that has been made in evolving the sensor into a compact, low, cost, high-resolution, video rate Laser Dynamic Range Imager.

Assessment of a Low-Cost Ultrasound Pericardiocentesis Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Campo dell'Orto

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The use of ultrasound during resuscitation is emphasized in the latest European resuscitation council guidelines of 2013 to identify treatable conditions such as pericardial tamponade. The recommended standard treatment of tamponade in various guidelines is pericardiocentesis. As ultrasound guidance lowers the complication rates and increases the patient’s safety, pericardiocentesis should be performed under ultrasound guidance. Acute care physicians actually need to train emergency pericardiocentesis. Methods. We describe in detail a pericardiocentesis ultrasound model, using materials at a cost of about 60 euros. During training courses of focused echocardiography n=67, participants tested the phantom and completed a 16-item questionnaire, assessing the model using a visual analogue scale (VAS. Results. Eleven of fourteen questions were answered with a mean VAS score higher than 60% and thus regarded as showing the strengths of the model. Unrealistically outer appearance and heart shape were rated as weakness of the model. A total mean VAS score of all questions of 63% showed that participants gained confidence for further interventions. Conclusions. Our low-cost pericardiocentesis model, which can be easily constructed, may serve as an effective training tool of ultrasound-guided pericardiocentesis for acute and critical care physicians.

Assessment of a Low-Cost Ultrasound Pericardiocentesis Model

Science.gov (United States)

Campo dell'Orto, Marco; Hempel, Dorothea; Starzetz, Agnieszka; Seibel, Armin; Hannemann, Ulf; Walcher, Felix; Breitkreutz, Raoul

2013-01-01

Introduction. The use of ultrasound during resuscitation is emphasized in the latest European resuscitation council guidelines of 2013 to identify treatable conditions such as pericardial tamponade. The recommended standard treatment of tamponade in various guidelines is pericardiocentesis. As ultrasound guidance lowers the complication rates and increases the patient's safety, pericardiocentesis should be performed under ultrasound guidance. Acute care physicians actually need to train emergency pericardiocentesis. Methods. We describe in detail a pericardiocentesis ultrasound model, using materials at a cost of about 60 euros. During training courses of focused echocardiography n = 67, participants tested the phantom and completed a 16-item questionnaire, assessing the model using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results. Eleven of fourteen questions were answered with a mean VAS score higher than 60% and thus regarded as showing the strengths of the model. Unrealistically outer appearance and heart shape were rated as weakness of the model. A total mean VAS score of all questions of 63% showed that participants gained confidence for further interventions. Conclusions. Our low-cost pericardiocentesis model, which can be easily constructed, may serve as an effective training tool of ultrasound-guided pericardiocentesis for acute and critical care physicians. PMID:24288616

A Low-Cost, High-Precision Navigator, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Toyon Research Corporation proposes to develop and demonstrate a prototype low-cost precision navigation system using commercial-grade gyroscopes and accelerometers....

Low-cost amplifier for alpha detection with photodiode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Domienikan, Cláudio; Costa, Priscila; Genezini, Frederico A.; Zahn, Guilherme S., E-mail: clanikan@ipen.br, E-mail: pcosta@ipen.br, E-mail: fredzini@ipen.br, E-mail: gzahn@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), São Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2017-07-01

A low-cost amplifier for Hamamatsu S3590-09 PIN photodiode to be used in alpha detection is presented. This amplifier consists basically of two circuits: a pulse preamplifier and a shaper-driver. The PIN photodiode is reverse-biased and connected to a charge preamplifier input. Incident alpha particles generate a small current pulse in the photodiode. The integrating circuit of the low noise preamplifier transforms current pulse into a voltage pulse with amplitude proportional to the charge carried by the current pulse. The shaper-driver consists of a differentiator and an integrator and is responsible for filtering and further amplifying the preamplifier signal, generating a NIM-compatible energy pulse. The performance of the set photodiode-amplifier was successively tested through the use of a {sup 243}Am radioactive source. The low-cost photodiode amplifier was designed and constructed at IPEN - CNEN/SP using national components and expertise. (author)

Fundamental understanding and development of low-cost, high-efficiency silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

ROHATGI,A.; NARASIMHA,S.; MOSCHER,J.; EBONG,A.; KAMRA,S.; KRYGOWSKI,T.; DOSHI,P.; RISTOW,A.; YELUNDUR,V.; RUBY,DOUGLAS S.

2000-05-01

The overall objectives of this program are (1) to develop rapid and low-cost processes for manufacturing that can improve yield, throughput, and performance of silicon photovoltaic devices, (2) to design and fabricate high-efficiency solar cells on promising low-cost materials, and (3) to improve the fundamental understanding of advanced photovoltaic devices. Several rapid and potentially low-cost technologies are described in this report that were developed and applied toward the fabrication of high-efficiency silicon solar cells.

Assessment of radiotherapy photon beams: A practical and low cost methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reis, C.Q.M.; Nicolucci, P.

2017-01-01

Dosimetric properties of radiation beams used in radiotherapy are directly related to the energy spectrum produced by the treatment unit. Therefore, the development of methodologies to evaluate in a simple and accurate way the spectra of clinical beams can help establishing the quality control of the treatment. The purpose of this study is to present a practical and low cost methodology for determining primary spectra of radiotherapy photon beams from transmission measurements in attenuators of aluminum and using the method of the inverse Laplace transform. Monte Carlo simulation with PENELOPE code was used in order to evaluate and validate the reconstructed spectra by the calculation of dosimetric parameters that characterize the beam. Percentage depth dose values simulated with a 6 MV reconstructed spectrum shows maximum difference of 4.4% when compared to values measured at the corresponding clinical beam. For a 10 MV beam that difference was around 4.2%. Results obtained in this study confirm the adequacy of the proposed methodology for assessing primary photon beams produced by clinical accelerators. - Highlights: • Primary spectra of radiotherapy photon beams are determined from transmission measurements. • Monte Carlo calculations are used to evaluate the method of the inverse Laplace transform. • The proposed methodology is practical and of low cost for clinical purposes. • Results are in fair agreement with literature and clinical data.

Decommissioning Programme Management: reducing risk and cost while accelerating schedules through improved planning, Earned Value Management and safe work execution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, S.E.

2008-01-01

CH2M HILL experience includes more than two decades of managing nuclear facilities and providing clean-up and operations support for commercial and government facilities worldwide. Our expertise ranges from decommissioning and defence sector businesses to nuclear technology development and innovation. Our approach places top priority on the safe execution of work while reducing both risk and cost. Our nuclear services include: programme management, nuclear safety analysis, radiological protection, radioactive waste management, nuclear remediation, nuclear materials and waste transportation management, nuclear safeguards and security services, and nuclear decontamination and decommissioning. This paper will discuss our approach which has resulted in a strong track record of accelerating schedules and reducing costs of major nuclear programmes, including Rocky Flats, Idaho, and our work at UKAEA sites. (author)

Restricted Albumin Utilization Is Safe and Cost Effective in a Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabin, Joseph; Meyenburg, Timothy; Lowery, Ashleigh V; Rouse, Michael; Gammie, James S; Herr, Daniel

2017-07-01

Volume expansion is often necessary after cardiac surgery, and albumin is often administered. Albumin's high cost motivated an attempt to reduce its utilization. This study analyzes the impact limiting albumin infusion in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit. This retrospective study analyzed albumin use between April 2014 and April 2015 in patients admitted to a cardiac surgery intensive care unit. During the first 9 months, there were no restrictions. In January 2015, institutional guidelines limited albumin use to patients requiring more than 3 L crystalloid in the early postoperative period, hypoalbuminemic patients, and to patients considered fluid overloaded. Albumin utilization was obtained from pharmacy records and compared with outcome quality metrics. In all, 1,401 patients were admitted over 13 months. Albumin use, mortality, ventilator days, patients receiving transfusions, and length of stay were compared for 961 patients before and 440 patients after guidelines were initiated. After restrictive guidelines were instituted, albumin utilization was reduced from a mean of 280 monthly doses to a mean of 101 monthly doses (p albumin doses, the cardiac surgery intensive care unit demonstrated more than $45,000 of wholesale savings per month after restrictions were implemented. Albumin restriction in the cardiac surgery intensive care unit was feasible and safe. Significant reductions in utilization and cost with no changes in morbidity or mortality were demonstrated. These findings may provide a strategy for reducing cost while maintaining quality of care. Copyright © 2017 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Efforts of the occupant to change physical quality of residential unit through the change of building material at low cost flats in Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Nurdiani, N.

2018-03-01

Low cost flats in Jakarta – Indonesia is provided by the government for low-income people in urban areas, in line with the program to redevelop or renew slum areas. Low cost flat is built with the minimum standard of building materials. The purpose of this study is to know efforts of the occupants to change of building materials at residential unit of low cost flats. The research was conducted by descriptive method at four of low cost housing in Jakarta: Rusuna Bendungan Hilir 1, Rusuna Tambora IIIA, Rusuna Bidara Cina, and Rusuna Sukapura. The results showed that physical changes which happened in low cost flats are aesthetic (residence paint color change), or improvement of physical quality of residential unit (change of building material), become dominant aspects done by residents in four rusuna.

Near-Net Shape Fabrication Using Low-Cost Titanium Alloy Powders

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dr. David M. Bowden; Dr. William H. Peter

2012-03-31

The use of titanium in commercial aircraft production has risen steadily over the last half century. The aerospace industry currently accounts for 58% of the domestic titanium market. The Kroll process, which has been used for over 50 years to produce titanium metal from its mineral form, consumes large quantities of energy. And, methods used to convert the titanium sponge output of the Kroll process into useful mill products also require significant energy resources. These traditional approaches result in product forms that are very expensive, have long lead times of up to a year or more, and require costly operations to fabricate finished parts. Given the increasing role of titanium in commercial aircraft, new titanium technologies are needed to create a more sustainable manufacturing strategy that consumes less energy, requires less material, and significantly reduces material and fabrication costs. A number of emerging processes are under development which could lead to a breakthrough in extraction technology. Several of these processes produce titanium alloy powder as a product. The availability of low-cost titanium powders may in turn enable a more efficient approach to the manufacture of titanium components using powder metallurgical processing. The objective of this project was to define energy-efficient strategies for manufacturing large-scale titanium structures using these low-cost powders as the starting material. Strategies include approaches to powder consolidation to achieve fully dense mill products, and joining technologies such as friction and laser welding to combine those mill products into near net shape (NNS) preforms for machining. The near net shape approach reduces material and machining requirements providing for improved affordability of titanium structures. Energy and cost modeling was used to define those approaches that offer the largest energy savings together with the economic benefits needed to drive implementation. Technical

Accuracy of a Low-Cost Novel Computer-Vision Dynamic Movement Assessment: Potential Limitations and Future Directions

Science.gov (United States)

McGroarty, M.; Giblin, S.; Meldrum, D.; Wetterling, F.

2016-04-01

The aim of the study was to perform a preliminary validation of a low cost markerless motion capture system (CAPTURE) against an industry gold standard (Vicon). Measurements of knee valgus and flexion during the performance of a countermovement jump (CMJ) between CAPTURE and Vicon were compared. After correction algorithms were applied to the raw CAPTURE data acceptable levels of accuracy and precision were achieved. The knee flexion angle measured for three trials using Capture deviated by -3.8° ± 3° (left) and 1.7° ± 2.8° (right) compared to Vicon. The findings suggest that low-cost markerless motion capture has potential to provide an objective method for assessing lower limb jump and landing mechanics in an applied sports setting. Furthermore, the outcome of the study warrants the need for future research to examine more fully the potential implications of the use of low-cost markerless motion capture in the evaluation of dynamic movement for injury prevention.

Development of a low cost, low environmental impact process for disposal of nitrate wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Napier, J.M.

1975-01-01

A uranium recycle process in the Y-12 Plant generates nitrate ions which must be discarded. Scrap enriched uranium is dissolved in nitric acid and solvent extracted to remove impurities from the uranium. Aluminum nitrate is also used in the process to remove the purified uranium from the solvent extraction process. Dilute nitric acid, aluminum nitrate, and metallic impurities must be discarded from this process. A program was started to develop a low cost, low environmental impact process for disposal of these nitrate wastes. Several disposal methods were considered. A process was selected which included: distillation and recycle of nitric acid; crystallization and recycle of aluminum nitrate; and biodegradation of the remaining nitrate waste solutions. For this presentation, only the biodegradation process will be discussed. A colony of Pseudomonas stutzeri, which is capable of using the nitrate ion as the oxygen supply, was used. An excess of organic material was used to insure that the maximum amount of nitrate was destroyed

Producing optical (contact) lenses by a novel low cost process

Science.gov (United States)

Skipper, Richard S.; Spencer, Ian D.

2005-09-01

The rapid and impressive growth of China has been achieved on the back of highly labour intensive industries, often in manufacturing, and at the cost of companies and jobs in Europe and America. Approaches that worked well in the 1990's to reduce production costs in the developed countries are no longer effective when confronted with the low labour costs of China and India. We have looked at contact lenses as a product that has become highly available to consumers here but as an industry that has reduced costs by moving to low labour cost countries. The question to be answered was, "Do we have the skill to still make the product in the UK, and can we make it cheap enough to export to China?" if we do not, then contact lens manufacture will move to China sooner or later. The challenge to enter the markets of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries is extremely exciting as here is the new money, high growth and here is a product that sells to those with disposable incomes. To succeed we knew we had to be radical in our approach; the radical step was very simple: to devise a process in which each step added value to the customer and not cost to the product. The presentation examines the processes used by the major producers and how, by applying good manufacturing practice sound scientific principles to them, the opportunity to design a new low cost patented process was identified.

