48 CFR 970.3102-05 - Selected costs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Selected costs. 970.3102... SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS DOE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATING CONTRACTS Contract Cost Principles and Procedures 970.3102-05 Selected costs. ...

Cost considerations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Michiel Ras; Debbie Verbeek-Oudijk; Evelien Eggink

2013-01-01

Original title: Lasten onder de loep The Dutch government spends almost 7 billion euros  each year on care for people with intellectual disabilities, and these costs are rising steadily. This report analyses what underlies the increase in costs that occurred between 2007 and 2011. Was

Cost consideration in the clinical guidance documents of physician specialty societies in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Jennifer A T; Pearson, Steven D

2013-06-24

Despite increasing concerns regarding the cost of health care, the consideration of costs in the development of clinical guidance documents by physician specialty societies has received little analysis. To evaluate the approach to consideration of cost in publicly available clinical guidance documents and methodological statements produced between 2008 and 2012 by the 30 largest US physician specialty societies. Qualitative document review. Whether costs are considered in clinical guidance development, mechanism of cost consideration, and the way that cost issues were used in support of specific clinical practice recommendations. Methodological statements for clinical guidance documents indicated that 17 of 30 physician societies (57%) explicitly integrated costs, 4 (13%) implicitly considered costs, 3 (10%) intentionally excluded costs, and 6 (20%) made no mention. Of the 17 societies that explicitly integrated costs, 9 (53%) consistently used a formal system in which the strength of recommendation was influenced in part by costs, whereas 8 (47%) were inconsistent in their approach or failed to mention the exact mechanism for considering costs. Among the 138 specific recommendations in these guidance documents that included cost as part of the rationale, the most common form of recommendation (50 [36%]) encouraged the use of a specific medical service because of equal effectiveness and lower cost. Slightly more than half of the largest US physician societies explicitly consider costs in developing their clinical guidance documents; among these, approximately half use an explicit mechanism for integrating costs into the strength of recommendations. Many societies remain vague in their approach. Physician specialty societies should demonstrate greater transparency and rigor in their approach to cost consideration in documents meant to influence care decisions.

Considerations in selecting tubing materials for CANDU steam generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hemmings, R.L.

1978-01-01

Corrosion resistance is the major consideration in selecting tubing material for CANDU steam generators. Corrosion, and additional considerations, lead to the following steam generator tubing material recommendations: for CANDU-BPHWR's (boiling pressurized heavy water reactors) low-cobalt Incoloy-800; for CANDU-PHWR's (pressurized, non-boiling, heavy water reactors), low-cobalt Monel-400

Selected Tether Applications Cost Model

Science.gov (United States)

Keeley, Michael G.

1988-01-01

Diverse cost-estimating techniques and data combined into single program. Selected Tether Applications Cost Model (STACOM 1.0) is interactive accounting software tool providing means for combining several independent cost-estimating programs into fully-integrated mathematical model capable of assessing costs, analyzing benefits, providing file-handling utilities, and putting out information in text and graphical forms to screen, printer, or plotter. Program based on Lotus 1-2-3, version 2.0. Developed to provide clear, concise traceability and visibility into methodology and rationale for estimating costs and benefits of operations of Space Station tether deployer system.

Cost Accounting as a Tool for Increasing Cost Transparency in Selective Hepatic Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Osman; Patel, Mikin; Ward, Thomas; Sze, Daniel Y; Telischak, Kristen; Kothary, Nishita; Hofmann, Lawrence V

2015-12-01

To increase cost transparency and uncover potential areas for savings in patients receiving selective transarterial chemoembolization at a tertiary care academic center. The hospital cost accounting system charge master sheet for direct and total costs associated with selective transarterial chemoembolization in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 was queried for each of the four highest volume interventional radiologists at a single institution. There were 517 cases (range, 83-150 per physician) performed; direct costs incurred relating to care before, during, and after the procedure with respect to labor, supply, and equipment fees were calculated. A median of 48 activity codes were charged per selective transarterial chemoembolization from five cost centers, represented by the angiography suite, units for care before and after the procedure, pharmacy, and observation floors. The average direct cost of selective transarterial chemoembolization did not significantly differ among operators at $9,126.94, $8,768.77, $9,027.33, and $8,909.75 (P = .31). Intraprocedural costs accounted for 82.8% of total direct costs and provided the greatest degree in cost variability ($7,268.47-$7,691.27). The differences in intraprocedural expense among providers were not statistically significant (P = .09), even when separated into more specific procedure-related labor and supply costs. Cost accounting systems could effectively be interrogated as a method for calculating direct costs associated with selective transarterial chemoembolization. The greatest source of expenditure and variability in cost among providers was shown to be intraprocedural labor and supplies, although the effect did not appear to be operator dependent. Copyright © 2015 SIR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost Consideration and a Possible Construction Timeline of the CEPC-SPPC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chou, Weiren [Fermilab

2015-04-01

This paper discusses the cost consideration and a possible construction timeline of the CEPC-SPPC study based on a preliminary conceptual design that is being carried out at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in China.

How do we select multiple features? Transient costs for selecting two colors rather than one, persistent costs for color-location conjunctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Shih-Yu; Holcombe, Alex O

2014-02-01

In a previous study Lo, Howard, & Holcombe (Vision Research 63:20-33, 2012), selecting two colors did not induce a performance cost, relative to selecting one color. For example, requiring possible report of both a green and a red target did not yield a worse performance than when both targets were green. Yet a cost of selecting multiple colors was observed when selection needed be contingent on both color and location. When selecting a red target to the left and a green target to the right, superimposing a green distractor to the left and a red distractor to the right impeded performance. Possibly, participants cannot confine attention to a color at a particular location. As a result, distractors that share the target colors disrupt attentional selection of the targets. The attempt to select the targets must then be repeated, which increases the likelihood that the trial terminates when selection is not effective, even for long trials. Consistent with this, here we find a persistent cost of selecting two colors when the conjunction of color and location is needed, but the cost is confined to short exposure durations when the observer just has to monitor red and green stimuli without the need to use the location information. These results suggest that selecting two colors is time-consuming but effective, whereas selection of simultaneous conjunctions is never entirely successful.

Engineering and Fabrication Considerations for Cost-Effective Space Reactor Shield Development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, Thomas A.; Disney, Richard K.

2004-01-01

Investment in developing nuclear power for space missions cannot be made on the basis of a single mission. Current efforts in the design and fabrication of the reactor module, including the reactor shield, must be cost-effective and take into account scalability and fabricability for planned and future missions. Engineering considerations for the shield need to accommodate passive thermal management, varying radiation levels and effects, and structural/mechanical issues. Considering these challenges, design principles and cost drivers specific to the engineering and fabrication of the reactor shield are presented that contribute to lower recurring mission costs

Selected cost considerations for geothermal district heating in existing single-family residential areas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafferty, Kevin

1996-06-01

In the past, district heating (geothermal or conventionally fueled) has not been widely applied to the single-family residential sector. Low-heat load density is the commonly cited reason for this. Although it's true that load density in these areas is much lower than for downtown business districts, other frequently overlooked factors may compensate for load density. In particular, costs for distribution system installation can be substantially lower in some residential areas due to a variety of factors. This reduced development cost may partially compensate for the reduced revenue resulting from low-load density. This report examines cost associated with the overall design of the system (direct or indirect system design), distribution piping installation, and customer branch lines. It concludes with a comparison of the costs for system development and the revenue from an example residential area.

Medical therapy cost considerations for glaucoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiscella, Richard G; Green, Amy; Patuszynski, Daniel H; Wilensky, Jacob

2003-07-01

and a beta-blocker. The selective alpha-2 agonist brimonidine 0.15% with Purite (Alphagan-P, Allergan, 5 ml) twice daily was US dollars 1.29 per day. The prostaglandin analogs were comparably priced with Lumigan (Allergan) US dollars 0.95 per day, Xalatan (Pharmacia and Upjohn, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA) US dollars 1.25 per day, Travatan (Alcon Laboratories) US dollars 1.01 per day, and Rescula (Novartis) US dollars 0.90 per day. All generic timolol, Betimol, Optipranolol, Timoptic, and Timoptic XE (Merck) ranged from US dollars 0.38 to US dollars 0.50 per day. Other beta-blocker products were about twice as costly, ranging from US dollars 0.88 to US dollars 1.11 per day. Cosopt (US dollars 1.05 per day) was less costly than separate bottles of a topical beta-blocker and a topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitor dosed three times daily or twice daily. The prostaglandin analogs ranged from US dollars 0.90 per day (Rescula) to US dollars 1.25 per day (Xalatan). Newer glaucoma medications exhibit similar costs per day in many cases, compared with more traditional medications, especially with greater price increases in older brand-only products.

Cost overruns and demand shortfalls - Deception or selection?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eliasson, Jonas; Fosgerau, Mogens

2013-01-01

whether to implement projects. Using a database of projects we present examples indicating that the selection bias may be substantial. The examples also indicate that benefit-cost ratios remain a useful selection criterion even when cost and benefits are highly uncertain, gainsaying the argument......A number of highly cited papers by Flyvbjerg and associates have shown that ex ante infrastructure appraisals tend to be overly optimistic. Ex post evaluations indicate a bias where investment costs are higher and benefits lower on average than predicted ex ante. These authors argue that the bias...... that such uncertainties render cost-benefit analyses useless. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd....

Cost-Sensitive Feature Selection of Numeric Data with Measurement Errors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Zhao

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Feature selection is an essential process in data mining applications since it reduces a model’s complexity. However, feature selection with various types of costs is still a new research topic. In this paper, we study the cost-sensitive feature selection problem of numeric data with measurement errors. The major contributions of this paper are fourfold. First, a new data model is built to address test costs and misclassification costs as well as error boundaries. It is distinguished from the existing models mainly on the error boundaries. Second, a covering-based rough set model with normal distribution measurement errors is constructed. With this model, coverings are constructed from data rather than assigned by users. Third, a new cost-sensitive feature selection problem is defined on this model. It is more realistic than the existing feature selection problems. Fourth, both backtracking and heuristic algorithms are proposed to deal with the new problem. Experimental results show the efficiency of the pruning techniques for the backtracking algorithm and the effectiveness of the heuristic algorithm. This study is a step toward realistic applications of the cost-sensitive learning.

Design and cost estimate for the SRL integrated hot off gas facility using selective adsorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pence, D.T.; Kirstein, B.E.

1981-07-01

Based on the results of an engineering-scale demonstration program, a design and cost estimate were performed for a 25-m 3 /h (15-ft 3 /min) capacity pilot plant demonstration system using selective adsorption technology for installation at the Integrated Hot Off Gas Facility at the Savannah River Plant. The design includes provisions for the destruction of NO/sub x/ and the concentration and removal of radioisotopes of ruthenium, iodine-129, tritiated water vapor, carbon-14 contaminated carbon dioxide, and krypton-85. The nobel gases are separated by the use of selective adsorption on mordenite-type zeolites. The theory of noble gas adsorption on zeolites is essentially the same as that for the adsorption of noble gases on activated charcoals. Considerable detail is provided regarding the application of the theory to adsorbent bed designs and operation. The design is based on a comprehensive material balance and appropriate heat transfer calculations. Details are provided on techniques and procedures used for heating, cooling, and desorbing the adsorbent columns. Analyses are also given regarding component and arrangement selection and includes discussions on alternative arrangements. The estimated equipment costs for the described treatment system is about $1,400,000. The cost estimate includes a detailed equipment list of all the major component items in the design. Related technical issues and estimated system performance are also discussed

Design and cost estimate for the SRL integrated hot off gas facility using selective adsorption

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pence, D T; Kirstein, B E

1981-07-01

Based on the results of an engineering-scale demonstration program, a design and cost estimate were performed for a 25-m/sup 3//h (15-ft/sup 3//min) capacity pilot plant demonstration system using selective adsorption technology for installation at the Integrated Hot Off Gas Facility at the Savannah River Plant. The design includes provisions for the destruction of NO/sub x/ and the concentration and removal of radioisotopes of ruthenium, iodine-129, tritiated water vapor, carbon-14 contaminated carbon dioxide, and krypton-85. The nobel gases are separated by the use of selective adsorption on mordenite-type zeolites. The theory of noble gas adsorption on zeolites is essentially the same as that for the adsorption of noble gases on activated charcoals. Considerable detail is provided regarding the application of the theory to adsorbent bed designs and operation. The design is based on a comprehensive material balance and appropriate heat transfer calculations. Details are provided on techniques and procedures used for heating, cooling, and desorbing the adsorbent columns. Analyses are also given regarding component and arrangement selection and includes discussions on alternative arrangements. The estimated equipment costs for the described treatment system is about $1,400,000. The cost estimate includes a detailed equipment list of all the major component items in the design. Related technical issues and estimated system performance are also discussed.

Celecoxib versus a non-selective NSAID plus proton-pump inhibitor: what are the considerations?.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Judy T; Pucino, Frank; Resman-Targoff, Beth H

2006-01-01

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are extensively used worldwide. However, associated adverse gastrointestinal effects (NSAID gastropathy) such as bleeding, perforation and obstruction result in considerable morbidity, mortality, and expense. Although it is essential to employ gastroprotective strategies to minimize these complications in patients at risk, controversy remains on whether celecoxib alone or a non-selective NSAID in conjunction with a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) is a superior choice. Recent concerns regarding potential cardiovascular toxicities associated with cox-2 selective inhibitors may favor non-selective NSAID/PPI co-therapy as the preferred choice. Concomitant use of low-dose aspirin with any NSAID increases the risk of gastrointestinal complications and diminishes the improved gastrointestinal safety profile of celecoxib; whereas use of ibuprofen plus PPI regimens may negate aspirin's antiplatelet benefits. Evidence shows that concurrent use of a non-selective NSAID (such as naproxen) plus a PPI is as effective in preventing NSAID gastropathy as celecoxib, and may be more cost-effective. Patients failing or intolerant to this therapy would be candidates for celecoxib at the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration of time. Potential benefits from using low-dose celecoxib with a PPI in patients previously experiencing bleeding ulcers while taking NSAIDs remains to be proven. An evidence-based debate is presented to assist clinicians with the difficult decision-making process of preventing NSAID gastropathy while minimizing other complications.

Selected environmental considerations and their measuring parameters for nuclear power plant siting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norris, J.A.

1975-01-01

The site selection process for nuclear power stations encompasses a broad range of considerations. A categorization of these considerations consistent with the needs of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, as the regulatory agency, and of the utility company involves these major areas of concern. They are issues related to safety, environmental impact, and engineering/economics. The more important environmental considerations and their measuring parameters presented in this paper include biota, ecological systems and water quality, land use, aesthetics, water availability, and meteorology. (U.S.)

Noise Considerations for V/STOL Transports

Science.gov (United States)

Kenyon, George C.

1968-01-01

Noise consideration may well be as important a factor in future aircraft concept selection as such economic factors as operating cost and profitability. The impact of noise on some of the design and operational aspects of future V/STOL transports is examined in detail, including consideration of configuration, attitude-control system, lift system, and terminal flight pattern. Extended vertical rise of VTOL aircraft as a method of limiting the intense noise exposure to the terminal area is shown to be only partially effective as well as costly. Comparisons are made of noise contours for conceptual V/STOL transports for several PNdB criteria. The variation in extent of affected area with configuration and criterion emphasizes the importance of establishing an "acceptable" noise level for "city-center" operation.

Selecting cost-effective areas for restoration of ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Adame, M F; Hermoso, V; Perhans, K; Lovelock, C E; Herrera-Silveira, J A

2015-04-01

Selection of areas for restoration should be based on cost-effectiveness analysis to attain the maximum benefit with a limited budget and overcome the traditional ad hoc allocation of funds for restoration projects. Restoration projects need to be planned on the basis of ecological knowledge and economic and social constraints. We devised a novel approach for selecting cost-effective areas for restoration on the basis of biodiversity and potential provision of 3 ecosystem services: carbon storage, water depuration, and coastal protection. We used Marxan, a spatial prioritization tool, to balance the provision of ecosystem services against the cost of restoration. We tested this approach in a mangrove ecosystem in the Caribbean. Our approach efficiently selected restoration areas that at low cost were compatible with biodiversity targets and that maximized the provision of one or more ecosystem services. Choosing areas for restoration of mangroves on the basis carbon storage potential, largely guaranteed the restoration of biodiversity and other ecosystem services. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Limited risk assessment and some cost/benefit considerations for greater confinement disposal compared to shallow land burial

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunter, P.H.; Lester, D.H.; Robertson, L.D.; Spaeth, M.E.; Stoddard, J.A.; Dickman, P.T.

1984-09-01

A limited risk assessment and some cost/benefit considerations of greater confinement disposal (GCD) compared to shallow land burial (SLB) are presented. This study is limited to an analysis of the postclosure phase of hypothetical GCD and SLB facilities. Selected release scenarios are used which bound the range of risks to a maximally exposed individual and a hypothetical population. Based on the scenario assessments, GCD had a significant risk advantage over SLB for normal exposure pathways at both humid and arid sites, particularly for the human intrusion scenario. Since GCD costs are somewhat higher than SLB, it is necessary to weigh the higher costs of GCD against the higher risks of SLB. In this regard, GCD should be pursued as an alternative to SLB for certain types of low-level waste, and as an alternative to processing for wastes requiring improved stabilization or higher integrity packaging to be compatible with SLB. There are two reasons for this conclusion. First, GCD might diminish public apprehension regarding the disposal of wastes perceived to be too hazardous for SLB. Second, GCD may be a relatively cost-effective alternative to various stabilization and packaging schemes required to meet 10 CFR 61 near-surface requirements as well as being a cost-effective alternative to deep geologic disposal. Radionuclide transport through the biosphere and resultant dose consequences were determined using the RADTRAN radionuclide transport code. 19 references, 4 figures, 5 tables

Preliminary area selection considerations for radioactive waste repositories in bedded salt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagoner, J.L.; Steinborn, T.L.

1979-01-01

This guide describes an approach to selection of areas of bedded salt which contain potentially suitable sites for the storage of radioactive waste. To evaluate a site selected by a license applicant, it is necessary to understand the technical site characteristics which should be considered in the preliminary phase of site selection. These site characteristics are presented here in checklist form, and each item is accompanied by a discussion which explains its significance. These qualitative considerations are used first to select an area of interest within a broad geologic or geomorphic region. Once an area has been selected, more quantitative information must be acquired to determine whether the proposed site meets the resultations for storage of nuclear waste

Considerations in the selection of transport modes for spent nuclear fuel shipments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daling, P.M.; McNair, G.W.; Andrews, W.B.

1985-07-01

This paper discusses the factors associated with selecting a particular transport mode for spent fuel shipments. These factors include transportation costs, economics of potential transportation accidents, risk/safety of spent fuel transportation, routing alternatives, shipping cask handling capabilities, and shipping cask availability. Data needed to estimate transportation costs and risks are presented and discussed. The remaining factors are discussed qualitatively and can be used as guidance for selecting a particular transport mode. 15 refs., 3 tabs

Comparison of high-speed transportation systems in special consideration of investment costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Schach

2007-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper a substantial comparison of different high-speed transportation systems and an approach to stochastic cost estimations are provided. Starting from the developments in Europe, the high-speed traffic technical characteristics of high-speed railways and Maglev systems are compared. But for a comprehensive comparison more criterions must be included and led to a wider consideration and the development of a multi-criteria comparison of high-speed transportation systems. In the second part a stochastic approach to cost estimations of infrastructure projects is encouraged. Its advantages in comparison with the traditional proceeding are presented and exemplify the practical implementation.

Logging costs and production rates for the group selection cutting method

Science.gov (United States)

Philip M. McDonald

1965-01-01

Young-growth, mixed-conifer stands were logged by a group-selection method designed to create openings 30, 60, and 90 feet in diameter. Total costs for felling, limbing, bucking, and skidding on these openings ranged from $7.04 to $7.99 per thousand board feet. Cost differences between openings were not statistically significant. Logging costs for group selection...

Cost Considerations and Financing Mechanisms for the Disposal of Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-06-01

The overall objective of this publication is to provide Member States who are currently planning or preparing new near surface repositories for low and intermediate level radioactive waste (LILW), guidance on cost considerations and funding mechanisms for the repositories' entire life cycle. The report focuses on both technical and non-technical factors affecting repository costs. It considers the major cost elements that comprise a cost evaluation for a disposal facility for LILW and identifies those factors which may result in major uncertainties in an overall cost estimate. In particular, the report lists the basic disposal options and summarizes the legal basis and infrastructure requirements for establishing an effective financing system. It further includes the cost estimation methodology, considers the major cost categories and discusses factors to be considered when planning the financing mechanism, and describes relevant financing schemes

LMFBR safety criteria: cost-benefit considerations under the constraint of an a priori risk criterion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartung, J.

1979-01-01

The role of cost-benefit considerations and a priori risk criteria as determinants of Core Disruptive Accident (CDA)-related safety criteria for large LMFBR's is explored with the aid of quantitative risk and probabilistic analysis methods. A methodology is described which allows a large number of design and siting alternatives to be traded off against each other with the goal of minimizing energy generation costs subject to the constraint of both an a priori risk criterion and a cost-benefit criterion. Application of this methodology to a specific LMFBR design project is described and the results are discussed. 5 refs

Considerations and controversies in the selection of radiopharmaceuticals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chilton, H.M.; Cowan, R.J.

1987-01-01

When a radiopharmaceutical is selected for a specific study, multiple factors must be considered to ensure that optimum clinical information will be provided with minimum radiation exposure to the patient and laboratory personnel. In this endeavor, certain questions must be considered. What are the nuclear properties of the available radiopharmaceuticals? For the organ to be studied, are there multiple radiopharmaceutical localization pathways? If so, which is best suited to provide the desired diagnostic information? Does the presence of certain clinical factors preclude the use of some radiopharmaceuticals and require the use of others? Do certain radiopharmaceuticals have overriding radiopharmacologic properties which limit their usefulness for the evaluation of certain clinical situations? Finally, how significant are non-clinical properties such as cost, availability, and product formulation? In this chapter, some of these areas and several situations which illustrate the radiopharmaceutical selection process are discussed

The cost of ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass -- A comparison of selected alternative processes. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grethlein, H.E.; Dill, T.

1993-04-30

The purpose of this report is to compare the cost of selected alternative processes for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol. In turn, this information will be used by the ARS/USDA to guide the management of research and development programs in biomass conversion. The report will identify where the cost leverages are for the selected alternatives and what performance parameters need to be achieved to improve the economics. The process alternatives considered here are not exhaustive, but are selected on the basis of having a reasonable potential in improving the economics of producing ethanol from biomass. When other alternatives come under consideration, they should be evaluated by the same methodology used in this report to give fair comparisons of opportunities. A generic plant design is developed for an annual production of 25 million gallons of anhydrous ethanol using corn stover as the model substrate at $30/dry ton. Standard chemical engineering techniques are used to give first order estimates of the capital and operating costs. Following the format of the corn to ethanol plant, there are nine sections to the plant; feed preparation, pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation, distillation and dehydration, stillage evaporation, storage and denaturation, utilities, and enzyme production. There are three pretreatment alternatives considered: the AFEX process, the modified AFEX process (which is abbreviated as MAFEX), and the STAKETECH process. These all use enzymatic hydrolysis and so an enzyme production section is included in the plant. The STAKETECH is the only commercially available process among the alternative processes.

An Efficient Cost-Sensitive Feature Selection Using Chaos Genetic Algorithm for Class Imbalance Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Bian

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the era of big data, feature selection is an essential process in machine learning. Although the class imbalance problem has recently attracted a great deal of attention, little effort has been undertaken to develop feature selection techniques. In addition, most applications involving feature selection focus on classification accuracy but not cost, although costs are important. To cope with imbalance problems, we developed a cost-sensitive feature selection algorithm that adds the cost-based evaluation function of a filter feature selection using a chaos genetic algorithm, referred to as CSFSG. The evaluation function considers both feature-acquiring costs (test costs and misclassification costs in the field of network security, thereby weakening the influence of many instances from the majority of classes in large-scale datasets. The CSFSG algorithm reduces the total cost of feature selection and trades off both factors. The behavior of the CSFSG algorithm is tested on a large-scale dataset of network security, using two kinds of classifiers: C4.5 and k-nearest neighbor (KNN. The results of the experimental research show that the approach is efficient and able to effectively improve classification accuracy and to decrease classification time. In addition, the results of our method are more promising than the results of other cost-sensitive feature selection algorithms.

Analysis of Private Cost of Education in a Selected Nigerian University

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Analysis of Private Cost of Education in a Selected Nigerian University. ... Journal of Research in National Development. Journal Home ... The results revealed that there was a gap between the average institutional unit cost and private cost.

Social cost considerations and legal constraints in implementing modular integrated utility systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lede, N. W.; Dixon, H. W.; King, O.; Hill, D. K.

1974-01-01

Social costs associated with the design, demonstration, and implementation of the Modular Integrated Utility System are considered including the social climate of communities, leadership patterns, conflicts and cleavages, specific developmental values, MIUS utility goal assessment, and the suitability of certian alternative options for use in a program of implementation. General considerations are discussed in the field of socio-technological planning. These include guidelines for understanding the conflict and diversity; some relevant goal choices and ideas useful to planners of the MIUS facility.

Macro and micro geo-spatial environment consideration for landfill site selection in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ruzouq, Rami; Shanableh, Abdallah; Omar, Maher; Al-Khayyat, Ghadeer

2018-02-17

Waste management involves various procedures and resources for proper handling of waste materials in compliance with health codes and environmental regulations. Landfills are one of the oldest, most convenient, and cheapest methods to deposit waste. However, landfill utilization involves social, environmental, geotechnical, cost, and restrictive regulation considerations. For instance, landfills are considered a source of hazardous air pollutants that can cause health and environmental problems related to landfill gas and non-methanic organic compounds. The increasing number of sensors and availability of remotely sensed images along with rapid development of spatial technology are helping with effective landfill site selection. The present study used fuzzy membership and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in a geo-spatial environment for landfill site selection in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Macro- and micro-level factors were considered; the macro-level contained social and economic factors, while the micro-level accounted for geo-environmental factors. The weighted spatial layers were combined to generate landfill suitability and overall suitability index maps. Sensitivity analysis was then carried out to rectify initial theoretical weights. The results showed that 30.25% of the study area had a high suitability index for landfill sites in the Sharjah, and the most suitable site was selected based on weighted factors. The developed fuzzy-AHP methodology can be applied in neighboring regions with similar geo-natural conditions.

Tritium accident containment within a large fusion enclosure: cost, benefit, and risk considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherwood, A.E.

1983-01-01

Containment of a tritium accident within a large fusion device building will be difficult and costly. Complete containment is impossible, and with this fact in mind, the global dispersion and health effects of tritium are reviewed. Atmospheric tritium emissions lead to an estimated population dose to the Northern Hemisphere of 5.6 x 10 - 3 man-rem/Ci, which may also be interpreted as 1 cancer fatality per MCi. Updating the NRC $1000 per man-rem criterion to 1982 costs gives 9.5 $/y per Ci/y as the unit annual health benefit rate from averting tritium release at a continuous rate. Present worth considerations lead to an estimate of $100 per Ci/y for the maximum capital investment justified per expected curie per year of tritium release averted. A simplified enclosure model is used to explore the trade-off between processing capacity and recycle time with the health cost of residual tritium release included in the analysis

Cost considerations in remediation and disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dance, J.T.; Huddleston, R.D.

1999-01-01

Opportunities for assessing the costs associated with the reclamation and remediation of sites contaminated by oilfield wastes are discussed. The savings can be maximized by paying close attention to five different aspects of the overall site remediation and disposal process. These are: (1) highly focused site assessment, (2) cost control of treatment and disposal options, (3) value added cost benefits, (4) opportunities to control outside influences during the remedial process, and (5) opportunities for managing long-term liabilities and residual risk remaining after the remedial program is completed. It is claimed that addressing these aspects of the process will ultimately lower the overall cost of site remediation and waste disposal

Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization Approach for Cost-Based Feature Selection in Classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yong; Gong, Dun-Wei; Cheng, Jian

2017-01-01

Feature selection is an important data-preprocessing technique in classification problems such as bioinformatics and signal processing. Generally, there are some situations where a user is interested in not only maximizing the classification performance but also minimizing the cost that may be associated with features. This kind of problem is called cost-based feature selection. However, most existing feature selection approaches treat this task as a single-objective optimization problem. This paper presents the first study of multi-objective particle swarm optimization (PSO) for cost-based feature selection problems. The task of this paper is to generate a Pareto front of nondominated solutions, that is, feature subsets, to meet different requirements of decision-makers in real-world applications. In order to enhance the search capability of the proposed algorithm, a probability-based encoding technology and an effective hybrid operator, together with the ideas of the crowding distance, the external archive, and the Pareto domination relationship, are applied to PSO. The proposed PSO-based multi-objective feature selection algorithm is compared with several multi-objective feature selection algorithms on five benchmark datasets. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can automatically evolve a set of nondominated solutions, and it is a highly competitive feature selection method for solving cost-based feature selection problems.

Considerations for Assessing the Appropriateness of High-Cost Pediatric Care in Low-Income Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew C. Argent

2018-03-01

Full Text Available It may be difficult to predict the consequences of provision of high-cost pediatric care (HCC in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs, and these consequences may be different to those experienced in high-income countries. An evaluation of the implications of HCC in LMICs must incorporate considerations of the specific context in that country (population age profile, profile of disease, resources available, likely costs of the HCC, likely benefits that can be gained versus the costs that will be incurred. Ideally, the process that is followed in decision making around HCC should be transparent and should involve the communities that will be most affected by those decisions. It is essential that the impacts of provision of HCC are carefully monitored so that informed decisions can be made about future provision medical interventions.

Mathematical Optimization Algorithm for Minimizing the Cost Function of GHG Emission in AS/RS Using Positive Selection Based Clonal Selection Principle

Science.gov (United States)

Mahalakshmi; Murugesan, R.

2018-04-01

This paper regards with the minimization of total cost of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) efficiency in Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS). A mathematical model is constructed based on tax cost, penalty cost and discount cost of GHG emission of AS/RS. A two stage algorithm namely positive selection based clonal selection principle (PSBCSP) is used to find the optimal solution of the constructed model. In the first stage positive selection principle is used to reduce the search space of the optimal solution by fixing a threshold value. In the later stage clonal selection principle is used to generate best solutions. The obtained results are compared with other existing algorithms in the literature, which shows that the proposed algorithm yields a better result compared to others.

The impact of feedstock cost on technology selection and optimum size

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cameron, Jay B.; Kumar, Amit; Flynn, Peter C.

2007-01-01

Development of biomass projects at optimum size and technology enhances the role that biomass can make in mitigating greenhouse gas. Optimum sized plants can be built when biomass resources are sufficient to meet feedstock demand; examples include wood and forest harvest residues from extensive forests, and grain straw and corn stover from large agricultural regions. The impact of feedstock cost on technology selection is evaluated by comparing the cost of power from the gasification and direct combustion of boreal forest wood chips. Optimum size is a function of plant cost and the distance variable cost (DVC, $ dry tonne -1 km -1 ) of the biomass fuel; distance fixed costs (DFC, $ dry tonne -1 ) such as acquisition, harvesting, loading and unloading do not impact optimum size. At low values of DVC and DFC, as occur with wood chips sourced from the boreal forest, direct combustion has a lower power cost than gasification. At higher values of DVC and DFC, gasification has a lower power cost than direct combustion. This crossover in most economic technology will always arise when a more efficient technology with a higher capital cost per unit of output is compared to a less efficient technology with a lower capital cost per unit of output. In such cases technology selection cannot be separated from an analysis of feedstock cost

The economics of bladder cancer: costs and considerations of caring for this disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Svatek, Robert S; Hollenbeck, Brent K; Holmäng, Sten; Lee, Richard; Kim, Simon P; Stenzl, Arnulf; Lotan, Yair

2014-08-01

Due to high recurrence rates, intensive surveillance strategies, and expensive treatment costs, the management of bladder cancer contributes significantly to medical costs. To provide a concise evaluation of contemporary cost-related challenges in the care of patients with bladder cancer. An emphasis is placed on the initial diagnosis of bladder cancer and therapy considerations for both non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and more advanced disease. A systematic review of the literature was performed using Medline (1966 to February 2011). Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms for search criteria included "bladder cancer, neoplasms" OR "carcinoma, transitional cell" AND all cost-related MeSH search terms. Studies evaluating the costs associated with of various diagnostic or treatment approaches were reviewed. Routine use of perioperative chemotherapy following complete transurethral resection of bladder tumor has been estimated to provide a cost savings. Routine office-based fulguration of small low-grade recurrences could decrease costs. Another potential important target for decreasing variation and cost lies in risk-modified surveillance strategies after initial bladder tumor removal to reduce the cost associated with frequent cystoscopic and radiographic procedures. Optimizing postoperative care after radical cystectomy has the potential to decrease length of stay and perioperative morbidity with substantial decreases in perioperative care expenses. The gemcitabine-cisplatin regimen has been estimated to result in a modest increase in cost effectiveness over methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin. Additional costs of therapies need to be balanced with effectiveness, and there are significant gaps in knowledge regarding optimal surveillance and treatment of both early and advanced bladder cancer. Regardless of disease severity, improvements in the efficiency of bladder cancer care to limit unnecessary interventions and optimize effective

Chapter 4. Economic Considerations: Cost-Effective and Efficient Climate Policies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maximilian Auffhammer

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In this chapter we discuss the economics of climate change. We begin with a discussion of economic considerations that are important to take into account when designing and evaluating climate policy, including cost effectiveness and efficiency. We then discuss specific policies at the state, national, and international level in light of these economic considerations.  We have several recommendations for the path forward for climate policy. First, the goal of climate policy should be to reduce the damages caused by greenhouse gases. In addition to mitigation policy to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, one can also reduce the damages causes by greenhouse gases by adaptation measures that reduce our vulnerability to climate change impacts.  Second, policy-makers should use incentive- (or market- based instruments as opposed to command and control policies (including quantity-based mandates whenever possible. Whenever unpriced emissions are the sole market failure, incentive-based instruments such as a carbon tax or cap and trade program are more likely to achieve the social optimum and maximize social net benefits [1, 2]. Lin and Prince [3] calculate that the optimal gasoline tax for the state of California is $1.37 per gallon.  Our third recommendation is to address the risk of emissions leakage, which arises when only one jurisdiction (e.g., California imposes climate policy, but not the entire world. One way to reduce emissions leakage is to use the strategic distribution of emissions allowances to local producers. This method, known as “output-based allocation” or benchmarking, effectively subsidizes local producers and at least partially offsets the increase in their costs caused by an emissions cap [4]. Importantly, only local production is eligible for an allocation of valuable allowances, providing a counterweight to the incentive for emission leakage. Our fourth recommendation is that if they are used instead

Economic considerations and patients' preferences affect treatment selection for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a discrete choice experiment among European rheumatologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Hifinger, M; Hiligsmann, M; Ramiro, S; Watson, V; Severens, J L; Fautrel, B; Uhlig, T; van Vollenhoven, R; Jacques, P; Detert, J; Canas da Silva, J; Scirè, C A; Berghea, F; Carmona, L; Péntek, M; Keat, A; Boonen, A

2017-01-01

To compare the value that rheumatologists across Europe attach to patients' preferences and economic aspects when choosing treatments for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In a discrete choice experiment, European rheumatologists chose between two hypothetical drug treatments for a patient with moderate disease activity. Treatments differed in five attributes: efficacy (improvement and achieved state on disease activity), safety (probability of serious adverse events), patient's preference (level of agreement), medication costs and cost-effectiveness (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER)). A Bayesian efficient design defined 14 choice sets, and a random parameter logit model was used to estimate relative preferences for rheumatologists across countries. Cluster analyses and latent class models were applied to understand preference patterns across countries and among individual rheumatologists. Responses of 559 rheumatologists from 12 European countries were included in the analysis (49% females, mean age 48 years). In all countries, efficacy dominated treatment decisions followed by economic considerations and patients' preferences. Across countries, rheumatologists avoided selecting a treatment that patients disliked. Latent class models revealed four respondent profiles: one traded off all attributes except safety, and the remaining three classes disregarded ICER. Among individual rheumatologists, 57% disregarded ICER and these were more likely from Italy, Romania, Portugal or France, whereas 43% disregarded uncommon/rare side effects and were more likely from Belgium, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden or UK. Overall, European rheumatologists are willing to trade between treatment efficacy, patients' treatment preferences and economic considerations. However, the degree of trade-off differs between countries and among individuals. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted

Great Lakes waters: radiation dose commitments, potential health effects, and cost-benefit considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ainsworth, E.J.