Low-power grating detection system chip for high-speed low-cost length and angle precision measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Ligang; Luo, Rengui; Wu, Wuchen

2006-11-01

This paper forwards a low power grating detection chip (EYAS) on length and angle precision measurement. Traditional grating detection method, such as resister chain divide or phase locked divide circuit are difficult to design and tune. The need of an additional CPU for control and display makes these methods' implementation more complex and costly. Traditional methods also suffer low sampling speed for the complex divide circuit scheme and CPU software compensation. EYAS is an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). It integrates micro controller unit (MCU), power management unit (PMU), LCD controller, Keyboard interface, grating detection unit and other peripherals. Working at 10MHz, EYAS can afford 5MHz internal sampling rate and can handle 1.25MHz orthogonal signal from grating sensor. With a simple control interface by keyboard, sensor parameter, data processing and system working mode can be configured. Two LCD controllers can adapt to dot array LCD or segment bit LCD, which comprised output interface. PMU alters system between working and standby mode by clock gating technique to save power. EYAS in test mode (system action are more frequently than real world use) consumes 0.9mw, while 0.2mw in real world use. EYAS achieved the whole grating detection system function, high-speed orthogonal signal handling in a single chip with very low power consumption.

Pointo - a Low Cost Solution to Point Cloud Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Houshiar, H.; Winkler, S.

2017-11-01

With advance in technology access to data especially 3D point cloud data becomes more and more an everyday task. 3D point clouds are usually captured with very expensive tools such as 3D laser scanners or very time consuming methods such as photogrammetry. Most of the available softwares for 3D point cloud processing are designed for experts and specialists in this field and are usually very large software packages containing variety of methods and tools. This results in softwares that are usually very expensive to acquire and also very difficult to use. Difficulty of use is caused by complicated user interfaces that is required to accommodate a large list of features. The aim of these complex softwares is to provide a powerful tool for a specific group of specialist. However they are not necessary required by the majority of the up coming average users of point clouds. In addition to complexity and high costs of these softwares they generally rely on expensive and modern hardware and only compatible with one specific operating system. Many point cloud customers are not point cloud processing experts or willing to spend the high acquisition costs of these expensive softwares and hardwares. In this paper we introduce a solution for low cost point cloud processing. Our approach is designed to accommodate the needs of the average point cloud user. To reduce the cost and complexity of software our approach focuses on one functionality at a time in contrast with most available softwares and tools that aim to solve as many problems as possible at the same time. Our simple and user oriented design improve the user experience and empower us to optimize our methods for creation of an efficient software. In this paper we introduce Pointo family as a series of connected softwares to provide easy to use tools with simple design for different point cloud processing requirements. PointoVIEWER and PointoCAD are introduced as the first components of the Pointo family to provide a

Low-cost wireless voltage & current grid monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hines, Jacqueline [SenSanna Inc., Arnold, MD (United States)

2016-12-31

This report describes the development and demonstration of a novel low-cost wireless power distribution line monitoring system. This system measures voltage, current, and relative phase on power lines of up to 35 kV-class. The line units operate without any batteries, and without harvesting energy from the power line. Thus, data on grid condition is provided even in outage conditions, when line current is zero. This enhances worker safety by detecting the presence of voltage and current that may appear from stray sources on nominally isolated lines. Availability of low-cost power line monitoring systems will enable widespread monitoring of the distribution grid. Real-time data on local grid operating conditions will enable grid operators to optimize grid operation, implement grid automation, and understand the impact of solar and other distributed sources on grid stability. The latter will enable utilities to implement eneygy storage and control systems to enable greater penetration of solar into the grid.

Correlates of safe sex behaviour among low-educated adolescents of different ethnic origin in Antwerp, Belgium.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrickx, Kristin; Philips, Hilde; Avonts, Dirk

2008-06-01

Several reports suggest that low educated adolescents of ethnic minority origin are at a higher risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection (STI) than autochthonous teens. On the other hand, focus group research with young Moroccan boys revealed a positive attitude towards condom use; they claim to use a condom even more frequently than their Belgian peers. The aim of this study is to document the behavioural, educational and social correlates that influence the use of condoms among low educated adolescents of different origin. Data from 378 questionnaires completed by 253 native Belgian and 125 ethnic minority adolescents, mostly Moslems, were analysed with the statistic software: SPSS. Results were interpreted according to the behavioural science ASE model (Attitude, Social influences, self-Efficacy). Native boys discuss sexual items more frequently with their parents and sexual partner, while boys in the other group address their questions more frequently to teachers, pharmacists and doctors. In both groups the most important correlate of safe sex intention and behaviour is the self-efficacy variable 'both partners taking the initiative with regard to condom use'. This correlate refers to communication skills. Parental support and quality of general communication about sexuality with the parents are very important for both groups. A positive attitude of peers influences the intention of condom use in both groups. There is no significant difference in sexual activity and safe sex behaviour between native boys and young males of ethnic minority. Self efficacy (correct condom use and taking the initiative) is the most prominent predictor of safe sex behaviour in both groups.

A Low Cost Single Chip VDL Compatible Transceiver ASIC

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Robert

2004-01-01

Recent trends in commercial communications system components have focussed almost exclusively on cellular telephone technology. As many of the traditional sources of receiver components have discontinued non-cellular telephone products, the designers of avionics and other low volume radio applications find themselves increasingly unable to find highly integrated components. This is particularly true for low power, low cost applications which cannot afford the lavish current consumption of the software defined radio approach increasingly taken by certified device manufacturers. In this paper, we describe a low power transceiver chip targeting applications from low VHF to low UHF frequencies typical of avionics systems. The chip encompasses a selectable single or double conversion design for the receiver and a low power IF upconversion transmitter. All local oscillators are synthesized and integrated into the chip. An on-chip I-Q modulator and demodulator provide baseband modulation and demodulation capability allowing the use of low power, fixed point signal processing components for signal demodulation. The goal of this program is to demonstrate a low cost VDL mode-3 transceiver using this chip to receive text weather information sent using 4-slot TDMA with no support for voice. The data will be sent from an experimental ground station. This work is funded by NASA Glenn Research Center.

Prosthetic design directives: Low-cost hands within reach.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, G K; Rosendo, A; Stopforth, R

2017-07-01

Although three million people around the world suffer from the lack of one or both upper limbs 80% of this number is located within developing countries. While prosthetic prices soar with technology 3D printing and low cost electronics present a sensible solution for those that cannot afford expensive prosthetics. The electronic and control design of a low-cost prosthetic hand, the Touch Hand II, is discussed. This paper shows that sensorless techniques can be used to reduce design complexities, costs, and provide easier access to the electronics. A closing and opening finite state machine (COFSM) was developed to handle the actuated digit joint control state and a supervisory switching control scheme, used for speed and grip strength control. Three torque and speed settings were created to be preset for specific grasps. The hand was able to replicate ten frequently used grasps and grip some common objects. Future work is necessary to enable a user to control it with myoelectric signals (MESs) and to solve operational problems related to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Digital Image Quantitative Evaluations for Low Cost Film Digitizers Height Determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khairul Anuar Mohd Salleh; Arshad Yassin; Ahmad Nasir Yusof; Noorhazleena Azaman

2016-01-01

Non Destructive Testing (NDT) technology contributes significant improvement to the quality of industrial products, and the integrity of equipment and plants. Introduction of powerful computers and reliable imaging technology has had significant impact on the traditional nuclear based NDT technology. Demand for faster, reliable, low cost, and flexible technology is rapidly increased. With the growing demand for more efficient digital archiving, digital image analysis, and reporting results with a low cost technology, one cannot deny the importance of having another cheaper solution. This project will apply fundamental principle of image digitization to be used in building up a low cost film digitization solution. The height of the film digitization was carefully determined by examining each digital images produced. Three (3) repetitive quantitative evaluations (Modulation Transfer Function [MTF], Characteristic Transfer Curve [CTC], and Contrast to Noise Ratio [CNR]) were performed at different condition to assist with the determination of the low cost film digitizers height. All 3 evaluations were successfully applied and the most appropriate height was successfully determined. (author)

In situ Measurements of Phytoplankton Fluorescence Using Low Cost Electronics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dana L. Wright

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Chlorophyll a fluorometry has long been used as a method to study phytoplankton in the ocean. In situ fluorometry is used frequently in oceanography to provide depth-resolved estimates of phytoplankton biomass. However, the high price of commercially manufactured in situ fluorometers has made them unavailable to some individuals and institutions. Presented here is an investigation into building an in situ fluorometer using low cost electronics. The goal was to construct an easily reproducible in situ fluorometer from simple and widely available electronic components. The simplicity and modest cost of the sensor makes it valuable to students and professionals alike. Open source sharing of architecture and software will allow students to reconstruct and customize the sensor on a small budget. Research applications that require numerous in situ fluorometers or expendable fluorometers can also benefit from this study. The sensor costs US$150.00 and can be constructed with little to no previous experience. The sensor uses a blue LED to excite chlorophyll a and measures fluorescence using a silicon photodiode. The sensor is controlled by an Arduino microcontroller that also serves as a data logger.

Processing of low-quality bauxite feedstock by thermochemistry-Bayer method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О. А. Дубовиков

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The modern production of aluminum which by its global output ranks first among the non-ferrous metals includes three main stages: ore extraction, its processing into alumina and, finally, the production of primary aluminum. Alumina production from bauxites,  being the  primary raw material in the  alumina industry,  is based  on two main methods: the Bayer method and the sintering method developed in Russia under the lead of an academician Nikolay Semenovich Kurnakov. Alumina production by the Bayer’s method is more cost effective,  but  has  higher  requirements to the  quality of the bauxite feedstock.  A great deal  of research has  been carried  out on low quality bauxites focusing firstly on finding ways to enrich the feedstock, secondly on improving the combined sequential Bayer-sintering method and thirdly on developing new hydrometallurgical ways for bauxites processing. Mechanical methods of bauxite enrichment have not yet brought any positive outcome, and a development of new hydrometallurgical high alkaline  autoclave process  faced  significant hardware  difficulties not addressed so far. For efficient processing of such low quality bauxite feedstock it is suggested to use a universal thermochemistry-Bayer method, which was developed in St. Petersburg Mining University under  the lead  of  Nikolay Ivanovich Eremin, allows to process different substandard bauxite feedstock and has a competitive costing as compared to the sintering method and combined methods. The main stages of thermochemistry-Bayer method are thermal activation of feedstock, its further desiliconization with the alkaline solution and leaching of the resultant bauxite product  under Bayer’s method. Despite high energy consumption at  the baking stage,  it  allows to condition the  low quality bauxite feedstock by neutralizing a variety of technologically harmful impurities such as organic matter, sulfide sulfur, carbonates, and at the

Cost of intensive routine control and incremental cost of insecticide-treated curtain deployment in a setting with low Aedes aegypti infestation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Baly

Full Text Available Abstract: INTRODUCTION Information regarding the cost of implementing insecticide-treated curtains (ITCs is scarce. Therefore, we evaluated the ITC implementation cost, in addition to the costs of intensive conventional routine activities of the Aedes control program in the city of Guantanamo, Cuba. METHODS A cost-analysis study was conducted from the perspective of the Aedes control program, nested in an ITC effectiveness trial, during 2009-2010. Data for this study were obtained from bookkeeping records and activity registers of the Provincial Aedes Control Programme Unit and the account records of the ITC trial. RESULTS The annual cost of the routine Aedes control program activities was US$16.80 per household (p.h. Among 3,015 households, 6,714 ITCs were distributed. The total average cost per ITC distributed was US$3.42, and 74.3% of this cost was attributed to the cost of purchasing the ITCs. The annualized costs p.h. of ITC implementation was US$3.80. The additional annualized cost for deploying ITCs represented 19% and 48.4% of the total cost of the routine Aedes control and adult-stage Aedes control programs, respectively. The trial did not lead to further reductions in the already relatively low Aedes infestation levels. CONCLUSIONS At current curtain prices, ITC deployment can hardly be considered an efficient option in Guantanamo and other comparable environments.

Synthesis and characterization of low cost magnetorheological (MR) fluids

Science.gov (United States)

Sukhwani, V. K.; Hirani, H.

2007-04-01

Magnetorheological fluids have great potential for engineering applications due to their variable rheological behavior. These fluids find applications in dampers, brakes, shock absorbers, and engine mounts. However their relatively high cost (approximately US600 per liter) limits their wide usage. Most commonly used magnetic material "Carbonyl iron" cost more than 90% of the MR fluid cost. Therefore for commercial viability of these fluids there is need of alternative economical magnetic material. In the present work synthesis of MR fluid has been attempted with objective to produce low cost MR fluid with high sedimentation stability and greater yield stress. In order to reduce the cost, economical electrolytic Iron powder (US 10 per Kg) has been used. Iron powder of relatively larger size (300 Mesh) has been ball milled to reduce their size to few microns (1 to 10 microns). Three different compositions have been prepared and compared for MR effect produced and stability. All have same base fluid (Synthetic oil) and same magnetic phase i.e. Iron particles but they have different additives. First preparation involves organic additives Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Stearic acid. Other two preparations involve use of two environmental friendly low-priced green additives guar gum (US 2 per Kg) and xanthan gum (US 12 per Kg) respectively. Magnetic properties of Iron particles have been measured by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Morphology of Iron particles and additives guar gum and xanthan gum has been examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Particles Size Distribution (PSD) has been determined using Particle size analyzer. Microscopic images of particles, MH plots and stability of synthesized MR fluids have been reported. The prepared low cost MR fluids showed promising performance and can be effectively used for engineering applications demanding controllability in operations.

Low Noise PAV Ducted Propeller using Automotive Manufacturing, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Munro & Assoc. and MISATS (MU&M) recognize the explosive market pull for low cost airplanes, i.e. PAV, that provide affordable, comfortable and safe...

Removing Hair Safely

Science.gov (United States)

... For Consumers Home For Consumers Consumer Updates Removing Hair Safely Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More sharing ... related to common methods of hair removal. Laser Hair Removal In this method, a laser destroys hair ...

Development of a Low-Cost TiO2/CuO/Cu Solar Cell by using Combined Spraying and Electroplating Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mamat Rokhmat

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A simple method is proposed to develop a low-cost TiO2/CuO/Cu based solar cell. The cell is made by employing a lower grade (technical grade of TiO2 as the active material. CuO powder is synthesized using a wet chemical method and mixed with TiO2 powder to give impurity to the TiO2. A layer of TiO2/CuO is then deposited onto fluorin-doped tin oxide (FTO by spraying. Copper particles are grown on the spaces between the TiO2 and/or CuO particles by electroplating for more feasible electron migration. The TiO2/CuO/Cu solar cell is finalized by sandwiching a polymer electrolyte between the film and the counter electrode. Current-voltage measurement was performed for various parameters, such as the molarity of NaOH for producing CuO particles, the weight ratio of CuO over TiO2, and the current in the electroplating process. A highest efficiency of 1.40% and a fill factor of 0.37 were achieved by using this combined spray and electroplating method.

Licensing issues for inherently safe fast reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastenberg, W.E.; Lee, S.; Okrent, D.

1986-01-01

There has been considerable interest recently in a new generation of liquid metal reactor (LMR) concepts in the US. Some significant changes in regulatory philosophy will be required if the anticipated cost advantages of inherently safe designs are to be achieved. The defense in depth philosophy will need to be significantly re-evaluated in the context of inherently safe reactors. It is the purpose of this paper to begin such a re-evaluation of this regulatory philosophy

Low-cost formation of bulk and localized polymer-derived carbon nanodomains from polydimethylsiloxane.

Science.gov (United States)

Alcántara, Juan Carlos Castro; Cerda Zorrilla, Mariana; Cabriales, Lucia; Rossano, Luis Manuel León; Hautefeuille, Mathieu

2015-01-01

We present two simple alternative methods to form polymer-derived carbon nanodomains in a controlled fashion and at low cost, using custom-made chemical vapour deposition and selective laser ablation with a commercial CD-DVD platform. Both processes presented shiny and dark residual materials after the polymer combustion and according to micro-Raman spectroscopy of the domains, graphitic nanocrystals and carbon nanotubes have successfully been produced by the combustion of polydimethylsiloxane layers. The fabrication processes and characterization of the byproduct materials are reported. We demonstrate that CVD led to bulk production of graphitic nanocrystals and single-walled carbon nanotubes while direct laser ablation may be employed for the formation of localized fluorescent nanodots. In the latter case, graphitic nanodomains and multi-wall carbon nanotubes are left inside microchannels and preliminary results seem to indicate that laser ablation could offer a tuning control of the nature and optical properties of the nanodomains that are left inside micropatterns with on-demand geometries. These low-cost methods look particularly promising for the formation of carbon nanoresidues with controlled properties and in applications where high integration is desired.

Low-Cost Propellant Launch From a Tethered Balloon

Science.gov (United States)

Wilcox, Brian

2006-01-01

A document presents a concept for relatively inexpensive delivery of propellant to a large fuel depot in low orbit around the Earth, for use in rockets destined for higher orbits, the Moon, and for remote planets. The propellant is expected to be at least 85 percent of the mass needed in low Earth orbit to support the NASA Exploration Vision. The concept calls for the use of many small ( 10 ton) spin-stabilized, multistage, solid-fuel rockets to each deliver 250 kg of propellant. Each rocket would be winched up to a balloon tethered above most of the atmospheric mass (optimal altitude 26 2 km). There, the rocket would be aimed slightly above the horizon, spun, dropped, and fired at a time chosen so that the rocket would arrive in orbit near the depot. Small thrusters on the payload (powered, for example, by boil-off gases from cryogenic propellants that make up the payload) would precess the spinning rocket, using data from a low-cost inertial sensor to correct for small aerodynamic and solid rocket nozzle misalignment torques on the spinning rocket; would manage the angle of attack and the final orbit insertion burn; and would be fired on command from the depot in response to observations of the trajectory of the payload so as to make small corrections to bring the payload into a rendezvous orbit and despin it for capture by the depot. The system is low-cost because the small rockets can be mass-produced using the same techniques as those to produce automobiles and low-cost munitions, and one or more can be launched from a U.S. territory on the equator (Baker or Jarvis Islands in the mid-Pacific) to the fuel depot on each orbit (every 90 minutes, e.g., any multiple of 6,000 per year).

A rapid and low-cost DNA extraction method for isolating ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

2011-02-21

Feb 21, 2011 ... Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB ... α-casein, produces PCR ready DNA at a fraction of the cost of commercial DNA extraction kits. Key words: DNA .... This experiment was performed to evaluate the efficiency of the ..... Zoetendal EG, Ben-Amor K, Akkermans AD, Abee T, De Vos WM.

Efficacy of a low-cost bubble CPAP system in treatment of respiratory distress in a neonatal ward in Malawi.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kondwani Kawaza

Full Text Available Respiratory failure is a leading cause of neonatal mortality in the developing world. Bubble continuous positive airway pressure (bCPAP is a safe, effective intervention for infants with respiratory distress and is widely used in developed countries. Because of its high cost, bCPAP is not widely utilized in low-resource settings. We evaluated the performance of a new bCPAP system to treat severe respiratory distress in a low resource setting, comparing it to nasal oxygen therapy, the current standard of care.We conducted a non-randomized convenience sample study to test the efficacy of a low-cost bCPAP system treating newborns with severe respiratory distress in the neonatal ward of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, in Blantyre, Malawi. Neonates weighing >1,000 g and presenting with severe respiratory distress who fulfilled inclusion criteria received nasal bCPAP if a device was available; if not, they received standard care. Clinical assessments were made during treatment and outcomes compared for the two groups.87 neonates (62 bCPAP, 25 controls were recruited. Survival rate for neonates receiving bCPAP was 71.0% (44/62 compared with 44.0% (11/25 for controls. 65.5% (19/29 of very low birth weight neonates receiving bCPAP survived to discharge compared to 15.4% (1/13 of controls. 64.6% (31/48 of neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS receiving bCPAP survived to discharge, compared to 23.5% (4/17 of controls. 61.5% (16/26 of neonates with sepsis receiving bCPAP survived to discharge, while none of the seven neonates with sepsis in the control group survived.Use of a low-cost bCPAP system to treat neonatal respiratory distress resulted in 27% absolute improvement in survival. The beneficial effect was greater for neonates with very low birth weight, RDS, or sepsis. Implementing appropriate bCPAP devices could reduce neonatal mortality in developing countries.

Efficacy of a low-cost bubble CPAP system in treatment of respiratory distress in a neonatal ward in Malawi.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawaza, Kondwani; Machen, Heather E; Brown, Jocelyn; Mwanza, Zondiwe; Iniguez, Suzanne; Gest, Al; Smith, E O'Brian; Oden, Maria; Richards-Kortum, Rebecca R; Molyneux, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Respiratory failure is a leading cause of neonatal mortality in the developing world. Bubble continuous positive airway pressure (bCPAP) is a safe, effective intervention for infants with respiratory distress and is widely used in developed countries. Because of its high cost, bCPAP is not widely utilized in low-resource settings. We evaluated the performance of a new bCPAP system to treat severe respiratory distress in a low resource setting, comparing it to nasal oxygen therapy, the current standard of care. We conducted a non-randomized convenience sample study to test the efficacy of a low-cost bCPAP system treating newborns with severe respiratory distress in the neonatal ward of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, in Blantyre, Malawi. Neonates weighing >1,000 g and presenting with severe respiratory distress who fulfilled inclusion criteria received nasal bCPAP if a device was available; if not, they received standard care. Clinical assessments were made during treatment and outcomes compared for the two groups. 87 neonates (62 bCPAP, 25 controls) were recruited. Survival rate for neonates receiving bCPAP was 71.0% (44/62) compared with 44.0% (11/25) for controls. 65.5% (19/29) of very low birth weight neonates receiving bCPAP survived to discharge compared to 15.4% (1/13) of controls. 64.6% (31/48) of neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) receiving bCPAP survived to discharge, compared to 23.5% (4/17) of controls. 61.5% (16/26) of neonates with sepsis receiving bCPAP survived to discharge, while none of the seven neonates with sepsis in the control group survived. Use of a low-cost bCPAP system to treat neonatal respiratory distress resulted in 27% absolute improvement in survival. The beneficial effect was greater for neonates with very low birth weight, RDS, or sepsis. Implementing appropriate bCPAP devices could reduce neonatal mortality in developing countries.

Low-Cost Resonant Cavity Raman Gas Probe for Multi-Gas Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Thorstensen, J.; Haugholt, K. H.; Ferber, A.; Bakke, K. A. H.; Tschudi, J.

2014-12-01

Raman based gas sensing can be attractive in several industrial applications, due to its multi-gas sensing capabilities and its ability to detect O_2 and N_2. In this article, we have built a Raman gas probe, based on low-cost components, which has shown an estimated detection limit of 0.5 % for 30 second measurements of N_2 and O_2. While this detection limit is higher than that of commercially available equipment, our estimated component cost is approximately one tenth of the price of commercially available equipment. The use of a resonant Fabry-Pérot cavity increases the scattered signal, and hence the sensitivity, by a factor of 50. The cavity is kept in resonance using a piezo-actuated mirror and a photodiode in a feedback loop. The system described in this article was made with minimum-cost components to demonstrate the low-cost principle. However, it is possible to decrease the detection limit using a higher-powered (but still low-cost) laser and improving the collection optics. By applying these improvements, the detection limit and estimated measurement precision will be sufficient for e.g. the monitoring of input gases in combustion processes, such as e.g. (bio-)gas power plants. In these processes, knowledge about gas compositions with 0.1 % (absolute) precision can help regulate and optimize process conditions. The system has the potential to provide a low-cost, industrial Raman sensor that is optimized for specific gas-detection applications.

Innovative approach for low-cost quick-access small payload missions

Science.gov (United States)

Friis, Jan W., Jr.

2000-11-01

A significant part of the burgeoning commercial space industry is placing an unprecedented number of satellites into low earth orbit for a variety of new applications and services. By some estimates the commercial space industry now exceeds that of government space activities. Yet the two markets remain largely separate, with each deploying dedicated satellites and infrastructure for their respective missions. One commercial space firm, Final Analysis, has created a new program wherein either government, scientific or new technology payloads can be integrated on a commercial spacecraft on commercial satellites for a variety of mission scenarios at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated mission. NASA has recognized the advantage of this approach, and has awarded the Quick Ride program to provide frequent, low cost flight opportunities for small independent payloads aboard the Final Analysis constellation, and investigators are rapidly developing science programs that conform to the proposed payload accommodations envelope. Missions that were not feasible using dedicated launches are now receiving approval under the lower cost Quick Ride approach. Final Analysis has dedicated ten out of its thirty-eight satellites in support of the Quick Ride efforts. The benefit of this type of space access extend beyond NASA science programs. Commercial space firms can now gain valuable flight heritage for new technology and satellite product offerings. Further, emerging international space programs can now place a payload in orbit enabling the country to allocate its resources against the payload and mission requirements rather htan increased launch costs of a dedicated spacecraft. Finally, the low cost nature provides University-based research educational opportunities previously out of the reach of most space-related budgets. This paper will describe the motivation, benefits, technical features, and program costs of the Final Analysis secondary payload program. Payloads can be

Sequential Low Cost Interventions Double Hand Hygiene Rates ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sequential Low Cost Interventions Double Hand Hygiene Rates Among Medical Teams in a Resource Limited Setting. Results of a Hand Hygiene Quality Improvement Project Conducted At University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (Chuk), Kigali, Rwanda.

IMPROVING MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING AND COST CALCULATION IN DAIRY INDUSTRY USING STANDARD COST METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdănoiu Cristiana-Luminiţa

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to discuss issues related to the improvement of management accounting in the dairy industry by implementing standard cost method. The methods used today do not provide informational satisfaction to managers in order to conduct effectively production activities, which is why we attempted the standard cost method, it responding to the managers needs to obtain the efficiency of production, and all economic entities. The method allows an operative control of how they consume manpower and material resources by pursuing distinct, permanent and complete deviations during the activity and not at the end of the reporting period. Successful implementation of the standard method depends on the accuracy by which standards are developed and promotes consistently anticipated calculation of production costs as well as determination, tracking and controlling deviations from them, leads to increased practical value of accounting information and business improvement.