1977-07-01

In 1972, a Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was signed by the United States and Canadian Governments. It was stipulated that the operation and effectiveness of the agreement were to be reviewed comprehensively in 1977. Aspects of the agreement concern nondegradation of Great Lakes waters and maintenance of levels of radioactivity or other potential pollutants at levels considered as low as practicable. A refined radioactivity objective of one millirem is proposed in the Water Quality Agreement. The implications of adoption of this objective are not known fully. The Division of Environmental Impact Studies was commissioned by ERDA's Division of Technology Overview to summarize the information available on the current levels of radioactivity in Great Lakes waters, compute radiation-dose commitment (integrated dose over 50 years after consumption of 2.2 liters of water of one year), and to comment on the feasibility and cost-benefit considerations associated with the refined one-millirem objective. Current levels of radioactivity in the waters of Lakes Michigan, Ontario, Erie, and Huron result in dose commitments in excess of 1 mrem for whole body and 6 mrem for bone. Future projections of isotope concentrations in Great lakes water indicate similar dose commitments for drinking water in the year 2050. Reduction of the levels of radioactivity in Great Lakes waters is not feasible, but cost-benefit considerations support removal of 226 Ra and 90 Sr through interceptive technology before water consumption. Adoption of the one-millirem objective is not propitious

Considerations for evaluation and selection of solid waste handling apron conveyors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lisiecki, H.G.

1976-11-01

Criteria to be used in evaluating and selecting conveyer equipment for facilities handling solid wastes, such as solid waste resource recovery facilities, are discussed. Types of conveyer pan design and chain mechanisms are described. It is concluded that the conveyer purchaser must be knowledgeable about the equipment available, the specific use of equipment, its performance specifications, and the overall maintenance and operating costs. (LCL)

International market selection and subsidiary performance : A neural network approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouthers, L.E.; Wilkinson, T.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; Brouthers, K.D.

2009-01-01

How should multinational enterprises (MNEs) select international markets? We develop a model of international market selection that adds firm-specific advantages and transaction cost considerations to previously explored target market factors based on Dunning's Eclectic Framework. Results obtained

Two-Stage Fuzzy Portfolio Selection Problem with Transaction Costs

OpenAIRE

Chen, Yanju; Wang, Ye

2015-01-01

This paper studies a two-period portfolio selection problem. The problem is formulated as a two-stage fuzzy portfolio selection model with transaction costs, in which the future returns of risky security are characterized by possibility distributions. The objective of the proposed model is to achieve the maximum utility in terms of the expected value and variance of the final wealth. Given the first-stage decision vector and a realization of fuzzy return, the optimal value expression of the s...

Purchasing motors under consideration of full-cost pricing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mauchle, P.; Ritz, Ch.

2007-01-01

This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at how full-cost pricing should be considered when purchasing electric motors. The authors consider it essential that the overall life-cycle costs are carefully considered. This also guarantees economical operation and enables users to avoid unexpected costs throughout the service life of the motor. The aim of this project was to provide industrial companies with suitable tools for calculating the overall life-cycle costs of motors at the time of their acquisition. These tools take the form of a sample 'Call for Tender' for motors along with software for calculating life-cycle costs. The factors involved, such as investment, installation costs, energy and environmental costs as well as operational, maintenance and disposal costs are examined.

Economic Considerations for Selecting an Amine Donor in Biocatalytic Transamination

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tufvesson, Pär; Nordblad, Mathias; Krühne, Ulrich

2015-01-01

the process, in particular the choice of amine donor. This paper discusses these constraints and demonstrates, through simple thermodynamic and economic models, the process targets that need to be set and achieved for a process dependent on allowed process costs and quality targets....... in industry. The technology has been demonstrated in a few selected cases, but widespread implementation and for a broader range of target molecules requires a deeper understanding of the underlying thermodynamic as well as economic constraints for the different choices that can be made in designing...

Selection of a turbine cooling system applying multi-disciplinary design considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Glezer, B

2001-05-01

The presented paper describes a multi-disciplinary cooling selection approach applied to major gas turbine engine hot section components, including turbine nozzles, blades, discs, combustors and support structures, which maintain blade tip clearances. The paper demonstrates benefits of close interaction between participating disciplines starting from early phases of the hot section development. The approach targets advancements in engine performance and cost by optimizing the design process, often requiring compromises within individual disciplines.

Profits and progress through least-cost planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moskovitz, D. [Moskovitz (D.), Alna, ME (United States)

1989-11-01

In the broadest sense, this paper discusses issues relating to the earnings implications which flow from the pursuit of least-cost plans. More narrowly, however, the issues, discussion, and conclusions apply with equal force whenever a utility implements cost-effective demand-side measures, whether as part of a least-cost plan or not. To a lesser extent, the paper addresses how these issues relate to many supply-side options, particularly cogeneration and renewable resources. Least-cost planning (LCP) is a process of examining all electricity-saving and electricity-producing options to select a mixture of options that minimizes total consumer cost, often including consideration of environmental concerns and other responsibilities.

Cost-driven materials selection criteria for redox flow battery electrolytes

Science.gov (United States)

Dmello, Rylan; Milshtein, Jarrod D.; Brushett, Fikile R.; Smith, Kyle C.

2016-10-01

Redox flow batteries show promise for grid-scale energy storage applications but are presently too expensive for widespread adoption. Electrolyte material costs constitute a sizeable fraction of the redox flow battery price. As such, this work develops a techno-economic model for redox flow batteries that accounts for redox-active material, salt, and solvent contributions to the electrolyte cost. Benchmark values for electrolyte constituent costs guide identification of design constraints. Nonaqueous battery design is sensitive to all electrolyte component costs, cell voltage, and area-specific resistance. Design challenges for nonaqueous batteries include minimizing salt content and dropping redox-active species concentration requirements. Aqueous battery design is sensitive to only redox-active material cost and cell voltage, due to low area-specific resistance and supporting electrolyte costs. Increasing cell voltage and decreasing redox-active material cost present major materials selection challenges for aqueous batteries. This work minimizes cost-constraining variables by mapping the battery design space with the techno-economic model, through which we highlight pathways towards low price and moderate concentration. Furthermore, the techno-economic model calculates quantitative iterations of battery designs to achieve the Department of Energy battery price target of 100 per kWh and highlights cost cutting strategies to drive battery prices down further.

Children's decision making: When self-interest and moral considerations conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Tasimi, Arber; Johnson, Marcia K; Wynn, Karen

2017-09-01

When children's self-interests are at odds with their moral considerations, what do they do? In the current study of 5- and 6-year-olds (N=160), we asked (a) whether children would select the offering of a do-gooder over a neutral individual at a personal cost, (b) whether they would reject the offering of a wrongdoer over a neutral individual at a personal cost, and (c) whether these two types of decisions involve comparable levels of conflict. In the absence of material considerations, children preferred a nice character to a neutral one, but this preference was easily overcome for material gain; children accepted a larger offering from a neutral source over a smaller offering from a nice source. In contrast, children's aversion to negative characters was largely unaffected by the same material consideration; they rejected a larger offering from a mean source in favor of a smaller offering from a neutral source. In addition, children's response times indicated that deciding whether or not to "sell out" to a wrongdoer for personal gain engenders conflict but that deciding whether to take a lesser gain from a do-gooder does not. These findings indicate that children weigh both their own material interests and others' social behaviors when selecting social partners and, importantly, that an aversion to wrongdoers is a more powerful influence on these choices than an attraction to do-gooders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost effectiveness of selective decontamination of the digestive tract in liver transplant patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Enckevort, PJ; Zwaveling, JH; Bottema, JT; Maring, JK; Klompmaker, IJ; Slooff, MJH; TenVergert, EM

2001-01-01

Objective: To assess the cost effectiveness of selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) in liver transplant patients. Design: Randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial with an integrated economic evaluation. Setting: Two university hospitals in The Netherlands. Cost

Cost-Effectiveness of a Community Exercise and Nutrition Program for Older Adults: Texercise Select.

Science.gov (United States)

Akanni, Olufolake Odufuwa; Smith, Matthew Lee; Ory, Marcia G

2017-05-20

The wide-spread dissemination of evidence-based programs that can improve health outcomes among older populations often requires an understanding of factors influencing community adoption of such programs. One such program is Texercise Select , a community-based health promotion program previously shown to improve functional health, physical activity, nutritional habits and quality of the life among older adults. This paper assesses the cost-effectiveness of Texercise Select in the context of supportive environments to facilitate its delivery and statewide sustainability. Participants were surveyed using self-reported instruments distributed at program baseline and conclusion. Program costs were based on actual direct costs of program implementation and included costs of recruitment and outreach, personnel costs and participant incentives. Program effectiveness was measured using quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, as well as health outcomes, such as healthy days, weekly physical activity and Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) test scores. Preference-based EuroQol (EQ-5D) scores were estimated from the number of healthy days reported by participants and converted into QALYs. There was a significant increase in the number of healthy days ( p nutrition-related outcomes among participants, this study supports the use of Texercise Select as an intervention with substantial health and cost benefits.

Selective decontamination of the digestive tract and selective oropharyngeal decontamination in intensive care unit patients: a cost-effectiveness analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oostdijk, E.A.; Wit, G.A. de; Bakker, M; Smet, A.M. de; Bonten, M.J.; Hoeven, J.G. van der; Pickkers, P.; Sturm, P.D.J.; Voss, A.; et al.,

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine costs and effects of selective digestive tract decontamination (SDD) and selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) as compared with standard care (ie, no SDD/SOD (SC)) from a healthcare perspective in Dutch Intensive Care Units (ICUs). DESIGN: A post hoc analysis of a

Selective decontamination of the digestive tract and selective oropharyngeal decontamination in intensive care unit patients : a cost-effectiveness analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oostdijk, Evelien A. N.; de Wit, G. A.; Bakker, Marina; de Smet, Anne-Marie; Bonten, M. J. M.

2013-01-01

Objective: To determine costs and effects of selective digestive tract decontamination (SDD) and selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) as compared with standard care (ie, no SDD/SOD (SC)) from a healthcare perspective in Dutch Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Design: A post hoc analysis of a

A cost-benefit analysis of alternatively fueled buses with special considerations for V2G technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirazi, Yosef; Carr, Edward; Knapp, Lauren

2015-01-01

Motivated by climate, health and economic considerations, alternatively-fueled bus fleets have emerged worldwide. Two popular alternatives are compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles. The latter provides the opportunity to generate revenue through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services if properly equipped. This analysis conducts a robust accounting of the costs of diesel, CNG and battery-electric powertrains for school buses. Both marginal and fleet-wide scenarios are explored. Results indicate that the marginal addition of neither a small CNG nor a small V2G-enabled electric bus is cost effective at current prices. Contrary to previous findings, a small V2G-enabled electric bus increases net present costs by $7,200/seat relative to diesel for a Philadelphia, PA school district. A small CNG bus increases costs by $1,200/seat relative to diesel. This analysis is the first to quantify and include the economic implications of cold temperature extremes on electric vehicle battery operations, and the lower V2G revenues that result. Additional costs and limitations imposed by electric vehicles performing V2G are frequently overlooked in the literature and are explored here. If a variety of technical, legal, and economic challenges are overcome, a future eBus may be economical. - Highlights: • We present a robust cost-benefit analysis of various bus technologies. • Diesel is a low-cost technology at current prices. • CNG represents slightly higher costs on a marginal bus basis. • V2G-enabled electric buses are not cost-effective at current prices. • We identify frequently overlooked costs and challenges to V2G implementation.

Basic Research on Selecting ISDC Activity for Decommissioning Costing in KRR-2 Decommissioning Project Experience Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Chan-Ho; Park, Hee-Seong; Jin, Hyung-Gon; Park, Seung-Kook [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

KAERI is performing research for calculation of expected time of a decommissioning work and evaluation of decommissioning cost and this research calculate a decommissioning work unit productivity based on the experience data of decommissioning activity for KRR-2. The KAERI be used to calculate the decommissioning cost and manage the experience data from the decommissioning activity through the Decommissioning Information Management System (DECOMMIS), Decommissioning Facility Characterization DB System (DEFACS), and Decommissioning Work-unit Productivity Calculation System (DEWOCS). In this paper, the methodology was presented how select the ISDC activities in dismantling work procedures of a 'removal of radioactive concrete'. The reason to select the 'removal of radioactive concrete' is main key activity and generates the amount of radioactive waste. This data will take advantage of the cost estimation after the code for the selected items derived ISDC. There are various efforts for decommissioning costing in each country. In particular, OECD/NEA recommends decommissioning cost estimation using the ISDC and IAEA provides for Cost Estimation for Research Reactors in Excel (CERREX) program that anyone is easy to use the cost evaluation from a limited decommissioning experience in domestic. In the future, for the decommissioning cost evaluation, the ISDC will be used more widely in a strong position. This paper has described a method for selecting the ISDC item from the actual dismantling work procedures.

Cost-effectiveness considerations in reducing occupational radiation exposure in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lochard, J.; Maccia, C.; Pages, P.

1983-01-01

This article outlines a method of applying the as-low-as-reasonably-achievable principle to occupational radiation exposures in nuclear power stations. A set of protective actions already taken at French pressurized-water reactors now in operation were selected, and their cost and effectiveness were assessed, allowing for the possible interdependence of protection and energy-production objectives. The usefulness of such quantitative evaluation is discussed with regard to the problem of using monetary values of the man-sievert in optimization procedures

COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS – A TOOL TO IMPROVE RECRUITMENT, SELECTION AND EMPLOYMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoleta Valentina FLOREA

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Human resource is a major source for organization to obtain competitive advantage and can be very important in obtaining long-term performance. The limits of recruitment process are the cost, the choice made, time and legislation. Any organization looks for minimizing the human resources recruitment, selection and employment costs. This article presents the importance of cost in choosing the best practices of recruitment, selection, employment and integration of new employees in the organization, though, the cost is an important variable for analysis. In this article is presented the research made in large organizations from Dambovita County, Romania, and are also presented the costs and their consequences on medium and long-term over the organization activities These activities are discrimination, sexual harassment, ethics, low performance and results, by choosing the “wrong” people, and implicitly diminishing the level of qualifications, knowledge and abilities, by growing the absenteeism, the direct and indirect costs of these processes and the direct consequences over the time management.

Cost evaluation of irradiation system with electron accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashiwagi, M.

2003-01-01

The features of electron beam irradiation system using electron accelerator are direct energy pour into the irradiated material, no third material mixture such as catalyst, suitable for mass production and easy operation and maintenance work available. These features can bring the various applications such as cross-linking action, graft polymerization, radical polymerization and others. The selection of electron accelerator ratings is made under consideration of quality, width and thickness of irradiated material, production amount, dose required for reaction and irradiation atmosphere. Especially in a case of irradiation of wire with high insulation material such as polyethylene, the consideration of maximum thickness toward irradiation direction is necessary to avoid the discharge (Lichtenberg discharge) by charged-up electrons inside insulation material. Therefore, the acceleration voltage should be selected to make the maximum penetration larger than maximum irradiation thickness. The actual model case of estimate the irradiation cost was selected that the irradiation object was polyethylene insulated wire up to AWG no.14, irradiation amount was 5,000 km/month, necessary dose was 200 kGy, operation time was 22 d/month and 8 h/day and actual operation efficiency was considered loss time such as bobbin changing as 80%. The selected ratings of electron accelerator were acceleration voltage of 800 kV, beam current of 100 mA and irradiation width of 180 cm with irradiation pulleys stand of 60 turns x 3 lanes. The initial total cost was estimated as 3 M$(US) and operation cost was evaluated as 215 k$(US). Therefore, the irradiation cost of wire was evaluated as 0.0036 $/m. (author)

The cost of selective attention in category learning: Developmental differences between adults and infants

Science.gov (United States)

Best, Catherine A.; Yim, Hyungwook; Sloutsky, Vladimir M.

2013-01-01

Selective attention plays an important role in category learning. However, immaturities of top-down attentional control during infancy coupled with successful category learning suggest that early category learning is achieved without attending selectively. Research presented here examines this possibility by focusing on category learning in infants (6–8 months old) and adults. Participants were trained on a novel visual category. Halfway through the experiment, unbeknownst to participants, the to-be-learned category switched to another category, where previously relevant features became irrelevant and previously irrelevant features became relevant. If participants attend selectively to the relevant features of the first category, they should incur a cost of selective attention immediately after the unknown category switch. Results revealed that adults demonstrated a cost, as evidenced by a decrease in accuracy and response time on test trials as well as a decrease in visual attention to newly relevant features. In contrast, infants did not demonstrate a similar cost of selective attention as adults despite evidence of learning both to-be-learned categories. Findings are discussed as supporting multiple systems of category learning and as suggesting that learning mechanisms engaged by adults may be different from those engaged by infants. PMID:23773914

Cost-benefit considerations in regulatory analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mubayi, V.; Sailor, V.; Anandalingam, G.

1995-10-01

Justification for safety enhancements at nuclear facilities, e.g., a compulsory backfit to nuclear power plants, requires a value-impact analysis of the increase in overall public protection versus the cost of implementation. It has been customary to assess the benefits in terms of radiation dose to the public averted by the introduction of the safety enhancement. Comparison of such benefits with the costs of the enhancement then requires an estimate of the monetary value of averted dose (dollars/person rem). This report reviews available information on a variety of factors that affect this valuation and assesses the continuing validity of the figure of $1000/person-rem averted, which has been widely used as a guideline in performing value-impact analyses. Factors that bear on this valuation include the health risks of radiation doses, especially the higher risk estimates of the BEIR V committee, recent calculations of doses and offsite costs by consequence codes for hypothesized severe accidents at U.S. nuclear power plants under the NUREG-1150 program, and recent information on the economic consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union and estimates of risk avoidance based on the willingness-to-pay criterion. The report analyzes these factors and presents results on the dollars/person-rem ratio arising from different assumptions on the values of these factors.

Cost-benefit considerations in regulatory analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mubayi, V.; Sailor, V.; Anandalingam, G.

1995-10-01

Justification for safety enhancements at nuclear facilities, e.g., a compulsory backfit to nuclear power plants, requires a value-impact analysis of the increase in overall public protection versus the cost of implementation. It has been customary to assess the benefits in terms of radiation dose to the public averted by the introduction of the safety enhancement. Comparison of such benefits with the costs of the enhancement then requires an estimate of the monetary value of averted dose (dollars/person rem). This report reviews available information on a variety of factors that affect this valuation and assesses the continuing validity of the figure of $1000/person-rem averted, which has been widely used as a guideline in performing value-impact analyses. Factors that bear on this valuation include the health risks of radiation doses, especially the higher risk estimates of the BEIR V committee, recent calculations of doses and offsite costs by consequence codes for hypothesized severe accidents at U.S. nuclear power plants under the NUREG-1150 program, and recent information on the economic consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union and estimates of risk avoidance based on the willingness-to-pay criterion. The report analyzes these factors and presents results on the dollars/person-rem ratio arising from different assumptions on the values of these factors

Self-selected speeds and metabolic cost of longboard skateboarding.

Science.gov (United States)

Board, Wayne J; Browning, Raymond C

2014-11-01

The purpose of this study was to determine self-selected speeds, metabolic rate, and gross metabolic cost during longboard skateboarding. We measured overground speed and metabolic rate while 15 experienced longboarders traveled at their self-selected slow, typical and fast speeds. Mean longboarding speeds were 3.7, 4.5 and 5.1 m s(-1), during slow, typical and fast trials, respectively. Mean rates of oxygen consumption were 24.1, 29.1 and 37.2 ml kg(-1) min(-1) and mean rates of energy expenditure were 33.5, 41.8 and 52.7 kJ min(-1) at the slow, typical and fast speeds, respectively. At typical speeds, average intensity was ~8.5 METs. There was a significant positive relationship between oxygen consumption and energy expenditure versus speed (R(2) = 0.69 (P < 0.001), and R(2) = 0.78 (P < 0.001), respectively). The gross metabolic cost was ~2.2 J kg(-1) m(-1) at the typical speed, greater than that reported for cycling and ~50% smaller than that of walking. These results suggest that longboarding is a novel form of physical activity that elicits vigorous intensity, yet is economical compared to walking.

Econometric modeling of health care costs and expenditures: a survey of analytical issues and related policy considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullahy, John

2009-07-01

Econometric modeling of healthcare costs and expenditures has become an important component of decision-making across a wide array of real-world settings. The objective of this article is to provide a brief summary of important conceptual and analytical issues involved in econometric healthcare cost modeling. To this end, the article explores: outcome measures typically analyzed in such work; the decision maker's perspective in econometric cost modeling exercises; specific analytical issues in econometric model specification; statistical goodness-of-fit testing; empirical implications of "upper tail" (or "high cost") phenomena; and issues relating to the reporting of findings. Some of the concepts explored here are illustrated in light of samples drawn from the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and the 2005 Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Analysts of healthcare cost data have at their disposal an increasingly sophisticated tool kit for analyzing such data that can in principle and in fact yield increasingly interesting insights into data structures. Yet for such analyses to usefully inform policy decisions, the manner in which such studies are designed, undertaken, and reported must accommodate considerations relevant to the decision-making community. The article concludes with some preliminary thoughts on how such bridges might be constructed.

Evaluating the costs of pneumococcal disease in selected Latin American countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Constenla, Dagna

2007-10-01

To estimate the costs of pneumococcal disease in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, to describe how these costs vary between different patient groups, and to discuss factors that affect these cost variations. The cost of pneumococcal disease was estimated from the health care perspective. For each country, baseline cost estimates were primarily developed using health resources information from patient-level data and facility-specific cost data. A regression model was constructed separately for four types of pneumococcal diseases. The skewness-kurtosis test and the Cook-Weisberg test were performed to test the normality of the residuals and the heteroscedasticity, respectively. The treatment of pneumococcal meningitis generated up to US$ 5 435 per child. The treatment costs of pneumococcal pneumonia were lower, ranging from US$ 372 per child to US$ 3 483 per child. Treatment of acute otitis media cost between US$ 20 per child and US$ 217 per child. The main source of treatment costs variations was level of service provided and country in which costs were incurred. However, the tendency of costs to change with these variables was not statistically significant at the 5% level for most pneumococcal disease models. Pneumococcal disease resulted in significant economic burden to selected health care systems in Latin America. The patterns of treatment cost of pneumococcal disease showed a great deal of variation.

Design and selection criteria of a commercial irradiation facility for spices and dry products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aggarwal, K.S.

1990-01-01

Apart from cost considerations, various factors which should be taken into consideration in design of a commercial irradiation facility for spices and dry products and the factors which a user should consider for selecting a food irradiator are discussed in brief. (author)

Cost-benefit considerations in the development of policies and procedures for controlling indoor exposure to radon and its decay products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Puskin, J.S.; Guimond, R.J.; Napolitano, S.; Nelson, C.B.

1989-01-01

The applicability of ALARA to the problem of controlling residential radon levels is limited. Cost-benefit considerations can nevertheless be useful in guiding policy in this area. From a societal perspective, the cost-benefit balance for mitigating radon in homes to the EPA action level of 4 pCi/L, or lower, is generally better than for most programs aimed at reducing environmental risks. Reduction of radon levels in new homes tends to be less costly; moreover, reduced radon levels in new construction may be achievable with a net cost savings to the homeowner due to concomitant decreases in energy expenses. Since programs to reduced radon exposure rely on voluntary actions by homeowners, the societal cost-benefit balance cannot dictate the extent of radon mitigation efforts. However, both economic incentives and governmental guidance can influence these efforts. Cost-benefit analysis can be an important tool in formulating such guidance

Order of magnitude cost appraisal for selected aspects of clad waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zima, G.E.

1977-02-01

A simple formula, incorporating the fixed charge rate principle, is applied to a clad waste management exercise involving densification, canning, transportation and salt disposal. For the purpose of comparison with the bulk of published nuclear waste management costs, cost and fixed charge rate data appropriate to roughly the period 1970 to 1973 are used. Within the context of this order of magnitude appraisal, densification displays some cost advantage, reflected principally in the transportation cost. Dependent on the degree of densification, above a certain clad waste generation rate the transportation savings may be expected to exceed reasonable densification costs. There is no explicit consideration of the decontamination step in this appraisal. The limited accessibility of surface effect decontamination to internal transuranic and activation product contamination suggests a quite small influence of decontamination on the transportation and disposal costs. Decontamination may, however, have a significant effect on the ease of establishing a practicable containment envelope of high reliability throughout the clad waste history. A brief comparison is made of clad waste management costs with the major costs of the nuclear power economy. This comparison implies a virtually unlimited technical latitude for clad waste treatment in accommodating the public safety without significant perturbation of nuclear power costs. It is submitted that clad waste management optimization will be under the primal constraint of maximizing thelong term public safety, with economic analysis useful only as a discriminator between waste handling alternatives of sensibly equivalent containment qualities. Some areas of clad waste treatment meriting increased attention are noted

The cost of selective attention in category learning: developmental differences between adults and infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Best, Catherine A; Yim, Hyungwook; Sloutsky, Vladimir M

2013-10-01

Selective attention plays an important role in category learning. However, immaturities of top-down attentional control during infancy coupled with successful category learning suggest that early category learning is achieved without attending selectively. Research presented here examines this possibility by focusing on category learning in infants (6-8months old) and adults. Participants were trained on a novel visual category. Halfway through the experiment, unbeknownst to participants, the to-be-learned category switched to another category, where previously relevant features became irrelevant and previously irrelevant features became relevant. If participants attend selectively to the relevant features of the first category, they should incur a cost of selective attention immediately after the unknown category switch. Results revealed that adults demonstrated a cost, as evidenced by a decrease in accuracy and response time on test trials as well as a decrease in visual attention to newly relevant features. In contrast, infants did not demonstrate a similar cost of selective attention as adults despite evidence of learning both to-be-learned categories. Findings are discussed as supporting multiple systems of category learning and as suggesting that learning mechanisms engaged by adults may be different from those engaged by infants. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Technical and governance considerations for advanced metering infrastructure/smart meters: Technology, security, uncertainty, costs, benefits, and risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McHenry, Mark P.

2013-01-01

The fundamental role of policymakers when considering Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), or ‘smart meters for energy and water infrastructure is to investigate a broad range of complex interrelated issues. These include alternative technical and non-technical options and deployment needs, the cost and benefits of the infrastructure (risks and mitigation measures), and the impact of a number of stakeholders: consumers, distributors, retailers, competitive market operators, competing technology companies, etc. The scale and number of potential variables in the AMI space is an almost unprecedented challenge to policymakers, with the anticipation of new ancillary products and services, associated market contestability, related regulatory and policy amendments, and the adequacy of consumer protection, education, and safety considerations requiring utmost due-diligence. Embarking on AMI investment entails significant technical, implementation, and strategic risk for governments and administering bodies, and an active effort is required to ensure AMI governance and planning maximises the potential benefits, and minimise uncertainties, costs, and risks to stakeholders. This work seeks to clarify AMI fundamentals and discusses the technical and related governance considerations from a dispassionate perspective, yet acknowledges many stakeholders tend to dichotomise debate, and obfuscate both advantages and benefits, and the converse. - Highlights: • AMI presents an almost unprecedented technical and governance policy challenge. • AMI enables vertical integration of electricity, gas, water, IT, and telco entities • AMI investments involve major technical, implementation, and strategic decisions. • Adequacy of consumer education, safety, privacy, and protection is paramount. • Policy must maximise AMI benefits and minimise uncertainties, costs, and risks

Selective decontamination of the digestive tract and selective oropharyngeal decontamination in intensive care unit patients: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Oostdijk, Evelien A N; de Wit, G A; Bakker, Marina; de Smet, Anne Marie G A; Bonten, M J M

2013-03-05

To determine costs and effects of selective digestive tract decontamination (SDD) and selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) as compared with standard care (ie, no SDD/SOD (SC)) from a healthcare perspective in Dutch Intensive Care Units (ICUs). A post hoc analysis of a previously performed cluster-randomised trial (NEJM 2009;360:20). 13 Dutch ICUs. Patients with ICU-stay of >48 h that received SDD (n=2045), SOD (n=1904) or SC (n=1990). SDD or SOD. Effects were based on hospital survival, expressed as crude Life Years Gained (cLYG). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated, with corresponding cost acceptability curves. Sensitivity analyses were performed for discount rates, costs of SDD, SOD and mechanical ventilation. Total costs per patient were €41 941 for SC (95% CI €40 184 to €43 698), €40 433 for SOD (95% CI €38 838 to €42 029) and €41 183 for SOD (95% CI €39 408 to €42 958). SOD and SDD resulted in crude LYG of +0.04 and +0.25, respectively, as compared with SC, implying that both SDD and SOD are dominant (ie, cheaper and more beneficial) over SC. In cost-effectiveness acceptability curves probabilities for cost-effectiveness, compared with standard care, ranged from 89% to 93% for SOD and from 63% to 72% for SDD, for acceptable costs for 1 LYG ranging from €0 to €20 000. Sensitivity analysis for mechanical ventilation and discount rates did not change interpretation. Yet, if costs of the topical component of SDD and SOD would increase 40-fold to €400/day and €40/day (maximum values based on free market prices in 2012), the estimated ICER as compared with SC for SDD would be €21 590 per LYG. SOD would remain cost-saving. SDD and SOD were both effective and cost-saving in Dutch ICUs.

Cost system design and cost management in the Spanish public sector

OpenAIRE

Boned, Josep Lluís; Bagur, Llorenç; Tayles, Mike

2006-01-01

Cost systems have been shown to have developed considerably in recent years and activity-based costing (ABC) has been shown to be a contribution to cost management, particularly in service businesses. The public sector is composed to a very great extent of service functions, yet considerably less has been reported of the use of ABC to support cost management in this sector. In Spain, cost systems are essential for city councils as they are obliged to calculate the cost of the services subject...

Centralized manure digestion. Selection of locations and estimation of costs of large-scale manure storage application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-03-01

A study to assess the possibilities and the consequences of the use of existing Dutch large scale manure silos at centralised anaerobic digestion plants (CAD-plants) for manure and energy-rich organic wastes is carried out. Reconstruction of these large scale manure silos into digesters for a CAD-plant is not self-evident due to the high height/diameter ratio of these silos and the extra investments that have to be made for additional facilities for roofing, insulation, mixing and heating. From the results of an inventory and selection of large scale manure silos with a storage capacity above 1,500 m 3 it appeared that there are 21 locations in The Netherlands that can be qualified for realisation of a CAD plant with a processing capacity of 100 m 3 biomass (80% manure, 20% additives) per day. These locations are found in particular at the 'shortage-areas' for manure fertilisation in the Dutch provinces Groningen and Drenthe. Three of these 21 locations with large scale silos are considered to be the most suitable for realisation of a large scale CAD-plant. The selection is based on an optimal scale for a CAD-plant of 300 m 3 material (80% manure, 20% additives) to be processed per day and the most suitable consuming markets for the biogas produced at the CAD-plant. The three locations are at Middelharnis, Veendam, and Klazinaveen. Applying the conditions as used in this study and accounting for all costs for transport of manure, additives and end-product including the costs for the storage facilities, a break-even operation might be realised at a minimum income for the additives of approximately 50 Dutch guilders per m 3 (including TAV). This income price is considerably lower than the prevailing costs for tipping or processing of organic wastes in The Netherlands. This study revealed that a break-even exploitation of a large scale CAD-plant for the processing of manure with energy-rich additives is possible. (Abstract Truncated)

Cost considerations for an ionising energy treatment facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Culpitt, R.A.

1985-01-01

Variables influencing the cost of food irradiation can be included under three broad headings: the physical characteristics of products to be treated; the operational characteristics of the plant to be used; costs of establishment and operation of an ionising energy treatment

Selecting polymers for two-phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs): Consideration of thermodynamic affinity, crystallinity, and glass transition temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Bacon, Stuart L; Peterson, Eric C; Daugulis, Andrew J; Parent, J Scott

2015-01-01

Two-phase partitioning bioreactor technology involves the use of a secondary immiscible phase to lower the concentration of cytotoxic solutes in the fermentation broth to subinhibitory levels. Although polymeric absorbents have attracted recent interest due to their low cost and biocompatibility, material selection requires the consideration of properties beyond those of small molecule absorbents (i.e., immiscible organic solvents). These include a polymer's (1) thermodynamic affinity for the target compound, (2) degree of crystallinity (wc ), and (3) glass transition temperature (Tg ). We have examined the capability of three thermodynamic models to predict the partition coefficient (PC) for n-butyric acid, a fermentation product, in 15 polymers. Whereas PC predictions for amorphous materials had an average absolute deviation (AAD) of ≥16%, predictions for semicrystalline polymers were less accurate (AAD ≥ 30%). Prediction errors were associated with uncertainties in determining the degree of crystallinity within a polymer and the effect of absorbed water on n-butyric acid partitioning. Further complications were found to arise for semicrystalline polymers, wherein strongly interacting solutes increased the polymer's absorptive capacity by actually dissolving the crystalline fraction. Finally, we determined that diffusion limitations may occur for polymers operating near their Tg , and that the Tg can be reduced by plasticization by water and/or solute. This study has demonstrated the impact of basic material properties that affects the performance of polymers as sequestering phases in TPPBs, and reflects the additional complexity of polymers that must be taken into account in material selection. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

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

Expected value analysis for integrated supplier selection and inventory control of multi-product inventory system with fuzzy cost

Science.gov (United States)

Sutrisno, Widowati, Tjahjana, R. Heru

2017-12-01

The future cost in many industrial problem is obviously uncertain. Then a mathematical analysis for a problem with uncertain cost is needed. In this article, we deals with the fuzzy expected value analysis to solve an integrated supplier selection and supplier selection problem with uncertain cost where the costs uncertainty is approached by a fuzzy variable. We formulate the mathematical model of the problems fuzzy expected value based quadratic optimization with total cost objective function and solve it by using expected value based fuzzy programming. From the numerical examples result performed by the authors, the supplier selection problem was solved i.e. the optimal supplier was selected for each time period where the optimal product volume of all product that should be purchased from each supplier for each time period was determined and the product stock level was controlled as decided by the authors i.e. it was followed the given reference level.