Low-cost, locally available shelters in Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ammarah Mubarak

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Flooding in 2010 affected 18 million people in Pakistan. With declining donor funds and flooding again in 2011 and 2012, the humanitarian community required low-cost solutions that could be scaled up to meet both the immediate and the transitional needs of large populations in differing geographical areas.

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

A scalable-low cost architecture for high gain beamforming antennas

KAUST Repository

Bakr, Omar; Johnson, Mark; Jungdong Park,; Adabi, Ehsan; Jones, Kevin; Niknejad, Ali

2010-01-01

Many state-of-the-art wireless systems, such as long distance mesh networks and high bandwidth networks using mm-wave frequencies, require high gain antennas to overcome adverse channel conditions. These networks could be greatly aided by adaptive beamforming antenna arrays, which can significantly simplify the installation and maintenance costs (e.g., by enabling automatic beam alignment). However, building large, low cost beamforming arrays is very complicated. In this paper, we examine the main challenges presented by large arrays, starting from electromagnetic and antenna design and proceeding to the signal processing and algorithms domain. We propose 3-dimensional antenna structures and hybrid RF/digital radio architectures that can significantly reduce the complexity and improve the power efficiency of adaptive array systems. We also present signal processing techniques based on adaptive filtering methods that enhance the robustness of these architectures. Finally, we present computationally efficient vector quantization techniques that significantly improve the interference cancellation capabilities of analog beamforming architectures. © 2010 IEEE.

A scalable-low cost architecture for high gain beamforming antennas

KAUST Repository

Bakr, Omar

2010-10-01

Many state-of-the-art wireless systems, such as long distance mesh networks and high bandwidth networks using mm-wave frequencies, require high gain antennas to overcome adverse channel conditions. These networks could be greatly aided by adaptive beamforming antenna arrays, which can significantly simplify the installation and maintenance costs (e.g., by enabling automatic beam alignment). However, building large, low cost beamforming arrays is very complicated. In this paper, we examine the main challenges presented by large arrays, starting from electromagnetic and antenna design and proceeding to the signal processing and algorithms domain. We propose 3-dimensional antenna structures and hybrid RF/digital radio architectures that can significantly reduce the complexity and improve the power efficiency of adaptive array systems. We also present signal processing techniques based on adaptive filtering methods that enhance the robustness of these architectures. Finally, we present computationally efficient vector quantization techniques that significantly improve the interference cancellation capabilities of analog beamforming architectures. © 2010 IEEE.

Development and Evaluation of A Novel and Cost-Effective Approach for Low-Cost NO2 Sensor Drift Correction

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Li; Westerdahl, Dane; Ning, Zhi

2017-01-01

Emerging low-cost gas sensor technologies have received increasing attention in recent years for air quality measurements due to their small size and convenient deployment. However, in the diverse applications these sensors face many technological challenges, including sensor drift over long-term deployment that cannot be easily addressed using mathematical correction algorithms or machine learning methods. This study aims to develop a novel approach to auto-correct the drift of commonly used electrochemical nitrogen dioxide (NO2) sensor with comprehensive evaluation of its application. The impact of environmental factors on the NO2 electrochemical sensor in low-ppb concentration level measurement was evaluated in laboratory and the temperature and relative humidity correction algorithm was evaluated. An automated zeroing protocol was developed and assessed using a chemical absorbent to remove NO2 as a means to perform zero correction in varying ambient conditions. The sensor system was operated in three different environments in which data were compared to a reference NO2 analyzer. The results showed that the zero-calibration protocol effectively corrected the observed drift of the sensor output. This technique offers the ability to enhance the performance of low-cost sensor based systems and these findings suggest extension of the approach to improve data quality from sensors measuring other gaseous pollutants in urban air. PMID:28825633

A Simplified, Low-Cost Method for Polarized Light Microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Maude, Richard J.; Buapetch, Wanchana; Silamut, Kamolrat

2009-01-01

Malaria pigment is an intracellular inclusion body that appears in blood and tissue specimens on microscopic examination and can help in establishing the diagnosis of malaria. In simple light microscopy, it can be difficult to discern from cellular background and artifacts. It has long been known that if polarized light microscopy is used, malaria pigment can be much easier to distinguish. However, this technique is rarely used because of the need for a relatively costly polarization microscope. We describe a simple and economical technique to convert any standard light microscope suitable for examination of malaria films into a polarization microscope. PMID:19861611

Safe and High Quality Food Production using Low Quality Waters and Improved Irrigation Systems and Management, EU Project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plauborg, Finn; Jensen, Christian Richardt; Dalsgaard, Anders

2009-01-01

: the safety and quality of food products, and the increasing competition for clean freshwater. SAFIR is funded for the period 2005-2009 under the Food Quality and Safety thematic area of the EU 6th Framework Research Programme. The challenge for the next years will be to produce safe and high quality foods...... a multi-disciplinary team, with food safety and quality experts, engineers, agronomists and economists from17 research institutes and private companies in Europe, Israel and China working together. The project assesses potential risks to farmers. Coupled with farm management and economic models, a new...... intelligent tool for efficient and safe use and re-use of low-quality water are being developed. Already published results indicate water saving in the order of 25-30% in agricultural crops as potatoes and tomatoes are possible without yield reduction. Slightly treated waste water can be used safely when...

Textured digital elevation model formation from low-cost UAV LADAR/digital image data

Science.gov (United States)

Bybee, Taylor C.; Budge, Scott E.

2015-05-01

Textured digital elevation models (TDEMs) have valuable use in precision agriculture, situational awareness, and disaster response. However, scientific-quality models are expensive to obtain using conventional aircraft-based methods. The cost of creating an accurate textured terrain model can be reduced by using a low-cost (processing step and enables both 2D- and 3D-image registration techniques to be used. This paper describes formation of TDEMs using simulated data from a small UAV gathering swaths of texel images of the terrain below. Being a low-cost UAV, only a coarse knowledge of position and attitude is known, and thus both 2D- and 3D-image registration techniques must be used to register adjacent swaths of texel imagery to create a TDEM. The process of creating an aggregate texel image (a TDEM) from many smaller texel image swaths is described. The algorithm is seeded with the rough estimate of position and attitude of each capture. Details such as the required amount of texel image overlap, registration models, simulated flight patterns (level and turbulent), and texture image formation are presented. In addition, examples of such TDEMs are shown and analyzed for accuracy.

Structure from Motion (SfM Photogrammetry with Drone Data: A Low Cost Method for Monitoring Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Forests in Developing Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reason Mlambo

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Structure from Motion (SfM photogrammetry applied to photographs captured from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV platforms is increasingly being utilised for a wide range of applications including structural characterisation of forests. The aim of this study was to undertake a first evaluation of whether SfM from UAVs has potential as a low cost method for forest monitoring within developing countries in the context of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+. The project evaluated SfM horizontal and vertical accuracy for measuring the height of individual trees. Aerial image data were collected for two test sites; Meshaw (Devon, UK and Dryden (Scotland, UK using a Quest QPOD fixed wing UAV and DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter UAV, respectively. Comparisons were made between SfM and airborne LiDAR point clouds and surface models at the Meshaw site, while at Dryden, SfM tree heights were compared to ground measured tree heights. Results obtained showed a strong correlation between SfM and LiDAR digital surface models (R2 = 0.89 and canopy height models (R2 = 0.75. However, at Dryden, a poor correlation was observed between SfM tree heights and ground measured heights (R2 = 0.19. The poor results at Dryden were explained by the fact that the forest plot had a closed canopy structure such that SfM failed to generate enough below-canopy ground points. Finally, an evaluation of UAV surveying methods was also undertaken to determine their usefulness and cost-effectiveness for plot-level forest monitoring. The study concluded that although SfM from UAVs performs poorly in closed canopies, it can still provide a low cost solution in those developing countries where forests have sparse canopy cover (<50% with individual tree crowns and ground surfaces well-captured by SfM photogrammetry. Since more than half of the forest covered areas of the world have canopy cover <50%, we can conclude that SfM has enormous potential for forest mapping in

A high-performance, low-cost, leading edge discriminator

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Pramana – Journal of Physics; Volume 65; Issue 2 ... commercial discriminators. A low-cost discriminator is an essential requirement of the GRAPES-3 experiment where a large number of discriminator channels are used.

Method for developing cost estimates for generic regulatory requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-01-01

The NRC has established a practice of performing regulatory analyses, reflecting costs as well as benefits, of proposed new or revised generic requirements. A method had been developed to assist the NRC in preparing the types of cost estimates required for this purpose and for assigning priorities in the resolution of generic safety issues. The cost of a generic requirement is defined as the net present value of total lifetime cost incurred by the public, industry, and government in implementing the requirement for all affected plants. The method described here is for commercial light-water-reactor power plants. Estimating the cost for a generic requirement involves several steps: (1) identifying the activities that must be carried out to fully implement the requirement, (2) defining the work packages associated with the major activities, (3) identifying the individual elements of cost for each work package, (4) estimating the magnitude of each cost element, (5) aggregating individual plant costs over the plant lifetime, and (6) aggregating all plant costs and generic costs to produce a total, national, present value of lifetime cost for the requirement. The method developed addresses all six steps. In this paper, we discuss on the first three

The Software Cost Estimation Method Based on Fuzzy Ontology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Plecka Przemysław

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In the course of sales process of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP Systems, it turns out that the standard system must be extended or changed (modified according to specific customer’s requirements. Therefore, suppliers face the problem of determining the cost of additional works. Most methods of cost estimation bring satisfactory results only at the stage of pre-implementation analysis. However, suppliers need to know the estimated cost as early as at the stage of trade talks. During contract negotiations, they expect not only the information about the costs of works, but also about the risk of exceeding these costs or about the margin of safety. One method that gives more accurate results at the stage of trade talks is the method based on the ontology of implementation costs. This paper proposes modification of the method involving the use of fuzzy attributes, classes, instances and relations in the ontology. The result provides not only the information about the value of work, but also about the minimum and maximum expected cost, and the most likely range of costs. This solution allows suppliers to effectively negotiate the contract and increase the chances of successful completion of the project.

Activity-Based Costing (ABC and Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC: Applicable Methods for University Libraries?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate-Riin Kont

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Objective – This article provides an overview of how university libraries research and adapt new cost accounting models, such as “activity-based costing” (ABC and “time-driven activity-based costing” (TDABC, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of both methods to determine which of these two is suitable for application in university libraries.Methods – This paper reviews and summarizes the literature on cost accounting and costing practices of university libraries. A brief overview of the history of cost accounting, costing, and time and motion studies in libraries is also provided. The ABC and the TDABC method, designed as a revised and easier version of the ABC by Kaplan and Anderson (Kaplan & Anderson 2004 at the beginning of the 21st century, as well as the adoption and adaptation of these methods by university libraries are described, and their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their suitability for university libraries, are analyzed. Results – Cost accounting and costing studies in libraries have a long history, the first of these dating back to 1877. The development of cost accounting and time and motion studies can be seen as a natural evolution of techniques which were created to solve management problems. The ABC method is the best-known management accounting innovation of the last 20 years, and is already widely used in university libraries around the world. However, setting up an ABC system can be very costly, and the system needs to be regularly updated, which further increases its costs. The TDABC system can not only be implemented more quickly (and thus more cheaply, but also can be updated more easily than the traditional ABC, which makes the TDABC the more suitable method for university libraries.Conclusion – Both methods are suitable for university libraries. However, the ABC method can only be implemented in collaboration with an accounting department. The TDABC method can be tested and implemented by

Impact of Costing and Cost Analysis Methods on the Result of the Period: Methods Based on Full Cost Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toma Maria

2017-01-01

In light of the above, in the present paper we have proposed that objectives, to approach the methods of calculating full costs (economic or traditional, and comparing them to determine the effect they have on the outcome of the period.

A New Ultra-lightweight Authentication Protocol for Low Cost RFID Tags

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Wang

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID system has been widely used in almost every aspects of the society. At present, the problem of security and privacy become a key factor of severely blocking the widespread of its usage. However, due to restraints on RFID tag’s manufacturing cost, the traditional methods of encryption are not good candidate to defend the security of wireless communication channel between reader and tag. Designing lightweight or ultra-lightweight RFID authentication protocol has become a hot research topic recently. This paper proposes a new ultra-lightweight RFID authentication protocol with high robustness and execution efficiency. The proposed protocol requires only simple bit-wise operations, it has the characteristics of low storage requirement and communication cost. At the same time, through elaborate mechanism design, avoid the vulnerability of the existing ultra-lightweight authentication protocols.

Quantifying the properties of low-cost powder metallurgy titanium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolzoni, L.; Ruiz-Navas, E.M.; Gordo, E.