Cost approach of health care entity intangible asset valuation.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Robert F

2012-01-01

In the valuation synthesis and conclusion process, the analyst should consider the following question: Does the selected valuation approach(es) and method(s) accomplish the analyst's assignment? Also, does the selected valuation approach and method actually quantify the desired objective of the intangible asset analysis? The analyst should also consider if the selected valuation approach and method analyzes the appropriate bundle of legal rights. The analyst should consider if there were sufficient empirical data available to perform the selected valuation approach and method. The valuation synthesis should consider if there were sufficient data available to make the analyst comfortable with the value conclusion. The valuation analyst should consider if the selected approach and method will be understandable to the intended audience. In the valuation synthesis and conclusion, the analyst should also consider which approaches and methods deserve the greatest consideration with respect to the intangible asset's RUL. The intangible asset RUL is a consideration of each valuation approach. In the income approach, the RUL may affect the projection period for the intangible asset income subject to either yield capitalization or direct capitalization. In the cost approach, the RUL may affect the total amount of obsolescence, if any, from the estimate cost measure (that is, the intangible reproduction cost new or replacement cost new). In the market approach, the RUL may effect the selection, rejection, and/or adjustment of the comparable or guideline intangible asset sale and license transactional data. The experienced valuation analyst will use professional judgment to weight the various value indications to conclude a final intangible asset value, based on: The analyst's confidence in the quantity and quality of available data; The analyst's level of due diligence performed on that data; The relevance of the valuation method to the intangible asset life cycle stage and

Collider Scaling and Cost Estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palmer, R.B.

1986-01-01

This paper deals with collider cost and scaling. The main points of the discussion are the following ones: 1) scaling laws and cost estimation: accelerating gradient requirements, total stored RF energy considerations, peak power consideration, average power consumption; 2) cost optimization; 3) Bremsstrahlung considerations; 4) Focusing optics: conventional, laser focusing or super disruption. 13 refs

Laboratory cost control and financial management software.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, M

1998-02-09

Economical constraints within the health care system advocate the introduction of tighter control of costs in clinical laboratories. Detailed cost information forms the basis for cost control and financial management. Based on the cost information, proper decisions regarding priorities, procedure choices, personnel policies and investments can be made. This presentation outlines some principles of cost analysis, describes common limitations of cost analysis, and exemplifies use of software to achieve optimized cost control. One commercially available cost analysis software, LabCost, is described in some detail. In addition to provision of cost information, LabCost also serves as a general management tool for resource handling, accounting, inventory management and billing. The application of LabCost in the selection process of a new high throughput analyzer for a large clinical chemistry service is taken as an example for decisions that can be assisted by cost evaluation. It is concluded that laboratory management that wisely utilizes cost analysis to support the decision-making process will undoubtedly have a clear advantage over those laboratories that fail to employ cost considerations to guide their actions.

Running behavior and its energy cost in mice selectively bred for high voluntary locomotor activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rezende, Enrico L; Gomes, Fernando R; Chappell, Mark A; Garland, Theodore

2009-01-01

Locomotion is central to behavior and intrinsic to many fitness-critical activities (e.g., migration, foraging), and it competes with other life-history components for energy. However, detailed analyses of how changes in locomotor activity and running behavior affect energy budgets are scarce. We quantified these effects in four replicate lines of house mice that have been selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running (S lines) and in their four nonselected control lines (C lines). We monitored wheel speeds and oxygen consumption for 24-48 h to determine daily energy expenditure (DEE), resting metabolic rate (RMR), locomotor costs, and running behavior (bout characteristics). Daily running distances increased roughly 50%-90% in S lines in response to selection. After we controlled for body mass effects, selection resulted in a 23% increase in DEE in males and a 6% increase in females. Total activity costs (DEE - RMR) accounted for 50%-60% of DEE in both S and C lines and were 29% higher in S males and 5% higher in S females compared with their C counterparts. Energetic costs of increased daily running distances differed between sexes because S females evolved higher running distances by running faster with little change in time spent running, while S males also spent 40% more time running than C males. This increase in time spent running impinged on high energy costs because the majority of running costs stemmed from "postural costs" (the difference between RMR and the zero-speed intercept of the speed vs. metabolic rate relationship). No statistical differences in these traits were detected between S and C females, suggesting that large changes in locomotor behavior do not necessarily effect overall energy budgets. Running behavior also differed between sexes: within S lines, males ran with more but shorter bouts than females. Our results indicate that selection effects on energy budgets can differ dramatically between sexes and that energetic constraints in S

Uncertain Portfolio Selection with Background Risk and Liquidity Constraint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Zhai

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses an uncertain portfolio selection problem with consideration of background risk and asset liquidity. In addition, the transaction costs are also considered. The security returns, background asset return, and asset liquidity are estimated by experienced experts instead of historical data. Regarding them as uncertain variables, a mean-risk model with background risk, liquidity, and transaction costs is proposed for portfolio selection and the crisp forms of the model are provided when security returns obey different uncertainty distributions. Moreover, for better understanding of the impact of background risk and liquidity on portfolio selection, some important theorems are proved. Finally, numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the modeling idea.

Cost Analysis of Selected Patient Categories within a Dermatology Department Using an ABC Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Papadaki, Šárka; Popesko, Boris

2016-01-01

Background: Present trends in hospital management are facilitating the utilization of more accurate costing methods, which potentially results in superior cost-related information and improved managerial decision-making. However, the Activity-Based Costing method (ABC), which was designed for cost allocation purposes in the 1980s, is not widely used by healthcare organizations. This study analyzes costs related to selected categories of patients, those suffering from psoriasis, varicose ulcers, eczema and other conditions, within a dermatology department at a Czech regional hospital. Methods: The study was conducted in a hospital department where both inpatient and outpatient care are offered. Firstly, the diseases treated at the department were identified. Further costs were determined for each activity using ABC. The study utilized data from managerial and financial accounting, as well as data obtained through interviews with departmental staff. Using a defined cost-allocation procedure makes it possible to determine the cost of an individual patient with a given disease more accurately than via traditional costing procedures. Results: The cost analysis focused on the differences between the costs related to individual patients within the selected diagnoses, variations between inpatient and outpatient treatments and the costs of activities performed by the dermatology department. Furthermore, comparing the costs identified through this approach and the revenue stemming from the health insurance system is an option. Conclusions: Activity-Based Costing is more accurate and relevant than the traditional costing method. The outputs of ABC provide an abundance of additional information for managers. The benefits of this research lie in its practically-tested outputs, resulting from calculating the costs of hospitalization, which could prove invaluable to persons involved in hospital management and decision-making. The study also defines the managerial implications of

Cost Analysis of Selected Patient Categories Within A Dermatology Department Using an ABC Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Papadaki, Šárka; Popesko, Boris

2015-11-17

Present trends in hospital management are facilitating the utilization of more accurate costing methods, which potentially results in superior cost-related information and improved managerial decision-making. However, the Activity-Based Costing method (ABC), which was designed for cost allocation purposes in the 1980s, is not widely used by healthcare organizations. This study analyzes costs related to selected categories of patients, those suffering from psoriasis, varicose ulcers, eczema and other conditions, within a dermatology department at a Czech regional hospital. The study was conducted in a hospital department where both inpatient and outpatient care are offered. Firstly, the diseases treated at the department were identified. Further costs were determined for each activity using ABC. The study utilized data from managerial and financial accounting, as well as data obtained through interviews with departmental staff. Using a defined cost-allocation procedure makes it possible to determine the cost of an individual patient with a given disease more accurately than via traditional costing procedures. The cost analysis focused on the differences between the costs related to individual patients within the selected diagnoses, variations between inpatient and outpatient treatments and the costs of activities performed by the dermatology department. Furthermore, comparing the costs identified through this approach and the revenue stemming from the health insurance system is an option. Activity-Based Costing is more accurate and relevant than the traditional costing method. The outputs of ABC provide an abundance of additional information for managers. The benefits of this research lie in its practically-tested outputs, resulting from calculating the costs of hospitalization, which could prove invaluable to persons involved in hospital management and decision-making. The study also defines the managerial implications of the performed cost analysis for the

featsel: A framework for benchmarking of feature selection algorithms and cost functions

OpenAIRE

Marcelo S. Reis; Gustavo Estrela; Carlos Eduardo Ferreira; Junior Barrera

2017-01-01

In this paper, we introduce featsel, a framework for benchmarking of feature selection algorithms and cost functions. This framework allows the user to deal with the search space as a Boolean lattice and has its core coded in C++ for computational efficiency purposes. Moreover, featsel includes Perl scripts to add new algorithms and/or cost functions, generate random instances, plot graphs and organize results into tables. Besides, this framework already comes with dozens of algorithms and co...

Cost effectiveness of adding clostridial collagenase ointment to selective debridement in individuals with stage IV pressure ulcers.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Marissa J; Gilligan, Adrienne M; Waycaster, Curtis R; Schaum, Kathleen; Fife, Caroline E

2017-03-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the cost effectiveness (from a payer's perspective) of adding clostridial collagenase ointment (CCO) to selective debridement compared with selective debridement alone (non-CCO) in the treatment of stage IV pressure ulcers among patients identified from the US Wound Registry. A 3-state Markov model was developed to determine costs and outcomes between the CCO and non-CCO groups over a 2-year time horizon. Outcome data were derived from a retrospective clinical study and included the proportion of pressure ulcers that were closed (epithelialized) over 2 years and the time to wound closure. Transition probabilities for the Markov states were estimated from the clinical study. In the Markov model, the clinical outcome is presented as ulcer-free weeks, which represents the time the wound is in the epithelialized state. Costs for each 4-week cycle were based on frequencies of clinic visits, debridement, and CCO application rates from the clinical study. The final model outputs were cumulative costs (in US dollars), clinical outcome (ulcer-free weeks), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) at 2 years. Compared with the non-CCO group, the CCO group incurred lower costs ($11,151 vs $17,596) and greater benefits (33.9 vs 16.8 ulcer-free weeks), resulting in an economically dominant ICER of -$375 per ulcer. Thus, for each additional ulcer-free week that can be gained, there is a concurrent cost savings of $375 if CCO treatment is selected. Over a 2-year period, an additional 17.2 ulcer-free weeks can be gained with concurrent cost savings of $6,445 for each patient. In this Markov model based on real-world data from the US Wound Registry, the addition of CCO to selective debridement in the treatment of pressure ulcers was economically dominant over selective debridement alone, resulting in greater benefit to the patient at lower cost.

Two-Stage Fuzzy Portfolio Selection Problem with Transaction Costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanju Chen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies a two-period portfolio selection problem. The problem is formulated as a two-stage fuzzy portfolio selection model with transaction costs, in which the future returns of risky security are characterized by possibility distributions. The objective of the proposed model is to achieve the maximum utility in terms of the expected value and variance of the final wealth. Given the first-stage decision vector and a realization of fuzzy return, the optimal value expression of the second-stage programming problem is derived. As a result, the proposed two-stage model is equivalent to a single-stage model, and the analytical optimal solution of the two-stage model is obtained, which helps us to discuss the properties of the optimal solution. Finally, some numerical experiments are performed to demonstrate the new modeling idea and the effectiveness. The computational results provided by the proposed model show that the more risk-averse investor will invest more wealth in the risk-free security. They also show that the optimal invested amount in risky security increases as the risk-free return decreases and the optimal utility increases as the risk-free return increases, whereas the optimal utility increases as the transaction costs decrease. In most instances the utilities provided by the proposed two-stage model are larger than those provided by the single-stage model.

Controlling Healthcare Costs: Just Cost Effectiveness or "Just" Cost Effectiveness?

Science.gov (United States)

Fleck, Leonard M

2018-04-01

Meeting healthcare needs is a matter of social justice. Healthcare needs are virtually limitless; however, resources, such as money, for meeting those needs, are limited. How then should we (just and caring citizens and policymakers in such a society) decide which needs must be met as a matter of justice with those limited resources? One reasonable response would be that we should use cost effectiveness as our primary criterion for making those choices. This article argues instead that cost-effectiveness considerations must be constrained by considerations of healthcare justice. The goal of this article will be to provide a preliminary account of how we might distinguish just from unjust or insufficiently just applications of cost-effectiveness analysis to some healthcare rationing problems; specifically, problems related to extraordinarily expensive targeted cancer therapies. Unconstrained compassionate appeals for resources for the medically least well-off cancer patients will be neither just nor cost effective.

Design Considerations | Efficient Windows Collaborative

Science.gov (United States)

Foundry Foundry New Construction Windows Window Selection Tool Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Replacement Windows Window Selection Tool Assessing Options Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Understanding Windows Benefits Design Considerations Measuring Performance Performance Standards

Dasatinib for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia: patient selection and special considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Keskin, Dilek; Sadri, Sevil; Eskazan, Ahmet Emre

2016-01-01

Dasatinib is one of the second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors used in imatinib resistance and/or intolerance, as well as in the frontline setting in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia-chronic phase, and also in patients with advanced disease. It is also utilized in Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphocytic leukemia. While choosing the appropriate tyrosine kinase inhibitor (ie, dasatinib) for each individual patient, comorbidities and BCR-ABL1 kinase domain mutations should always be taken into consideration, among other things. This review mainly focuses on patient selection prior to dasatinib administration in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Neural representation of cost-benefit selections in rat anterior cingulate cortex in self-paced decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuai; Shi, Yi; Li, Bao-Ming

2017-03-01

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is crucial for decision making which involves the processing of cost-benefit information. Our previous study has shown that ACC is essential for self-paced decision making. However, it is unclear how ACC neurons represent cost-benefit selections during the decision-making process. In the present study, we trained rats on the same "Do More Get More" (DMGM) task as in our previous work. In each trial, the animals stand upright and perform a sustained nosepoke of their own will to earn a water reward, with the amount of reward positively correlated to the duration of the nosepoke (i.e., longer nosepokes earn larger rewards). We then recorded ACC neuronal activity on well-trained rats while they were performing the DMGM task. Our results show that (1) approximately 3/5 ACC neurons (296/496, 59.7%) exhibited changes in firing frequency that were temporally locked with the main events of the DMGM task; (2) about 1/5 ACC neurons (101/496, 20.4%) or 1/3 of the event-modulated neurons (101/296, 34.1%) showed differential firing rate changes for different cost-benefit selections; and (3) many ACC neurons exhibited linear encoding of the cost-benefit selections in the DMGM task events. These results suggest that ACC neurons are engaged in encoding cost-benefit information, thus represent the selections in self-paced decision making. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A method for selection of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) transportation route considering socioeconomic cost based on contingent valuation method (CVM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Young Sik

2008-02-01

A transportation of SNF may cause an additional radiation exposure to human beings. It means that the radiological risk should be estimated and managed quantitatively for the public who live near the shipments route. Before the SNF transportation is performed, the route selection is concluded based on the radiological risk estimated with RADTRAN code in existing method generally. It means the existing method for route selection is based only on the radiological health risk but there are not only the impacts related to the radiological health risk but also the socioeconomic impacts related to the cost. In this study, a new method and its numerical formula for route selection on transporting SNF is proposed based on cost estimation because there are several costs in transporting SNF. The total cost consists of radiological health cost, transportation cost, and socioeconomic cost. Each cost is defined properly to the characteristics of SNF transportation and many coefficients and variables describing the meaning of each cost are obtained or estimated through many surveys. Especially to get the socioeconomic cost, contingent valuation method (CVM) is used with a questionnaire. The socioeconomic cost estimation is the most important part of the total cost originated from transporting SNF because it is a very dominant cost in the total cost. The route selection regarding SNF transportation can be supported with the proposed method reasonably and unnecessary or exhausting controversies about the shipments could be avoided

Comparison of feed energy costs of maintenance, lean deposition, and fat deposition in three lines of mice selected for heat loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Eggert, D L; Nielsen, M K

2006-02-01

Three replications of mouse selection populations for high heat loss (MH), low heat loss (ML), and a nonselected control (MC) were used to estimate the feed energy costs of maintenance and gain and to test whether selection had changed these costs. At 21 and 49 d of age, mice were weighed and subjected to dual x-ray densitometry measurement for prediction of body composition. At 21 d, mice were randomly assigned to an ad libitum, an 80% of ad libitum, or a 60% of ad libitum feeding group for 28-d collection of individual feed intake. Data were analyzed using 3 approaches. The first approach was an attempt to partition energy intake between costs for maintenance, fat deposition, and lean deposition for each replicate, sex, and line by multiple regression of feed intake on the sum of daily metabolic weight (kg(0.75)), fat gain, and lean gain. Approach II was a less restrictive attempt to partition energy intake between costs for maintenance and total gain for each replicate, sex, and line by multiple regression of feed intake on the sum of daily metabolic weight and total gain. Approach III used multiple regression on the entire data set with pooled regressions on fat and lean gains, and subclass regressions for maintenance. Contrasts were conducted to test the effect of selection (MH - ML) and asymmetry of selection [(MH + ML)/2 - MC] for the various energy costs. In approach I, there were no differences between lines for costs of maintenance, fat deposition, or protein deposition, but we question our ability to estimate these accurately. In approach II, selection changed both cost of maintenance (P = 0.03) and gain (P = 0.05); MH mice had greater per unit costs than ML mice for both. Asymmetry of the selection response was found in approach II for the cost of maintenance (P = 0.06). In approach III, the effect of selection (P maintenance cost, but asymmetry of selection (P > 0.17) was not evident. Sex effects were found for the cost of fat deposition (P = 0.02) in

Cost analysis guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strait, R.S.

1996-01-01

The first phase of the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Management Program (Program)--management strategy selection--consists of several program elements: Technology Assessment, Engineering Analysis, Cost Analysis, and preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Cost Analysis will estimate the life-cycle costs associated with each of the long-term management strategy alternatives for depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6). The scope of Cost Analysis will include all major expenditures, from the planning and design stages through decontamination and decommissioning. The costs will be estimated at a scoping or preconceptual design level and are intended to assist decision makers in comparing alternatives for further consideration. They will not be absolute costs or bid-document costs. The purpose of the Cost Analysis Guidelines is to establish a consistent approach to analyzing of cost alternatives for managing Department of Energy's (DOE's) stocks of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6). The component modules that make up the DUF6 management program differ substantially in operational maintenance, process-options, requirements for R and D, equipment, facilities, regulatory compliance, (O and M), and operations risk. To facilitate a consistent and equitable comparison of costs, the guidelines offer common definitions, assumptions or basis, and limitations integrated with a standard approach to the analysis. Further, the goal is to evaluate total net life-cycle costs and display them in a way that gives DOE the capability to evaluate a variety of overall DUF6 management strategies, including commercial potential. The cost estimates reflect the preconceptual level of the designs. They will be appropriate for distinguishing among management strategies

Productivity and cost of marking activities for single-tree selection and thinning treatments in Arkansas

Science.gov (United States)

Tymur Sydor; Richard A. Kluender; Rodney L. Busby; Matthew Pelkki

2004-01-01

An activity algorithm was developed for standard marking methods for natural pine stands in Arkansas. For the two types of marking methods examined, thinning (selection from below) and single-tree selection (selection from above), cycle time and cost models were developed. Basal area (BA) removed was the major influencing factor in both models. Marking method was...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

Multi-criteria selection of offshore wind farms: Case study for the Baltic States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaouachi, Aymen; Covrig, Catalin Felix; Ardelean, Mircea

2017-01-01

This paper presents a multi-criteria selection approach for offshore wind sites assessment. The proposed site selection framework takes into consideration the electricity network’s operating security aspects, economic investment, operation costs and capacity performances relative to each potential site. The selection decision is made through Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), with an inherited flexibility that aims to allow end users to adjust the expected benefits accordingly to their respective and global priorities. The proposed site selection framework is implemented as an interactive case study for three Baltic States in the 2020 time horizon, based on real data and exhaustive power network models, taking into consideration the foreseen upgrades and network reinforcements. For each country the optimal offshore wind sites are assessed under multiple weight contribution scenarios, reflecting the characteristics of market design, regulatory aspects or renewable integration targets. - Highlights: • We use a multi-criteria selection approach for offshore wind sites assessment. • Security aspects, economic investment, operation costs and capacity performances are included. • The selection decision is made through an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). • We implement the methodology as a case study for three Baltic States in the 2020 time horizon.

Computerized cost model for pressurized water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meneely, T.K.; Tabata, Hiroaki; Labourey, P.

1999-01-01

A computerized cost model has been developed in order to allow utility users to improve their familiarity with pressurized water reactor overnight capital costs and the various factors which influence them. This model organizes its cost data in the standard format of the Energy Economic Data Base (EEDB), and encapsulates simplified relationships between physical plant design information and capital cost information in a computer code. Model calculations are initiated from a base case, which was established using traditional cost calculation techniques. The user enters a set of plant design parameters, selected to allow consideration of plant models throughout the typical three- and four-loop PWR power range, and for plant sites in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Calculation of the new capital cost is then performed in a very brief time. The presentation of the program's output allows comparison of various cases with each other or with separately calculated baseline data. The user can start at a high level summary, and by selecting values of interest on a display grid show progressively more and more detailed information, including links to background information such as individual cost driver accounts and physical plant variables for each case. Graphical presentation of the comparison summaries is provided, and the numerical results may be exported to a spreadsheet for further processing. (author)

An expert system for estimating production rates and costs for hardwood group-selection harvests

Science.gov (United States)

Chris B. LeDoux; B. Gopalakrishnan; R. S. Pabba

2003-01-01

As forest managers shift their focus from stands to entire ecosystems alternative harvesting methods such as group selection are being used increasingly. Results of several field time and motion studies and simulation runs were incorporated into an expert system for estimating production rates and costs associated with harvests of group-selection units of various size...

Minimizing activated carbons production cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stavropoulos, G.G.; Zabaniotou, A.A.

2009-01-01

A detailed economic evaluation of activated carbons production process from various raw materials is undertaken using the conventional economic indices (ROI, POT, and NPV). The fundamental factors that affect production cost were taken into account. It is concluded that for an attractive investment in activated carbons production one should select the raw material with the highest product yield, adopt a chemical activation production scheme and should base product price on product-surface area (or more generally on product adsorption capacity for the adsorbate in consideration). A raw material that well meets the above-mentioned criteria is petroleum coke but others are also promising (charcoals, and carbon black). Production cost then can be optimized by determining its minimum value of cost that results from the intercept between the curves of plant capacity and raw material cost - if any. Taking into account the complexity of such a techno-economic analysis, a useful suggestion could be to start the evaluations from a plant capacity corresponding to the break-even point, i. e. the capacity at which income equals production cost. (author)

Multi-period project portfolio selection under risk considerations and stochastic income

Science.gov (United States)

Tofighian, Ali Asghar; Moezzi, Hamid; Khakzar Barfuei, Morteza; Shafiee, Mahmood

2018-02-01

This paper deals with multi-period project portfolio selection problem. In this problem, the available budget is invested on the best portfolio of projects in each period such that the net profit is maximized. We also consider more realistic assumptions to cover wider range of applications than those reported in previous studies. A novel mathematical model is presented to solve the problem, considering risks, stochastic incomes, and possibility of investing extra budget in each time period. Due to the complexity of the problem, an effective meta-heuristic method hybridized with a local search procedure is presented to solve the problem. The algorithm is based on genetic algorithm (GA), which is a prominent method to solve this type of problems. The GA is enhanced by a new solution representation and well selected operators. It also is hybridized with a local search mechanism to gain better solution in shorter time. The performance of the proposed algorithm is then compared with well-known algorithms, like basic genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and electromagnetism-like algorithm (EM-like) by means of some prominent indicators. The computation results show the superiority of the proposed algorithm in terms of accuracy, robustness and computation time. At last, the proposed algorithm is wisely combined with PSO to improve the computing time considerably.

Emissions Scenarios, Costs, and Implementation Considerations of REDD Programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sathaye, Jayant; Andrasko, Ken; Chan, Peter

2011-04-11

Greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector are estimated to be 8.4 GtCO2-eq./year or about 17percent of the global emissions. We estimate that the cost forreducing deforestation is low in Africa and several times higher in Latin America and Southeast Asia. These cost estimates are sensitive to the uncertainties of how muchunsustainable high-revenue logging occurs, little understood transaction and program implementation costs, and barriers to implementation including governance issues. Due to lack of capacity in the affected countries, achieving reduction or avoidance of carbon emissions will require extensive REDD-plus programs. Preliminary REDD-plus Readiness cost estimates and program descriptions for Indonesia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guyana and Mexico show that roughly one-third of potential REDD-plus mitigation benefits might come from avoided deforestation and the rest from avoided forest degradation and other REDD-plus activities.

Chapter 17. Engineering cost analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Higbee, Charles V.

1998-01-01

In the early 1970s, life cycle costing (LCC) was adopted by the federal government. LCC is a method of evaluating all the costs associated with acquisition, construction and operation of a project. LCC was designed to minimize costs of major projects, not only in consideration of acquisition and construction, but especially to emphasize the reduction of operation and maintenance costs during the project life. Authors of engineering economics texts have been very reluctant and painfully slow to explain and deal with LCC. Many authors devote less than one page to the subject. The reason for this is that LCC has several major drawbacks. The first of these is that costs over the life of the project must be estimated based on some forecast, and forecasts have proven to be highly variable and frequently inaccurate. The second problem with LCC is that some life span must be selected over which to evaluate the project, and many projects, especially renewable energy projects, are expected to have an unlimited life (they are expected to live for ever). The longer the life cycle, the more inaccurate annual costs become because of the inability to forecast accurately.

The Role of Perceptual Similarity, Context, and Situation When Selecting Attributes: Considerations Made by 5-6-Year-Olds in Data Modeling Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Leavy, Aisling; Hourigan, Mairead

2018-01-01

Classroom data modeling involves posing questions, identifying attributes of phenomena, measuring and structuring these attributes, and then composing, revising, and communicating the outcomes. Selecting attributes is a fundamental component of data modeling, and the considerations made when selecting attributes is the focus of this paper. A…

Impact of Auxiliary Equipments Consumption on Electricity Generation Cost in Selected Power Plants of Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DILEEP KUMAR

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on higher generation cost of electricity in selected TPPs (Thermal Power Plants in Sindh, Pakistan. It also investigates the energy consumed by the auxiliary equipment of the selected TPPs in Sindh, Pakistan. The AC (Auxiliary Consumption of selected TPPs is compared with that in UK and other developed countries. Results show that the AC in selected TPPs in Sindh, Pakistan exceeds the average AC of the TPPs situated in developed countries. Many energy conservation measures such as impeller trimming and de-staging, boiler feed pump, high voltage inverter, variable frequency drive, and upgrading the existing cooling tower fan blades with fiber reinforced plastic are discussed to overcome higher AC. This study shows that harnessing various available energy conservative measures the AC and unit cost can be reduced by 4.13 and 8.8%; also adverse environmental impacts can be mitigated. Results show that the unit cost of electricity can be reduced from Rs.20 to19/kWh in JTPP (Jamshoro Thermal Power Plant, Rs.9 to 8.8/kWh in GTPS (Gas Turbine Power Station Kotri and Rs. 11 to 10.27/ kWh in LPS (Lakhara Power Station. Thus, electricity production can be improved with the existing capacity, which will eventually assist to manage the current energy crisis and ensure its conservation

The admissible portfolio selection problem with transaction costs and an improved PSO algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Zhang, Wei-Guo

2010-05-01

In this paper, we discuss the portfolio selection problem with transaction costs under the assumption that there exist admissible errors on expected returns and risks of assets. We propose a new admissible efficient portfolio selection model and design an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm because traditional optimization algorithms fail to work efficiently for our proposed problem. Finally, we offer a numerical example to illustrate the proposed effective approaches and compare the admissible portfolio efficient frontiers under different constraints.

Evaluating the cost of therapy for restenosis: considerations for brachytherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weintraub, William S.

1996-01-01

Costs have become increasingly important in medicine in recent years as demand for services has outstripped readily available resources. Clinical microeconomics offers an approach to understanding cost and outcomes in an environment of economic scarcity. In this article the types of costs and methods for determining cost are presented. In addition, methods for assessing outcome and outcome in relation to cost are developed. Restenosis after coronary angioplasty is a prime example of a clinical problem requiring economic evaluation. This is because it results in little serious morbidity except for recurrent chest pain, but it has serious economic consequences which occur some time after the original angioplasty. This makes the economic assessment of restenosis complicated. The application of health care microeconomic principles to brachytherapy for restenosis in the coronary arteries is presented

Evaluating the cost of therapy for restenosis: considerations for brachytherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Weintraub, W S

1996-11-01

Costs have become increasingly important in medicine in recent years as demand for services has outstripped readily available resources. Clinical microeconomics offers an approach to understanding cost and outcomes in an environment of economic scarcity. In this article the types of costs and methods for determining cost are presented. In addition, methods for assessing outcome and outcome in relation to cost are developed. Restenosis after coronary angioplasty is a prime example of a clinical problem requiring economic evaluation. This is because it results in little serious morbidity except for recurrent chest pain, but it has serious economic consequences which occur some time after the original angioplasty. This makes the economic assessment of restenosis complicated. The application of health care microeconomic principles to brachytherapy for restenosis in the coronary arteries is presented.

Selection of appropriate greenhouse gas mitigation options

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramanathan, R. [Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai (India)

1999-10-01

Greenhouse gas mitigation options help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions so as to avoid the adverse environmental impacts due to global warming/climate change. They have different characteristics when evaluated using different criteria. For example, some options may be very cost effective, while some may have an additional advantage of reducing local pollution. Hence, selection of these options, for consideration by a national government or by a funding agency, has to incorporate multiple criteria. In this paper, some important criteria relevant to the selection are discussed, and a multi-criteria methodology is suggested for making appropriate selection. The methodology, called the Analytic Hierarchy Process, is described using two illustrations. (author)

Operations and maintenance costs - Selected observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirk, M.W.

1991-01-01

The operations and maintenance (O and M) costs associated with nuclear power plants have been rising continuously over the past decade. The Nuclear Management and Resources Council (NUMARC) has undertaken an examination of this issue to determine what components of O and M costs are driven by regulatory activity. Observers from various perspectives within the nuclear industry have cited staffing, outages, training, and management structure among others as large contributors to O and M costs. NUMARC is currently analyzing utility cost data to isolate the regulatory components for further action

Selecting and Ranking Cost Research Projects

Science.gov (United States)

1993-09-01

Model (STACM) Enhancements Automated Cost Estimating Integrated Tools ( ACEIT ) Libraries BM/C 3 GEP Engineering and Cost BM/C 3 EP Engineering and Cost...50K NOM VHI 0.02635481 STACM ENHANCEMENTS NOM អK NOM VHI 0.02468682 ACEIT LIBRARIES VHI 50-IOOK HI VHI 0.06357704 GEP ENGRG. & COST VHI 100-150K VHl...0.02505922 SCATS LOW អK NOM VIII 0.02468682 PICES SUPPORT NOM 50-100K NOM VlIl 0.02455186 ACEIT SUPPORT VIII 50-100K VHI VHI 0.08208244 GUARDIAN

Not looking yourself: The cost of self-selecting photographs for identity verification.

Science.gov (United States)

White, David; Burton, Amy L; Kemp, Richard I

2016-05-01

Photo-identification is based on the premise that photographs are representative of facial appearance. However, previous studies show that ratings of likeness vary across different photographs of the same face, suggesting that some images capture identity better than others. Two experiments were designed to examine the relationship between likeness judgments and face matching accuracy. In Experiment 1, we compared unfamiliar face matching accuracy for self-selected and other-selected high-likeness images. Surprisingly, images selected by previously unfamiliar viewers - after very limited exposure to a target face - were more accurately matched than self-selected images chosen by the target identity themselves. Results also revealed extremely low inter-rater agreement in ratings of likeness across participants, suggesting that perceptions of image resemblance are inherently unstable. In Experiment 2, we test whether the cost of self-selection can be explained by this general disagreement in likeness judgments between individual raters. We find that averaging across rankings by multiple raters produces image selections that provide superior identification accuracy. However, benefit of other-selection persisted for single raters, suggesting that inaccurate representations of self interfere with our ability to judge which images faithfully represent our current appearance. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Supply Chain and Blade Manufacturing Considerations in the Global Wind Industry (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

James, Ted [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Goodrich, Alan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2013-12-12

This briefing provides an overview of supply chain developments in the global wind industry and a detailed assessment of blade manufacturing considerations for U.S. end-markets. The report discusses the international trade flows of wind power equipment, blade manufacturing and logistical costs, and qualitative issues that often influence factory location decisions. To help guide policy and research and development strategy decisions, this report offers a comprehensive perspective of both quantitative and qualitative factors that affect selected supply chain developments in the growing wind power industry.

Cost estimation model for advanced planetary programs, fourth edition

Science.gov (United States)

Spadoni, D. J.

1983-01-01

The development of the planetary program cost model is discussed. The Model was updated to incorporate cost data from the most recent US planetary flight projects and extensively revised to more accurately capture the information in the historical cost data base. This data base is comprised of the historical cost data for 13 unmanned lunar and planetary flight programs. The revision was made with a two fold objective: to increase the flexibility of the model in its ability to deal with the broad scope of scenarios under consideration for future missions, and to maintain and possibly improve upon the confidence in the model's capabilities with an expected accuracy of 20%. The Model development included a labor/cost proxy analysis, selection of the functional forms of the estimating relationships, and test statistics. An analysis of the Model is discussed and two sample applications of the cost model are presented.

Comparing Building and Neighborhood-Scale Variability of CO₂ and O₃ to Inform Deployment Considerations for Low-Cost Sensor System Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Collier-Oxandale, Ashley; Coffey, Evan; Thorson, Jacob; Johnston, Jill; Hannigan, Michael

2018-04-26

The increased use of low-cost air quality sensor systems, particularly by communities, calls for the further development of best-practices to ensure these systems collect usable data. One area identified as requiring more attention is that of deployment logistics, that is, how to select deployment sites and how to strategically place sensors at these sites. Given that sensors are often placed at homes and businesses, ideal placement is not always possible. Considerations such as convenience, access, aesthetics, and safety are also important. To explore this issue, we placed multiple sensor systems at an existing field site allowing us to examine both neighborhood-level and building-level variability during a concurrent period for CO₂ (a primary pollutant) and O₃ (a secondary pollutant). In line with previous studies, we found that local and transported emissions as well as thermal differences in sensor systems drive variability, particularly for high-time resolution data. While this level of variability is unlikely to affect data on larger averaging scales, this variability could impact analysis if the user is interested in high-time resolution or examining local sources. However, with thoughtful placement and thorough documentation, high-time resolution data at the neighborhood level has the potential to provide us with entirely new information on local air quality trends and emissions.