2017-01-01

The extensive industrial employment of titanium is hindered by its high production costs where reduction of these costs can be achieved using cheap alloying elements and appropriate alternative processing techniques. In this work the feasibility of the production of low-cost titanium alloys is addressed by adding steel to pure titanium and processing the alloys by powder metallurgy. In particular, a spherical 4140 LCH steel powder commonly used in metal injection moulding is blended with irregular hydride-dehydride Ti. The new low-cost alloys are cold uniaxially pressed and sintered under high vacuum and show comparable properties to other wrought-equivalent and powder metallurgy titanium alloys. Differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction analyses confirm that Ti can tolerate the employment of iron as primary alloying element without forming detrimental TiFe-based intermetallic phases. Thus, the newly designed α+β alloys could be used for cheaper non-critical components.

Quantifying the properties of low-cost powder metallurgy titanium alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolzoni, L., E-mail: bolzoni.leandro@gmail.com [WaiCAM (Waikato Centre for Advanced Materials), The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240 Hamilton (New Zealand); Ruiz-Navas, E.M.; Gordo, E. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University Carlos III of Madrid, Avda. de la Universidad, 30, 28911 Leganés, Madrid (Spain)

2017-02-27

The extensive industrial employment of titanium is hindered by its high production costs where reduction of these costs can be achieved using cheap alloying elements and appropriate alternative processing techniques. In this work the feasibility of the production of low-cost titanium alloys is addressed by adding steel to pure titanium and processing the alloys by powder metallurgy. In particular, a spherical 4140 LCH steel powder commonly used in metal injection moulding is blended with irregular hydride-dehydride Ti. The new low-cost alloys are cold uniaxially pressed and sintered under high vacuum and show comparable properties to other wrought-equivalent and powder metallurgy titanium alloys. Differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction analyses confirm that Ti can tolerate the employment of iron as primary alloying element without forming detrimental TiFe-based intermetallic phases. Thus, the newly designed α+β alloys could be used for cheaper non-critical components.

development of low-cost educational materials for chemistry

African Journals Online (AJOL)

unesco

development of low-cost Chemistry materials from locally available materials. It finally lists the ... According to the World Bank discussion paper (3) large investments have been made to improve the .... official language in Ethiopia) and English.

Low-cost computer mouse for the elderly or disabled in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, C-C; Chen, W-L; Chen, B-N; Shih, Y-Y; Lai, J-S; Chen, Y-L

2014-01-01

A mouse is an important communication interface between a human and a computer, but it is still difficult to use for the elderly or disabled. To develop a low-cost computer mouse auxiliary tool. The principal structure of the low-cost mouse auxiliary tool is the IR (infrared ray) array module and the Wii icon sensor module, which combine with reflective tape and the SQL Server database. This has several benefits including cheap hardware cost, fluent control, prompt response, adaptive adjustment and portability. Also, it carries the game module with the function of training and evaluation; to the trainee, it is really helpful to upgrade the sensitivity of consciousness/sense and the centralization of attention. The intervention phase/maintenance phase, with regard to clicking accuracy and use of time, p value (p< 0.05) reach the level of significance. The development of the low cost adaptive computer mouse auxiliary tool was completed during the study and was also verified as having the characteristics of low cost, easy operation and the adaptability. To patients with physical disabilities, if they have independent control action parts of their limbs, the mouse auxiliary tool is suitable for them to use, i.e. the user only needs to paste the reflective tape by the independent control action parts of the body to operate the mouse auxiliary tool.

Safely Enabling Civilian Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace by Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management (UTM)

Science.gov (United States)

Kopardekar, Parimal Hemchandra

2015-01-01

Many UAS will operate at lower altitude (Class G, below 2000 feet). There is an urgent need for a system for civilian low-altitude airspace and UAS operations. Stakeholders want to work with NASA to enable safe operations.

Estimating costs of care for meningitis infections in low- and middle-income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Portnoy, Allison; Jit, Mark; Lauer, Jeremy; Blommaert, Adriaan; Ozawa, Sachiko; Stack, Meghan; Murray, Jillian; Hutubessy, Raymond

2015-05-07

Meningitis infections are often associated with high mortality and risk of sequelae. The costs of treatment and care for meningitis are a great burden on health care systems, particularly in resource-limited settings. The objective of this study is to review data on the costs of care for meningitis in low- and middle-income countries, as well as to show how results could be extrapolated to countries without sound data. We conducted a systematic review of the literature from six databases to identify studies examining the cost of care in low- and middle-income countries for all age groups with suspected, probable, or confirmed meningitis. We extracted data on treatment costs and sequelae by infectious agent and/or pathogen, where possible. Using multiple regression analysis, a relationship between hospital costs and associated determinants was investigated in order to predict costs in countries with missing data. This relationship was used to predict treatment costs for all 144 low- and middle-income countries. The methodology of conducting a systematic review, extrapolating, and setting up a standard database can be used as a tool to inform cost-effectiveness analyses in situations where cost of care data are poor. Both acute and long-term costs of meningitis could be extrapolated to countries without reliable data. Although only bacterial causes of meningitis can be vaccine-preventable, a better understanding of the treatment costs for meningitis is crucial for low- and middle-income countries to assess the cost-effectiveness of proposed interventions in their country. This cost information will be important as inputs in future cost-effectiveness studies, particularly for vaccines. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aware, motivated and striving for a 'safe tan': an exploratory mixed-method study of sun-protection during holidays.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Angela M; Sniehotta, Falko F; Birch-Machin, Mark A; Araujo-Soares, Vera

2017-01-01

Background: This article presents an exploratory study, aiming to explore the correspondence between knowledge, motivation and sun-protection practices during holidays. Methods: Seventeen participants aged 21-62 years old, recruited from community settings took part in individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews, completed sun sensitivity questions and an objective assessment of sunscreen use. Holidaymakers' knowledge about sun-safe messages, intentions and perceptions of barriers and facilitators for sun-protection were assessed. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and integrated with quantitative data, using a pragmatic theory-informed approach to synthesise the findings. Results: Participants were well informed about sun-safe messages, highly motivated to protect themselves from solar UV radiation (UVR) and they perceived themselves as well protected. However, they did not seem to use effective protective practices. Sunscreen was the preferred method of sun-protection, but most participants used considerably less than the recommended amount and significantly overestimated the amount of time they could be safely exposed. Seeking shade was the least used method of sun-protection and covering-up strategies were mostly implemented as a partial protection (i.e. hats or sunglasses). The desire to reach an optimal balance between getting a tan and using sun-protection to avoid sunburns was preeminent. Several additional barriers and facilitators for sun-protection were identified. Conclusions: Holidaymakers might have a false sense of security when it comes to sun-exposure. They are aware of the need to protect from solar UVR, but the motive for a safe tan, the overreliance on sunscreen, the overestimation of the safe sun-exposure time for their skin type and the insufficient application of sunscreen leaves holidaymakers motivated to protect their skin at significant risk of overexposure, sunburn and skin cancer. Public health messages need to

SAFE-PLANE, Stress Analysis of Planar Structure by Finite Elements Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornell, D.C.; Reich, Morris

1967-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: SAFE-PLANE is applied to two- dimensional structures of arbitrary geometry under in-plane loads. Either plane stress or plane strain conditions may be imposed. Mechanical and thermal loads are permitted. 2 - Method of solution: The finite-element method is used to construct a mathematical model by assembling discrete elements. The total potential energy of the structure is determined and subsequently minimized by iteration on components of the displacement field until static equilibrium of the structure is attained. Strains and stresses are computed from the resulting displacements. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Multi-material structures with varying rigidities converge very slowly. Not valid for incompressible materials. Maximum number of nodal points = 675. Maximum number of elements = 1350

Feasibility and potential effect of a low-cost virtual reality system on reducing pain and anxiety in adult burn injury patients during physiotherapy in a developing country.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Linzette Deidré; Louw, Quinette Abegail; Crous, Lynette Christine

2010-08-01

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the feasibility and potential effect of a low-cost VR system (eMagin Z800 3DVisor), used in conjunction with pharmacological analgesia, on reducing pain and anxiety in adult burn patients undergoing physiotherapy treatment, compared to pharmacologic analgesia alone at a South African hospital. Single-blind, within-subject study design. Pain and anxiety outcome measures were measured by a blinded assessor using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale and Burn Specific Pain and Anxiety Scale. Box-and-whisker plot method, Chi-square tests as well as the Student's paired t-test were used to analyze data. Eleven eligible adult burn patients consented to participate in this study (3 female, 8 male; median age 33 years: range 23-54 years). A marginal (p=0.06) to insignificant (p=0.13) difference between the two sessions (analgesia with VR and analgesia without VR) in reducing pain was found. No significant difference (p=0.58) was found between the two sessions (analgesia with VR and analgesia without VR) for anxiety. There seems to be a trend that the low-cost VR system, when added to routine pharmacological analgesics, is a safe technique and could be of considerable benefit if implemented into the pain management regime of burn units at a South African hospital.

Marine Hydrokinetic Turbine Power-Take-Off Design for Optimal Performance and Low Impact on Cost-of-Energy: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beam, M.; Kline, B.; Elbing, B.; Straka, W.; Fontaine, A.; Lawson, M.; Li, Y.; Thresher, R.; Previsic, M.

2013-02-01

Marine hydrokinetic devices are becoming a popular method for generating marine renewable energy worldwide. These devices generate electricity by converting the kinetic energy of moving water, wave motion or currents, into electrical energy through the use of a power-take-off (PTO) system. Most PTO systems incorporate a mechanical or hydraulic drivetrain, power generator, and electric control/conditioning system to deliver the generated electric power to the grid at the required state. Like wind turbine applications, the PTO system must be designed for high reliability, good efficiency, and long service life with reasonable maintenance requirements, low cost, and an appropriate mechanical design for anticipated applied steady and unsteady loads. The ultimate goal of a PTO design is high efficiency and low maintenance and cost, with a low impact on the device cost-of-energy (CoE).

Marine Hydrokinetic Turbine Power-Take-Off Design for Optimal Performance and Low Impact on Cost-of-Energy: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beam, M.; Kline, B.; Elbing, B.; Straka, W.; Fontaine, A.; Lawson, M.; Li, Y.; Thresher, R.; Previsic, M.

2012-04-01

Marine hydrokinetic devices are becoming a popular method for generating marine renewable energy worldwide. These devices generate electricity by converting the kinetic energy of moving water, wave motion or currents, into electrical energy through the use of a Power-Take-Off (PTO) system. Most PTO systems incorporate a mechanical or hydraulic drive train, power generator and electric control/conditioning system to deliver the generated electric power to the grid at the required state. Like wind turbine applications, the PTO system must be designed for high reliability, good efficiency, and long service life with reasonable maintenance requirements, low cost and an appropriate mechanical design for anticipated applied steady and unsteady loads. The ultimate goal of a PTO design is high efficiency, low maintenance and cost with a low impact on the device Cost-of-Energy (CoE).

Low-cost microwave radiometry for remote sensing of soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Chikando, Eric Ndjoukwe

2007-12-01

Remote sensing is now widely regarded as a dominant means of studying the Earth and its surrounding atmosphere. This science is based on blackbody theory, which states that all objects emit broadband electromagnetic radiation proportional to their temperature. This thermal emission is detectable by radiometers---highly sensitive receivers capable of measuring extremely low power radiation across a continuum of frequencies. In the particular case of a soil surface, one important parameter affecting the emitted radiation is the amount of water content or, soil moisture. A high degree of precision is required when estimating soil moisture in order to yield accurate forecasting of precipitations and short-term climate variability such as storms and hurricanes. Rapid progress within the remote sensing community in tackling current limitations necessitates an awareness of the general public towards the benefits of the science. Information about remote sensing instrumentation and techniques remain inaccessible to many higher-education institutions due to the high cost of instrumentation and the current general inaccessibility of the science. In an effort to draw more talent within the field, more affordable and reliable scientific instrumentation are needed. This dissertation introduces the first low-cost handheld microwave instrumentation fully capable of surface soil moisture studies. The framework of this research is two-fold. First, the development of a low-cost handheld microwave radiometer using the well-known Dicke configuration is examined. The instrument features a super-heterodyne architecture and is designed following a microwave integrated circuit (MIC) system approach. Validation of the instrument is performed by applying it to various soil targets and comparing measurement results to gravimetric technique measured data; a proven scientific method for determining volumetric soil moisture content. Second, the development of a fully functional receiver RF front

Proactive Approach for Safe Use of Antimicrobial Coatings in Healthcare Settings: Opinion of the COST Action Network AMiCI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merja Ahonen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Infections and infectious diseases are considered a major challenge to human health in healthcare units worldwide. This opinion paper was initiated by EU COST Action network AMiCI (AntiMicrobial Coating Innovations and focuses on scientific information essential for weighing the risks and benefits of antimicrobial surfaces in healthcare settings. Particular attention is drawn on nanomaterial-based antimicrobial surfaces in frequently-touched areas in healthcare settings and the potential of these nano-enabled coatings to induce (ecotoxicological hazard and antimicrobial resistance. Possibilities to minimize those risks e.g., at the level of safe-by-design are demonstrated.

Analysis of operating costs a Low-Level Mixed Waste Incineration Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loghry, S.L.; Salmon, R.; Hermes, W.H.