Minimizing Project Cost by Integrating Subcontractor Selection Decisions with Scheduling

Science.gov (United States)

Biruk, Sławomir; Jaśkowski, Piotr; Czarnigowska, Agata

2017-10-01

Subcontracting has been a worldwide practice in the construction industry. It enables the construction enterprises to focus on their core competences and, at the same time, it makes complex project possible to be delivered. Since general contractors bear full responsibility for the works carried out by their subcontractors, it is their task and their risk to select a right subcontractor for a particular work. Although subcontractor management has been admitted to significantly affect the construction project’s performance, current practices and past research deal with subcontractor management and scheduling separately. The proposed model aims to support subcontracting decisions by integrating subcontractor selection with scheduling to enable the general contractor to select the optimal combination of subcontractors and own crews for all work packages of the project. The model allows for the interactions between the subcontractors and their impacts on the overall project performance in terms of cost and, indirectly, time and quality. The model is intended to be used at the general contractor’s bid preparation stage. The authors claim that the subcontracting decisions should be taken in a two-stage process. The first stage is a prequalification - provision of a short list of capable and reliable subcontractors; this stage is not the focus of the paper. The resulting pool of available resources is divided into two subsets: subcontractors, and general contractor’s in-house crews. Once it has been defined, the next stage is to assign them to the work packages that, bound by fixed precedence constraints, form the project’s network diagram. Each package is possible to be delivered by the general contractor’s crew or some of the potential subcontractors, at a specific time and cost. Particular crews and subcontractors can be contracted more than one package, but not at the same time. Other constraints include the predefined project completion date (the project is

5 CFR 330.206 - Job consideration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Job consideration. 330.206 Section 330..., SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT (GENERAL) Reemployment Priority List (RPL) § 330.206 Job consideration. (a)(1) An eligible employee under § 330.203 is entitled to consideration for positions in the commuting area for...

Broadband network selection issues

Science.gov (United States)

Leimer, Michael E.

1996-01-01

vary as well. Cellular quality will not be tolerated by the home or business consumer. The network choices are not simple or obvious. Careful consideration of the cost and performance trades along with cable or telephone company strategic plans is required to ensure selecting the best network.

SSTO vs TSTO design considerations—an assessment of the overall performance, design considerations, technologies, costs, and sensitivities of SSTO and TSTO designs using modern technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Penn, Jay P.

1996-03-01

It is generally believed by those skilled in launch system design that Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO) designs are more technically challenging, more performance sensitive, and yield larger lift-off weights than do Two-Stage-To-Orbit designs (TSTO's) offering similar payload delivery capability. Without additional insight into the other considerations which drive the development, recurring costs, operability, and reliability of a launch fleet, an analyst may easily conclude that the higher performing, less sensitive TSTO designs, thus yield a better solution to achieving low cost payload delivery. This limited insight could justify an argument to eliminate the X-33 SSTO technology/demonstration development effort, and thus proceed directly to less risky TSTO designs. Insight into real world design considerations of launch vehicles makes the choice of SSTO vs TSTO much less clear. The presentation addresses a more comprehensive evaluation of the general class of SSTO and TSTO concepts. These include pure SSTO's, augmented SSTO's, Siamese Twin, and Pure TSTO designs. The assessment considers vehicle performance and scaling relationships which characterize real vehicle designs. The assessment also addresses technology requirements, operations and supportability, cost implications, and sensitivities. Results of the assessment indicate that the trade space between various SSTO and TSTO design approaches is complex and not yet fully understood. The results of the X-33 technology demonstrators, as well as additional parametric analysis is required to better define the relative performance and costs of the various design approaches. The results also indicate that with modern technologies and today's better understanding of vehicle design considerations, the perception that SSTO's are dramatically heavier and more sensitive than TSTO designs is more of a myth, than reality.

A Fast Adaptive Receive Antenna Selection Method in MIMO System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chaowei Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Antenna selection has been regarded as an effective method to acquire the diversity benefits of multiple antennas while potentially reduce hardware costs. This paper focuses on receive antenna selection. According to the proportion between the numbers of total receive antennas and selected antennas and the influence of each antenna on system capacity, we propose a fast adaptive antenna selection algorithm for wireless multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO systems. Mathematical analysis and numerical results show that our algorithm significantly reduces the computational complexity and memory requirement and achieves considerable system capacity gain compared with the optimal selection technique in the same time.

Supplier selection using different metric functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omosigho S.E.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Supplier selection is an important component of supply chain management in today’s global competitive environment. Hence, the evaluation and selection of suppliers have received considerable attention in the literature. Many attributes of suppliers, other than cost, are considered in the evaluation and selection process. Therefore, the process of evaluation and selection of suppliers is a multi-criteria decision making process. The methodology adopted to solve the supplier selection problem is intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution. Generally, TOPSIS is based on the concept of minimum distance from the positive ideal solution and maximum distance from the negative ideal solution. We examine the deficiencies of using only one metric function in TOPSIS and propose the use of spherical metric function in addition to the commonly used metric functions. For empirical supplier selection problems, more than one metric function should be used.

Relevant cost information for order acceptance decisions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, M.J.F.

1997-01-01

Some economic considerations for order acceptance decisions are discussed. The relevant economic considerations for order acceptance are widely discussed in the literature: only those costs are relevant which would be avoidable by not accepting the order incremental costs plus opportunity costs .

COST OF SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION (SCR) APPLICATION FOR NOX CONTROL ON COAL-FIRED BOILERS

Science.gov (United States)

The report provides a methodology for estimating budgetary costs associated with retrofit applications of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology on coal-fired boilers. SCR is a postcombustion nitrogen oxides (NOx) control technology capable of providing NOx reductions >90...

Minimization of storage and disposal volumes by treatment of liquids by highly selective ion exchangers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tusa, E.; Harjula, R.; Lehto, J.

2000-01-01

Novel highly selective inorganic ion exchangers provide new efficient methods for the treatment of nuclear waste liquids. These methods have several advantages compared to conventional technologies such as evaporation, direct solidification or treatment by organic ion exchange resins. Due to high selectivity, the radionuclides can be concentrated to a very small volume even from high-salt effluents. This means that the volume waste will be very small compared to other methods, which brings considerable savings in the cost of intermediate storage and final disposal. Process equipment are highly compact and require little supervision, which brings down the capital and operation costs. The new selective inorganic ion exchangers CsTreat, SrTreat and CoTreat (manufactured by Fortum Engineering Ltd., Finland) have the highest selectivities and processing capacities, exceeding those of zeolites by several orders of magnitude. The materials are now in use in a number of nuclear sites worldwide, including those in the USA, Europe and Japan. Installations include mobile and stationary systems. Considerable experience has been gained in the use of these new materials. Lessons learned, as well as advantages and economic benefits of these highly selective exchangers will be discussed in this paper. (authors)

Droop Scheme With Consideration of Operating Costs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nutkani, I. U.; Loh, Poh Chiang; Blaabjerg, Frede

2014-01-01

considered even though they are different for different types of DGs. This letter thus proposes an alternative droop scheme, which can better distinguish the different operating characteristics and objectives of the DGs grouped together in a weighted droop expression. The power sharing arrived in the steady...... state will meet the intended objectives, as demonstrated in the experiment with a defined objective of minimizing the total microgrid operating cost....

A benefit-cost methodology for developing environmental standards for uranium mill tailings disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leiter, A.J.

1982-01-01

This paper describes a method for using benefit-cost analysis in developing generally applicable environmental standards for uranium mill tailings disposal. Several disposal alternatives were selected which consist of different combinations of control measures. The resulting cost and benefit estimations allow the calculation of the incremental cost of obtaining incremental benefits of radiation protection. The overall benefit of a disposal alternative is expressed in terms of an index which is based on weighting factors assigned to individual benefits. The results show that some disposal alternatives have higher costs while providing no additional benefit than other alternatives. These alternatives should be eliminated from consideration in developing standards

Acute Stress Induces Selective Alterations in Cost/Benefit Decision-Making

Science.gov (United States)

Shafiei, Naghmeh; Gray, Megan; Viau, Victor; Floresco, Stan B

2012-01-01

Acute stress can exert beneficial or detrimental effects on different forms of cognition. In the present study, we assessed the effects of acute restraint stress on different forms of cost/benefit decision-making, and some of the hormonal and neurochemical mechanisms that may underlie these effects. Effort-based decision-making was assessed where rats chose between a low effort/reward (1 press=2 pellets) or high effort/reward option (4 pellets), with the effort requirement increasing over 4 blocks of trials (2, 5, 10, and 20 lever presses). Restraint stress for 1 h decreased preference for the more costly reward and induced longer choice latencies. Control experiments revealed that the effects on decision-making were not mediated by general reductions in motivation or preference for larger rewards. In contrast, acute stress did not affect delay-discounting, when rats chose between a small/immediate vs larger/delayed reward. The effects of stress on decision-making were not mimicked by treatment with physiological doses of corticosterone (1–3 mg/kg). Blockade of dopamine receptors with flupenthixol (0.25 mg/kg) before restraint did not attenuate stress-induced effects on effort-related choice, but abolished effects on choice latencies. These data suggest that acute stress interferes somewhat selectively with cost/benefit evaluations concerning effort costs. These effects do not appear to be mediated solely by enhanced glucocorticoid activity, whereas dopaminergic activation may contribute to increased deliberation times induced by stress. These findings may provide insight into impairments in decision-making and anergia associated with stress-related disorders, such as depression. PMID:22569506

Acute stress induces selective alterations in cost/benefit decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Shafiei, Naghmeh; Gray, Megan; Viau, Victor; Floresco, Stan B

2012-09-01

Acute stress can exert beneficial or detrimental effects on different forms of cognition. In the present study, we assessed the effects of acute restraint stress on different forms of cost/benefit decision-making, and some of the hormonal and neurochemical mechanisms that may underlie these effects. Effort-based decision-making was assessed where rats chose between a low effort/reward (1 press=2 pellets) or high effort/reward option (4 pellets), with the effort requirement increasing over 4 blocks of trials (2, 5, 10, and 20 lever presses). Restraint stress for 1 h decreased preference for the more costly reward and induced longer choice latencies. Control experiments revealed that the effects on decision-making were not mediated by general reductions in motivation or preference for larger rewards. In contrast, acute stress did not affect delay-discounting, when rats chose between a small/immediate vs larger/delayed reward. The effects of stress on decision-making were not mimicked by treatment with physiological doses of corticosterone (1-3 mg/kg). Blockade of dopamine receptors with flupenthixol (0.25 mg/kg) before restraint did not attenuate stress-induced effects on effort-related choice, but abolished effects on choice latencies. These data suggest that acute stress interferes somewhat selectively with cost/benefit evaluations concerning effort costs. These effects do not appear to be mediated solely by enhanced glucocorticoid activity, whereas dopaminergic activation may contribute to increased deliberation times induced by stress. These findings may provide insight into impairments in decision-making and anergia associated with stress-related disorders, such as depression.

Future Contract Selection by Term Structure Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasco Grossmann

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In futures markets, a single asset is generally represented by several contracts with different maturities. The selection of specific contracts is an inevitable task that also creates new opportunities, especially in terms of speculative trading. Evaluating immediate and upcoming trading costs for all considered contracts might lead to a significantly improved performance. Among that, even possible market inefficiencies might be taken into consideration. This research introduces and evaluates a new algorithm for the contract selection. The results are benchmarked and compared with established methods using a Monte Carlo simulation on different commodity and index futures.

Accounting for equity considerations in cost-effectiveness analysis: a systematic review of rotavirus vaccine in low- and middle-income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Boujaoude, Marie-Anne; Mirelman, Andrew J; Dalziel, Kim; Carvalho, Natalie

2018-01-01

Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is frequently used as an input for guiding priority setting in health. However, CEA seldom incorporates information about trade-offs between total health gains and equity impacts of interventions. This study investigates to what extent equity considerations have been taken into account in CEA in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), using rotavirus vaccination as a case study. Specific equity-related indicators for vaccination were first mapped to the Guidance on Priority Setting in Health Care (GPS-Health) checklist criteria. Economic evaluations of rotavirus vaccine in LMICs identified via a systematic review of the literature were assessed to explore the extent to which equity was considered in the research objectives and analysis, and whether it was reflected in the evaluation results. The mapping process resulted in 18 unique indicators. Under the 'disease and intervention' criteria, severity of illness was incorporated in 75% of the articles, age distribution of the disease in 70%, and presence of comorbidities in 5%. For the 'social groups' criteria, relative coverage reflecting wealth-based coverage inequality was taken into account in 30% of the articles, geographic location in 27%, household income level in 8%, and sex at birth in 5%. For the criteria of 'protection against the financial and social effects of ill health', age weighting was incorporated in 43% of the articles, societal perspective in 58%, caregiver's loss of productivity in 45%, and financial risk protection in 5%. Overall, some articles incorporated the indicators in their model inputs (20%) while the majority (80%) presented results (costs, health outcomes, or incremental cost-effectiveness ratios) differentiated according to the indicators. Critically, less than a fifth (17%) of articles incorporating indicators did so due to an explicit study objective related to capturing equity considerations. Most indicators were increasingly incorporated over

Considerations in reviewing the waste volume reduction program in a large utility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohout, R.; Calzolari, L.M.

1987-01-01

A program is underway at Ontario Hydro to establish a desirable future scheme for central processing/volume reduction of solid radioactive Low-Level Wastes (LLW) prior to their placement into the centralized storage, and in the future into a disposal facility. The approach being investigated is to furnish the current Waste Volume Reduction Facility (WVRF) with state-of-art processes, reclassify the waste categories and segregate the wastes such that each volume reduction (VR) process is then applied where it would be most effective. The ''optimized'' approach is then compared with other, specific schemes, which basically differ in that each scheme omits one of the major VR processes, thus allowing the next most effective process to take over its role. Each scheme is assessed quantitatively from the viewpoint of cost and VR effectiveness, and qualitatively from the viewpoint of resultant waste form. The economic assessments take into consideration the long term (20 year) impact of selected VR schemes on the overall waste management cost, including construction and operation of the storage facility. This paper highlights the overall study, includes the major results, and identifies aspects that need to be addressed in the selection of a desirable combination of VR processes in absence of knowledge of future waste disposal costs

Hudson River settlement agreement: Technical rationale and cost considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnthouse, L.W.; Boreman, J.; Englert, T.L.; Kirk, W.L.; Horn, E.G.

1988-01-01

In an effort to end litigation over open-cycle cooling at Hudson River power plants, out-of-court negotiations began in August 1979. On December 19, 1980, an agreement that was acceptable to all parties was reached. As an alternative to building cooling towers at the Indian Point, Bowline Point, and Roseton generating stations, the utilities agreed to a variety of technical and operational changes intended to reduce entrainment and impingement. In addition, they agreed to supplement the production of striped bass in the Hudson River estuary by means of a hatchery, to conduct a biological monitoring program, and to fund an independent research foundation for study of Hudson River environmental problems. Although the settlement costs were substantial, they were much smaller than the estimated costs of constructing and operating cooling towers. The settlement was expected to provide 15-43% of the impact reduction that might have been obtained with cooling at approximately 10% of the cost. 20 refs., 3 tabs

ERP system implementation costs and selection factors of an implementation approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansson, Björn; Sudzina, Frantisek; Newman, Mike

2011-01-01

, which influence the implementation approach in an ERP project, cause also an increase of the project cost in a European context? Our survey was conducted in Denmark, Slovakia and Slovenia and focused on this issue. Our main findings are that: 1) the number of implemented modules influences selection......Different approaches on implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERPs) systems exist. In this article, we investigate relationship between factors influencing selection of implementation approach and companies' ability to stay within budget when implementing ERPs. The question is: do factors...... of an implementation approach; 2) companies with information strategies are more likely to stay within budget regarding ERP systems implementation. However, we also found that: 3) implementation approach does not significantly influence ability to stay within budget; 4) a clear relationship between factors influencing...

Re-Engineering a High Performance Electrical Series Elastic Actuator for Low-Cost Industrial Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenan Isik

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cost is an important consideration when transferring a technology from research to industrial and educational use. In this paper, we introduce the design of an industrial grade series elastic actuator (SEA performed via re-engineering a research grade version of it. Cost-constrained design requires careful consideration of the key performance parameters for an optimal performance-to-cost component selection. To optimize the performance of the new design, we started by matching the capabilities of a high-performance SEA while cutting down its production cost significantly. Our posit was that performing a re-engineering design process on an existing high-end device will significantly reduce the cost without compromising the performance drastically. As a case study of design for manufacturability, we selected the University of Texas Series Elastic Actuator (UT-SEA, a high-performance SEA, for its high power density, compact design, high efficiency and high speed properties. We partnered with an industrial corporation in China to research the best pricing options and to exploit the retail and production facilities provided by the Shenzhen region. We succeeded in producing a low-cost industrial grade actuator at one-third of the cost of the original device by re-engineering the UT-SEA with commercial off-the-shelf components and reducing the number of custom-made parts. Subsequently, we conducted performance tests to demonstrate that the re-engineered product achieves the same high-performance specifications found in the original device. With this paper, we aim to raise awareness in the robotics community on the possibility of low-cost realization of low-volume, high performance, industrial grade research and education hardware.

An overview of safety and environmental considerations in the selection of materials for fusion facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petti, D.A.; Piet, S.J.; Seki, Y.

1996-01-01

Safety and environmental considerations can play a large role in the selection of fusion materials. In this paper, we review the attributes of different structural, plasma facing, and breeding materials from a safety perspective and discuss some generic waste management issues as they relate to fusion materials in general. Specific safety concerns exist for each material that must be dealt with in fusion facility design. Low activation materials offer inherent safety benefits compared with conventional materials, but more work is needed before these materials have the requisite certified databases. In the interim, the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) has selected more conventional materials and is showing that the safety concerns with these materials can be addressed by proper attention to design. In the area of waste management disposal criteria differ by country. However, the criteria are all very strict making disposal of fusion components difficult. As a result, recycling has gained increasing attention. (orig.)

Selective Segmentation for Global Optimization of Depth Estimation in Complex Scenes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng Liu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a segmentation-based global optimization method for depth estimation. Firstly, for obtaining accurate matching cost, the original local stereo matching approach based on self-adapting matching window is integrated with two matching cost optimization strategies aiming at handling both borders and occlusion regions. Secondly, we employ a comprehensive smooth term to satisfy diverse smoothness request in real scene. Thirdly, a selective segmentation term is used for enforcing the plane trend constraints selectively on the corresponding segments to further improve the accuracy of depth results from object level. Experiments on the Middlebury image pairs show that the proposed global optimization approach is considerably competitive with other state-of-the-art matching approaches.

Incorporation of environmental costs in electric utility planning and resource selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

Generation of electricity is pervasively regulated for economic, environmental and other governmental objectives at both the state and federal levels. A panoply of legislative and regulatory devices implicitly or explicitly influence the acquisition of generation and fuel resources seeking to achieve environmentally sound selections. Effective implementation or enforcement of these laws and policies may be impeded by the regional or global character of the environmental impacts; jurisdictional conflicts and limitations; and the division of regulatory authority between economic regulatory agencies and their environmental or energy policy counterparts. This chapter reviews the state and federal statutory and regulatory treatment of environmental externalities and discusses alternatives for their consideration

High-voltage, high-power architecture considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moser, R.L.

1985-01-01

Three basic EPS architectures, direct energy transfer, peak-power tracking, and a potential EPS architecture for a nuclear reactor are described and compared. Considerations for the power source and energy storage are discussed. Factors to be considered in selecting the operating voltage are pointed out. Other EPS architecture considerations are autonomy, solar array degrees of freedom, and EPS modularity. It was concluded that selection of the power source and energy storage has major impacts on the spacecraft architecture and mass

Transmission embedded cost allocation methodology with consideration of system reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hur, D.; Park, J.-K.; Yoo, C.-I.; Kim, B.H.

2004-01-01

In a vertically integrated utility industry, the cost of reliability, as a separate service, has not received much rigorous analysis. However, as a cornerstone of restructuring the industry, the transmission service pricing must change to be consistent with, and supportive of, competitive wholesale electricity markets. This paper focuses on the equitable allocation of transmission network embedded costs including the transmission reliability cost based on the contributions of each generator to branch flows under normal conditions as well as the line outage impact factor under a variety of load levels. A numerical example on a six-bus system is given to illustrate the applications of the proposed methodology. (author)

Prescription and Cost Consideration at a Diabetic Clinic in Ibadan ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

opsig

SUMMARY. Diabetes mellitus is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The high cost of treatment is a major concern to both physicians and patients. This study assessed pattern and cost of drugs prescribed at a diabetic clinic, and identified the commonest reasons militating against adherence to therapy.The study ...

[Hospital costs estimation by micro and gross-costing approaches].

Science.gov (United States)

Guerre, P; Hayes, N; Bertaux, A-C

2018-03-01

Cost analysis has become increasingly commonplace in healthcare facilities in recent years. Regardless of the aim, the first consideration for a hospital costing process is to determine the point of view, or perspective, to adopt. Should the cost figures reflect the healthcare facility's point of view or enlighten perspectives for the public health insurance system? Another consideration is in regard to the method to adopt, as there are several. The two most widely used methods to determine the costs of hospital treatments in France are the micro-costing method and the gross-costing method. The aims of this work are: (1) to describe each of these methods (e.g. data collection, assignment of monetary value to resource consumption) with their advantages and shortcomings as they relate to the difficulties encountered with their implementation in hospitals; (2) to present a review of the literature comparing the two methods and their possible combination; and (3) to propose ways to address the questions that need to be asked before compiling resource consumption data and assigning monetary value to hospital costs. A final diagram summarizes methodologies to be preferred according to the evaluation strategy and the impact on patient care. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

New roller cone bits with unique nozzle designs reduce drilling costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moffitt, S.R.; Pearce, D.E.; Ivie, C.R.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that selection of the optimum rock bit design to achieve the lowest drilling cost in a given application is often difficult due to a large number of rock bit performance considerations. However, in a majority of applications increased penetration rate is the key consideration in reducing drilling costs. Discovery of a new bit design concept has led to the development of roller cone bits that achieve significant penetration rate increases using superior hydraulic nozzle designs. Prototype designs have achieved 20 to 40% increases in penetration rate with comparable footage drilled when tested in 6 1/2, 8 1/2, 8-3/4, 9-7/8 and 12 1/4 IADC 437, 517 and 537 type bits in the U.S., North Sea, Italy, and Oman. Second-generation designs tested in a full-scale drilling laboratory have delivered 70% increases in penetration rates

Risk Consideration and Cost Estimation in Construction Projects Using Monte Carlo Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudius A. Peleskei

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Construction projects usually involve high investments. It is, therefore, a risky adventure for companies as actual costs of construction projects nearly always exceed the planed scenario. This is due to the various risks and the large uncertainty existing within this industry. Determination and quantification of risks and their impact on project costs within the construction industry is described to be one of the most difficult areas. This paper analyses how the cost of construction projects can be estimated using Monte Carlo Simulation. It investigates if the different cost elements in a construction project follow a specific probability distribution. The research examines the effect of correlation between different project costs on the result of the Monte Carlo Simulation. The paper finds out that Monte Carlo Simulation can be a helpful tool for risk managers and can be used for cost estimation of construction projects. The research has shown that cost distributions are positively skewed and cost elements seem to have some interdependent relationships.

System Considerations and Challendes in 3d Mapping and Modeling Using Low-Cost Uav Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lari, Z.; El-Sheimy, N.

2015-08-01

In the last few years, low-cost UAV systems have been acknowledged as an affordable technology for geospatial data acquisition that can meet the needs of a variety of traditional and non-traditional mapping applications. In spite of its proven potential, UAV-based mapping is still lacking in terms of what is needed for it to become an acceptable mapping tool. In other words, a well-designed system architecture that considers payload restrictions as well as the specifications of the utilized direct geo-referencing component and the imaging systems in light of the required mapping accuracy and intended application is still required. Moreover, efficient data processing workflows, which are capable of delivering the mapping products with the specified quality while considering the synergistic characteristics of the sensors onboard, the wide range of potential users who might lack deep knowledge in mapping activities, and time constraints of emerging applications, are still needed to be adopted. Therefore, the introduced challenges by having low-cost imaging and georeferencing sensors onboard UAVs with limited payload capability, the necessity of efficient data processing techniques for delivering required products for intended applications, and the diversity of potential users with insufficient mapping-related expertise needs to be fully investigated and addressed by UAV-based mapping research efforts. This paper addresses these challenges and reviews system considerations, adaptive processing techniques, and quality assurance/quality control procedures for achievement of accurate mapping products from these systems.

Nuclear Power Plant project site selection geotechnical considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katti, V.J.; Banerjee, D.C.

1997-01-01

During the selection of a site for Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and Radioactive Waste Plant (RWP), geotechnical investigations play a significant role in deciding merits and demerits of the sites. Any accidents in these units can play havoc on mankind and may leave bitter imprints on generations to come. Hence proper care has to be taken at the early stage for selecting the sites. Site selection procedure is a complicated one, because it involves experts from various disciplines like geology, geophysics, civil, mechanical electrical engineering, health-physics and other fields

Cost unit accounting based on a clinical pathway: a practical tool for DRG implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Feyrer, R; Rösch, J; Weyand, M; Kunzmann, U

2005-10-01

Setting up a reliable cost unit accounting system in a hospital is a fundamental necessity for economic survival, given the current general conditions in the healthcare system. Definition of a suitable cost unit is a crucial factor for success. We present here the development and use of a clinical pathway as a cost unit as an alternative to the DRG. Elective coronary artery bypass grafting was selected as an example. Development of the clinical pathway was conducted according to a modular concept that mirrored all the treatment processes across various levels and modules. Using service records and analyses the process algorithms of the clinical pathway were developed and visualized with CorelTM iGrafix Process 2003. A detailed process cost record constituted the basis of the pathway costing, in which financial evaluation of the treatment processes was performed. The result of this study was a structured clinical pathway for coronary artery bypass grafting together with a cost calculation in the form of cost unit accounting. The use of a clinical pathway as a cost unit offers considerable advantages compared to the DRG or clinical case. The variance in the diagnoses and procedures within a pathway is minimal, so the consumption of resources is homogeneous. This leads to a considerable improvement in the value of cost unit accounting as a strategic control instrument in hospitals.

Dual discounting in cost-benefit analysis for environmental impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kula, Erhun; Evans, David

2011-01-01

Discounting has been a long-established intertemporal efficiency tool in cost-benefit analysis which focuses on project selection at communal level with a view to maximising the social welfare. However, with the relentless growth in environmental stress that, in good parts, stems from investment projects the established criterion in discounting appears to be inadequate especially when environmental issues are taken into consideration. This paper looks at how dual focus on efficiency and sustainability can be achieved by using dual discounting, i.e. discounting environmental benefits separately and differently from other costs and benefits and applies this alternative criterion to an afforestation scheme in the United Kingdom which contains carbon sequestration in addition to timber benefits.

An Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Uncertain Portfolio Selection

OpenAIRE

Chen, Wei

2014-01-01

Portfolio selection is an important issue for researchers and practitioners. In this paper, under the assumption that security returns are given by experts’ evaluations rather than historical data, we discuss the portfolio adjusting problem which takes transaction costs and diversification degree of portfolio into consideration. Uncertain variables are employed to describe the security returns. In the proposed mean-variance-entropy model, the uncertain mean value of the return is ...

The Non-Linear Relationship between BMI and Health Care Costs and the Resulting Cost Fraction Attributable to Obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Laxy, Michael; Stark, Renée; Peters, Annette; Hauner, Hans; Holle, Rolf; Teuner, Christina M

2017-08-30

This study aims to analyse the non-linear relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and direct health care costs, and to quantify the resulting cost fraction attributable to obesity in Germany. Five cross-sectional surveys of cohort studies in southern Germany were pooled, resulting in data of 6757 individuals (31-96 years old). Self-reported information on health care utilisation was used to estimate direct health care costs for the year 2011. The relationship between measured BMI and annual costs was analysed using generalised additive models, and the cost fraction attributable to obesity was calculated. We found a non-linear association of BMI and health care costs with a continuously increasing slope for increasing BMI without any clear threshold. Under the consideration of the non-linear BMI-cost relationship, a shift in the BMI distribution so that the BMI of each individual is lowered by one point is associated with a 2.1% reduction of mean direct costs in the population. If obesity was eliminated, and the BMI of all obese individuals were lowered to 29.9 kg/m², this would reduce the mean direct costs by 4.0% in the population. Results show a non-linear relationship between BMI and health care costs, with very high costs for a few individuals with high BMI. This indicates that population-based interventions in combination with selective measures for very obese individuals might be the preferred strategy.

Is implementation of the 2013 Australian treatment guidelines for posttraumatic stress disorder cost-effective compared to current practice? A cost-utility analysis using QALYs and DALYs.

Science.gov (United States)

Mihalopoulos, Cathrine; Magnus, Anne; Lal, Anita; Dell, Lisa; Forbes, David; Phelps, Andrea

2015-04-01

To assess, from a health sector perspective, the incremental cost-effectiveness of three treatment recommendations in the most recent Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The interventions assessed are trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for the treatment of PTSD in adults and TF-CBT in children, compared to current practice in Australia. Economic modelling, using existing databases and published information, was used to assess cost-effectiveness. A cost-utility framework using both quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted was used. Costs were tracked for the duration of the respective interventions and applied to the estimated 12 months prevalent cases of PTSD in the Australian population of 2012. Simulation modelling was used to provide 95% uncertainty around the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Consideration was also given to factors not considered in the quantitative analysis but could determine the likely uptake of the proposed intervention guidelines. TF-CBT is highly cost-effective compared to current practice at $19,000/QALY, $16,000/DALY in adults and $8900/QALY, $8000/DALY in children. In adults, 100% of uncertainty iterations fell beneath the $50,000/QALY or DALY value-for-money threshold. Using SSRIs in people already on medications is cost-effective at $200/QALY, but has considerable uncertainty around the costs and benefits. While there is a 13% chance of health loss there is a 27% chance of the intervention dominating current practice by both saving dollars and improving health in adults. The three Guideline recommended interventions evaluated in this study are likely to have a positive impact on the economic efficiency of the treatment of PTSD if adopted in full. While there are gaps in the evidence base, policy-makers can have considerable confidence that the recommendations

Cost and risk tradeoff for routing nuclear spent fuel movements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chin, S.M.

1988-01-01

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

Study of activity based costing implementation for palm oil production using value-added and non-value-added activity consideration in PT XYZ palm oil mill

Science.gov (United States)

Sembiring, M. T.; Wahyuni, D.; Sinaga, T. S.; Silaban, A.

2018-02-01

Cost allocation at manufacturing industry particularly in Palm Oil Mill still widely practiced based on estimation. It leads to cost distortion. Besides, processing time determined by company is not in accordance with actual processing time in work station. Hence, the purpose of this study is to eliminates non-value-added activities therefore processing time could be shortened and production cost could be reduced. Activity Based Costing Method is used in this research to calculate production cost with Value Added and Non-Value-Added Activities consideration. The result of this study is processing time decreasing for 35.75% at Weighting Bridge Station, 29.77% at Sorting Station, 5.05% at Loading Ramp Station, and 0.79% at Sterilizer Station. Cost of Manufactured for Crude Palm Oil are IDR 5.236,81/kg calculated by Traditional Method, IDR 4.583,37/kg calculated by Activity Based Costing Method before implementation of Activity Improvement and IDR 4.581,71/kg after implementation of Activity Improvement Meanwhile Cost of Manufactured for Palm Kernel are IDR 2.159,50/kg calculated by Traditional Method, IDR 4.584,63/kg calculated by Activity Based Costing Method before implementation of Activity Improvement and IDR 4.582,97/kg after implementation of Activity Improvement.

Biosafety considerations for selectable and scorable markers used in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) biotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, William; Umbeck, Paul; Hokanson, Karen; Halsey, Mark

2005-01-01

Cassava is an important subsistence crop grown only in the tropics, and represents a major source of calories for many people in developing countries. Improvements in the areas of resistance to insects and viral diseases, enhanced nutritional qualities, reduced cyanogenic content and modified starch characteristics are urgently needed. Traditional breeding is hampered by the nature of the crop, which has a high degree of heterozygosity, irregular flowering, and poor seed set. Biotechnology has the potential to enhance crop improvement efforts, and genetic engineering techniques for cassava have thus been developed over the past decade. Selectable and scorable markers are critical to efficient transformation technology, and must be evaluated for biosafety, as well as efficiency and cost-effectiveness. In order to facilitate research planning and regulatory submission, the literature on biosafety aspects of the selectable and scorable markers currently used in cassava biotechnology is surveyed. The source, mode of action and current use of each marker gene is described. The potential for toxicity, allergenicity, pleiotropic effects, horizontal gene transfer, and the impact of these on food or feed safety and environmental safety is evaluated. Based on extensive information, the selectable marker genes nptII, hpt, bar/pat, and manA, and the scorable marker gene uidA, all have little risk in terms of biosafety. These appear to represent the safest options for use in cassava biotechnology available at this time.

Geological Consideration for the Site Selection of Radioactive Waste at the PPTN Serpong Area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sucipta

2002-01-01

Geological consideration is a main aspect in the exploration or selection of site for radioactive waste repository, because, really that repository site must be surrounded by geological system (geosphere). The objective of the site selection is to obtain a site which geologically capable to prevent the escape of waste pollution from repository to biosphere. Beside that the site must be free from geological processes which harmfull to longterm stability of the site. Descriptive analysis method was applied in this research and combined with evaluation by scoring methods. From the analysis result could be identified that PPTN Serpong morphologically consist of undulatory plains (elevation 80-100 m above msl), the lithology are alluvial deposits. Quarternary tuffs, pumiceous tuffs, clayey tuffs. sandy tuffs and limestone. The geological structure was supposed a horst and graben which buried more than 15 m since Pleistocene. Hydrological condition are moderately run-off, and the distance to the river is about 160 m. The depth of groundwater is 8.3 m, with parallel drainage system. Geological resources found in the site are land and groundwater. The most potential of geological hazard is supposed a rock mass movement. By the land evaluation could be concluded that PPTN Serpong area have moderate suitability for NSD site. (author)

Summarized Costs, Placement Of Quality Stars, And Other Online Displays Can Help Consumers Select High-Value Health Plans.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Jessica; Hibbard, Judith H; Sacks, Rebecca M

2016-04-01

Starting in 2017, all state and federal health insurance exchanges will present quality data on health plans in addition to cost information. We analyzed variations in the current design of information on state exchanges to identify presentation approaches that encourage consumers to take quality as well as cost into account when selecting a health plan. Using an online sample of 1,025 adults, we randomly assigned participants to view the same comparative information on health plans, displayed in different ways. We found that consumers were much more likely to select a high-value plan when cost information was summarized instead of detailed, when quality stars were displayed adjacent to cost information, when consumers understood that quality stars signified the quality of medical care, and when high-value plans were highlighted with a check mark or blue ribbon. These approaches, which were equally effective for participants with higher and lower numeracy, can inform the development of future displays of plan information in the exchanges. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Design consideration on severe accident for future LWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omoto, A.