1995-01-01

By definition, mixed wastes contain both chemically hazardous and radioactive components. These components make the treatment and disposal of mixed wastes expensive and highly complex issues because the different regulations which pertain to the two classes of contaminants frequently conflict. One method to dispose of low-level mixed wastes (LLMWs) is by incineration, which volatizes and destroys the organic (and other) hazardous contaminants and also greatly reduces the waste volume. The US Department of Energy currently incinerates liquid LLMW in its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Incinerator, located at the K-25 Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This incinerator has been fully permitted since 1991 and to date has treated approximately 7 x 10 6 kg of liquid LLMW. This paper presents an analysis of the budgeted operating costs by category (e.g., maintenance, plant operations, sampling and analysis, and utilities) for fiscal year 1994 based on actual operating experience (i.e., a ''bottoms-up'' budget). These costs provide benchmarking guidelines which could be used in comparing incinerator operating costs with those of other technologies designed to dispose of liquid LLMW. A discussion of the current upgrade status and future activities are included in this paper. Capital costs are not addressed

Low-cost universal stereoscopic virtual reality interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Starks, Michael R.

1993-09-01

Low cost stereoscopic virtual reality hardware interfacing with nearly any computer and stereoscopic software running on any PC is described. Both are user configurable for serial or parallel ports. Stereo modeling, rendering, and interaction via gloves or 6D mice are provided. Low cost LCD Visors and external interfaces represent a breakthrough in convenience and price/performance. A complete system with software, Visor, interface and Power Glove is under $DOL500. StereoDrivers will interface with any system giving video sync (e.g., G of RGB). PC3D will access any standard serial port, while PCVR works with serial or parallel ports and glove devices. Model RF Visors detect magnetic fields and require no connection to the system. PGSI is a microprocessor control for the Power Glove and Visors. All interfaces will operate to 120 Hz with Model G Visors. The SpaceStations are demultiplexing, field doubling devices which convert field sequential video or graphics for stereo display with dual video projection or dual LCD SpaceHelmets.

Low-cost metamaterial-on-paper chemical sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeqi, Aydin; Nejad, Hojatollah Rezaei; Sonkusale, Sameer

2017-07-10

We present a disposable low cost paper-based metamaterial for sensing liquids based on their dielectric properties. The sensor is based on resonance shift due to the change in the effective capacitance of each resonator in the metamaterial array. Key novelty in the design is the implementation of metamaterial on low cost and ubiquitous paper substrate. This metamaterial-on-paper sensor is fabricated in a totally cleanroom-free process using wax printing and screen printing. Wax patterning of paper enables creation of microfluidic channels such that liquid analytes can be delivered to each metamaterial unit cell for sensing. Screen printing is used to implement disc shaped resonator unit cells. We demonstrate sensing of liquids: Oil, methanol, glycerol and water each showing an average resonance frequency shift of 1.12 (9.6%), 4.12 (35.4%), 8.76 (75.3%) and 11.63 GHz (100%) around the center frequency of around 94 GHz respectively. Being label-free, this approach can be expanded to sense other liquids based on their dielectric constants.

Low cost MATLAB-based pulse oximeter for deployment in research and development applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Shokouhian, M; Morling, R C S; Kale, I

2013-01-01

Problems such as motion artifact and effects of ambient lights have forced developers to design different signal processing techniques and algorithms to increase the reliability and accuracy of the conventional pulse oximeter device. To evaluate the robustness of these techniques, they are applied either to recorded data or are implemented on chip to be applied to real-time data. Recorded data is the most common method of evaluating however it is not as reliable as real-time measurements. On the other hand, hardware implementation can be both expensive and time consuming. This paper presents a low cost MATLAB-based pulse oximeter that can be used for rapid evaluation of newly developed signal processing techniques and algorithms. Flexibility to apply different signal processing techniques, providing both processed and unprocessed data along with low implementation cost are the important features of this design which makes it ideal for research and development purposes, as well as commercial, hospital and healthcare application.

COSTS CALCULATION OF TARGET COSTING METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian UNGUREANU

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Cost information system plays an important role in every organization in the decision making process. An important task of management is ensuring control of the operations, processes, sectors, and not ultimately on costs. Although in achieving the objectives of an organization compete more control systems (production control, quality control, etc., the cost information system is important because monitors results of the other. Detailed analysis of costs, production cost calculation, quantification of losses, estimate the work efficiency provides a solid basis for financial control. Knowledge of the costs is a decisive factor in taking decisions and planning future activities. Managers are concerned about the costs that will appear in the future, their level underpinning the supply and production decisions as well as price policy. An important factor is the efficiency of cost information system in such a way that the information provided by it may be useful for decisions and planning of the work.

Low-Cost Phase Change Material for Building Envelopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abhari, Ramin [Renewable Energy Group

2015-08-06

A low-cost PCM process consisting of conversion of fats and oils to PCM-range paraffins, and subsequent “encapsulation” of the paraffin using conventional plastic compounding/pelletizing equipment was demonstrated. The PCM pellets produced were field-tested in a building envelope application. This involved combining the PCM pellets with cellulose insulation, whereby 33% reduction in peak heat flux and 12% reduction in heat gain was observed (average summertime performance). The selling price of the PCM pellets produced according to this low-cost process is expected to be in the $1.50-$3.00/lb range, compared to current encapsulated PCM price of about $7.00/lb. Whole-building simulations using corresponding PCM thermal analysis data suggest a payback time of 8 to 16 years (at current energy prices) for an attic insulation retrofit project in the Phoenix climate area.

A building cost estimation method for inland ships

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hekkenberg, R.G.

2014-01-01

There is very little publicly available data about the building cost of inland ships, especially for ships that have dimensions that differ significantly from those of common ships. Also, no methods to determine the building cost of inland ships are described in literature. In this paper, a method

Towards low cost, efficient and stable organic photovoltaic modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andriessen, R. [Holst Centre - Solliance, PO Box 8550, 5605 KN Eindhoven (Netherlands); Kroon, J.M. [ECN - Solliance, Petten (Netherlands); Aernouts, T. [Imec, Solliance, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium); Janssen, R. [Eindhoven University of Technology, Solliance, Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2012-09-15

This article describes how the Solliance Organic PhotoVoltaics (OPV) shared research Program addresses efficiency, lifetime and production costs for (near) future OPV applications. The balance of these three parameters depends of the envisaged application, but at the end, OPV should be able to compete somehow with Si PV in the future. Efficiency improvements are realized by developing new materials, by exploring and optimizing new device structures and novel interconnection technologies. Lifetime improvements are realized by using stabilized device stacks and materials and by applying high end flexible barriers. Production cost control is done by using a home made Cost of Ownership tool which guides towards the use of low-cost materials and processes.

Low-cost optical interconnect module for parallel optical data links

Science.gov (United States)

Noddings, Chad; Hirsch, Tom J.; Olla, M.; Spooner, C.; Yu, Jason J.

1995-04-01

We have designed, fabricated, and tested a prototype parallel ten-channel unidirectional optical data link. When scaled to production, we project that this technology will satisfy the following market penetration requirements: (1) up to 70 meters transmission distance, (2) at least 1 gigabyte/second data rate, and (3) 0.35 to 0.50 MByte/second volume selling price. These goals can be achieved by means of the assembly innovations described in this paper: a novel alignment method that is integrated with low-cost, few chip module packaging techniques, yielding high coupling and reducing the component count. Furthermore, high coupling efficiency increases projected reliability reducing the driver's power requirements.

Mobile Robot Positioning by using Low-Cost Visual Tracking System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruangpayoongsak Niramon

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an application of visual tracking system on mobile robot positioning. The proposed method is verified on a constructed low-cost tracking system consisting of 2 DOF pan-tilt unit, web camera and distance sensor. The motion of pan-tilt joints is realized and controlled by using LQR controller running on microcontroller. Without needs of camera calibration, robot trajectory is tracked by Kalman filter integrating distance information and joint positions. The experimental results demonstrate validity of the proposed positioning technique and the obtained mobile robot trajectory is benchmarked against laser rangefinder positioning. The implemented system can successfully track a mobile robot driving at 14 cm/s.

Low cost 3D-printing used in an undergraduate project: an integrating sphere for measurement of photoluminescence quantum yield

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomes, John J; Finlayson, Chris E

2016-01-01

We report upon the exploitation of the latest 3D printing technologies to provide low-cost instrumentation solutions, for use in an undergraduate level final-year project. The project addresses prescient research issues in optoelectronics, which would otherwise be inaccessible to such undergraduate student projects. The experimental use of an integrating sphere in conjunction with a desktop spectrometer presents opportunities to use easily handled, low cost materials as a means to illustrate many areas of physics such as spectroscopy, lasers, optics, simple circuits, black body radiation and data gathering. Presented here is a 3rd year undergraduate physics project which developed a low cost (£25) method to manufacture an experimentally accurate integrating sphere by 3D printing. Details are given of both a homemade internal reflectance coating formulated from readily available materials, and a robust instrument calibration method using a tungsten bulb. The instrument is demonstrated to give accurate and reproducible experimental measurements of luminescence quantum yield of various semiconducting fluorophores, in excellent agreement with literature values. (paper)

Low cost 3D-printing used in an undergraduate project: an integrating sphere for measurement of photoluminescence quantum yield

Science.gov (United States)

Tomes, John J.; Finlayson, Chris E.

2016-09-01

We report upon the exploitation of the latest 3D printing technologies to provide low-cost instrumentation solutions, for use in an undergraduate level final-year project. The project addresses prescient research issues in optoelectronics, which would otherwise be inaccessible to such undergraduate student projects. The experimental use of an integrating sphere in conjunction with a desktop spectrometer presents opportunities to use easily handled, low cost materials as a means to illustrate many areas of physics such as spectroscopy, lasers, optics, simple circuits, black body radiation and data gathering. Presented here is a 3rd year undergraduate physics project which developed a low cost (£25) method to manufacture an experimentally accurate integrating sphere by 3D printing. Details are given of both a homemade internal reflectance coating formulated from readily available materials, and a robust instrument calibration method using a tungsten bulb. The instrument is demonstrated to give accurate and reproducible experimental measurements of luminescence quantum yield of various semiconducting fluorophores, in excellent agreement with literature values.

Leveraging community health worker system to map a mountainous rural district in low resource setting: a low-cost approach to expand use of geographic information systems for public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Munyaneza, Fabien; Hirschhorn, Lisa R; Amoroso, Cheryl L; Nyirazinyoye, Laetitia; Birru, Ermyas; Mugunga, Jean Claude; Murekatete, Rachel M; Ntaganira, Joseph

2014-12-06

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become an important tool in monitoring and improving health services, particularly at local levels. However, GIS data are often unavailable in rural settings and village-level mapping is resource-intensive. This study describes the use of community health workers' (CHW) supervisors to map villages in a mountainous rural district of Northern Rwanda and subsequent use of these data to map village-level variability in safe water availability. We developed a low literacy and skills-focused training in the local language (Kinyarwanda) to train 86 CHW Supervisors and 25 nurses in charge of community health at the health center (HC) and health post (HP) levels to collect the geographic coordinates of the villages using Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Data were validated through meetings with key stakeholders at the sub-district and district levels and joined using ArcMap 10 Geo-processing tools. Costs were calculated using program budgets and activities' records, and compared with the estimated costs of mapping using a separate, trained GIS team. To demonstrate the usefulness of this work, we mapped drinking water sources (DWS) from data collected by CHW supervisors from the chief of the village. DWSs were categorized as safe versus unsafe using World Health Organization definitions. Following training, each CHW Supervisor spent five days collecting data on the villages in their coverage area. Over 12 months, the CHW supervisors mapped the district's 573 villages using 12 shared GPS devices. Sector maps were produced and distributed to local officials. The cost of mapping using CHW supervisors was $29,692, about two times less than the estimated cost of mapping using a trained and dedicated GIS team ($60,112). The availability of local mapping was able to rapidly identify village-level disparities in DWS, with lower access in populations living near to lakes and wetlands (p villages even in mountainous rural areas. These data

Low-level waste program technical strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bledsoe, K.W.

1994-01-01

The Low-Level Waste Technical Strategy document describes the mechanisms which the Low-Level Waste Program Office plans to implement to achieve its mission. The mission is to manage the receipt, immobilization, packaging, storage/disposal and RCRA closure (of the site) of the low-level Hanford waste (pretreated tank wastes) in an environmentally sound, safe and cost-effective manner. The primary objective of the TWRS Low-level waste Program office is to vitrify the LLW fraction of the tank waste and dispose of it onsite

IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITY BASED ANALYSIS METHOD COSTING SYSTEM IN PRICING COST OF ROOMS IN HOTEL DYNASTY MAKASSAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muh Nur Hatta

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to fulfill one of the final project now where Thesis research was held in April to June, 2016. This study aims to know the differences in the calculation of the cost of the room by using a conventional system using activity-based costing (ABC system. method analysis is using descriptive method of analysis of the cost of the hotel this time, set the conventional method and then comparing the cost of a hotel room based activity based result costing. study showed that of calculating the cost of a hotel room by using activity based costing, when compared with the cost of hotel rooms used by the activity based costing Dynasty then give the results in standard rooms, deluxe, suites and family give results the calculation of which is smaller than the cost of the rooms which have been determined by the hotel management. That is, with the difference in price for a Standard room IDR. 58024.84. For a Deluxe room IDR. 175,411.58. For room Suite IDR. 99. 034,88. Family rooms and for IDR. 100,045.60. While in the room Executive Suite / Pent House Activity Based Costing calculation result is greater than the cost of the rooms which have been determined by the hotel management. That is, with the difference amounting to IDR. 368,096.17. The difference in price is due to the method of Activity Based Costing,The overhead on each product is charged to a lot of cost driver. Thus, in the Activity Based Costing method is able to allocate activity costs to each room is right by the consumption of each activity.

Functional and oncologic outcomes after excision of the total femur in primary bone tumors: Results with a low cost total femur prosthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ajay Puri

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The extent of tumor may necessitate resection of the complete femur rarely to achieve adequate oncologic clearance in bone sarcomas. We present our experience with reconstruction in such cases using an indigenously manufactured, low-cost, total femoral prosthesis (TFP. We assessed the complications of the procedure, the oncologic and functional outcomes, and implant survival. Materials and Methods: Eight patients (four males and four females with a mean age of 32 years, operated between December 2003 and June 2009, had a TFP implanted. The diagnosis included osteogenic sarcoma (5, Ewing′s sarcoma (1, and chondrosarcoma (2. Mean followup was 33 months (9-72 months for all and 40 months (24-72 months in survivors. They were evaluated by Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score, implant survival as well as patient survival. Results: There was one local recurrence and five of seven patients are currently alive at the time of last followup. The Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score for patients ranged from 21 to 25 with a mean of 24 (80%. The implant survival was 88% at 5 years with only one TFP needing removal because of infection. Conclusions: A TFP in appropriately indicated patients with malignant bone tumors is oncologically safe. A locally manufactured, cost-effective implant provided consistent and predictable results after excision of the total femur with good functional outcomes.

Smartfactory, a modular, low cost productivity monitoring system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Bosscha, PA

2010-07-01

Full Text Available lack of objectivity and plain incorrect data entries. In aid of the SMMEs the Smartfactory system offers a low-cost modular monitoring solution capable of implementation in a step by step fashion with little training required in installation...

Low cost drip irrigation in Burkina Faso : unravelling actors, networks and practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wanvoeke, M.J.V.

2015-01-01

Title: Low cost drip irrigation in Burkina Faso: Unravelling Actors, Networks and Practices

In Burkina Faso, there is a lot of enthusiasm about Low Cost Drip Irrigation (LCDI) as a tool to irrigate vegetables, and thus improve food security,

Low cost sic coated erosion resistant graphite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zafar, M.F.; Nicholls, J.R.

2007-01-01

The development of materials with unique and improved properties using low cost processes is essential to increase performance and reduce cost of the solid rocket motors. Specifically advancements are needed for boost phase nozzle. As these motors operate at very high pressure and temperatures, the nozzle must survive high thermal stresses with minimal erosion to maintain performance. Currently three material choices are being exploited; which are refractory metals, graphite and carbon-carbon composites. Of these three materials graphite is the most attractive choice because of its low cost, light weight, and easy forming. However graphite is prone to erosion, both chemical and mechanical, which may affect the ballistic conditions and mechanical properties of the nozzle. To minimize this erosion high density graphite is usually preferred; which is again very expensive. Another technique used to minimize the erosion is Pyrolytic Graphite (PG) coating inside the nozzle. However PG coating is prone to cracking and spallation along with very cumbersome deposition process. Another possible methodology to avoid this erosion is to convert the inside surface of the rocket nozzle to Silicon Carbide (SiC), which is very erosion resistant and have much better thermal stability compared to graphite and even PG. Due to its functionally gradient nature such a layer will be very adherent and resistant to spallation. The current research is focused on synthesizing, characterizing and oxidation testing of such a converted SiC layer on commercial grade graphite. (author)

Palliative and low cost radiotherapy in developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, Barry; Hussein, S.M.A.

2011-01-01

Full text: The International Agency for Research on Cancer predicts that cancer incidence in developing countries will increase dramatically in the first two decades of this millennium. Already some 80% of cancer patients in developing countries present with incurable disease. In many cases pain is a severe problem and palliation is needed to improve quality of life as well as extending survival. This paper will consider the physical and clinical aspects of palliative radiotherapy (PRT), choice of radiation modality, alternative approaches to imaging and therapy and cost-benefit considerations. The potential benefits of a dedicated palliative care centre include lower cost and therefore more centres, enabling more patients access to regional palliative care. Simple curative treatments could also be managed. Co60 radiotherapy has important advantages in developing countries, because of the higher initial cost of a linear accelerator, as well as the need for reliable power supply and the level of skill required by linac technicians and physicists. The beam characteristics of both Co60 units and low energy linacs are compared and both are found to be acceptable for palliation. The role of palliative and low cost radiotherapy in Bangladesh is reviewed. The concept of telemedicine is also discussed, using mobile phones and internet communication to allow rural clinics to receive support from specialists based in the cities, to send images for remote diagnosis and remote dose planning for radiotherapy.

How Europe's Low-Cost Carriers Sidestepped Traditional Carriers' Competitive Advantages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvass, Kristian Anders

-cost airlines were more successful and had a greater initial impact in their early years than their U.S. compatriots. This paper will attempt to highlight some of the differences between the two markets and explain why European low-cost airlines had more advantages following their market deregulation...

High Efficiency and Low Cost Thermal Energy Storage System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sienicki, James J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division; Lv, Qiuping [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division; Moisseytsev, Anton [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division; Bucknor, Matthew [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nuclear Engineering Division

2017-09-29

BgtL, LLC (BgtL) is focused on developing and commercializing its proprietary compact technology for processes in the energy sector. One such application is a compact high efficiency Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system that utilizes the heat of fusion through phase change between solid and liquid to store and release energy at high temperatures and incorporate state-of-the-art insulation to minimize heat dissipation. BgtL’s TES system would greatly improve the economics of existing nuclear and coal-fired power plants by allowing the power plant to store energy when power prices are low and sell power into the grid when prices are high. Compared to existing battery storage technology, BgtL’s novel thermal energy storage solution can be significantly less costly to acquire and maintain, does not have any waste or environmental emissions, and does not deteriorate over time; it can keep constant efficiency and operates cleanly and safely. BgtL’s engineers are experienced in this field and are able to design and engineer such a system to a specific power plant’s requirements. BgtL also has a strong manufacturing partner to fabricate the system such that it qualifies for an ASME code stamp. BgtL’s vision is to be the leading provider of compact systems for various applications including energy storage. BgtL requests that all technical information about the TES designs be protected as proprietary information. To honor that request, only non-proprietay summaries are included in this report.

Hydrocarbons - In the era of low-cost oil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupin, Ludovic; Delamarche, Myrtille; Cognasse, Olivier; De Jaegher, Thibaut; Fleitour, Gaelle

2015-01-01

A set of articles addresses the current context of low cost oil and steep drop in oil prices. Graphs illustrate the evolution of oil prices, of supply and demand, of exploitation costs. This drop is partly due to the high level of production in Russia, Iraq and USA. This context results in drastic reductions of investments by companies involved in the oil sector, and therefore in job reduction, and in reduction of service costs. These reductions impact actors of the seismic analysis sector. Other consequences are more positive for consumers and refiners, and a trend towards diversification and consolidation for operators. The chairman of Technip answers some questions on Technip activities, situation and strategy. The case of the petrochemical sector is also addressed

Prototyping low-cost and flexible vehicle diagnostic systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marisol GARCÍA-VALLS

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Diagnostic systems are software and hardware-based equipment that interoperate with an external monitored system. Traditionally, they have been expensive equipment running test algorithms to monitor physical properties of, e.g., vehicles, or civil infrastructure equipment, among others. As computer hardware is increasingly powerful (whereas its cost and size is decreasing and communication software becomes easier to program and more run-time efficient, new scenarios are enabled that yield to lower cost monitoring solutions. This paper presents a low cost approach towards the development of a diagnostic systems relying on a modular component-based approach and running on a resource limited embedded computer. Results on a prototype implementation are shown that validate the presented design, its flexibility, performance, and communication latency.

Blood, donors and dollars: Rethinking financial sustainability of safe blood services in Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kahabi Ganka Isangula

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction Collection, processing and distribution of safe blood in Tanzania occurs within a free-for-service context, that is, a collection from non-remunerated blood donors and distributing freely to the needy people through health facilities. The safe blood services in the country appear to be crippled with many challenges and cannot meet the demand for blood and its products. As such, a need for rethinking collection methods, financial models and possible mechanisms for donor remuneration is evident. Methods In this paper, we venture on multi-stakeholder meetings and ongoing discussions regarding the internal mechanisms of safe blood transfusion financing. The intent is to offer a perspective on the considerations for self- sustaining safe blood services in the country and the extent to which they may be implemented or not. Results We suggest that despite huge demand, the external donor dependent financing mechanisms for safe blood services in the country are ineffective. Therefore, we discuss two potential ‘internal’ financing mechanisms that have been identified in recent shareholders forums 1 introducing a blood processing fee accompanied by policy change to allow direct charging of either recipients or hospitals or 2 influencing the introduction of ‘blood services’ within the current insurance schemes. Conclusion We conclude that there is a need for constructing alternative financial mechanisms to sustain the demand of safe blood in the country. We discuss two cost recovery mechanisms, blood processing fee and insurance schemes; however, warning is noted that their implementation warrants structural adjustments, massive community sensitization and optimum stakeholder engagement to maximize acceptability within the country.

Air Muscle Actuated Low Cost Humanoid Hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Scarfe

2008-11-01

Full Text Available The control of humanoid robot hands has historically been expensive due to the cost of precision actuators. This paper presents the design and implementation of a low-cost air muscle actuated humanoid hand developed at Curtin University of Technology. This hand offers 10 individually controllable degrees of freedom ranging from the elbow to the fingers, with overall control handled through a computer GUI. The hand is actuated through 20 McKibben-style air muscles, each supplied by a pneumatic pressure-balancing valve that allows for proportional control to be achieved with simple and inexpensive components. The hand was successfully able to perform a number of human-equivalent tasks, such as grasping and relocating objects.

Air Muscle Actuated Low Cost Humanoid Hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Scarfe

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The control of humanoid robot hands has historically been expensive due to the cost of precision actuators. This paper presents the design and implementation of a low-cost air muscle actuated humanoid hand developed at Curtin University of Technology. This hand offers 10 individually controllable degrees of freedom ranging from the elbow to the fingers, with overall control handled through a computer GUI. The hand is actuated through 20 McKibben-style air muscles, each supplied by a pneumatic pressure-balancing valve that allows for proportional control to be achieved with simple and inexpensive components. The hand was successfully able to perform a number of human-equivalent tasks, such as grasping and relocating objects.

Clean utilization of low-rank coals for low-cost power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sondreal, E.A.

1992-01-01

Despite the unique utilization problems of low-rank coals, the ten US steam electric plants having the lowest operating cost in 1990 were all fueled on either lignite or subbituminous coal. Ash deposition problems, which have been a major barrier to sustaining high load on US boilers burning high-sodium low-rank coals, have been substantially reduced by improvements in coal selection, boiler design, on-line cleaning, operating conditions, and additives. Advantages of low-rank coals in advanced systems are their noncaking behavior when heated, their high reactivity allowing more complete reaction at lower temperatures, and the low sulfur content of selected deposits. The principal barrier issues are the high-temperature behavior of ash and volatile alkali derived from the coal-bound sodium found in some low-rank coals. Successful upgrading of low-rank coals requires that the product be both stable and suitable for end use in conventional and advanced systems. Coal-water fuel produced by hydrothermal processing of high-moisture low-rank coal meets these criteria, whereas most dry products from drying or carbonizing in hot gas tend to create dust and spontaneous ignition problems unless coated, agglomerated, briquetted, or afforded special handling

Using Standard-Sole Cost Method for Performance Gestion Accounting and Calculation Cost in the Machine Building Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cleopatra Sendroiu

2006-07-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of improving and varying cost calculation methods in the machine building industry is to make them more operational and efficient in supplying the information necessary to the management in taking its decisions. The present cost calculation methods used in the machine building plants - global method and the method per orders - by which a historical cost is determined a posteriori used in deducting and post factum justification of manufacturing expenses does not offer the management the possibility to fully satisfy its need for information. We are talking about a change of conception in applying certain systems, methods and work techniques, according to the needs of efficient administration of production and the plant seen as a whole. The standard-cost method best answers to the needs of the effective management of the value side of the manufacturing process and raising economic efficiency. We consider that, in the machine building industry, these objectives can be achieved by using the standard - sole cost alternative of the standard-cost method.

Using Standard-Sole Cost Method for Performance Gestion Accounting and Calculation Cost in the Machine Building Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aureliana Geta Roman

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of improving and varying cost calculation methods in the machine building industry is to make them more operational and efficient in supplying the information necessary to the management in taking its decisions. The present cost calculation methods used in the machine building plants – global method and the method per orders – by which a historical cost is determined a posteriori used in deducting and post factum justification of manufacturing expenses does not offer the management the possibility to fully satisfy its need for information. We are talking about a change of conception in applying certain systems, methods and work techniques, according to the needs of efficient administration of production and the plant seen as a whole. The standard-cost method best answers to the needs of the effective management of the value side of the manufacturing process and raising economic efficiency. We consider that, in the machine building industry, these objectives can be achieved by using the standard - sole cost alternative of the standard-cost method.

Alternative ceramic circuit constructions for low cost, high reliability applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Modes, Ch.; O'Neil, M.