1998-01-01

Utilities' Severe Accident Management strategies, selected based on Individual Plant Examination, are in the process of implementation for each operating plant. Activities for the next generation LWR design are going on by Utilities, NSSS vendors and Research Institutes. The proposed new designs vary from evolutionary design to revolutionary design such as the supercritical LWR. Discussion on the consideration of Severe Accident in the design of next generation LWR is being held to establish the industry's self-regulatory document on containment design and its performance, which ABWR-IER (Improved Evolutionary Reactor) on the part of BWR and Evolutionary APWR and New PWR21 on the part of PWR are expected to comply. Conceptual design study for ABWR-IER will illustrate an example of design approach for the prevention and mitigation of Severe Accident and its impact on capital cost

Parameters of Dismantling Techniques Related to Costs for Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Kwanseong; Moon, Jeikwon; Choi, Byungseon

2012-01-01

Reliable cost estimating is one of the most important elements of decommissioning operation. Reliable cost estimating is one of the most important elements of decommissioning planning. Alternative technologies may be evaluated and compared on their efficiency and effectiveness, and measured against a baseline cost as to the feasibility and benefit derived from the technology. This principle ensures that the cost consideration is economically sound and practical for funding. This paper provides a list with basic review of cutting and dismantling techniques, including some typical characteristics if available, as well as aspects of implementation, parameters of cutting and dismantling techniques in decommissioning costing. This paper gives an overview of the principles of the unit factor approach and its implementation in costing in relation to dismantling activities. In general, proper evaluation of decommissioning costs is important for following issues and relevant measures for achieving the listed aspects are: · Selection of a decommissioning strategy and activities: several decommissioning options should be evaluated: · Support to a cost-benefit analysis to ensure that the principle of optimization and reasonably practicable measures are applied: the extent of evaluated decommissioning options should cover all possible scenarios for dismantling activities; · Estimate of required financial resources for the selected strategy: the selected option should involve the dismantling activities in a structure and extent relevant to real procedure of dismantling activities; · Preparation of the project schedule, workforce requirements and phased funding needs: dismantling activities should be structured according to the tasks of the decommissioning schedule; · Definition of measures for proper management and maintenance of resources for safe and timely decommissioning: the time distribution and safety related parameters of dismantling activities should be known

Combinatorial Optimization in Project Selection Using Genetic Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Dewi, Sari; Sawaluddin

2018-01-01

This paper discusses the problem of project selection in the presence of two objective functions that maximize profit and minimize cost and the existence of some limitations is limited resources availability and time available so that there is need allocation of resources in each project. These resources are human resources, machine resources, raw material resources. This is treated as a consideration to not exceed the budget that has been determined. So that can be formulated mathematics for objective function (multi-objective) with boundaries that fulfilled. To assist the project selection process, a multi-objective combinatorial optimization approach is used to obtain an optimal solution for the selection of the right project. It then described a multi-objective method of genetic algorithm as one method of multi-objective combinatorial optimization approach to simplify the project selection process in a large scope.

Development and Implementation Costs of Student Learning Objectives: Considerations for TIF Grantees

Science.gov (United States)

Fermanich, Mark; Carl, Brad; Finster, Matthew

2015-01-01

This brief explores the costs of developing and implementing Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) in order to help Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grantees interested in adopting SLOs anticipate and understand the costs of implementing them in a district or school. The brief focuses on the costs involved with the initial design and implementation of an…

Ecological validity of cost-effectiveness models of universal HPV vaccination: A systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Favato, Giampiero; Easton, Tania; Vecchiato, Riccardo; Noikokyris, Emmanouil

2017-05-09

The protective (herd) effect of the selective vaccination of pubertal girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) implies a high probability that one of the two partners involved in intercourse is immunised, hence preventing the other from this sexually transmitted infection. The dynamic transmission models used to inform immunisation policy should include consideration of sexual behaviours and population mixing in order to demonstrate an ecological validity, whereby the scenarios modelled remain faithful to the real-life social and cultural context. The primary aim of this review is to test the ecological validity of the universal HPV vaccination cost-effectiveness modelling available in the published literature. The research protocol related to this systematic review has been registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO: CRD42016034145). Eight published economic evaluations were reviewed. None of the studies showed due consideration of the complexities of human sexual behaviour and the impact this may have on the transmission of HPV. Our findings indicate that all the included models might be affected by a different degree of ecological bias, which implies an inability to reflect the natural demographic and behavioural trends in their outcomes and, consequently, to accurately inform public healthcare policy. In particular, ecological bias have the effect to over-estimate the preference-based outcomes of selective immunisation. A relatively small (15-20%) over-estimation of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained with selective immunisation programmes could induce a significant error in the estimate of cost-effectiveness of universal immunisation, by inflating its incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) beyond the acceptability threshold. The results modelled here demonstrate the limitations of the cost-effectiveness studies for HPV vaccination, and highlight the concern that public healthcare policy might have been

Environmental cost-effectiveness analysis in intertemporal natural resource policy: evaluation of selective fishing gear.

Science.gov (United States)

Kronbak, Lone Grønbæk; Vestergaard, Niels

2013-12-15

In most decision-making involving natural resources, the achievements of a given policy (e.g., improved ecosystem or biodiversity) are rather difficult to measure in monetary units. To address this problem, the current paper develops an environmental cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) to include intangible benefits in intertemporal natural resource problems. This approach can assist managers in prioritizing management actions as least cost solutions to achieve quantitative policy targets. The ECEA framework is applied to a selective gear policy case in Danish mixed trawl fisheries in Kattegat and Skagerrak. The empirical analysis demonstrates how a policy with large negative net benefits might be justified if the intangible benefits are included. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The quality cost loop in quality assurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grabowski, S.P.

1979-01-01

A system to determine quality cost is described which solves two major problems: - Determination of quality cost with sufficient accuracy in consideration of rentability - Implementation of quality cost in cost accounting. (RW) [de

[Relating costs to activities in hospitals. Use of internal cost accounting].

Science.gov (United States)

Stavem, K

1995-01-10

During the last few years hospital cost accounting has become widespread in many countries, in parallel with increasing cost pressure, greater competition and new financing schemes. Cost accounting has been used in the manufacturing industry for many years. Costs can be related to activities and production, e.g. by the costing of procedures, episodes of care and other internally defined cost objectives. Norwegian hospitals have lagged behind in the adoption of cost accounting. They ought to act quickly if they want to be prepared for possible changes in health care financing. The benefits can be considerable to a hospital operating in a rapidly changing health care environment.

Using the AHP Method to Select an ERP System for an SME Manufacturing Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kłos Sławomir

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process method to support decision making regarding the selection of an Enterprise Resource Planning system in a manufacturing company. The main assumption of the work is that the management of the selection of an ERP system should consider that the most important selection criteria are concerned with the functionality of the ERP system. Besides this, the aspects of total cost of ownership, technical support and implementation time or vendor experience are taken into consideration to guarantee a successful ERP implementation. The proposed procedure of an ERP system selection is dedicated for small and medium manufacturing enterprises. A structure of attributes for the AHP method is proposed on the basis of an analysis and identification of critical success factors. Different kinds of production (make-to-stock, make-to-order and engineer-to-order are taken into consideration. Illustrative examples are also given.

Total life cycle cost model for electric power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardullo, M.W.

1995-01-01

The Total Life Cycle Cost (TLCC) model for electric power stations was developed to provide a technology screening model. The TLCC analysis involves normalizing cost estimates with respect to performance standards and financial assumptions and preparing a profile of all costs over the service life of the power station. These costs when levelized present a value in terms of a utility electricity rate. Comparison of cost and the pricing of the electricity for a utility shows if a valid project exists. Cost components include both internal and external costs. Internal costs are direct costs associated with the purchase, and operation of the power station and include initial capital costs, operating and maintenance costs. External costs result from societal and/or environmental impacts that are external to the marketplace and can include air quality impacts due to emissions, infrastructure costs, and other impacts. The cost stream is summed (current dollars) or discounted (constant dollars) to some base year to yield a overall TLCC of each power station technology on a common basis. While minimizing life cycle cost is an important consideration, it may not always be a preferred method for some utilities who may prefer minimizing capital costs. Such consideration does not always result in technology penetration in a marketplace such as the utility sector. Under various regulatory climates, the utility is likely to heavily weigh initial capital costs while giving limited consideration to other costs such as societal costs. Policy makers considering external costs, such as those resulting from environmental impacts, may reach significantly different conclusions about which technologies are most advantageous to society. The TLCC analysis model for power stations was developed to facilitate consideration of all perspectives

A framework to support decision making in the selection of sustainable drainage system design alternatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mingming; Sweetapple, Chris; Fu, Guangtao; Farmani, Raziyeh; Butler, David

2017-10-01

This paper presents a new framework for decision making in sustainable drainage system (SuDS) scheme design. It integrates resilience, hydraulic performance, pollution control, rainwater usage, energy analysis, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and costs, and has 12 indicators. The multi-criteria analysis methods of entropy weight and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) were selected to support SuDS scheme selection. The effectiveness of the framework is demonstrated with a SuDS case in China. Indicators used include flood volume, flood duration, a hydraulic performance indicator, cost and resilience. Resilience is an important design consideration, and it supports scheme selection in the case study. The proposed framework will help a decision maker to choose an appropriate design scheme for implementation without subjectivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automotive Lithium-ion Cell Manufacturing: Regional Cost Structures and Supply Chain Considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donald Chung, Emma Elgqvist, and Shriram Santhanagopalan

2016-04-01

Manufacturing capacity for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) — which power many consumer electronics and are increasingly used to power electric vehicles — is heavily concentrated in East Asia. To illuminate the factors that drive regional competitiveness in automotive LIB cell production, this study models cell manufacturing cost and minimum sustainable price, and examines development of LIB supply chains and current LIB market conditions. The study shows that factors driving the cost competitiveness of LIB manufacturing locations are mostly built—supply chain developments and competition, access to materials, and production expertise. Some regional costs — including cost of capital, labor, and materials — are significant and should be considered.

Cost estimation tools in Germany and the UK. Comparison of cost estimates and actual costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfeifer, W.; Gordelier, S.; Drake, V.

2005-01-01

Full text: Accurate cost estimation for future decommissioning projects is a matter of considerable importance, especially for ensuring that sufficient funds will be available at the time of project implementation. This paper looks at the experience of cost estimation and real implementation outcomes from two countries, Germany and the UK, and draws lessons for the future. In Germany, cost estimates for the decommissioning of power reactors are updated every two years. For this purpose, the STILLKO program of the NIS Company is used. So far, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe has successfully decommissioned two prototype reactor facilities. Re-cultivation of the premises has already been completed. At the moment, the activated components of the multi-purpose research reactor (MZFR), the first pressurized water reactor in Germany that was moderated and cooled with heavy water, and of the prototype fast breeder reactor (KNK) are being dismantled remotely. Consequently, vast experience exists in particular for the updating of total costs on the basis of actually incurred expenses. The further the dismantling work proceeds, the more reliable is the total cost estimate. Here, the development of the estimated MZFR decommissioning costs shall be presented and compared with the estimates obtained for a German reference PWR-type power reactor of 1200 MW. In this way: - common features of the prototype reactor and power reactor shall be emphasized, - several parameters leading to an increase in the estimated costs shall be highlighted, - cost risks shall be outlined with the remote dismantling of the reactor pressure vessel serving as an example, - calculation parameters shall be presented, and - recommendations shall be made for a consistent estimation of costs. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has a major programme for the environmental remediation of its former research and development sites at Dounreay, Windscale, Harwell and Winfrith together with the need to

Considerations on a Cost Model for High-Field Dipole Arc Magnets for FCC

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2078700; Durante, Maria; Lorin, Clement; Martinez, Teresa; Ruuskanen, Janne; Salmi, Tiina; Sorbi, Massimo; Tommasini, Davide; Toral, Fernando

2017-01-01

In the frame of the European Circular Collider (EuroCirCol), a conceptual design study for a post-Large Hadron Collider (LHC) research infrastructure based on an energy-frontier 100 TeV circular hadron collider [1]–[3], a cost model for the high-field dipole arc magnets is being developed. The aim of the cost model in the initial design phase is to provide the basis for sound strategic decisions towards cost effective designs, in particular: (A) the technological choice of superconducting material and its cost, (B) the target performance of Nb$_{3}$Sn superconductor, (C) the choice of operating temperature (D) the relevant design margins and their importance for cost, (E) the nature and extent of grading, and (F) the aperture’s influence on cost. Within the EuroCirCol study three design options for the high field dipole arc magnets are under study: cos − θ [4], block [5], and common-coil [6]. Here, in the advanced design phase, a cost model helps to (1) identify the cost drivers and feed-back this info...

Considerations on a Cost Model for High-Field Dipole Arc Magnets for FCC

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2078700; Durante, Maria; Lorin, Clement; Martinez, Teresa; Ruuskanen, Janne; Salmi, Tiina; Sorbi, Massimo; Tommasini, Davide; Toral, Fernando

2017-01-01

In the frame of the European Circular Collider (EuroCirCol), a conceptual design study for a post-Large Hadron Collider (LHC) research infrastructure based on an energy-frontier 100 TeV circular hadron collider [1]–[3], a cost model for the high-field dipole arc magnets is being developed. The aim of the cost model in the initial design phase is to provide the basis for sound strategic decisions towards cost effective designs, in particular: (A) the technological choice of superconducting material and its cost, (B) the target performance of Nb3Sn superconductor, (C) the choice of operating temperature (D) the relevant design margins and their importance for cost, (E) the nature and extent of grading, and (F) the aperture’s influence on cost. Within the EuroCirCol study three design options for the high field dipole arc magnets are under study: cos − θ [4], block [5], and common-coil [6]. Here, in the advanced design phase, a cost model helps to (1) identify the cost drivers and feed-back this informati...

Cost-effectiveness analysis of FET PET-guided target selection for the diagnosis of gliomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinzel, Alexander; Stock, Stephanie; Mueller, Dirk; Langen, Karl-Josef

2012-01-01

Several diagnostic trials have indicated that the combined use of 18 F-fluoroethyl-l-tyrosine (FET) PET and MRI may be superior to MRI alone in selecting the biopsy site for the diagnosis of gliomas. We estimated the cost-effectiveness of the use of amino acid PET compared to MRI alone from the perspective of the German statutory health insurance. To evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness of the use of amino acid PET, a decision tree model was built. The effectiveness of FET PET was determined by the probability of a correct diagnosis. Costs were estimated for a baseline scenario and for a more expensive scenario in which disease severity was considered. The robustness of the results was tested using deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. The combined use of PET and MRI resulted in an increase of 18.5% in the likelihood of a correct diagnosis. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for one additional correct diagnosis using FET PET was EUR6,405 for the baseline scenario and EUR9,114 for the scenario based on higher disease severity. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the results. The model indicates that the use of amino acid PET may be cost-effective in patients with glioma. As a result of several limitations in the data used for the model, further studies are needed to confirm the results. (orig.)

Cost-effectiveness analysis of FET PET-guided target selection for the diagnosis of gliomas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heinzel, Alexander [Research Centre Juelich, Department of Nuclear Medicine of the Heinrich-Heine University of Duesseldorf, Juelich (Germany); Stock, Stephanie; Mueller, Dirk [University Hospital of Cologne, Institute for Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology, Cologne (Germany); Langen, Karl-Josef [Research Centre Juelich, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine 4, Juelich (Germany)

2012-07-15

Several diagnostic trials have indicated that the combined use of {sup 18}F-fluoroethyl-l-tyrosine (FET) PET and MRI may be superior to MRI alone in selecting the biopsy site for the diagnosis of gliomas. We estimated the cost-effectiveness of the use of amino acid PET compared to MRI alone from the perspective of the German statutory health insurance. To evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness of the use of amino acid PET, a decision tree model was built. The effectiveness of FET PET was determined by the probability of a correct diagnosis. Costs were estimated for a baseline scenario and for a more expensive scenario in which disease severity was considered. The robustness of the results was tested using deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. The combined use of PET and MRI resulted in an increase of 18.5% in the likelihood of a correct diagnosis. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for one additional correct diagnosis using FET PET was EUR6,405 for the baseline scenario and EUR9,114 for the scenario based on higher disease severity. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the results. The model indicates that the use of amino acid PET may be cost-effective in patients with glioma. As a result of several limitations in the data used for the model, further studies are needed to confirm the results. (orig.)

The cost of brain diseases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

DiLuca, Monica; Olesen, Jes

2014-01-01

Brain diseases represent a considerable social and economic burden in Europe. With yearly costs of about 800 billion euros and an estimated 179 million people afflicted in 2010, brain diseases are an unquestionable emergency and a grand challenge for neuroscientists.......Brain diseases represent a considerable social and economic burden in Europe. With yearly costs of about 800 billion euros and an estimated 179 million people afflicted in 2010, brain diseases are an unquestionable emergency and a grand challenge for neuroscientists....

Clinical and financial considerations for implementing an ICU telemedicine program.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruklitis, Robert J; Tracy, Joseph A; McCambridge, Matthew M

2014-06-01

As the population in the United States increases and ages, the need to provide high-quality, safe, and cost-effective care to the most critically ill patients will be of great importance. With the projected shortage of intensivists, innovative changes to improve efficiency and increase productivity will be necessary. Telemedicine programs in the ICUs (tele-ICUs) are a successful strategy to improve intensivist access to critically ill patients. Although significant capital and maintenance costs are associated with tele-ICUs, these costs can be offset by indirect financial benefits, such as decreased length of stay. To achieve the positive clinical outcomes desired, tele-ICUs must be carefully designed and implemented. In this article, we discuss the clinical benefits of tele-ICUs. We review the financial considerations, including direct and indirect reimbursement and development and maintenance costs. Finally, we review design and implementation considerations for tele-ICUs.

40 CFR 230.91 - Purpose and general considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... done after taking into consideration cost, existing technology, and logistics in light of overall... national or regional level. No modifications to the basic application, meaning, or intent of this subpart...

Selection and placement of best management practices used to reduce water quality degradation in Lincoln Lake watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Hector German; Popp, Jennie; Maringanti, Chetan; Chaubey, Indrajeet

2011-01-01

An increased loss of agricultural nutrients is a growing concern for water quality in Arkansas. Several studies have shown that best management practices (BMPs) are effective in controlling water pollution. However, those affected with water quality issues need water management plans that take into consideration BMPs selection, placement, and affordability. This study used a nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). This multiobjective algorithm selects and locates BMPs that minimize nutrients pollution cost-effectively by providing trade-off curves (optimal fronts) between pollutant reduction and total net cost increase. The usefulness of this optimization framework was evaluated in the Lincoln Lake watershed. The final NSGA-II optimization model generated a number of near-optimal solutions by selecting from 35 BMPs (combinations of pasture management, buffer zones, and poultry litter application practices). Selection and placement of BMPs were analyzed under various cost solutions. The NSGA-II provides multiple solutions that could fit the water management plan for the watershed. For instance, by implementing all the BMP combinations recommended in the lowest-cost solution, total phosphorous (TP) could be reduced by at least 76% while increasing cost by less than 2% in the entire watershed. This value represents an increase in cost of 5.49 ha-1 when compared to the baseline. Implementing all the BMP combinations proposed with the medium- and the highest-cost solutions could decrease TP drastically but will increase cost by 24,282 (7%) and $82,306 (25%), respectively.

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.

Multi-period fuzzy mean-semi variance portfolio selection problem with transaction cost and minimum transaction lots using genetic algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Ali Barati

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Multi-period models of portfolio selection have been developed in the literature with respect to certain assumptions. In this study, for the first time, the portfolio selection problem has been modeled based on mean-semi variance with transaction cost and minimum transaction lots considering functional constraints and fuzzy parameters. Functional constraints such as transaction cost and minimum transaction lots were included. In addition, the returns on assets parameters were considered as trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. An efficient genetic algorithm (GA was designed, results were analyzed using numerical instances and sensitivity analysis were executed. In the numerical study, the problem was solved based on the presence or absence of each mode of constraints including transaction costs and minimum transaction lots. In addition, with the use of sensitivity analysis, the results of the model were presented with the variations of minimum expected rate of programming periods.

A Systematic Review of Cost-Effectiveness Studies Reporting Cost-per-DALY Averted.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter J Neumann

Full Text Available Calculating the cost per disability-adjusted life years (DALYs averted associated with interventions is an increasing popular means of assessing the cost-effectiveness of strategies to improve population health. However, there has been no systematic attempt to characterize the literature and its evolution.We conducted a systematic review of cost-effectiveness studies reporting cost-per-DALY averted from 2000 through 2015. We developed the Global Health Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (GHCEA Registry, a repository of English-language cost-per-DALY averted studies indexed in PubMed. To identify candidate studies, we searched PubMed for articles with titles or abstracts containing the phrases "disability-adjusted" or "DALY". Two reviewers with training in health economics independently reviewed each article selected in our abstract review, gathering information using a standardized data collection form. We summarized descriptive characteristics on study methodology: e.g., intervention type, country of study, study funder, study perspective, along with methodological and reporting practices over two time periods: 2000-2009 and 2010-2015. We analyzed the types of costs included in analyses, the study quality on a scale from 1 (low to 7 (high, and examined the correlation between diseases researched and the burden of disease in different world regions.We identified 479 cost-per-DALY averted studies published from 2000 through 2015. Studies from Sub-Saharan Africa comprised the largest portion of published studies. The disease areas most commonly studied were communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disorders (67%, followed by non-communicable diseases (28%. A high proportion of studies evaluated primary prevention strategies (59%. Pharmaceutical interventions were commonly assessed (32% followed by immunizations (28%. Adherence to good practices for conducting and reporting cost-effectiveness analysis varied considerably. Studies mainly included

A stochastic analysis approach on the cost-time profile for selecting the best future state MA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyedhosseini, Seyed Mohammad

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In the literature on value stream mapping (VSM, the only basis for choosing the best future state map (FSM among the proposed alternatives is the time factor. As a result, the FSM is selected as the best option because it has the least amount of total production lead time (TPLT. In this paper, the cost factor is considered in the FSM selection process, in addition to the time factor. Thus, for each of the proposed FSMs, the cost-time profile (CTP is used. Two factors that are of particular importance for the customer and the manufacturer – the TPLT and the direct cost of the product – are reviewed and analysed by calculating the sub-area of the CTP curve, called the cost-time investment (CTI. In addition, variability in the generated data has been studied in each of the CTPs in order to choose the best FSM more precisely and accurately. Based on a proposed step-by-step stochastic analysis method, and also by using non-parametric Kernel estimation methods for estimating the probability density function of CTIs, the process of choosing the best FSM has been carried out, based not only on the minimum expected CTI, but also on the minimum expected variability amount in CTIs among proposed alternatives. By implementing this method during the process of choosing the best FSM, the manufacturing organisations will consider both the cost factor and the variability in the generated data, in addition to the time factor. Accordingly, the decision-making process proceeds more easily and logically than do traditional methods. Finally, to describe the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method in this paper, it is applied to a case study on an industrial parts manufacturing company in Iran.

Cost-benefit and regulatory decision making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvie, J.

1996-01-01

The Atomic Energy Control Board is investigating the feasibility of developing methods for factoring cost-benefit considerations into its regulatory decision-making. This initiative results, in part, from the federal government policy requiring cost-benefit considerations to be taken into account in regulatory processes, and from the recommendations of an Advisory Panel on Regulatory Review in 1993, submitted to the Minister of Natural Resources Canada. One of these recommendations stated: 'that mechanisms be developed to examine cost benefit issues and work towards some consensus of opinion among stake holders: a task force on the subject could be an appropriate starting point'. (author)

Export into EFTA and transportation costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khúlová Lucia

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The Member States of the European Free Trade Association are the considerable opportunity for export, especially for countries of the European Union. The European Economic Area unites the Member States of European Union and Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland (the three EFTA countries into an Internal Market. The paper deals with comparison the basic data of EFTA Member States such as geography, infrastructure, GDP. Due to Logistics Performance Index, it is possible to compare the level of logistics and transportation conditions in selected countries. The export costs and delivery time from a one Member State of European Union to capital cities of EFTA Member States are identified by using online calculator of chosen integrators.

How rebates, copayments, and administration costs affect the cost-effectiveness of osteoporosis therapies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferko, Nicole C; Borisova, Natalie; Airia, Parisa; Grima, Daniel T; Thompson, Melissa F

2012-11-01

Because of rising drug expenditures, cost considerations have become essential, necessitating the requirement for cost-effectiveness analyses for managed care organizations (MCOs). The study objective is to examine the impact of various drug-cost components, in addition to wholesale acquisition cost (WAC), on the cost-effectiveness of osteoporosis therapies. A Markov model of osteoporosis was used to exemplify different drug cost scenarios. We examined the effect of varying rebates for oral bisphosphonates--risedronate and ibandronate--as well as considering the impact of varying copayments and administration costs for intravenous zoledronate. The population modeled was 1,000 American women, > or = 50 years with osteoporosis. Patients were followed for 1 year to reflect an annual budget review of formularies by MCOs. The cost of therapy was based on an adjusted WAC, and is referred to as net drug cost. The total annual cost incurred by an MCO for each drug regimen was calculated using the net drug cost and fracture cost. We estimated cost on a quality adjusted life year (QALY) basis. When considering different rebates, results for risedronate versus ibandronate vary from cost-savings (i.e., costs less and more effective) to approximately $70,000 per QALY. With no risedronate rebate, an ibandronate rebate of approximately 65% is required before cost per QALY surpasses $50,000. With rebates greater than 25% for risedronate, irrespective of ibandronate rebates, results become cost-saving. Results also showed the magnitude of cost savings to the MCO varied by as much as 65% when considering no administration cost and the highest coinsurance rate for zoledronate. Our study showed that cost-effectiveness varies considerably when factors in addition to the WAC are considered. This paper provides recommendations for pharmaceutical manufacturers and MCOs when developing and interpreting such analyses.

33 CFR 332.1 - Purpose and general considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... available and capable of being done after taking into consideration cost, existing technology, and logistics... and the Corps at the national or regional level. No modifications to the basic application, meaning...

Foreseeable cost and economic impacts of the approach proposed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broeskamp, H.; Brammer, K.-J.; Schlombs, H.

2003-01-01

Under the German Atomic Energy Act, the federal government is responsible for the construction of repositories for radioactive waste. Steps to this end were initiated early on when the first nuclear power plants were commissioned in the 1960s. They resulted, among other approaches, in the decisions and site selection procedures for the Gorleben salt dome and the former Konrad iron ore mine as potential repository sites in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2000, the federal government imposed a moratorium of three up to a maximum of ten years on further exploration activities at Gorleben in order to dispel doubts held by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU). A positive plans approval decision on Konrad was publicized in May 2002. Emplacement could begin roughly in 2010-2012, once legal certainty will have been ensured. In February 1999, BMU appointed a working party to establish site selection procedures for repositories (AkEnd) which was to develop a transparent procedure of finding and selecting sites for the final storage of all kinds of radioactive waste in Germany. The procedure finally proposed by AkEnd implies considerable uncertainty, inter alia, about its legal implementability, the time required, and funding. For the Gorleben salt dome, for instance, additional exploration and procedures alone could give rise to extra costs of euro 3-5 billion, compared to merely continuing project activities. Similar extra costs are likely to arise especially to the government if emplacement in Konrad were to be delayed. Under aspects of technical safety, the speediest possible emplacement of all types of waste in deep geologic formations is preferable to all other options. Hence, further exploration of Gorleben should be completed quickly, and the Konrad project should be implemented, after due consideration of all factors. (orig.) [de

Perception of activity based costing in Australian universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monir Zaman

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The study examines the perception of activity based costing (ABC in Australian universities. Using a questionnaire survey, data was collected from twenty-six finance directors and/or chief financial officers in Australian universities. The perception of ABC implementation in Australian universities depends on many variables including the understanding of ABC, consideration of ABC as a strategic cost management system, the role of ABC in reduction of expenses, consideration of ABC as a valuable tool to enhance overhead cost allocation, and consideration of ABC as an effective strategic cost management system designed to incorporate the university’s critical input, output, and process variables resulting in value creation. The result of regression analysis provides significant and positive association between the decision to implement ABC in Australian universities and both the treatment of ABC as a strategic cost management system and the degree of both senior management and internal champion support. The findings indicate substantial differences in the allocation of the overhead costs between ABC and traditional costing systems. The result also reveals that many Australian universities using the ABC method receive benefits in improving cost reduction and better resource allocation with revenue surplus. Furthermore, the study develops a generic model of cost pools and drivers of ABC implementation in Australian universities.

Sorbent selection and design considerations for uranium trapping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schultz, R.M.; Hobbs, W.E.; Norton, J.L.; Stephenson, M.J.

1981-07-01

The efficient removal of UF 6 from effluent streams can be accomplished through the selection of the best solid sorbent and the implementation of good design principles. Pressure losses, sorbent capacity, reaction kinetics, sorbent regeneration/uranium recovery requirements and the effects of other system components are the performance factors which are summarized. The commonly used uranium trapping materials highlighted are sodium fluoride, H-151 alumina, XF-100 alumina, and F-1 alumina. Sorbent selection and trap design have to be made on a case-by-case basis but the theoretical modeling studies and the evaluation of the performance factors presented can be used as a guide for other chemical trap applications

Benefit/cost analysis of plutonium recycle options in the United States of America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowenberg, H.; Burnham, J.B.; Fisher, F.D.; Ray, W.H.

1977-01-01

Beginning in 1973, the USAEC started the analysis of the benefit/cost balance of Pu recycling in light-water reactors and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has continued this effort to the present time. A study of the United States nuclear industry from 1975 until 2000 was summarized in a final environmental statement called GESMO - Generic Environmental Statement on Mixed Oxide, NUREG-0002. Cumulative environmental and economic effects for several industry growth patterns were determined. Five alternatives were evaluated, covering the basic options of recycling uranium and plutonium; recycling uranium; and no recycling. The NRC findings, excluding consideration of proliferation and safeguards questions, are: the safety of reactors and fuel-cycle facilities are not significantly affected by recycle; excluding consideration of radiological effects, the environmental effects of recycle are slightly less than those from a non-recycle system; plutonium recycling extends uranium resources and reduces environmental impacts at the same time requiring reprocessing and Pu-handling facilities; despite uncertainties, recycling has probable economic advantages over other fuel concepts; differences in health effects attributable to recycling provide no basis for selecting a particular fuel-cycle option; no waste-management considerations appear that could be a basis for the selection of any particular option. The NRC studies on health, safety and environmental considerations of Pu recycling in the United States of America show that the differences in benefits/costs between the alternative fuel cycles are small and hence do not provide a clear basis for a decision on Pu recycle at this time. Safeguards and international proliferation implications appear to be the controlling factors in reaching a decision. President Carter's statement indefinitely deferring reprocessing and Pu recycle in the United States of America has resulted in a re-evaluation by NRC of its programme to

Rational over-imitation: Preschoolers consider material costs and copy causally irrelevant actions selectively.

Science.gov (United States)

Keupp, Stefanie; Bancken, Christin; Schillmöller, Jelka; Rakoczy, Hannes; Behne, Tanya

2016-02-01

Children's strong tendency to over-imitate - i.e., to reproduce causally irrelevant actions - presents a well-documented, yet puzzling, phenomenon. On first sight this instrumentally inefficient behavior seems maladaptive and different accounts have been put forward to explain it. Causal accounts claim that children are misled by an adult's demonstration, mistake the superfluous actions as causally necessary, and therefore imitate them. Other accounts emphasize cognitive-motivational aspects underlying over-imitation, e.g. social motivations to affiliate with the model, or to adhere to normative conventions. Since all accounts predict the occurrence of over-imitation under typical conditions, different parameters and circumstances have to be considered to distinguish between them. Thus, we investigated children's over-imitation and their spontaneous verbal reactions to a puppet's behavior, in contexts in which a causally irrelevant action either led to the destruction of a valuable object belonging to the experimenter, or not. In addition, children saw the full action sequence being demonstrated either with an instrumental or a conventional focus. Causal accounts predict no flexibility across these contexts, because over-imitation is said to occur automatically. Normative accounts claim that different normative considerations affect children's behavior and action parsing, and therefore predict different response patterns across conditions. We found that over-imitation was less frequent in costly and instrumental conditions. Children criticized the puppet for omitting irrelevant actions more often in the non-costly condition, but criticized her more often for performing irrelevant actions in the costly condition, often expressing their moral concern. The results support the rational normative action interpretation account of over-imitation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cost-based droop scheme with lower generation costs for microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nutkani, I. U.; Loh, Poh Chiang; Blaabjerg, Frede

2013-01-01

on the DG kVA ratings. Other operating characteristics like generation costs, efficiencies and emission penalties at different loadings have not been considered. This makes existing droop schemes not too well-suited for standalone microgrids without central management system, where different types of DGs...... usually exist. As an alternative, this paper proposes a cost-based droop scheme, whose objective is to reduce a generation cost realized with various DG operating characteristics taken into consideration. The proposed droop scheme therefore retains all advantages of the traditional droop schemes, while...... at the same time keep its generation cost low. These findings have been validated through simulation and scaled down lab experiment....

An Adjusted Discount Rate Model for Fuel Cycle Cost Estimation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, S. K.; Kang, G. B.; Ko, W. I. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

Owing to the diverse nuclear fuel cycle options available, including direct disposal, it is necessary to select the optimum nuclear fuel cycles in consideration of the political and social environments as well as the technical stability and economic efficiency of each country. Economic efficiency is therefore one of the significant evaluation standards. In particular, because nuclear fuel cycle cost may vary in each country, and the estimated cost usually prevails over the real cost, when evaluating the economic efficiency, any existing uncertainty needs to be removed when possible to produce reliable cost information. Many countries still do not have reprocessing facilities, and no globally commercialized HLW (High-level waste) repository is available. A nuclear fuel cycle cost estimation model is therefore inevitably subject to uncertainty. This paper analyzes the uncertainty arising out of a nuclear fuel cycle cost evaluation from the viewpoint of a cost estimation model. Compared to the same discount rate model, the nuclear fuel cycle cost of a different discount rate model is reduced because the generation quantity as denominator in Equation has been discounted. Namely, if the discount rate reduces in the back-end process of the nuclear fuel cycle, the nuclear fuel cycle cost is also reduced. Further, it was found that the cost of the same discount rate model is overestimated compared with the different discount rate model as a whole.

An Adjusted Discount Rate Model for Fuel Cycle Cost Estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S. K.; Kang, G. B.; Ko, W. I.

2013-01-01

Owing to the diverse nuclear fuel cycle options available, including direct disposal, it is necessary to select the optimum nuclear fuel cycles in consideration of the political and social environments as well as the technical stability and economic efficiency of each country. Economic efficiency is therefore one of the significant evaluation standards. In particular, because nuclear fuel cycle cost may vary in each country, and the estimated cost usually prevails over the real cost, when evaluating the economic efficiency, any existing uncertainty needs to be removed when possible to produce reliable cost information. Many countries still do not have reprocessing facilities, and no globally commercialized HLW (High-level waste) repository is available. A nuclear fuel cycle cost estimation model is therefore inevitably subject to uncertainty. This paper analyzes the uncertainty arising out of a nuclear fuel cycle cost evaluation from the viewpoint of a cost estimation model. Compared to the same discount rate model, the nuclear fuel cycle cost of a different discount rate model is reduced because the generation quantity as denominator in Equation has been discounted. Namely, if the discount rate reduces in the back-end process of the nuclear fuel cycle, the nuclear fuel cycle cost is also reduced. Further, it was found that the cost of the same discount rate model is overestimated compared with the different discount rate model as a whole

Whipple procedure: patient selection and special considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan-Tam C

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Clara Tan-Tam,1 Maja Segedi,2 Stephen W Chung2 1Department of Surgery, Bassett Healthcare, Columbia University, Cooperstown, New York, NY, USA; 2Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplant, Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Abstract: At the inception of pancreatic surgery by Dr Whipple in 1930s, the mortality and morbidity risk was more than 20%. With further understanding of disease processes and improvements in pancreas resection techniques, the mortality risk has decreased to less than 5%. Age and chronic illnesses are no longer a contraindication to surgical treatment. Life expectancy and quality of life at a later age have improved, making older patients more likely to receive pancreatic surgery , thereby also putting emphasis on operative patient selection to minimize complications. This review summarizes the benign and malignant illnesses that are treated with pancreas operations, and innovations and improvements in pancreatic surgery and perioperative care, and describes the careful selection process for patients who would benefit from an operation. These indications are not reserved only to Whipple operation, but to pancreatectomies as well.Keywords: pancreaticoduodenectomy, mortality, morbidity, cancer, trauma, pancreatitis

Cost-effectiveness evaluation of alternatives in environmental impact statements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiser, A.L.

1977-01-01

Although it has been Federal government officials who have been accused in courts of law with mismanagement with regard to the consideration of alternatives in the environmental impact statement, the responsibility for systematically considering all alternatives to a proposed project remains with project decisionmakers in the Federal, state, or local levels of government and in industry. By applying the techniques of system cost-effectiveness analysis to the assessment of alternatives, it is believed that management will be able to clearly demonstrate that the selection of the proposed approach was neither arbitrary nor capricious. A rational approach to the assessment of alternatives should aid in meeting the mandates of environmental legislation and EIS guidelines, and it should eliminate the merit of any plaintiff's charge of mismanagement with regard to management's consideration of alternatives. Even though many interfaces between the proposed system and the environment cannot as yet be objectively quantified, application of CE techniques will demonstrate that a rigorous exploration and objective evaluation has been applied to the consideration of alternatives with respect to project objectives, financial conditions, and adverse environmental impacts

General B factory design considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zisman, M.S.

1992-12-01

We describe the general considerations that go into the design of an asymmetric B factory collider. Justification is given for the typical parameters of such a facility, and the physics and technology challenges that arise from these parameter choices are discussed. Cost and schedule issues for a B factory are discussed briefly. A summary of existing proposals is presented, noting their similarities and differences

Application of the Systematic Sensor Selection Strategy for Turbofan Engine Diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Sowers, T. Shane; Kopasakis, George; Simon, Donald L.

2008-01-01

The data acquired from available system sensors forms the foundation upon which any health management system is based, and the available sensor suite directly impacts the overall diagnostic performance that can be achieved. While additional sensors may provide improved fault diagnostic performance, there are other factors that also need to be considered such as instrumentation cost, weight, and reliability. A systematic sensor selection approach is desired to perform sensor selection from a holistic system-level perspective as opposed to performing decisions in an ad hoc or heuristic fashion. The Systematic Sensor Selection Strategy is a methodology that optimally selects a sensor suite from a pool of sensors based on the system fault diagnostic approach, with the ability of taking cost, weight, and reliability into consideration. This procedure was applied to a large commercial turbofan engine simulation. In this initial study, sensor suites tailored for improved diagnostic performance are constructed from a prescribed collection of candidate sensors. The diagnostic performance of the best performing sensor suites in terms of fault detection and identification are demonstrated, with a discussion of the results and implications for future research.

Enrichment: CRISLA [chemical reaction by isotope selective activation] aims to reduce costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eerkens, J.W.

1989-01-01

Every year, more than $3 billion is spent on enriching uranium. CRISLA (Chemical Reaction by Isotope Selective Activation) uses a laser-catalyzed chemical reaction which, its proponents claim, could substantially reduce these costs. In CRISLA, an infrared CO laser illuminates the intracavity reaction cell (IC) at a frequency tuned to excite primarily UF 6 . When UF 6 and co-reactant RX are passed through the IC, the tuned laser photons preferentially enhance the reaction of UF 6 with RX ten-thousand-fold over the thermal reaction rate. Thus the laser serves as an activator and the chemical energy for separation is largely chemical. (author)

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2008-09-01

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

Survey of stranded gas and delivered costs to Europe of selected gas resources

Science.gov (United States)

Attanasi, E.D.; Freeman, P.A.

2011-01-01

Two important trends affecting the expected growth of global gas markets are (1) the shift by many industrialized countries from coal-fired electricity generation to the use of natural gas to generate electricity and (2) the industrialization of the heavily populated Asian countries of India and China. This paper surveys discovered gas in stranded conventional gas accumulations and presents estimates of the cost of developing and producing stranded gas in selected countries. Stranded gas is natural gas in discovered or identified fields that is not currently commercially producible for either physical or economic reasons. Published reserves of gas at the global level do not distinguish between volumes of gas in producing fields and volumes in nonproducing fields. Data on stranded gas reported here-that is the volumes, geographical distribution, and size distributions of stranded gas fields at the country and regional level-are based on the examination of individual-field data and represent a significant improvement in information available to industry and government decision makers. Globally, stranded gas is pervasive, but large volumes in large accumulations are concentrated in only a few areas. The cost component of the paper focuses on stranded conventional gas accumulations in Africa and South America that have the potential to augment supplies to Europe. The methods described for the computation of extraction and transport costs are innovative in that they use information on the sizes and geographical distribution of the identified stranded gas fields. The costs are based on industry data specific to the country and geologic basin where the stranded gas is located. Gas supplies to Europe can be increased significantly at competitive costs by the development of stranded gas. Net extraction costs of producing the identified gas depend critically on the natural-gas-liquids (NGLs) content, the prevailing prices of liquids, the size of the gas accumulation, and the

Deployment Considerations for Low-cost Air Quality Sensor Networks; Examining Spatial Variability of Gas-Phase Pollutants Around a Building in Los Angeles

Science.gov (United States)

Collier-Oxandale, A. M.; Hannigan, M.; Casey, J. G.; Johnston, J.; Coffey, E.; Thorson, J.

2017-12-01

The field of low-cost air quality sensing technologies is growing rapidly through the continual development of new sensors, increased research into sensor performance, and more and more community groups utilizing sensors to investigate local issues. However, as this technology is still in an exploratory phase, there are few `best-practices' available to serve as guidelines for these projects and the standardization of some procedures could benefit the research community as a whole. For example, deployment considerations such as where and how to place a monitor at a given location are often determined by accessibility and safety, power-requirements, and what is an ideal for sampling the target pollutant. Using data from multiple gas-phase sensors, we will examine the importance of siting considerations for low-cost monitoring systems. During a sampling campaign in Los Angeles, a subset of monitors was deployed at one field site to explore the variability in air quality sensor data around a single building. The site is a three story, multi-family housing unit in a primarily residential neighborhood that is near two major roadways and other potential sources of pollution. Five low-cost monitors were co-located prior to and following the field deployment. During the approximately 2.5-month deployment, these monitors were placed at various heights above street level, on different sides of the building, and on the roof. In our analysis, we will examine how monitor placement affects a sensor's ability to detect local verses more regional trends and how this building-scale spatial variability changes over time. Additionally, examining data from VOC sensors (quantified for methane and total non-methane hydrocarbon signals) and O3 sensors will allow us to compare the variability of primary and secondary pollutants. An outcome of this analysis may include guidelines or `best practices' for siting sensors that could aid in ensuring the collection of high quality field data

Potential Cost Savings From Reduction of Regional Variation in Medicare Spending

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunjie Song

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Potential cost savings estimated from reduction of regional variation in Medicare spending are considerable but questioned. This article evaluates the validity of the principal methods that have been used in the estimations of the potential savings. Three estimation approaches were identified. The first approach uses adjusted expenditures to calculate avoidable costs, but adjusted expenditures can be independent of avoidable costs, and measurement errors are not controlled. The second approach uses an outcome variable to replace its causal factors, and is not acceptable because the association between the outcomes and the causes is untestable. The final approach uses surveys to directly measure physician beliefs and patient preferences, but the sole study using this approach is weakened by sample selection biases and incomplete controls. A development of reliable measures and a switch of observation from clinic settings to geographic contexts could make the estimations more convincing.

Prevalence and direct costs of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for selected diseases that can be transmitted by water, United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Adam, E A; Collier, S A; Fullerton, K E; Gargano, J W; Beach, M J

2017-10-01

National emergency department (ED) visit prevalence and costs for selected diseases that can be transmitted by water were estimated using large healthcare databases (acute otitis externa, campylobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis, Escherichia coli infection, free-living ameba infection, giardiasis, hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, Legionnaires' disease, nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection, Pseudomonas-related pneumonia or septicemia, salmonellosis, shigellosis, and vibriosis or cholera). An estimated 477,000 annual ED visits (95% CI: 459,000-494,000) were documented, with 21% (n = 101,000, 95% CI: 97,000-105,000) resulting in immediate hospital admission. The remaining 376,000 annual treat-and-release ED visits (95% CI: 361,000-390,000) resulted in $194 million in annual direct costs. Most treat-and-release ED visits (97%) and costs ($178 million/year) were associated with acute otitis externa. HAV ($5.5 million), NTM ($2.3 million), and salmonellosis ($2.2 million) were associated with next highest total costs. Cryptosporidiosis ($2,035), campylobacteriosis ($1,783), and NTM ($1,709) had the highest mean costs per treat-and-release ED visit. Overall, the annual hospitalization and treat-and-release ED visit costs associated with the selected diseases totaled $3.8 billion. As most of these diseases are not solely transmitted by water, an attribution process is needed as a next step to determine the proportion of these visits and costs attributable to waterborne transmission.

Quality assurance considerations for nuclear power system selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bender, M.

1977-01-01

The key quality assurance principle to be applied in nuclear system selection is to establish that the technological basis is understood and used properly. Knowledgeable and capable personnel with experience in the application are needed, and they must have access to appropriate engineering, laboratory, and manufacturing facilities. A suitable balance must be maintained between the responsibilities of the seller-supplier and the purchaser-owner to assure an even-handed treatment of the implementation program. Safety and reliability must be inherent to the regulatory framework. There must be flexibility in the purchaser-owner resources to overcome unanticipated adversity. Given these quality assurance elements, the nuclear system selection process should result in a high probability that the performance objectives will be satisfied

Environmental considerations in the selection of isolation gowns: A life cycle assessment of reusable and disposable alternatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Vozzola, Eric; Overcash, Michael; Griffing, Evan

2018-04-11

Isolation gowns serve a critical role in infection control by protecting healthcare workers, visitors, and patients from the transfer of microorganisms and body fluids. The decision of whether to use a reusable or disposable garment system is a selection process based on factors including sustainability, barrier effectiveness, cost, and comfort. Environmental sustainability is increasingly being used in the decision-making process. Life cycle assessment is the most comprehensive and widely used tool used to evaluate environmental performance. The environmental impacts of market-representative reusable and disposable isolation gown systems were compared using standard life cycle assessment procedures. The basis of comparison was 1,000 isolation gown uses in a healthcare setting. The scope included the manufacture, use, and end-of-life stages of the gown systems. At the healthcare facility, compared to the disposable gown system, the reusable gown system showed a 28% reduction in energy consumption, a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a 41% reduction in blue water consumption, and a 93% reduction in solid waste generation. Selecting reusable garment systems may result in significant environmental benefits compared to selecting disposable garment systems. By selecting reusable isolation gowns, healthcare facilities can add these quantitative benefits directly to their sustainability scorecards. Copyright © 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Critical operations capabilities in a high cost environment: a multiple case study

Science.gov (United States)

Sansone, C.; Hilletofth, P.; Eriksson, D.

2018-04-01

Operations capabilities have been a popular research area for many years and several frameworks have been proposed in the literature. The current frameworks do not take specific contexts into consideration, for instance a high cost environment. This research gap is of particular interest since a manufacturing relocation process has been ongoing the last decades, leading to a huge amount of manufacturing being moved from high to low cost environments. The purpose of this study is to identify critical operations capabilities in a high cost environment. The two research questions were: What are the critical operations capabilities dimensions in a high cost environment? What are the critical operations capabilities in a high cost environment? A multiple case study was conducted and three Swedish manufacturing firms were selected. The study was based on the investigation of an existing framework of operations capabilities. The main dimensions of operations capabilities included in the framework were: cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, service, innovation and environment. Each of the dimensions included two or more operations capabilities. The findings confirmed the validity of the framework and its usefulness in a high cost environment and a new operations capability was revealed (employee flexibility).

Aquarius study - engineering and economic considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffin, Roger F.

1970-01-01

The two previous papers described the scope of the Aquarius Study and the various applications considered in evaluating the use of nuclear explosives for the development of water resources in Arizona. Surface storage behind a dam created with the use of nuclear explosives was selected for the major effort, primarily because it could afford the most valid direct comparison between nuclear and conventional methods. In this paper I will focus on the engineering and economic considerations involved in developing and evaluating three concepts for constructing a rockfill dam using nuclear explosives. Engineering development and economic evaluation of the concepts was the principal responsibility of Bechtel Corporation as a consultant in the study to the Arizona Atomic Energy Commission. We depended heavily on information supplied by the Federal participants, notably the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for site data and the U.S. AEC*s Lawrence Radiation Laboratory for information on nuclear explosives effects. Since the study report has not yet been published and additional material is still forthcoming, some of the information I will present, such as the cost estimates, may be subject to change and should be considered preliminary. (author)

Aquarius study - engineering and economic considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Griffin, Roger F [Bechtel Corporation (United States)

1970-05-15

The two previous papers described the scope of the Aquarius Study and the various applications considered in evaluating the use of nuclear explosives for the development of water resources in Arizona. Surface storage behind a dam created with the use of nuclear explosives was selected for the major effort, primarily because it could afford the most valid direct comparison between nuclear and conventional methods. In this paper I will focus on the engineering and economic considerations involved in developing and evaluating three concepts for constructing a rockfill dam using nuclear explosives. Engineering development and economic evaluation of the concepts was the principal responsibility of Bechtel Corporation as a consultant in the study to the Arizona Atomic Energy Commission. We depended heavily on information supplied by the Federal participants, notably the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for site data and the U.S. AEC*s Lawrence Radiation Laboratory for information on nuclear explosives effects. Since the study report has not yet been published and additional material is still forthcoming, some of the information I will present, such as the cost estimates, may be subject to change and should be considered preliminary. (author)

Out-of-pocket costs, primary care frequent attendance and sample selection: Estimates from a longitudinal cohort design.

Science.gov (United States)

Pymont, Carly; McNamee, Paul; Butterworth, Peter

2018-03-20

This paper examines the effect of out-of-pocket costs on subsequent frequent attendance in primary care using data from the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project, a representative community cohort study from Canberra, Australia. The analysis sample comprised 1197 respondents with two or more GP consultations, and uses survey data linked to administrative health service use (Medicare) data which provides data on the number of consultations and out-of-pocket costs. Respondents identified in the highest decile of GP use in a year were defined as Frequent Attenders (FAs). Logistic regression models that did not account for potential selection effects showed that out-of-pocket costs incurred during respondents' prior two consultations were significantly associated with subsequent FA status. Respondents who incurred higher costs ($15-$35; or >$35) were less likely to become FAs than those who incurred no or low (attenders. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of Donor Human Milk to Prevent Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckle, Abigail; Taylor, Celia

2017-11-01

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a costly gastrointestinal disorder that mainly affects preterm and low-birth-weight infants and can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality. Mother's own milk is protective against NEC but is not always available. In such cases, donor human milk has also been shown to be protective (although to a lesser extent) compared with formula milk, but it is more expensive. This systematic review aimed at evaluating the cost of donor milk, the cost of treating NEC, and the cost-effectiveness of exclusive donor milk versus formula milk feeding to reduce the short-term health and treatment costs of NEC. We systematically searched five relevant databases to find studies with verifiable costs or charges of donor milk and/or treatment of NEC and any economic evaluations comparing exclusive donor milk with exclusive formula milk feeding. All search results were double screened. Seven studies with verifiable donor milk costs and 17 with verifiable NEC treatment costs were included. The types of cost or charge included varied considerably across studies, so quantitative synthesis was not attempted. Estimates of the incremental length of stay associated with NEC were ∼18 days for medical NEC and 50 days for surgical NEC. Two studies claimed to report economic evaluations but did not do so in practice. It is likely that donor milk provides short-term cost savings by reducing the incidence of NEC. Future studies should provide more details on cost components included and a full economic evaluation, including long-term outcomes, should be undertaken.

A participatory approach for selecting cost-effective measures in the WFD context: the Mar Menor (SE Spain).

Science.gov (United States)

Perni, Angel; Martínez-Paz, José M

2013-08-01

Achieving a good ecological status in water bodies by 2015 is one of the objectives established in the European Water Framework Directive. Cost-effective analysis (CEA) has been applied for selecting measures to achieve this goal, but this appraisal technique requires technical and economic information that is not always available. In addition, there are often local insights that can only be identified by engaging multiple stakeholders in a participatory process. This paper proposes to combine CEA with the active involvement of stakeholders for selecting cost-effective measures. This approach has been applied to the case study of one of the main coastal lagoons in the European Mediterranean Sea, the Mar Menor, which presents eutrophication problems. Firstly, face-to-face interviews were conducted to estimate relative effectiveness and relative impacts of a set of measures by means of the pairwise comparison technique. Secondly, relative effectiveness was used to estimate cost-effectiveness ratios. The most cost-effective measures were the restoration of watercourses that drain into the lagoon and the treatment of polluted groundwater. Although in general the stakeholders approved the former, most of them stated that the latter involved some uncertainties, which must be addressed before implementing it. Stakeholders pointed out that the PoM would have a positive impact not only on water quality, but also on fishing, agriculture and tourism in the area. This approach can be useful to evaluate other programmes, plans or projects related to other European environmental strategies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fuel cycle cost considerations of increased discharge burnups

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scherpereel, L.R.; Frank, F.J.

1982-01-01

Evaluations are presented that indicate the attainment of increased discharge burnups in light water reactors will depend on economic factors particular to individual operators. In addition to pure resource conserving effects and assuming continued reliable fuel performance, a substantial economic incentive must exist to justify the longer operating times necessary to achieve higher burnups. Whether such incentive will exist or not will depend on relative price levels of all fuel cycle cost components, utility operating practices, and resolution of uncertainties associated with the back-end of the fuel cycle. It is concluded that implementation of increased burnups will continue at a graduated pace similar to past experience, rather than finding universal acceptance of particular increased levels at any particular time

Survey of considerations involved in introducing CANDU reactors into the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Till, C.E.; Bohn, E.M.; Chang, Y.I.; van Erp, J.B.

1977-01-01

The important issues that must be considered in a decision to utilize CANDU reactors in the U.S. are identified in this report. Economic considerations, including both power costs and fuel utilization, are discussed for the near and longer term. Safety and licensing considerations are reviewed for CANDU-PHW reactors in general. The important issues, now and in the future, associated with power generation costs are the capital costs of CANDUs and the factors that impact capital cost comparisons. Fuel utilization advantages for the CANDU depend upon assumptions regarding fuel recycle at present, but the primary issue in the longer term is the utilization of the thorium cycle in the CANDU. Certain safety features of the CANDU are identified as intrinsic to the concept and these features must be examined more fully regarding licensability in the U.S

Minimum cost connection networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Tvede, Mich

2015-01-01

In the present paper we consider the allocation of costs in connection networks. Agents have connection demands in form of pairs of locations they want to have connected. Connections between locations are costly to build. The problem is to allocate costs of networks satisfying all connection...... demands. We use a few axioms to characterize allocation rules that truthfully implement cost minimizing networks satisfying all connection demands in a game where: (1) a central planner announces an allocation rule and a cost estimation rule; (2) every agent reports her own connection demand as well...... as all connection costs; (3) the central planner selects a cost minimizing network satisfying reported connection demands based on the estimated costs; and, (4) the planner allocates the true costs of the selected network. It turns out that an allocation rule satisfies the axioms if and only if relative...

Europa Lander Material Selection Considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tappan, Alexander S. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Heller, Mellisa [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-01-10

Energetic materials (EMs, explosives, pyrotechnics, propellants) provide high-power output of high temperature reaction products. These products can be solid, liquid, or gaseous during reaction or after the products have equilibrated with the surroundings. For example, high explosives typically consist of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen bonded within a single molecule, and produce almost exclusively gaseous products. Conversely, intermetallics consist of physical mixtures of metals and metalloids, and produce almost exclusively condensed products. Other materials such as pyrotechnics and propellants have intermediate behavior. All energetic materials react in a self-propagating manner that after ignition, does not necessarily require energy input from the surroundings. The range of reaction velocities can range from mm/s for intermetallics, to km/s for high explosives. Energetic material selection depends on numerous requirements specific to the needs of a system. High explosives are used for applications where high pressure gases are necessary for pushing or fracturing materials (e.g., rock, metal) or creating shock waves or air blast. Propellants are used to produce moderate-pressure, high-temperature products without a shock wave. Pyrotechnics are used to produce numerous effects including: high-temperature products, gases, light, smoke, sound, and others. Thermites are used to produce heat, high-temperature products, materials, and other effects that require condensed products. Intermetallics are used to produce high-temperature condensed products and materials, with very little gas production. Numerous categories of energetic materials exist with overlapping definitions, effects, and properties.

Designing cost effective water demand management programs in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

White, S B; Fane, S A

2002-01-01

This paper describes recent experience with integrated resource planning (IRP) and the application of least cost planning (LCP) for the evaluation of demand management strategies in urban water. Two Australian case studies, Sydney and Northern New South Wales (NSW) are used in illustration. LCP can determine the most cost effective means of providing water services or alternatively the cheapest forms of water conservation. LCP contrasts to a traditional approach of evaluation which looks only at means of increasing supply. Detailed investigation of water usage, known as end-use analysis, is required for LCP. End-use analysis allows both rigorous demand forecasting, and the development and evaluation of conservation strategies. Strategies include education campaigns, increasing water use efficiency and promoting wastewater reuse or rainwater tanks. The optimal mix of conservation strategies and conventional capacity expansion is identified based on levelised unit cost. IRP uses LCP in the iterative process, evaluating and assessing options, investing in selected options, measuring the results, and then re-evaluating options. Key to this process is the design of cost effective demand management programs. IRP however includes a range of parameters beyond least economic cost in the planning process and program designs, including uncertainty, benefit partitioning and implementation considerations.

Nuclear energy: the real cost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, K.; Marshall, R.; Sweet, C.; Prior, M.; Welsh, I.; Bunyard, P.; Goldsmith, E.; Hildyard, N.; Jeffery, J.W.

1981-01-01

This report on the discussions within a small group of academics falls under the headings: chairman's foreword; summary and recommendations; the government's nuclear power programme and its implications; the CEGB's planning record; the past performance of Britain's nuclear power stations - a guide for the future (query); nuclear power -early uncertainties; historic costs - 'the fraud inherent in all inflationary finance'; current cost accounting; fuel costs - coal stays steady, nuclear rises; net effective cost and the rationale for nuclear power; reinterpreting net effective costs; other considerations; conclusions and recommendations; references. (U.K.)

R and M considerations in the selection of class 3 emergency power system for Candu-type nuclear power station

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashmi, M F; Eng, P [Canatom LTD, Montreal, P.Q. (Canada)

1975-07-01

Reliability of emergency power system is an important consideration in the design of Electrical Power Supplies for any power station. Some other factors enter in the picture depending on the requirements for the safe shutdown of the nuclear reactor. A Reliability and Maintainability (R and M) comparison is drawn between diesel engines and gas turbines to make a choice of the prime mover for the generator. The type and amount of redundancy of the generator sets is then investigated to establish high reliability. Effects of automatic interconnections between class III buses, generator groupings and synchronization is taken into account. Next, failure modes of the systems are considered and methods are sought to reduce the significant failure modes. Recommendations are made to improve the system at design and specification stage. Economics and maintainability are given due consideration throughout the unit selection, system analysis and improvement. Two-100 pc generators are considered against four-50 pc generators; in both cases, the generators form two independent groups of 100 pc capability.

Cost Analysis of MRI Services in Iran: An Application of Activity Based Costing Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayati, Mohsen; Mahboub Ahari, Alireza; Badakhshan, Abbas; Gholipour, Mahin; Joulaei, Hassan

2015-01-01

Considerable development of MRI technology in diagnostic imaging, high cost of MRI technology and controversial issues concerning official charges (tariffs) have been the main motivations to define and implement this study. The present study aimed to calculate the unit-cost of MRI services using activity-based costing (ABC) as a modern cost accounting system and to fairly compare calculated unit-costs with official charges (tariffs). We included both direct and indirect costs of MRI services delivered in fiscal year 2011 in Shiraz Shahid Faghihi hospital. Direct allocation method was used for distribution of overhead costs. We used micro-costing approach to calculate unit-cost of all different MRI services. Clinical cost data were retrieved from the hospital registering system. Straight-line method was used for depreciation cost estimation. To cope with uncertainty and to increase the robustness of study results, unit costs of 33 MRI services was calculated in terms of two scenarios. Total annual cost of MRI activity center (AC) was calculated at USD 400,746 and USD 532,104 based on first and second scenarios, respectively. Ten percent of the total cost was allocated from supportive departments. The annual variable costs of MRI center were calculated at USD 295,904. Capital costs measured at USD 104,842 and USD 236, 200 resulted from the first and second scenario, respectively. Existing tariffs for more than half of MRI services were above the calculated costs. As a public hospital, there are considerable limitations in both financial and administrative databases of Shahid Faghihi hospital. Labor cost has the greatest share of total annual cost of Shahid Faghihi hospital. The gap between unit costs and tariffs implies that the claim for extra budget from health providers may not be relevant for all services delivered by the studied MRI center. With some adjustments, ABC could be implemented in MRI centers. With the settlement of a reliable cost accounting system

Cost Analysis of MRI Services in Iran: An Application of Activity Based Costing Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayati, Mohsen; Mahboub Ahari, Alireza; Badakhshan, Abbas; Gholipour, Mahin; Joulaei, Hassan

2015-10-01

Considerable development of MRI technology in diagnostic imaging, high cost of MRI technology and controversial issues concerning official charges (tariffs) have been the main motivations to define and implement this study. The present study aimed to calculate the unit-cost of MRI services using activity-based costing (ABC) as a modern cost accounting system and to fairly compare calculated unit-costs with official charges (tariffs). We included both direct and indirect costs of MRI services delivered in fiscal year 2011 in Shiraz Shahid Faghihi hospital. Direct allocation method was used for distribution of overhead costs. We used micro-costing approach to calculate unit-cost of all different MRI services. Clinical cost data were retrieved from the hospital registering system. Straight-line method was used for depreciation cost estimation. To cope with uncertainty and to increase the robustness of study results, unit costs of 33 MRI services was calculated in terms of two scenarios. Total annual cost of MRI activity center (AC) was calculated at USD 400,746 and USD 532,104 based on first and second scenarios, respectively. Ten percent of the total cost was allocated from supportive departments. The annual variable costs of MRI center were calculated at USD 295,904. Capital costs measured at USD 104,842 and USD 236, 200 resulted from the first and second scenario, respectively. Existing tariffs for more than half of MRI services were above the calculated costs. As a public hospital, there are considerable limitations in both financial and administrative databases of Shahid Faghihi hospital. Labor cost has the greatest share of total annual cost of Shahid Faghihi hospital. The gap between unit costs and tariffs implies that the claim for extra budget from health providers may not be relevant for all services delivered by the studied MRI center. With some adjustments, ABC could be implemented in MRI centers. With the settlement of a reliable cost accounting system

Linear versus quadratic portfolio optimization model with transaction cost

Science.gov (United States)

Razak, Norhidayah Bt Ab; Kamil, Karmila Hanim; Elias, Siti Masitah

2014-06-01

Optimization model is introduced to become one of the decision making tools in investment. Hence, it is always a big challenge for investors to select the best model that could fulfill their goal in investment with respect to risk and return. In this paper we aims to discuss and compare the portfolio allocation and performance generated by quadratic and linear portfolio optimization models namely of Markowitz and Maximin model respectively. The application of these models has been proven to be significant and popular among others. However transaction cost has been debated as one of the important aspects that should be considered for portfolio reallocation as portfolio return could be significantly reduced when transaction cost is taken into consideration. Therefore, recognizing the importance to consider transaction cost value when calculating portfolio' return, we formulate this paper by using data from Shariah compliant securities listed in Bursa Malaysia. It is expected that, results from this paper will effectively justify the advantage of one model to another and shed some lights in quest to find the best decision making tools in investment for individual investors.

Hydrogen Station Cost Estimates: Comparing Hydrogen Station Cost Calculator Results with other Recent Estimates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melaina, M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Penev, M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2013-09-01

This report compares hydrogen station cost estimates conveyed by expert stakeholders through the Hydrogen Station Cost Calculation (HSCC) to a select number of other cost estimates. These other cost estimates include projections based upon cost models and costs associated with recently funded stations.

Some considerations on cost-benefit analysis in the optimization of radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doi, Masahiro; Nakashima, Yoshiyuki.

1988-01-01

To carry out Cost-Benefit Analysis in the optimization of radiation protection, first, we have to overcome the paradoxical problem in ethics, that is, how to convert radiological detriments into monetary value. Radiological detriments are composed of not only the objective health detriment (alpha-detriment) but also subjective non-health ones due to psychological stresses against radiological risks (beta-detriments). Nevertheless we can't neglect the problem of Cost-Benefit Analysis because of the fact that protectional costs are apt to be reduced as other fundamental production costs from the managemental point of view. The authors have proposed following two different situations concerning the treatment of radiological detriments in the decision-making processes for the optimization of radiation protection. That is. (1) Since protectional decision making processes for workers are parts of the total safety planning of the facility of interest, beta-detriments for workers should be discussed and determined in the labour-management negotiations. (2) In case of publics, subjective non-health detriments arise from the gap between radiation risks and radiation risk perception that can be clarified by social research techniques. In addition, this study has clarified criteria in planning of social researches for beta-detriments and constructed a theoretical model designed for these. (author)

The effects of rising energy costs and transportation mode mix on forest fuel procurement costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rauch, Peter; Gronalt, Manfred

2011-01-01

Since fossil fuels have been broadly recognized as a non-renewable energy source that threatens the climate, sustainable and CO 2 neutral energy sources - such as forest fuels - are being promoted in Europe, instead. With the expeditiously growing forest fuel demand, the strategic problem of how to design a cost-efficient distribution network has evolved. This paper presents an MILP model, comprising decisions on modes of transportation and spatial arrangement of terminals, in order to design a forest fuel supply network for Austria. The MILP model is used to evaluate the impacts of rising energy costs on procurement sources, transport mix and procurement costs on a national scale, based on the example of Austria. A 20% increase of energy costs results in a procurement cost increase of 7%, and another 20% increase of energy costs would have similar results. While domestic waterways become more important as a result of the first energy cost increase, rail only does so after the second. One way to decrease procurement costs would be to reduce the share of empty trips with truck and trailer. Reducing this share by 10% decreases the average procurement costs by up to 20%. Routing influences the modal split considerably, and the truck transport share increases from 86% to 97%, accordingly. Increasing forest fuel imports by large CHPs lowers domestic competition and also enables smaller plants to cut their procurement costs. Rising forest fuel imports via ship will not significantly decrease domestic market shares, but they will reduce procurement costs considerably. (author)

Swimming bath pumps. Ranges of application, selection, installation, energy efficiency; Schwimmbadpumpen. Einsatzbereiche, Auswahl, Aufbau, Energieeffizienz

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Korupp, Sascha

2012-07-01

The booklet under consideration reports on pumps being used in swimming baths. The range of application of the individual sorts of pump is described. The knowledge on the selection of suitable pumps is given. Subsequently, the design of a pump with the main components, the installation of a pump as well as the most important issues and difficulties of the pump material are illustrated. The total costs of a pump within its life cycle are determined. These life cycle costs can be reduced by propulsion components increasing the energy efficiency such as frequency converter, motors with permanent magnets or heat exchanger motors.

Cost-based droop scheme with lower generation costs for microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nutkani, Inam Ullah; Loh, Poh Chiang; Blaabjerg, Frede

2014-01-01

-based droop scheme, whose objective is to reduce a generation cost function realised with various DG operating characteristics taken into consideration. Where desired, proportional power sharing based on the DG kVA ratings can also be included, whose disadvantage is a slightly higher generation cost, which...... on the DG kilovolts ampere (kVA) ratings. Other factors like generation costs, efficiencies and emission penalties at different load demands have not been considered. This omission might not be appropriate if different types of DGs are present in the microgrids. As an alternative, this study proposes a cost...... is still lower than that produced by the traditional droop schemes. The proposed droop scheme therefore retains all advantages of the traditional droop schemes, whereas at the same time, keeps its generation cost low. These findings have been validated in experiments....

Yalın Üretim Ortamına Uygun Maliyet Sistemi Seçimi(Selection of Costing System Appropriate for Lean Manufacturing Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Funda ÖZÇELİK

2013-01-01

Full Text Available To be successful in global competition, the number of firms adopted lean manufacturing systems are increasing every day. Traditional cost management systems is insufficient to produce the information needed for businesses adopting lean manufacturing system. Value stream costing system, appropriate for lean manufacturing enterprises’s value stream organization, better serves the purpose of lean enterprises. In this study value stream costing introduced and selection of costing system for lean manufacturing environments will be done.

Cost-effectiveness of early versus selectively invasive strategy in patients with acute coronary syndromes without ST-segment elevation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijksman, L. M.; Hirsch, A.; Windhausen, F.; Asselman, F. F.; Tijssen, J. G. P.; Dijkgraaf, M. G. W.; de Winter, R. J.

2009-01-01

AIMS: The ICTUS trial compared an early invasive versus a selectively invasive strategy in high risk patients with a non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome and an elevated cardiac troponin T. Alongside the ICTUS trial a cost-effectiveness analysis from a provider perspective was performed.

Lower HVAC Costs | Efficient Windows Collaborative

Science.gov (United States)

Foundry Foundry New Construction Windows Window Selection Tool Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Replacement Windows Window Selection Tool Assessing Options Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Understanding Windows Benefits Design Considerations Measuring Performance Performance Standards

Energy & Cost Savings | Efficient Windows Collaborative

Science.gov (United States)

Foundry Foundry New Construction Windows Window Selection Tool Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Replacement Windows Window Selection Tool Assessing Options Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Understanding Windows Benefits Design Considerations Measuring Performance Performance Standards

Factoral analysis of the cost of preparing oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Avdeyeva, L A; Kudoyarov, G Sh; Shmatova, M F

1979-01-01

Mathematical statistics methods (basically correlational and regression analysis) are used to study the factors which form the level of cost of preparing oil with consideration of the mutual influence of the factors. Selected as the claims for inclusion into a mathematical model was a group of five a priori justified factors: the water level of the oil being extracted (%); the specific expenditure of deemulsifiers; the volume of oil preparation; the quality of oil preparation (the salt content) and the level of use of the installations' capacities (%). To construct an economic and mathematical model of the cost of the technical preparation (SPP) of the oil, all the unions which make up the Ministry of the Oil Industry were divided into two comparable totalities. The first group included unions in which the oil SPP was lower than the branch average and the second, unions in which the SPP was higher than the branch wide cost. Using the coefficients of regression, special elasticity coefficients and the fluctuation indicators, the basic factors were finally identified which have the greatest influence on the formation of the oil SPP level separately for the first and second groups of unions.