1997-01-01

The growth in the use of hybrid circuit technology has recently been challenged by recent advances in low cost laminate technology, as well as the continued integration of functions into IC's. Size reduction of hybrid 'packages' has turned out to be a means to extend the useful life of this technology. The suppliers of thick film materials technology have responded to this challenge by developing a number of technology options to reduce circuit size, increase density, and reduce overall cost, while maintaining or increasing reliability. This paper provides an overview of the processes that have been developed, and, in many cases are used widely to produce low cost, reliable microcircuits. Comparisons of each of these circuit fabrication processes are made with a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of each technology. (author)

Algolcam: Low Cost Sky Scanning with Modern Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Connors, Martin; Bolton, Dempsey; Doktor, Ian

2016-01-01

Low cost DSLR cameras running under computer control offer good sensitivity, high resolution, small size, and the convenience of digital image handling. Recent developments in small single board computers have pushed the performance to cost and size ratio to unprecedented values, with the further advantage of very low power consumption. Yet a third technological development is motor control electronics which is easily integrated with the computer to make an automated mount, which in our case is custom built, but with similar mounts available commercially. Testing of such a system under a clear plastic dome at our auroral observatory was so successful that we have developed a weatherproof housing allowing use during the long, cold, and clear winter nights at northerly latitudes in Canada. The main advantage of this housing should be improved image quality as compared to operation through clear plastic. We have improved the driving software to include the ability to self-calibrate pointing through the web API of astrometry.net, and data can be reduced automatically through command line use of the Muniwin program. The mount offers slew in declination and RA, and tracking at sidereal or other rates in RA. Our previous tests with a Nikon D5100 with standard lenses in the focal length range 50-200 mm, operating at f/4 to f/5, allowed detection of 12th magnitude stars with 30 second exposure under very dark skies. At 85 mm focal length, a field of 15° by 10° is imaged with 4928 by 3264 color pixels, and we have adopted an 85 mm fixed focal length f/1.4 lens (as used by Project Panoptes), which we expect will give a limited magnitude approaching 15. With a large field of view, deep limiting magnitude, low cost, and ease of construction and use, we feel that the Algolcam offers great possibilities in monitoring and finding changes in the sky. We have already applied it to variable star light curves, and with a suitable pipeline for detection of moving or varying objects

A low cost tele-imaging platform for developing countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kokou eADAMBOUNOU

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To design a low cost tele-imaging method allowing real time tele-ultrasound expertise, delayed tele-ultrasound diagnosis and tele-radiology between remote peripherals hospitals and clinics (patient centres and university hospital centres (expert centre.Materials and Methods: A system of communication via internet (IP camera and remote access software enabling transfer of ultrasound videos and images between two centres, allows a real time tele-radiology expertise in the presence of a junior sonographer or radiologist at the patient centre. In the absence of a sonographer or radiologist at the patient centre, a 3D reconstruction program allows a delayed tele-ultrasound diagnosis with images acquired by a lay operator (e.g. midwife, nurse, technician. The system was tested both with high and low bandwidth. The system can further accommodate non-ultrasound tele-radiology (conventional radiography, mammography and computer tomography for example. The system was tested on 50 patients between CHR Tsevie in Togo (40km from Lomé-Togo and 4500km from Tours-France and CHU Campus at Lomé and CHU Trousseau in Tours.Results: A real time tele-expertise was successfully performed with a delay of approximately 1.5 seconds with an internet bandwidth of around 1Mbps (IP Camera and 512kbps (remote access software. A delayed tele-ultrasound diagnosis was also performed with satisfactory results. The transmission of radiological images from the patient centre to the expert centre was of adequate quality. Delayed tele-ultrasound and tele-radiology was possible even in the presence of a low bandwidth internet connection. Conclusion: This tele-imaging method, requiring nothing by readily available and inexpensive technology and equipment, offers a major opportunity for telemedicine in developing countries.

Development of low-cost high-performance multispectral camera system at Banpil

Science.gov (United States)

Oduor, Patrick; Mizuno, Genki; Olah, Robert; Dutta, Achyut K.

2014-05-01

Banpil Photonics (Banpil) has developed a low-cost high-performance multispectral camera system for Visible to Short- Wave Infrared (VIS-SWIR) imaging for the most demanding high-sensitivity and high-speed military, commercial and industrial applications. The 640x512 pixel InGaAs uncooled camera system is designed to provide a compact, smallform factor to within a cubic inch, high sensitivity needing less than 100 electrons, high dynamic range exceeding 190 dB, high-frame rates greater than 1000 frames per second (FPS) at full resolution, and low power consumption below 1W. This is practically all the feature benefits highly desirable in military imaging applications to expand deployment to every warfighter, while also maintaining a low-cost structure demanded for scaling into commercial markets. This paper describes Banpil's development of the camera system including the features of the image sensor with an innovation integrating advanced digital electronics functionality, which has made the confluence of high-performance capabilities on the same imaging platform practical at low cost. It discusses the strategies employed including innovations of the key components (e.g. focal plane array (FPA) and Read-Out Integrated Circuitry (ROIC)) within our control while maintaining a fabless model, and strategic collaboration with partners to attain additional cost reductions on optics, electronics, and packaging. We highlight the challenges and potential opportunities for further cost reductions to achieve a goal of a sub-$1000 uncooled high-performance camera system. Finally, a brief overview of emerging military, commercial and industrial applications that will benefit from this high performance imaging system and their forecast cost structure is presented.

Effect of low-cost resistance training on lower-limb strength and balance in institutionalized seniors.

Science.gov (United States)

Motalebi, Seyedeh Ameneh; Cheong, Loke Seng; Iranagh, Jamileh Amirzadeh; Mohammadi, Fatemeh

2018-01-01

Background/Study Context: Given the rapid increase in the aging population worldwide, fall prevention is of utmost importance. It is essential to establish an efficient, simple, safe, and low-cost intervention method for reducing the risk of falls. This study examined the effect of 12 weeks of progressive elastic resistance training on lower-limb muscle strength and balance in seniors living in the Rumah Seri Kenangan, social welfare home in Cheras, Malaysia. A total of 51 subjects qualified to take part in this quasi-experimental study. They were assigned to either the resistance exercise group (n = 26) or control group (n = 25). The mean age of the 45 participants who completed the program was 70.7 (SD = 6.6). The exercise group met twice per week and performing one to three sets of 8 to 10 repetitions for each of nine lower-limb elastic resistance exercises. All exercises were conducted at low to moderate intensities in sitting or standing positions. The subjects were tested at baseline and 6 and 12 weeks into the program. The results showed statistically significant improvements in lower-limb muscle strength as measured by five times sit-to-stand test (%Δ = 22.6) and dynamic balance quantified by the timed up-and-go test (%Δ = 18.7), four-square step test (%Δ = 14.67), and step test for the right (%Δ = 18.36) and left (%Δ = 18.80) legs. No significant changes were observed in static balance as measured using the tandem stand test (%Δ = 3.25), and one-leg stand test with eyes opened (%Δ = 9.58) and eyes closed (%Δ = -0.61) after completion of the program. The findings support the feasibility and efficacy of a simple and inexpensive resistance training program to improve lower-limb muscle strength and dynamic balance among the institutionalized older adults.

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.

Analysis of Appraising Agricultural Intangible Asset Value by Cost Method

OpenAIRE

Li, Xiao-Juan

2010-01-01

On the basis of describing the connotation of agricultural intangible asset and cost method, the technical ideas of appraising by cost method are introduced. The article analyzes the advantages (simple appraisal principle and easy to understand and grasp; overall consideration of various factors related to appraisal result value) and disadvantages (high appraisal cost; difficult to appraise and grasp various appraisal factors) of appraising by cost method. The article also summarizes the prec...

Rapid and Low-cost Prototyping of Medical Devices Using 3D Printed Molds for Liquid Injection Molding

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Philip; Heller, J. Alex; Etemadi, Mozziyar; Ottoson, Paige E.; Liu, Jonathan A.; Rand, Larry; Roy, Shuvo

2014-01-01

Biologically inert elastomers such as silicone are favorable materials for medical device fabrication, but forming and curing these elastomers using traditional liquid injection molding processes can be an expensive process due to tooling and equipment costs. As a result, it has traditionally been impractical to use liquid injection molding for low-cost, rapid prototyping applications. We have devised a method for rapid and low-cost production of liquid elastomer injection molded devices that utilizes fused deposition modeling 3D printers for mold design and a modified desiccator as an injection system. Low costs and rapid turnaround time in this technique lower the barrier to iteratively designing and prototyping complex elastomer devices. Furthermore, CAD models developed in this process can be later adapted for metal mold tooling design, enabling an easy transition to a traditional injection molding process. We have used this technique to manufacture intravaginal probes involving complex geometries, as well as overmolding over metal parts, using tools commonly available within an academic research laboratory. However, this technique can be easily adapted to create liquid injection molded devices for many other applications. PMID:24998993

Simulation Based Low-Cost Composite Process Development at the US Air Force Research Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Brian P.; Lee, C. William; Curliss, David B.

2003-01-01

Low-cost composite research in the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Organic Matrix Composites Branch has focused on the theme of affordable performance. Practically, this means that we use a very broad view when considering the affordability of composites. Factors such as material costs, labor costs, recurring and nonrecurring manufacturing costs are balanced against performance to arrive at the relative affordability vs. performance measure of merit. The research efforts discussed here are two projects focused on affordable processing of composites. The first topic is the use of a neural network scheme to model cure reaction kinetics, then utilize the kinetics coupled with simple heat transport models to predict, in real-time, future exotherms and control them. The neural network scheme is demonstrated to be very robust and a much more efficient method that mechanistic cure modeling approach. This enables very practical low-cost processing of thick composite parts. The second project is liquid composite molding (LCM) process simulation. LCM processing of large 3D integrated composite parts has been demonstrated to be a very cost effective way to produce large integrated aerospace components specific examples of LCM processes are resin transfer molding (RTM), vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), and other similar approaches. LCM process simulation is a critical part of developing an LCM process approach. Flow simulation enables the development of the most robust approach to introducing resin into complex preforms. Furthermore, LCM simulation can be used in conjunction with flow front sensors to control the LCM process in real-time to account for preform or resin variability.

SafeCare: An Innovative Approach for Improving Quality Through Standards, Benchmarking, and Improvement in Low- and Middle- Income Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Michael C; Schellekens, Onno; Stewart, Jacqui; van Ostenberg, Paul; de Wit, Tobias Rinke; Spieker, Nicole

2016-08-01

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), patients often have limited access to high-quality care because of a shortage of facilities and human resources, inefficiency of resource allocation, and limited health insurance. SafeCare was developed to provide innovative health care standards; surveyor training; a grading system for quality of care; a quality improvement process that is broken down into achievable, measurable steps to facilitate incremental improvement; and a private sector-supported health financing model. Three organizations-PharmAccess Foundation, Joint Commission International, and the Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa-launched SafeCare in 2011 as a formal partnership. Five SafeCare levels of improvement are allocated on the basis of an algorithm that incorporates both the overall score and weighted criteria, so that certain high-risk criteria need to be in place before a facility can move to the next SafeCare certification level. A customized quality improvement plan based on the SafeCare assessment results lists the specific, measurable activities that should be undertaken to address gaps in quality found during the initial assessment and to meet the nextlevel SafeCare certificate. The standards have been implemented in more than 800 primary and secondary facilities by qualified local surveyors, in partnership with various local public and private partner organizations, in six sub-Saharan African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zambia). Expanding access to care and improving health care quality in LMICs will require a coordinated effort between institutions and other stakeholders. SafeCare's standards and assessment methodology can help build trust between stakeholders and lay the foundation for country-led quality monitoring systems.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Low-Cost Essential Antihypertensive Medicines for Hypertension Control in China: A Modelling Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongfeng Gu

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Hypertension is China's leading cardiovascular disease risk factor. Improved hypertension control in China would result in result in enormous health gains in the world's largest population. A computer simulation model projected the cost-effectiveness of hypertension treatment in Chinese adults, assuming a range of essential medicines list drug costs.The Cardiovascular Disease Policy Model-China, a Markov-style computer simulation model, simulated hypertension screening, essential medicines program implementation, hypertension control program administration, drug treatment and monitoring costs, disease-related costs, and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs gained by preventing cardiovascular disease or lost because of drug side effects in untreated hypertensive adults aged 35-84 y over 2015-2025. Cost-effectiveness was assessed in cardiovascular disease patients (secondary prevention and for two blood pressure ranges in primary prevention (stage one, 140-159/90-99 mm Hg; stage two, ≥160/≥100 mm Hg. Treatment of isolated systolic hypertension and combined systolic and diastolic hypertension were modeled as a reduction in systolic blood pressure; treatment of isolated diastolic hypertension was modeled as a reduction in diastolic blood pressure. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses explored ranges of antihypertensive drug effectiveness and costs, monitoring frequency, medication adherence, side effect severity, background hypertension prevalence, antihypertensive medication treatment, case fatality, incidence and prevalence, and cardiovascular disease treatment costs. Median antihypertensive costs from Shanghai and Yunnan province were entered into the model in order to estimate the effects of very low and high drug prices. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios less than the per capita gross domestic product of China (11,900 international dollars [Int$] in 2015 were considered cost-effective. Treating hypertensive adults with prior