Surveillance-guided selective digestive decontamination of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in the intensive care unit: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Joyce H S; Li, Hong-Kiu; Ip, Margaret

2018-03-01

Clinical findings have shown effectiveness and safety of selective digestive decontamination (SDD) for eradication of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in high-risk carriers. We aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of SDD guided by CRE surveillance in the intensive care unit (ICU). Outcomes of surveillance-guided SDD (test-guided SDD) and no screening (control) in the ICU were compared by Markov model simulations. Model outcomes were CRE infection and mortality rates, direct costs, and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) loss. Model inputs were estimated from clinical literature. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the robustness of base case results. Test-guided SDD reduced infection (4.8% vs 5.0%) and mortality (1.8% vs 2.1%) rates at a higher cost ($1,102 vs $1,074) than the control group in base case analysis, respectively. Incremental cost per QALY saved (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio [ICER]) by the test-guided SDD group was $557 per QALY. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that test-guided SDD was effective in saving QALYs in 100% of 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations, and cost-saving 59.1% of time. The remaining 40.9% of simulations found SDD to be effective at an additional cost, with ICERs accepted as cost-effective per the willingness-to-pay threshold. Surveillance-guided SDD appears to be cost-effective in reducing CRE infection and mortality with QALYs saved. Copyright © 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost Sharing in the Prevention of Supply Chain Disruption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We examine the influence of cost-sharing mechanism on the disruption prevention investment in a supply chain with unreliable suppliers. When a supply chain faces considerable loss following a disruption, supply chain members are motivated toward investing in manners that reduce their disruption probability. In improving supply chain reliability, the cost-sharing mechanism must be set appropriately to realize the efficiency of the disruption prevention investment. In a supply chain where the focal manufacturing company has its own subsidiary supplier and an outsourcing supplier, we analyze different forms of cost-sharing mechanisms when both suppliers confront disruption risks. Through the cost-sharing mechanisms presented in this study, supply chain members can improve their reliability via disruption prevention investments without considerably increasing the total supply chain cost. We present two concepts, the cost-sharing structure and the cost-sharing ratio, in this study. As the two key components of cost-sharing mechanism, these two elements constitute a practicable cost allocation mechanism to facilitate disruption prevention.

Fitness Cost of Daptomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Obtained from in Vitro Daptomycin Selection Pressure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuguang Li

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Daptomycin-resistant (DAP-R Staphylococcus aureus strains are well documented, but have not been reported in China. To elucidate the evolution adaptability and fitness cost of DAP-R S. aureus, three DAP susceptible strains, Pre3 (MRSA, ST239-t037, Pre5 (MRSA, ST239-t037, and Pre14b (MSSA, ST188-t189, were isolated from patients with bloodstream infections, and serially passaged in Mueller–Hinton broth with a gradient of DAP concentration to select for resistance. Highly DAP-R mutants were obtained after screening for 34 passages. The DAP minimum inhibitory concentrations increased from 0.5 μg/ml in the parent strains to 16 μg/ml in the mutants, which remained tolerant to 4 μg/ml of DAP for more than 160 generations. The growth of the three mutant strains was slower than that of the parent strains, with relative fitness cost of 34.8%, 19.2%, and 15.0%, respectively. The in vitro serum tolerance of the mutants was decreased, and the lethality and pathogenicity in mice were weakened (P < 0.01. Transmission electron microscopy found that the cell walls of the mutants were significantly thicker (from 38.6% to 75.4% than those of the parent cells. Mutation L826F of mprF was found in Post14b, G299V, and L473I of mprF and Y225N of walK were found in Post3, while T345A of mprF, S52N of graS, and F473I of walK were found in Post5. Thus, stable DAP-R mutants could be obtained from a middle-short term of in vitro DAP selection, and according to their fitness cost, some prevention and control work may be done to cope with DAP-R S. aureus that may appear in China in the future.

Monetary evaluation of radiation detriment cost in cost/benefit analysis of protective actions after nuclear accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qu, J.; Xue, D.

1998-01-01

This paper discusses the monetary evaluation of radiation detriment cost in the cost/benefit analyses of countermeasures after nuclear accidents. The methods used to determine the so-called α factor in cost/benefit analysis are presented. It is pointed out that the approaches found in current literature to the consideration of individual dose in cost-benefit analyses have some limitations. To overcome those deficiencies, we introduced the concept of individual dose evaluation function in this paper. In addition, we developed a modified approach to cost-benefit analyses of protective actions after nuclear accidents. (author)

Cost of epilepsy: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Strzelczyk, Adam; Reese, Jens Peter; Dodel, Richard; Hamer, Hajo M

2008-01-01

The objective of this review was to overview published cost-of-illness (COI) studies of epilepsy and their methodological approaches. Epilepsy imposes a substantial burden on individuals and society as a whole. The mean prevalence of epilepsy is estimated at 0.52% in Europe, 0.68% in the US, and peaks up to 1.5% in developing countries. Estimation of the economic burden of epilepsy is of pivotal relevance to enable a rational distribution of healthcare resources. This is especially so with the introduction of the newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), the marketing of vagal-nerve stimulators and the resurgence of new surgical treatment options, which have the potential to considerably increase the costs of treating epilepsy.A systematic literature review was performed to identify studies that evaluated direct and indirect costs of epilepsy. Using a standardized assessment form, information on the study design, methodological framework and data sources were extracted from each publication and systematically reported. We identified 22 studies worldwide on costs of epilepsy. The majority of the studies reflected the costs of epilepsy in Europe (three studies each for the UK and Italy, one study each for Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and the EU) and the US (four studies), but studies were also available from India (two), Hong Kong, Oman, Burundi, Chile and Mexico. The studies utilized different frameworks to evaluate costs. All used a bottom-up approach; however, only 12 studies (55%) evaluated direct as well as indirect costs. The range for the mean annual direct costs lay between 40 International Dollar purchasing power parities (PPP-$) in rural Burundi and PPP-$4748 (adjusted to 2006 values) in a German epilepsy centre. Recent studies suggest AEDs are becoming the main contributor to direct costs. The mean indirect costs ranged between 12% and 85% of the total annual costs. Epilepsy is a cost-intensive disorder. A reliable comparison of the different COI

Direct costs and cost-effectiveness of dual-source computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography in patients with an intermediate pretest likelihood for coronary artery disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Dorenkamp, Marc; Bonaventura, Klaus; Sohns, Christian; Becker, Christoph R; Leber, Alexander W

2012-03-01

The study aims to determine the direct costs and comparative cost-effectiveness of latest-generation dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) and invasive coronary angiography for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients suspected of having this disease. The study was based on a previously elaborated cohort with an intermediate pretest likelihood for CAD and on complementary clinical data. Cost calculations were based on a detailed analysis of direct costs, and generally accepted accounting principles were applied. Based on Bayes' theorem, a mathematical model was used to compare the cost-effectiveness of both diagnostic approaches. Total costs included direct costs, induced costs and costs of complications. Effectiveness was defined as the ability of a diagnostic test to accurately identify a patient with CAD. Direct costs amounted to €98.60 for DSCT and to €317.75 for invasive coronary angiography. Analysis of model calculations indicated that cost-effectiveness grew hyperbolically with increasing prevalence of CAD. Given the prevalence of CAD in the study cohort (24%), DSCT was found to be more cost-effective than invasive coronary angiography (€970 vs €1354 for one patient correctly diagnosed as having CAD). At a disease prevalence of 49%, DSCT and invasive angiography were equally effective with costs of €633. Above a threshold value of disease prevalence of 55%, proceeding directly to invasive coronary angiography was more cost-effective than DSCT. With proper patient selection and consideration of disease prevalence, DSCT coronary angiography is cost-effective for diagnosing CAD in patients with an intermediate pretest likelihood for it. However, the range of eligible patients may be smaller than previously reported.

FUZZY THERMOECONOMIC APPROACH TO NANOFLUID SELECTION IN VAPOR COMPRESSION REFRIGERATION CYCLE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Kuleshov

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The working fluid selection in the vapour compression refrigeration cycles has been studied as a fuzzy thermoeconomic optimization problem. Three criteria: thermodynamic (COP Coefficient Of Performance, economic (LCC Life Cycle Cost, and ecologic (GWP – Global Warming Potential are chosen as target functions. The decision variables X as an information characteristics of desired refrigerant are presented by its critical parameters and normal boiling temperature. Local criteria are expressed via thermodynamic properties restored from information characteristics of refrigerant X, as well as life cycle costs are calculated by the standard economic relationships. GWP values are taken from the refrigerant database. Class of substances under consideration is presented by the natural refrigerant R600a embedded with nanostructured materials.

CENTAR gas centrifuge enrichment project: economics and engineering considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fishman, A.M.

1977-01-01

Description of some economic and engineering considerations of the CENTAR Associates' 3000000 SWU/yr gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant project. The need for uranium enrichment facilities is discussed, and the advantages of using the centrifuge process rather than the presently used gaseous diffusion process are reviewed. A description of the CENTAR plant is given, highlighting the major features of the facility. Since the centiruges to be used in the plant account for approximately 50% of the capital cost of the project, the philosophy of their manufacture and procurement is discussed. Various design considerations which bear upon process economics are presented to give the reader an appreciation of the subtleties of the technology and the flexibility possible in plant design. Special attention is given to meeting the needs of the utility customer at the lowest possible cost

Using Parametric Cost Models to Estimate Engineering and Installation Costs of Selected Electronic Communications Systems

Science.gov (United States)

1994-09-01

NC: SAS Institute Inc., 1991. 2. Horngren , Charles T. And George Foster. Cost Accounting : A Managerial Emphasis. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey...34 Office of the DoD Comptroller, Washington DC. 20. Horngren , Charles T. And George Foster. Cost Accounting : A Managerial Emphasis. Englewood Cliffs NJ...establish revolving funds as a means to more effectively control the cost of work performed by DoD support activities. In the 1950’ s and 1960’ s

Artificial selection on relative brain size in the guppy reveals costs and benefits of evolving a larger brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotrschal, Alexander; Rogell, Björn; Bundsen, Andreas; Svensson, Beatrice; Zajitschek, Susanne; Brännström, Ioana; Immler, Simone; Maklakov, Alexei A; Kolm, Niclas

2013-01-21

The large variation in brain size that exists in the animal kingdom has been suggested to have evolved through the balance between selective advantages of greater cognitive ability and the prohibitively high energy demands of a larger brain (the "expensive-tissue hypothesis"). Despite over a century of research on the evolution of brain size, empirical support for the trade-off between cognitive ability and energetic costs is based exclusively on correlative evidence, and the theory remains controversial. Here we provide experimental evidence for costs and benefits of increased brain size. We used artificial selection for large and small brain size relative to body size in a live-bearing fish, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), and found that relative brain size evolved rapidly in response to divergent selection in both sexes. Large-brained females outperformed small-brained females in a numerical learning assay designed to test cognitive ability. Moreover, large-brained lines, especially males, developed smaller guts, as predicted by the expensive-tissue hypothesis, and produced fewer offspring. We propose that the evolution of brain size is mediated by a functional trade-off between increased cognitive ability and reproductive performance and discuss the implications of these findings for vertebrate brain evolution. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Computer Resources for Machine Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Champion, Richard A.

2007-01-01

Machine learning describes pattern-recognition algorithms - in this case, probabilistic neural networks (PNNs). These can be computationally intensive, in part because of the nonlinear optimizer, a numerical process that calibrates the PNN by minimizing a sum of squared errors. This report suggests efficiencies that are expressed as cost and benefit. The cost is computer time needed to calibrate the PNN, and the benefit is goodness-of-fit, how well the PNN learns the pattern in the data. There may be a point of diminishing returns where a further expenditure of computer resources does not produce additional benefits. Sampling is suggested as a cost-reduction strategy. One consideration is how many points to select for calibration and another is the geometric distribution of the points. The data points may be nonuniformly distributed across space, so that sampling at some locations provides additional benefit while sampling at other locations does not. A stratified sampling strategy can be designed to select more points in regions where they reduce the calibration error and fewer points in regions where they do not. Goodness-of-fit tests ensure that the sampling does not introduce bias. This approach is illustrated by statistical experiments for computing correlations between measures of roadless area and population density for the San Francisco Bay Area. The alternative to training efficiencies is to rely on high-performance computer systems. These may require specialized programming and algorithms that are optimized for parallel performance.

Cost, Schedule and Risk Management, The Building Blocks of a U.S. Nuclear Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Redding, John

2002-01-01

The most important consideration in the decision to build a new nuclear plant is the capital cost. Right? Yes and no. Yes, the capital cost accounts for 80% of the generation cost of a new plant. No, because there are other equally important considerations. (author)

Euthanasia of Cattle: Practical Considerations and Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Jan Keith

2018-04-17

Acceptable methods for the euthanasia of cattle include overdose of an anesthetic, gunshot and captive bolt. The use of anesthetics for euthanasia is costly and complicates carcass disposal. These issues can be avoided by use of a physical method such as gunshot or captive bolt; however, each requires that certain conditions be met to assure an immediate loss of consciousness and death. For example, the caliber of firearm and type of bullet are important considerations when gunshot is used. When captive bolt is used, a penetrating captive bolt loaded with the appropriate powder charge and accompanied by a follow up (adjunctive) step to assure death are required. The success of physical methods also requires careful selection of the anatomic site for entry of a “free bullet” or “bolt” in the case of penetrating captive bolt. Disease eradication plans for animal health emergencies necessitate methods of euthanasia that will facilitate rapid and efficient depopulation of animals while preserving their welfare to the greatest extent possible. A portable pneumatic captive bolt device has been developed and validated as effective for use in mass depopulation scenarios. Finally, while most tend to focus on the technical aspects of euthanasia, it is extremely important that no one forget the human cost for those who may be required to perform the task of euthanasia on a regular basis. Symptoms including depression, grief, sleeplessness and destructive behaviors including alcoholism and drug abuse are not uncommon for those who participate in the euthanasia of animals.

Euthanasia of Cattle: Practical Considerations and Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Keith Shearer

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Acceptable methods for the euthanasia of cattle include overdose of an anesthetic, gunshot and captive bolt. The use of anesthetics for euthanasia is costly and complicates carcass disposal. These issues can be avoided by use of a physical method such as gunshot or captive bolt; however, each requires that certain conditions be met to assure an immediate loss of consciousness and death. For example, the caliber of firearm and type of bullet are important considerations when gunshot is used. When captive bolt is used, a penetrating captive bolt loaded with the appropriate powder charge and accompanied by a follow up (adjunctive step to assure death are required. The success of physical methods also requires careful selection of the anatomic site for entry of a “free bullet” or “bolt” in the case of penetrating captive bolt. Disease eradication plans for animal health emergencies necessitate methods of euthanasia that will facilitate rapid and efficient depopulation of animals while preserving their welfare to the greatest extent possible. A portable pneumatic captive bolt device has been developed and validated as effective for use in mass depopulation scenarios. Finally, while most tend to focus on the technical aspects of euthanasia, it is extremely important that no one forget the human cost for those who may be required to perform the task of euthanasia on a regular basis. Symptoms including depression, grief, sleeplessness and destructive behaviors including alcoholism and drug abuse are not uncommon for those who participate in the euthanasia of animals.

15 CFR 1160.24 - Antitrust considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Partnership Initiative § 1160.24 Antitrust considerations. (a) The Department of Commerce will offer no opinion on the antitrust merits of the formation of any proposed Strategic Partnership. The Department may..., conduct workshops to discuss the formation of such partnerships in general. Commerce will not select the...

[Cost-effectiveness analysis of celecoxib versus non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapy for the treatment of osteoarthritis in Spain: A current perspective].

Science.gov (United States)

De Lossada, A; Oteo-Álvaro, Á; Giménez, S; Oyagüez, I; Rejas, J

2016-01-01

To assess the cost-effectiveness of celecoxib and non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis in clinical practice in Spain. A decision-tree model using distribution, doses, treatment duration and incidence of GI and CV events observed in the pragmatic PROBE-designed «GI-Reasons» trial was used for cost-effectiveness. Effectiveness was expressed in terms of event averted and quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) gained. QALY were calculated based on utility decrement in case of any adverse events reported in GI-Reasons trial. The National Health System perspective in Spain was applied; cost calculations included current prices of drugs plus cost of adverse events occurred. The analysis was expressed as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio per QALY gained and per event averted. One-way and probabilistic analyses were performed. Compared with non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, at current prices, celecoxib treatment had higher overall treatment costs €201 and €157, respectively. However, celecoxib was associated with a slight increase in QALY gain and significantly lower incidence of gastrointestinal events (pcost-effectiveness ratio of €13,286 per QALY gained and €4,471 per event averted. Sensitivity analyses were robust, and confirmed the results of the base case. Celecoxib at current price may be considered as a cost-effective alternative vs. non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of osteoarthritis in daily practice in the Spanish NHS. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Review on studies for external cost of nuclear power generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Byung Heung [Korea National University of Transportation, Chungju (Korea, Republic of); Ko, Won Il [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-12-15

External cost is cost imposed on a third party when producing or consuming a good or service. Since the 1990s, the external costs of nuclear powered electricity production have been studied. Costs are a very important factor in policy decision and the external cost is considered for cost comparison on electricity production. As for nuclear fuel cycle, a chosen technology will determine the external cost. However, there has been little research on this issue. For this study, methods for external cost on nuclear power production have been surveyed and analyzed to develop an approach for evaluating external cost on nuclear fuel cycles. Before the Fukushima accident, external cost research had focused on damage costs during normal operation of a fuel cycle. However, accident cost becomes a major concern after the accident. Various considerations for external cost including accident cost have been used to different studies, and different methods have been applied corresponding to the considerations. In this study, the results of the evaluation were compared and analyzed to identify methodological applicability to the external cost estimation with nuclear fuel cycles.

Review on studies for external cost of nuclear power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Byung Heung; Ko, Won Il

2015-01-01

External cost is cost imposed on a third party when producing or consuming a good or service. Since the 1990s, the external costs of nuclear powered electricity production have been studied. Costs are a very important factor in policy decision and the external cost is considered for cost comparison on electricity production. As for nuclear fuel cycle, a chosen technology will determine the external cost. However, there has been little research on this issue. For this study, methods for external cost on nuclear power production have been surveyed and analyzed to develop an approach for evaluating external cost on nuclear fuel cycles. Before the Fukushima accident, external cost research had focused on damage costs during normal operation of a fuel cycle. However, accident cost becomes a major concern after the accident. Various considerations for external cost including accident cost have been used to different studies, and different methods have been applied corresponding to the considerations. In this study, the results of the evaluation were compared and analyzed to identify methodological applicability to the external cost estimation with nuclear fuel cycles

A comprehensive economic evaluation of integrated desalination systems using fossil fuelled and nuclear energies and including their environmental costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nisan, S.; Benzarti, N.

2008-01-01

Seawater desalination is now widely accepted as an attractive alternative source of freshwater for domestic and industrial uses. Despite the considerable progress made in the relevant technologies desalination, however, remains an energy intensive process in which the energy cost is the paramount factor. This Study is a first of a kind in that we have integrated the environmental costs into the power and desalination costs. The study has focused on the seawater desalination cost evaluation of the following systems. It is supposed that they will be operating in the co-generation mode (Simultaneous production of electrical power and desalted water) in 2015: Fossil fuelled based systems such as the coal and oil fired plants and the gas turbine combined cycle plant, coupled to MED, and RO; Pressurised water reactors such as the PWR-900 and the AP-600, coupled to MED, and RO; High temperature reactors such as the GT-MHR, the PBMR, coupled to MED, with the utilisation of virtually free waste-heat provided by these reactors. The study is made in real site-specific conditions of a site In Southern Europe. Sensitivity studies for different parameters such as the fossil fuel prices, interest and discount rates, power costs etc., have also been undertaken. The results obtained are then used to evaluate the financial interest of selected integrated desalination systems in terms of a detailed cash flow analysis, providing the net present values, pay back periods and the internal rate of returns. Analysis of the results shows that among the fossil fuelled systems the power and desalination costs by circulating fluidized bed coal fired plant would be the lowest with current coal prices. Those by oil fired plants would be highest. In all cases, integrated nuclear energy systems would lead to considerably lower power and water costs than the corresponding coal based systems. When external costs for different energies are internalized in power and water costs, the relative cost

Estimating the costs of the vaccine supply chain and service delivery for selected districts in Kenya and Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Mvundura, Mercy; Lorenson, Kristina; Chweya, Amos; Kigadye, Rosemary; Bartholomew, Kathryn; Makame, Mohammed; Lennon, T Patrick; Mwangi, Steven; Kirika, Lydia; Kamau, Peter; Otieno, Abner; Murunga, Peninah; Omurwa, Tom; Dafrossa, Lyimo; Kristensen, Debra

2015-05-28

Having data on the costs of the immunization system can provide decision-makers with information to benchmark the costs when evaluating the impact of new technologies or programmatic innovations. This paper estimated the supply chain and immunization service delivery costs and cost per dose in selected districts in Kenya and Tanzania. We also present operational data describing the supply chain and service delivery points (SDPs). To estimate the supply chain costs, we collected resource-use data for the cold chain, distribution system, and health worker time and per diems paid. We also estimated the service delivery costs, which included the time cost of health workers to provide immunization services, and per diems and transport costs for outreach sessions. Data on the annual quantities of vaccines distributed to each facility, and the occurrence and duration of stockouts were collected from stock registers. These data were collected from the national store, 2 regional and 4 district stores, and 12 SDPs in each country for 2012. Cost per dose for the supply chain and immunization service delivery were estimated. The average annual costs per dose at the SDPs were $0.34 (standard deviation (s.d.) $0.18) for Kenya when including only the vaccine supply chain costs, and $1.33 (s.d. $0.82) when including immunization service delivery costs. In Tanzania, these costs were $0.67 (s.d. $0.35) and $2.82 (s.d. $1.64), respectively. Both countries experienced vaccine stockouts in 2012, bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine being more likely to be stocked out in Kenya, and oral poliovirus vaccine in Tanzania. When stockouts happened, they usually lasted for at least one month. Tanzania made investments in 2011 in preparation for planned vaccine introductions, and their supply chain cost per dose is expected to decline with the new vaccine introductions. Immunization service delivery costs are a significant portion of the total costs at the SDPs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All

General aspects of siting and safety considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rutgers, E.

1980-01-01

The siting process from site selection to the different stages of review by the regulatory body is described. Special attention is payed to the role and responsibilities of the licensing authority. Next, the basic considerations involved in the siting process are reviewed. They include system planning, engineering, safety, environmental impact (including land use) and economics. Case studies illustrating different aspects of the siting process (e.g. site selection) are presented. (orig.)

The Impact of Learning Curve Model Selection and Criteria for Cost Estimation Accuracy in the DoD

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-30

different in the future due to machines” • Heightened scrutiny of cost estimates • Budget Control Act of 2011 seeks to reduce federal deficit ...qÜáêíÉÉåíÜ=^ååì~ä= ^Åèìáëáíáçå=oÉëÉ~êÅÜ= póãéçëáìã= qÜìêëÇ~ó=pÉëëáçåë= sçäìãÉ=ff= = The Impact of Learning Curve Model Selection and Criteria for Cost...Assistant Division Director, Institute for Defense Analyses Bruce Harmon, Research Staff Member, Institute for Defense Analyses The Impact of Learning

Consideration of Cosmetic Surgery As Part of Women's Benefit-Provisioning Mate Retention Strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Atari, Mohammad; Barbaro, Nicole; Sela, Yael; Shackelford, Todd K; Chegeni, Razieh

2017-01-01

Individuals perform mate retention behaviors to minimize the risk of partner infidelity and relationship dissolution. The current study investigates whether consideration of cosmetic surgery can be conceptualized as part of a broader strategy of mate retention for women, but not men. We hypothesized that women's consideration of cosmetic surgery would be positively associated with performance frequencies of Benefit-Provisioning and Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors. We recruited 203 individuals (54% women) in committed heterosexual relationships from Tehran, Iran. Results indicate a positive association between consideration of cosmetic surgery and Benefit-Provisioning mate retention behaviors for women, but not men. There was no association between consideration of cosmetic surgery and Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors. Women therefore may consider cosmetic surgery to improve their physical attractiveness as part of a Benefit-Provisioning strategy to retain a long-term mate. We discuss limitations of the study and highlight future directions for research from an evolutionary perspective.

The cost of reinforcement: selection on flower color in allopatric populations of Phlox drummondii.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopkins, Robin; Rausher, Mark D

2014-05-01

Reinforcement is the process by which increased reproductive isolation between incipient species evolves due to selection against maladaptive hybrids or costly hybrid mating. Reinforcement is predicted to create a pattern of greater prezygotic reproductive isolation in regions where the two species co-occur, sympatry, than in allopatry. Although most research on reinforcement focuses on understanding the evolutionary forces acting in sympatry, here we consider what prevents the alleles conferring greater reproductive isolation from spreading into allopatry. We investigate flower color divergence in the wildflower Phlox drummondii, which is caused by reinforcement in the regions sympatric with its congener Phlox cuspidata. Specifically, we performed common garden field experiments and pollinator observations to estimate selection acting on flower color variation in allopatry. We combine our estimates of maternal and paternal fitness using simulations and predict how flower color alleles migrating from sympatry will evolve in allopatry. Our results suggest that strong pollinator preference for the ancestral flower color in allopatry can maintain divergence between allopatric and sympatric populations.

Analysis of selected factors that generate the costs of accidents at work using the Polish construction industry as an example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoła Anna

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents analysis of selected factors that generate the costs of accidents at work using the Polish construction industry as an example. The individual components of the cost of accidents have been identified. Using the statistical data published by the Central Statistical Office, the impact on the size of the cost of accidents at work of such factors as the lost time of an injured person, the lost time of other people involved in the removal of accident effects and also material losses caused by an accident, was analysed. On the basis of the conducted analysis, conclusions regarding economic losses due to accidents were formulated.

Selection of a management strategy for depleted uranium hexafluoride

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patton, S.E.; Hanrahan, E.J.; Bradley, C.E.

1995-01-01

A consequence of the uranium enrichment process used in the United States (US) is the accumulation of a significant amount of depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ). Currently, approximately 560,000 metric tons of the material are stored at three different sites. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has recently initiated a program to consider alternative strategies for the cost-effective and environmentally safe long-term management of this inventory of depleted UF 6 . The program involves a technology and engineering assessment of proposed management options (use/reuse, conversion, storage, or disposal) and an analysis of the potential environmental impacts and life-cycle costs of alternative management strategies. The information obtained from the studies will be used by the DOE to select a preferred long-term management strategy. The selection and implementation of a management strategy will involve consideration of a number of important issues such as environmental, health, and safety effects; the balancing of risks versus costs in a context of reduced government spending; socioeconomic implications, including effects on the domestic and international uranium industry; the technical status of proposed uses or technologies; and public involvement in the decision making process. Because of its provisions for considering a wide range of relevant issues and involving the public, this program has become a model for future DOE materials disposition programs. This paper presents an overview of the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Management Program. Technical findings of the program to date are presented, and major issues involved in selecting and implementing a management strategy are discussed

Comprehensive Assessment of New Proppants for Hydraulic Fracturing Utilization under the Consideration of Cost, Environmental & Health Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Adebakin, Mariam Abiodun

The advancement and increased practice of hydraulic fracturing, a process which involves the drilling of a well and the injection of fracture fluid (water, proppant and various chemicals) under high pressure to stimulate the production of oil and gas, has gradually gained public attention over the past years. This is because of its effectiveness in booming the nation's economy as well as the adverse effects in terms of risks this process poses to all forms of life. Several speculations have been raised about the choice of proppant used as a contributory factor to the risks hydraulic fracturing poses. Frac sand is the most widely used proppant in several wells in the United States but several health and environmental concerns has been raised on its short and long term use. It is therefore imperative to examine the impacts (health and environmental) as well as cost implication, if any, in selecting the most appropriate proppant in other to reduce and or completely eliminate its effect on humans and other forms of life. This study aims to compare other proppants (resin-coated sand and ceramic) with frac sand, focusing on cost, environmental and health implications when used. This study found that sand is the cheapest and most available proppant in terms of production cost compared to resin coated sand and ceramic proppant. However, sand cannot be used in deep wells as it is subjected to more stress leading to its disintegration and crushing in the well which eventually blocks the fissures created and the subsequent flow of oil and gas. In terms of health and environmental impacts, sand should be discouraged as it generates crystalline silica dust known to be injurious if inhaled.

Use of external cost assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis for comparative evaluation of options for electricity supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschberg, Stefan; Dones, Roberto; Gantner, Urs

2000-01-01

This paper addresses external cost and multi-criteria analyses carried out for selected future electricity generating systems of interest under the Swiss. conditions. The external cost estimates are based on an application of the 'impact pathway approach', enriched by earlier experience from extensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The estimated total costs, i.e. the sum of internal and external costs may serve as a measure of economic and environmental efficiency of energy systems. The multi-criteria approach allows a more explicit consideration of the social dimension, highly important for the decision process. The applications of multi-criteria analysis illustrate the sensitivity of the results to a range of preferences expressed in the energy debate. Certain patterns in systems ranking can be observed in spite of these sensitivities. Both total cost assessment and multi-criteria analysis are found to be useful, complementary instruments to support the decision process. (author)

A Hybrid Decision-Making Model for Selecting Container Seaport in the Persian Gulf

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jafar Sayareh

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Ports have always played a vital role in international transportation. Port selection decision is a process that requires consideration of many important and relevant criteria. The selection of the influential decision-making criteria is also a significant and vital issue which demands cautious thoughts. The main objective of this paper is to weigh the most dominant decision-making criteria by Technique for Order Preference to Similarity by Ideal Solution (TOPSIS and select an optimised container seaport in the Persian Gulf by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP according to decisive port selection factors. This paper presents an extensive review of port selection decision-making attributes in different past studies. Finally, by using TOPSIS and AHP, the findings of this research suggest that the working time, stevedoring rate, safety, port entrance, sufficient draft, capacity of port facilities, operating cost, number of berths, ship chandelling, and international policies are critical factors for selecting container seaport in the Persian Gulf.

Cost decreases in environmental technology. Evidence from four case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oosterhuis, F. [Instituut for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit VU, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2007-07-15

The cost of a new technology tends to decrease as its uptake grows, and environmental technology is no exception to this general rule. Factors that can bring about such cost reductions include economies of scale, 'learning-by-doing', incremental technological improvements, and growing competition. In preparing environmental policies, the potential for future cost reductions is often disregarded. The present study aims to provide some additional empirical evidence on the cost decreases in environmental technology and the factors that lie behind them. To this end, four exemplary case studies have been selected. The first case (NOx emission abatement by Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)), shows a wide variety in cost estimates, without a clear trend. This is even true for the costs of a fairly homogeneous type of investment (SCR in coal fired power plants). Nevertheless, it is clear that an important cost decrease has been achieved by prolonging the lifetime of the catalyst, which is one of the main cost components in SCR. In the second case (NH3 emission abatement by chemical air scrubbers in pig farming) there is not yet sufficient experience with the technology to draw conclusions on the development of costs. However, it is already clear that economizing on the capacity of the system can contribute to important cost savings. Three-way catalytic converters in cars have shown significant price decreases following their large scale introduction on the European market in the early 1990s. Probably economies of scale have played an important role in this case, as the size of the market made mass production possible. To some extent, cost reductions may also be attributed to improvements such as the need for less materials (e.g. platinum). Furthermore, the performance of catalytic converters has improved, implying that the cost per unit of emission reduction has decreased even more than the cost of the device itself. Market prices of Compact Fluorescent Lamps

Cost-effectiveness thresholds: pros and cons.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertram, Melanie Y; Lauer, Jeremy A; De Joncheere, Kees; Edejer, Tessa; Hutubessy, Raymond; Kieny, Marie-Paule; Hill, Suzanne R

2016-12-01

Cost-effectiveness analysis is used to compare the costs and outcomes of alternative policy options. Each resulting cost-effectiveness ratio represents the magnitude of additional health gained per additional unit of resources spent. Cost-effectiveness thresholds allow cost-effectiveness ratios that represent good or very good value for money to be identified. In 2001, the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics in Health suggested cost-effectiveness thresholds based on multiples of a country's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). In some contexts, in choosing which health interventions to fund and which not to fund, these thresholds have been used as decision rules. However, experience with the use of such GDP-based thresholds in decision-making processes at country level shows them to lack country specificity and this - in addition to uncertainty in the modelled cost-effectiveness ratios - can lead to the wrong decision on how to spend health-care resources. Cost-effectiveness information should be used alongside other considerations - e.g. budget impact and feasibility considerations - in a transparent decision-making process, rather than in isolation based on a single threshold value. Although cost-effectiveness ratios are undoubtedly informative in assessing value for money, countries should be encouraged to develop a context-specific process for decision-making that is supported by legislation, has stakeholder buy-in, for example the involvement of civil society organizations and patient groups, and is transparent, consistent and fair.

Economic costs of drug abuse: financial, cost of illness, and services.

Science.gov (United States)

Cartwright, William S

2008-03-01

This article examines costs as they relate to the financial costs of providing drug abuse treatment in private and public health plans, costs to society relating to drug abuse, and many smaller costing studies of various stakeholders in the health care system. A bibliography is developed from searches across PubMed, Web of Science, and other bibliographic sources. The review indicates that a wide collection of cost findings is available to policy makers. For example, the financial aspects of health plans have been dominated by considerations of actuarial costs of parity for drug abuse treatment. Cost-of-illness methods have been developed and extended to drug abuse costing to measure the national level of burden and are important to the economic evaluation of interventions at the program level. Costing is done in many small and focused studies, reflecting the interests of different stakeholders in the health care system. For costs in programs and health plans, as well as cost offsets of the impact of substance abuse treatment on medical expenditures, findings are surprisingly important to policy makers. Maintaining ongoing research that is highly policy relevant from the point of view of health services, more is needed on costing concepts and measurement applications.

Certification of Credence Goods with Consideration of Consumers’ Learning Ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xujin Pu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper constructs a two-period and an infinitely repeated signaling model for the certification of credence goods, with consideration of the learning ability of consumers. Based on the analysis of the existing conditions of separating equilibrium under different situations, results reveal that the certification cost has a significant influence on the separating equilibrium. The range of certification cost for a separating equilibrium is positively related to the usurp cost and the consumers’ learning ability and is negatively related to the difference in the production cost. Compared with that in a two-period model, the range of the certification cost for a separating equilibrium is greater in the infinitely repeated model and is positively related to the discount coefficient.

Should Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Include the Cost of Consumption Activities? AN Empirical Investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Adarkwah, Charles Christian; Sadoghi, Amirhossein; Gandjour, Afschin

2016-02-01

There has been a debate on whether cost-effectiveness analysis should consider the cost of consumption and leisure time activities when using the quality-adjusted life year as a measure of health outcome under a societal perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the effects of ill health on consumptive activities are spontaneously considered in a health state valuation exercise and how much this matters. The survey enrolled patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Germany (n = 104). Patients were randomized to explicit and no explicit instruction for the consideration of consumption and leisure effects in a time trade-off (TTO) exercise. Explicit instruction to consider non-health-related utility in TTO exercises did not influence TTO scores. However, spontaneous consideration of non-health-related utility in patients without explicit instruction (60% of respondents) led to significantly lower TTO scores. Results suggest an inclusion of consumption costs in the numerator of the cost-effectiveness ratio, at least for those respondents who spontaneously consider non-health-related utility from treatment. Results also suggest that exercises eliciting health valuations from the general public may include a description of the impact of disease on consumptive activities. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Workshop in economics - the problem of climate change benefit-cost analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosobud, R.F.

1992-01-01

Could benefit-cost analysis play a larger role in the discussion of policies to deal with the greenhouse effect? The paper also investigates the causes of this lack of influence. Selected forms of benefit-cost research are probed, particularly the critical discussions raised by this type of research, in an effort to suggest where the chances of greater acceptance lie. The paper begins by discussing the search for an appropriate policy: optimal, targeted, or incremental. It then describes the work being done in specifying and estimating climate change damage relationships. A consideration of the work being done in specifying and estimating abatement (both mitigation and adaptation) cost relationships follows. Finally, the paper ends with an examination of the search for the appropriate policy instrument. International and methodological concerns cut across these areas and are discussed in each section. This paper concludes that there seem to be a number of reasons that benefit-cost results play only a limited role in policy development. There is some evidence that the growing interest in market-based approaches to climate change policy and to other environmental control matters is a sign of increased acceptance. Suggestions about research directions are made throughout this paper

How do dispersal costs and habitat selection influence realized population connectivity?

Science.gov (United States)

Burgess, Scott C; Treml, Eric A; Marshall, Dustin J

2012-06-01

Despite the importance of dispersal for population connectivity, dispersal is often costly to the individual. A major impediment to understanding connectivity has been a lack of data combining the movement of individuals and their survival to reproduction in the new habitat (realized connectivity). Although mortality often occurs during dispersal (an immediate cost), in many organisms costs are paid after dispersal (deferred costs). It is unclear how such deferred costs influence the mismatch between dispersal and realized connectivity. Through a series of experiments in the field and laboratory, we estimated both direct and indirect deferred costs in a marine bryozoan (Bugula neritina). We then used the empirical data to parameterize a theoretical model in order to formalize predictions about how dispersal costs influence realized connectivity. Individuals were more likely to colonize poor-quality habitat after prolonged dispersal durations. Individuals that colonized poor-quality habitat performed poorly after colonization because of some property of the habitat (an indirect deferred cost) rather than from prolonged dispersal per se (a direct deferred cost). Our theoretical model predicted that indirect deferred costs could result in nonlinear mismatches between spatial patterns of potential and realized connectivity. The deferred costs of dispersal are likely to be crucial for determining how well patterns of dispersal reflect realized connectivity. Ignoring these deferred costs could lead to inaccurate predictions of spatial population dynamics.

A Preference Model for Supplier Selection Based on Hesitant Fuzzy Sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhexuan Zhou

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The supplier selection problem is a widespread concern in the modern commercial economy. Ranking suppliers involves many factors and poses significant difficulties for decision makers. Supplier selection is a multi-criteria and multi-objective problem, which leads to decision makers forming their own preferences. In addition, there are both quantifiable and non-quantifiable attributes related to their preferences. To solve this problem, this paper presents a preference model based on hesitant fuzzy sets (HFS to select suppliers. The cost and service quality of suppliers are the main considerations in the proposed model. HFS with interactive and multi-criteria decision making are used to evaluate the non-quantifiable attributes of service quality, which include competitive display, qualification ability, suitability and competitiveness of solutions, and relational fitness and dynamics. Finally, a numerical example of supplier selection for a high-end equipment manufacturer is provided to illustrate the applicability of the proposed model. The preferences of a decision maker are then analyzed by altering preference parameters.

Cost benefit analysis cost effectiveness analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lombard, J.

1986-09-01

The comparison of various protection options in order to determine which is the best compromise between cost of protection and residual risk is the purpose of the ALARA procedure. The use of decision-aiding techniques is valuable as an aid to selection procedures. The purpose of this study is to introduce two rather simple and well known decision aiding techniques: the cost-effectiveness analysis and the cost-benefit analysis. These two techniques are relevant for the great part of ALARA decisions which need the use of a quantitative technique. The study is based on an hypothetical case of 10 protection options. Four methods are applied to the data

Ethical Considerations in Research Participation Virality.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis-Barton, Carol

2016-07-01

This article seeks to commence and encourage discussion around the upcoming ethical challenges of virality in network structures. When the call for participation in a research project on lupus in Ireland went from an advertisement in a newsletter to a meme (unit of transmissible information) on a closed Facebook page, the ethical considerations of virality were raised. The article analyzes the Association of Internet Researchers guidelines, Facebook policies, and the context of privacy in relation to virality. Virality creates the leverage for methodological pluralism. The nature of the inquiry can determine the method rather than the other way around. Viral ethical considerations are evolving due to the cyber world becoming the primary meme of communication, with flexibility in the researcher's protocol providing opportunities for efficient, cost-effective, and diverse recruitment. © The Author(s) 2016.

Multiple cost criteria for occupational dose reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

James, J.Z.

1983-01-01

This paper describes a simple, feasible procedure for deciding if a proposed dose reduction measure is justified under ALARA, based on engineering economic principles of project feasibility analysis. Particular attention is given to the fixing of cost criteria: the importance of melding disparate objectives into a single parameter, and the distinction between a cost criterion and a cost consideration. (author)

A Low-Cost Inkjet-Printed Aptamer-Based Electrochemical Biosensor for the Selective Detection of Lysozyme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niazul Islam Khan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, inkjet-printing has gained increased popularity in applications such as flexible electronics and disposable sensors, as well as in wearable sensors because of its multifarious advantages. This work presents a novel, low-cost immobilization technique using inkjet-printing for the development of an aptamer-based biosensor for the detection of lysozyme, an important biomarker in various disease diagnosis. The strong affinity between the carbon nanotube (CNT and the single-stranded DNA is exploited to immobilize the aptamers onto the working electrode by printing the ink containing the dispersion of CNT-aptamer complex. The inkjet-printing method enables aptamer density control, as well as high resolution patternability. Our developed sensor shows a detection limit of 90 ng/mL with high target selectivity against other proteins. The sensor also demonstrates a shelf-life for a reasonable period. This technology has potential for applications in developing low-cost point-of-care diagnostic testing kits for home healthcare.

Cost study of dermal substitutes and topical negative pressure in the surgical treatment of burns.

Science.gov (United States)

Hop, M Jenda; Bloemen, Monica C T; van Baar, Margriet E; Nieuwenhuis, Marianne K; van Zuijlen, Paul P M; Polinder, Suzanne; Middelkoop, Esther

2014-05-01

A recently performed randomised controlled trial investigated the clinical effectiveness of dermal substitutes (DS) and split skin grafts (SSG) in combination with topical negative pressure (TNP) in the surgical treatment of burn wounds. In the current study, medical and non-medical costs were investigated, to comprehensively assess the benefits of this new treatment. The primary outcome was mean total costs of the four treatment strategies: SSG with or without DS, and with or without TNP. Costs were studied from a societal perspective. Findings were evaluated in light of the clinical effects on scar elasticity. Eighty-six patients were included. Twelve months post-operatively, highest elasticity was measured in scars treated with DS and TNP (p=0.027). The initial cost price of treatment with DS and TNP was €2912 compared to treatment with SSG alone €1703 (ptreatment contributed maximal 7% to the total costs and total costs varied widely within and between groups, but were not significantly different. Therefore, in the selection of the most optimal type of surgical intervention, cost considerations should not play an important role. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

A cost constraint alone has adverse effects on food selection and nutrient density: an analysis of human diets by linear programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Darmon, Nicole; Ferguson, Elaine L; Briend, André

2002-12-01

Economic constraints may contribute to the unhealthy food choices observed among low socioeconomic groups in industrialized countries. The objective of the present study was to predict the food choices a rational individual would make to reduce his or her food budget, while retaining a diet as close as possible to the average population diet. Isoenergetic diets were modeled by linear programming. To ensure these diets were consistent with habitual food consumption patterns, departure from the average French diet was minimized and constraints that limited portion size and the amount of energy from food groups were introduced into the models. A cost constraint was introduced and progressively strengthened to assess the effect of cost on the selection of foods by the program. Strengthening the cost constraint reduced the proportion of energy contributed by fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy products and increased the proportion from cereals, sweets and added fats, a pattern similar to that observed among low socioeconomic groups. This decreased the nutritional quality of modeled diets, notably the lowest cost linear programming diets had lower vitamin C and beta-carotene densities than the mean French adult diet (i.e., cost constraint can decrease the nutrient densities of diets and influence food selection in ways that reproduce the food intake patterns observed among low socioeconomic groups. They suggest that economic measures will be needed to effectively improve the nutritional quality of diets consumed by these populations.

Cost analysis of breast cancer diagnostic assessment programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Honein-AbouHaidar, G N; Hoch, J S; Dobrow, M J; Stuart-McEwan, T; McCready, D R; Gagliardi, A R

2017-10-01

Diagnostic assessment programs (daps) appear to improve the diagnosis of cancer, but evidence of their cost-effectiveness is lacking. Given that no earlier study used secondary financial data to estimate the cost of diagnostic tests in the province of Ontario, we explored how to use secondary financial data to retrieve the cost of key diagnostic test services in daps, and we tested the reliability of that cost-retrieving method with hospital-reported costs in preparation for future cost-effectiveness studies. We powered our sample at an alpha of 0.05, a power of 80%, and a margin of error of ±5%, and randomly selected a sample of eligible patients referred to a dap for suspected breast cancer during 1 January-31 December 2012. Confirmatory diagnostic tests received by each patient were identified in medical records. Canadian Classification of Health Intervention procedure codes were used to search the secondary financial data Web portal at the Ontario Case Costing Initiative for an estimate of the direct, indirect, and total costs of each test. The hospital-reported cost of each test received was obtained from the host-hospital's finance department. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the cost of individual or group confirmatory diagnostic tests, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test or the paired t-test was used to compare the Ontario Case Costing Initiative and hospital-reported costs. For the 191 identified patients with suspected breast cancer, the estimated total cost of $72,195.50 was not significantly different from the hospital-reported total cost of $72,035.52 ( p = 0.24). Costs differed significantly when multiple tests to confirm the diagnosis were completed during one patient visit and when confirmatory tests reported in hospital data and in medical records were discrepant. The additional estimated cost for non-salaried physicians delivering diagnostic services was $28,387.50. It was feasible to use secondary financial data to retrieve the cost

The Cost of Nurse-Midwifery Care: Use of Interventions, Resources, and Associated Costs in the Hospital Setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Altman, Molly R; Murphy, Sean M; Fitzgerald, Cynthia E; Andersen, H Frank; Daratha, Kenn B

Obstetrical care often involves multiple expensive, and often elective, interventions that may increase costs to patients, payers, and the health care system with little effect on patient outcomes. The objectives of this study were to examine the following hospital related outcomes: 1) use of labor and birth interventions, 2) inpatient duration of stay, and 3) total direct health care costs for patients attended by a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) compared with those attended by an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN), within an environment of safe and high-quality care. Electronic health records for 1,441 medically low-risk women who gave birth at a hospital located in the U.S. Pacific Northwest between January and September 2013 were sampled. Multilevel regression and generalized linear models were used for analysis. Reduced use of selected labor and birth interventions (cesarean delivery, vacuum-assisted delivery, epidural anesthesia, labor induction, and cervical ripening), reduced maternal duration of stay, and reduced overall costs associated with CNM-led care relative to OB-GYN-led care were observed for medically low-risk women in a hospital setting. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were comparable across groups. This study supports consideration of increased use of CNMs as providers for the care of women at low risk for complications to decrease costs for the health care system. The use of CNMs to the fullest extent within state-regulated scopes of practice could result in more efficient use of hospital resources. Copyright © 2017 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost Comparison for the Transfer of Select Calcined Waste Canisters to the Monitored Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, NV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michael B. Heiser; Clark B. Millet

2005-01-01

This report performs a life-cycle cost comparison of three proposed canister designs for the shipment and disposition of Idaho National Laboratory high-level calcined waste currently in storage at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center to the proposed national monitored geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Concept A (2 x 10-ft) and Concept B (2 x 15-ft) canisters are comparable in design, but they differ in size and waste loading options and vary proportionally in weight. The Concept C (5.5 x 17.5-ft) canister (also called the ''super canister''), while similar in design to the other canisters, is considerably larger and heavier than Concept A and B canisters and has a greater wall thickness. This report includes estimating the unique life-cycle costs for the three canister designs. Unique life-cycle costs include elements such as canister purchase and filling at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, cask preparation and roundtrip consignment costs, final disposition in the monitored geologic repository (including canister off-loading and placement in the final waste disposal package for disposition), and cask purchase. Packaging of the calcine ''as-is'' would save $2.9 to $3.9 billion over direct vitrification disposal in the proposed national monitored geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Using the larger Concept C canisters would use 0.75 mi less of tunnel space, cost $1.3 billion less than 10-ft canisters of Concept A, and would be complete in 6.2 years

A bi-objective model for optimizing replacement time of age and block policies with consideration of spare parts’ availability

Science.gov (United States)

Alsyouf, Imad

2018-05-01

Reliability and availability of critical systems play an important role in achieving the stated objectives of engineering assets. Preventive replacement time affects the reliability of the components, thus the number of system failures encountered and its downtime expenses. On the other hand, spare parts inventory level is a very critical factor that affects the availability of the system. Usually, the decision maker has many conflicting objectives that should be considered simultaneously for the selection of the optimal maintenance policy. The purpose of this research was to develop a bi-objective model that will be used to determine the preventive replacement time for three maintenance policies (age, block good as new, block bad as old) with consideration of spare parts’ availability. It was suggested to use a weighted comprehensive criterion method with two objectives, i.e. cost and availability. The model was tested with a typical numerical example. The results of the model demonstrated its effectiveness in enabling the decision maker to select the optimal maintenance policy under different scenarios and taking into account preferences with respect to contradicting objectives such as cost and availability.

Cost-of-illness studies and cost-effectiveness analyses in anxiety disorders: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Konnopka, Alexander; Leichsenring, Falk; Leibing, Eric; König, Hans-Helmut

2009-04-01

To review cost-of-illness studies (COI) and cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) conducted for anxiety disorders. Based on a database search in Pubmed, PsychINFO and NHS EED, studies were classified according to various criteria. Cost data were inflated and converted to 2005 US-$ purchasing power parities (PPP). We finally identified 20 COI and 11 CEA of which most concentrated on panic disorder (PD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Differing inclusion of cost categories limited comparability of COI. PD and GAD tended to show higher direct costs per case, but lower direct cost per inhabitant than social and specific phobias. Different measures of effectiveness severely limited comparability of CEA. Overall CEA analysed 26 therapeutic or interventional strategies mostly compared to standard treatment, 8 of them resulting in lower better effectiveness and costs than the comparator. Anxiety disorders cause considerable costs. More research on phobias, more standardised inclusion of cost categories in COI and a wider use of comparable effectiveness measures (like QALYs) in CEA is needed.

Variation in the costs of delivering routine immunization services in Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, D; Mosqueira, N R; Penny, M E; Lanata, C F; Clark, A D; Sanderson, C F B; Fox-Rushby, J A

2004-09-01

Estimates of vaccination costs usually provide only point estimates at national level with no information on cost variation. In practice, however, such information is necessary for programme managers. This paper presents information on the variations in costs of delivering routine immunization services in three diverse districts of Peru: Ayacucho (a mountainous area), San Martin (a jungle area) and Lima (a coastal area). We consider the impact of variability on predictions of cost and reflect on the likely impact on expected cost-effectiveness ratios, policy decisions and future research practice. All costs are in 2002 prices in US dollars and include the costs of providing vaccination services incurred by 19 government health facilities during the January-December 2002 financial year. Vaccine wastage rates have been estimated using stock records. The cost per fully vaccinated child ranged from 16.63-24.52 U.S. Dollars in Ayacucho, 21.79-36.69 U.S. Dollars in San Martin and 9.58-20.31 U.S. Dollars in Lima. The volume of vaccines administered and wastage rates are determinants of the variation in costs of delivering routine immunization services. This study shows there is considerable variation in the costs of providing vaccines across geographical regions and different types of facilities. Information on how costs vary can be used as a basis from which to generalize to other settings and provide more accurate estimates for decision-makers who do not have disaggregated data on local costs. Future studies should include sufficiently large sample sizes and ensure that regions are carefully selected in order to maximize the interpretation of cost variation.

Safety, cost, and clinical considerations for the use of premixed parenteral nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Jacob W

2015-06-01

Premixed parenteral nutrition (PN) can be used for PN therapy in place of traditional compounded or customized PN. Premixed PN may have a number of advantages over compounded PN such as decreased costs, decreased compounding time, reduced chance for error, and reduced incidence of bloodstream infections. However, premixed PN may not be appropriate for all patients and may have other additional costs associated with its use. This article discusses the data available with regard to the use of premixed PN, focusing on the potential advantages and disadvantages of using premixed PN, and also discusses the implementation of premixed PN in a large tertiary cancer center. © 2015 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

Consideration of Cosmetic Surgery As Part of Women’s Benefit-Provisioning Mate Retention Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Atari

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Individuals perform mate retention behaviors to minimize the risk of partner infidelity and relationship dissolution. The current study investigates whether consideration of cosmetic surgery can be conceptualized as part of a broader strategy of mate retention for women, but not men. We hypothesized that women’s consideration of cosmetic surgery would be positively associated with performance frequencies of Benefit-Provisioning and Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors. We recruited 203 individuals (54% women in committed heterosexual relationships from Tehran, Iran. Results indicate a positive association between consideration of cosmetic surgery and Benefit-Provisioning mate retention behaviors for women, but not men. There was no association between consideration of cosmetic surgery and Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors. Women therefore may consider cosmetic surgery to improve their physical attractiveness as part of a Benefit-Provisioning strategy to retain a long-term mate. We discuss limitations of the study and highlight future directions for research from an evolutionary perspective.

Consideration of Cosmetic Surgery As Part of Women’s Benefit-Provisioning Mate Retention Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Atari, Mohammad; Barbaro, Nicole; Sela, Yael; Shackelford, Todd K.; Chegeni, Razieh

2017-01-01

Individuals perform mate retention behaviors to minimize the risk of partner infidelity and relationship dissolution. The current study investigates whether consideration of cosmetic surgery can be conceptualized as part of a broader strategy of mate retention for women, but not men. We hypothesized that women’s consideration of cosmetic surgery would be positively associated with performance frequencies of Benefit-Provisioning and Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors. We recruited 203 individuals (54% women) in committed heterosexual relationships from Tehran, Iran. Results indicate a positive association between consideration of cosmetic surgery and Benefit-Provisioning mate retention behaviors for women, but not men. There was no association between consideration of cosmetic surgery and Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors. Women therefore may consider cosmetic surgery to improve their physical attractiveness as part of a Benefit-Provisioning strategy to retain a long-term mate. We discuss limitations of the study and highlight future directions for research from an evolutionary perspective. PMID:28855884

Establishing a cost model when estimating product cost in early design phases

OpenAIRE

Jeppsson, Johanna; Sjöberg, Jessica

2017-01-01

About 75% of the total product cost is determined in the early design phase, which means that the possibilities to affect costs are relatively small when the design phase is completed. For companies, it is therefore vital to conduct reliable cost estimates in the early design phase, when selecting between different design choices. When conducting a cost estimate there are many uncertainties. The aim with this study is therefore to explore how uncertainties regarding product cost can be consid...

Prognostic Health Monitoring System: Component Selection Based on Risk Criteria and Economic Benefit Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pham, Binh T.; Agarwal, Vivek; Lybeck, Nancy J.; Tawfik, Magdy S.

2012-01-01

Prognostic health monitoring (PHM) is a proactive approach to monitor the ability of structures, systems, and components (SSCs) to withstand structural, thermal, and chemical loadings over the SSCs planned service lifespan. The current efforts to extend the operational license lifetime of the aging fleet of U.S. nuclear power plants from 40 to 60 years and beyond can benefit from a systematic application of PHM technology. Implementing a PHM system would strengthen the safety of nuclear power plants, reduce plant outage time, and reduce operation and maintenance costs. However, a nuclear power plant has thousands of SSCs, so implementing a PHM system that covers all SSCs requires careful planning and prioritization. This paper therefore focuses on a component selection that is based on the analysis of a component's failure probability, risk, and cost. Ultimately, the decision on component selection depends on the overall economical benefits arising from safety and operational considerations associated with implementing the PHM system. (author)

Consideration concerning the costs of the 300 kW wind units developed in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyulai, F.; Bej, A.

1995-01-01

A demonstrative wind farm with four research units, 300 kW each, is in developing stage in Romania. The article shows economic analysis of these experimental wind units and their cost structure focusing in component costs, performance, manufacturing technology and installing work. (author)

Consideration concerning the costs of the 300 kW wind units developed in Romania

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gyulai, F; Bej, A [Technical Univ. of Timisoara (Romania). Wind Energy Research Center

1996-12-31

A demonstrative wind farm with four research units, 300 kW each, is in developing stage in Romania. The article shows economic analysis of these experimental wind units and their cost structure focusing in component costs, performance, manufacturing technology and installing work. (author)

Consideration concerning the costs of the 300 kW wind units developed in Romania

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gyulai, F.; Bej, A. [Technical Univ. of Timisoara (Romania). Wind Energy Research Center

1995-12-31

A demonstrative wind farm with four research units, 300 kW each, is in developing stage in Romania. The article shows economic analysis of these experimental wind units and their cost structure focusing in component costs, performance, manufacturing technology and installing work. (author)

New Evidence of the Effect of Transaction Costs on Residential Mobility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ommeren, van Jos; Leuvensteijn, van Michiel

2002-01-01

Transaction costs have attracted considerably attention in the theoretical literature on residential mobility. In many European countries, these costs mainly consist of ad-valorem transaction costs. In the current paper, we demonstrate empirically for the Netherlands that the transaction costs have

Use of external cost assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis for comparative evaluation of options for electricity supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschberg, S.; Dones, R.; Gantner, U.

2001-01-01

The paper addresses external cost and multi-criteria analyses carried out for selected future electricity generating systems of interest under the Swiss conditions. The external cost estimates are based on an application of the 'impact pathway approach', enhanced by earlier experience from extensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The estimated total costs, i.e. the sum of internal and external costs, may serve as a measure of economic and environmental efficiency of energy systems. The multi-criteria approach allows a more explicit consideration of the social dimension, which is highly important for the decision-making process. The applications of multi-criteria analyses illustrate the sensitivity of the results to the range of preferences expressed in the energy debate. Certain patterns in system ranking can be observed in spite of these sensitivities. Both total cost assessment and multi-criteria analysis are found to be useful, complementary instruments to support procedures for decision-making. (author)

Fusion facility siting considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bussell, G.T.

1985-01-01

Inherent in the fusion program's transition from hydrogen devices to commercial power machines is a general increase in the size and scope of succeeding projects. This growth will lead to increased emphasis on safety, environmental impact, and the external effects of fusion in general, and of each new device in particular. A critically important consideration in this regard is site selection. The purpose of this paper is to examine major siting issues that may affect the economics, safety, and environmental impact of fusion

Cost Accounting for Decision Makers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneklides, Ann L.

1985-01-01

Underscores the importance of informed decision making through accurate anticipation of cost incurrence in light of changing economic and environmental conditions. Explains the concepts of cost accounting, full allocation of costs, the selection of an allocation base, the allocation of indirect costs, depreciation, and implications for community…

Total life-cycle cost analysis of conventional and alternative fueled vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardullo, M.W.

1993-01-01

Total Life-Cycle Cost (TLCC) Analysis can indicate whether paying higher capital costs for advanced technology with low operating and/or environmental costs is advantageous over paying lower capital costs for conventional technology with higher operating and/or environmental costs. While minimizing total life-cycle cost is an important consideration, the consumer often identifies non-cost-related benefits or drawbacks that make more expensive options appear more attractive. The consumer is also likely to heavily weigh initial capital costs while giving limited consideration to operating and/or societal costs, whereas policy-makers considering external costs, such as those resulting from environmental impacts, may reach significantly different conclusions about which technologies are most advantageous to society. This paper summarizes a TLCC model which was developed to facilitate consideration of the various factors involved in both individual and societal policy decision making. The model was developed as part of a US Department of Energy Contract and has been revised to reflect changes necessary to make the model more realistic. The model considers capital, operating, salvage, and environmental costs for cars, vans, and buses using conventional and alternative fuels. The model has been developed to operate on an IBM or compatible personal computer platform using the commercial spreadsheet program MicroSoft Excell reg-sign Version 4 for Windows reg-sign and can be easily kept current because its modular structure allows straightforward access to embedded data sets for review and update

Incorporating psychological influences in probabilistic cost analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kujawski, Edouard; Alvaro, Mariana; Edwards, William

2004-01-08

Today's typical probabilistic cost analysis assumes an ''ideal'' project that is devoid of the human and organizational considerations that heavily influence the success and cost of real-world projects. In the real world ''Money Allocated Is Money Spent'' (MAIMS principle); cost underruns are rarely available to protect against cost overruns while task overruns are passed on to the total project cost. Realistic cost estimates therefore require a modified probabilistic cost analysis that simultaneously models the cost management strategy including budget allocation. Psychological influences such as overconfidence in assessing uncertainties and dependencies among cost elements and risks are other important considerations that are generally not addressed. It should then be no surprise that actual project costs often exceed the initial estimates and are delivered late and/or with a reduced scope. This paper presents a practical probabilistic cost analysis model that incorporates recent findings in human behavior and judgment under uncertainty, dependencies among cost elements, the MAIMS principle, and project management practices. Uncertain cost elements are elicited from experts using the direct fractile assessment method and fitted with three-parameter Weibull distributions. The full correlation matrix is specified in terms of two parameters that characterize correlations among cost elements in the same and in different subsystems. The analysis is readily implemented using standard Monte Carlo simulation tools such as {at}Risk and Crystal Ball{reg_sign}. The analysis of a representative design and engineering project substantiates that today's typical probabilistic cost analysis is likely to severely underestimate project cost for probability of success values of importance to contractors and procuring activities. The proposed approach provides a framework for developing a viable cost management strategy for

Costs of treatment of adult patients with cystic fibrosis in Poland and internationally.

Science.gov (United States)

Kopciuch, Dorota; Zaprutko, Tomasz; Paczkowska, Anna; Nowakowska, Elżbieta

2017-07-01

Despite its low prevalence, cystic fibrosis (CF) may have a considerable impact on healthcare system expenditures in terms of direct healthcare costs and lost productivity. This study was aimed at calculation of costs associated with CF treatment in Poland, as well as at comparison of average costs of treatment of CF patients in selected countries, taking into account the purchasing power parity. Retrospective study. The researchers undertook a retrospective study of adult patients with CF taking into account the broadest social perspective possible. Medical and non-medical direct costs as well as indirect costs were calculated. CF costs estimated by researchers from other countries over the last 15 years were also compared. Total annual treatment cost per one CF patient in Poland was on average EUR 19,581.08. Costs of treatment of CF patients over the last 15 years varied between the countries and ranged from EUR 23,330.82 in Bulgaria to EUR 68,696.42 in the United States. CF is an international problem. The data in this study could be the baseline for integrated and harmonised approaches for periodical assessment of the future impact of new public policies and interventions for rare diseases at the national and international levels. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selective hydrolysis of wastewater sludge. Part 1. Model calculations and cost benefit analysis for Esbjerg West waste water treatment plant, Denmark

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

OEstergaard, N [Eurotec West A/S (DK); Thomsen, Anne Belinda; Thygesen, Anders; Bangsoe Nielsen, H [Risoe National Laboratory, DTU (DK); Rasmussen, Soeren [SamRas (DK)

2007-09-15

The project 'Selective hydrolysis of wastewater sludge' investigates the possibilities of utilizing selective hydrolysis of sludge at waste water treatment plants to increase the production of biogas based power and heat, and at the same time reduce power consumption for handling and treatment of nitrogen and sludge as well as for disposal of the sludge. The selective hydrolysis system is based on the fact that an anaerobic digestion before a hydrolysis treatment increases the hydrolysis efficiency, as the production of volatile organic components, which might inhibit the hydrolysis efficiency, are not produced to the same extent as may be the case for a hydrolysis made on un-digested material. Furthermore it is possible to separate ammonia from the sludge without using chemicals; it has, however, proven difficult to treat wastewater sludge, as the sludge seems to be difficult to treat in the laboratory using simple equipment. Esbjerg Wastewater Treatment Plant West, Denmark, is used as model plant for the calculations of the benefits using selective hydrolysis of sludge as if established at the existing sludge digester system. The plant is a traditional build plant based on the activated sludge concept in addition to traditional digester technology. The plant treats combined household and factory wastewater with a considerable amount of the wastewater received from the industries. During the project period Esbjerg Treatment Plant West went through considerable process changes, thus the results presented in this report are based on historical plant characteristics and may be viewed as conservative relative to what actually may be obtainable. (BA)

Selective hydrolysis of wastewater sludge. Part 1. Model calculations and cost benefit analysis for Esbjerg West waste water treatment plant, Denmark

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

OEstergaard, N. (Eurotec West A/S (DK)); Thomsen, Anne Belinda; Thygesen, Anders; Bangsoe Nielsen, H. (Risoe National Laboratory, DTU (DK)); Rasmussen, Soeren (SamRas (DK))

2007-09-15

The project 'Selective hydrolysis of wastewater sludge' investigates the possibilities of utilizing selective hydrolysis of sludge at waste water treatment plants to increase the production of biogas based power and heat, and at the same time reduce power consumption for handling and treatment of nitrogen and sludge as well as for disposal of the sludge. The selective hydrolysis system is based on the fact that an anaerobic digestion before a hydrolysis treatment increases the hydrolysis efficiency, as the production of volatile organic components, which might inhibit the hydrolysis efficiency, are not produced to the same extent as may be the case for a hydrolysis made on un-digested material. Furthermore it is possible to separate ammonia from the sludge without using chemicals; it has, however, proven difficult to treat wastewater sludge, as the sludge seems to be difficult to treat in the laboratory using simple equipment. Esbjerg Wastewater Treatment Plant West, Denmark, is used as model plant for the calculations of the benefits using selective hydrolysis of sludge as if established at the existing sludge digester system. The plant is a traditional build plant based on the activated sludge concept in addition to traditional digester technology. The plant treats combined household and factory wastewater with a considerable amount of the wastewater received from the industries. During the project period Esbjerg Treatment Plant West went through considerable process changes, thus the results presented in this report are based on historical plant characteristics and may be viewed as conservative relative to what actually may be obtainable. (BA)

Assessment of Cost Impacts of Using Non-Toxic Propulsion in Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Schiebener, P. J.; Gies, O.; Stuhlberger, J.; Schmitz, H.-D.

2002-01-01

The growing costs of space missions, the need for increased mission performance, and concerns associated with environmental issues deeply influence propulsion system design and propellant selection criteria. A propellant's performance was defined in the past exclusively in terms of specific impulse and density, but now high-performance, non-toxic, non-sophisticated mono- propellant systems are key drivers, and are considered for development to replace the traditional hydrazine (N2H4) mono-propellant thrusters. The mono-propellants under consideration are propellant formulations, which should be environmentally friendly, should have a high density, equal or better performance and better thermal characteristics than hydrazine. These considerations raised interest specially in the candidates of Hydroxylammonium Nitrate (HAN)-based propellants, Ammoniumdinitramide (ADN)-based propellants, Tri-ethanol (TEAN)-based propellants, Hydrazinium Nitroformate (HNF)-based propellants, Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)-based propellants. A near-term objective in consideration of satellite related process optimisation is to significantly reduce on-ground operations costs and at the same time improve mission performance. A far-term objective is to obtain a system presenting a very high performance, illustrated by a high specific impulse. Moving to a "non-toxic" propulsion system seems to be a solution to these two goals. The sought after benefits for non-toxic spacecraft mono-propellant propulsion are under investigation taking into account the four main parameters which are mandatory for customer satisfaction while meeting the price constraints: - Reliability, availability, maintainability and safety, - Manufacturing, assembly, integration and test, - Launch preparation and support, - Ground support equipment. These benefits of non-toxic mono-propellants can be proven by various examples, like an expected reduction of development costs due the non-toxicity of propellants which might allow

Cost Optimization of Product Families using Analytic Cost Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunø, Thomas Ditlev; Nielsen, Peter

2012-01-01

This paper presents a new method for analysing the cost structure of a mass customized product family. The method uses linear regression and backwards selection to reduce the complexity of a data set describing a number of historical product configurations and incurred costs. By reducing the data...... set, the configuration variables which best describe the variation in product costs are identified. The method is tested using data from a Danish manufacturing company and the results indicate that the method is able to identify the most critical configuration variables. The method can be applied...... in product family redesign projects focusing on cost reduction to identify which modules contribute the most to cost variation and should thus be optimized....

A cost prediction model for machine operation in multi-field production systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Sopegno

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Capacity planning in agricultural field operations needs to give consideration to the operational system design which involves the selection and dimensioning of production components, such as machinery and equipment. Capacity planning models currently onstream are generally based on average norm data and not on specific farm data which may vary from year to year. In this paper a model is presented for predicting the cost of in-field and transport operations for multiple-field and multiple-crop production systems. A case study from a real production system is presented in order to demonstrate the model’s functionalities and its sensitivity to parameters known to be somewhat imprecise. It was shown that the proposed model can provide operation cost predictions for complex cropping systems where labor and machinery are shared between the various operations which can be individually formulated for each individual crop. By so doing, the model can be used as a decision support system at the strategic level of management of agricultural production systems and specifically for the mid-term design process of systems in terms of labor/machinery and crop selection conforming to the criterion of profitability.

[Productivity costs of rheumatoid arthritis in Germany. Cost composition and prediction of main cost components].

Science.gov (United States)

Merkesdal, S; Huelsemann, J L; Mittendorf, T; Zeh, S; Zeidler, H; Ruof, J

2006-10-01

Identification of predictors for the productivity cost components: (1) sick leave, and (2) work disability in gainfully employed and (3) impaired household productivity in unemployed patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from the societal perspective. Investigation of productivity costs was linked to a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of clinical quality management in 338 patients with RA. The productivity losses were assessed according to the German Guidelines on Health Economic Evaluation. By means of multivariate logistic regression analyses, predictors of sick leave, work disability (employed patients, n=96), and for days confined to bed in unemployed patient (n=242) were determined. Mean annual costs of 970 EUR arose per person taking into consideration all patients (453 EUR sick leave, 63 EUR work disability, 454 EUR impaired productivity of unemployed patients). Disease activity, disease severity, and impaired physical function were global predictors for all of the cost components investigated. Sick leave costs were predicted by prior sick leave periods and the vocational status blue collar worker, work disability costs by sociodemographic variables (marital status, schooling), and the productivity costs of unemployed patients by impaired mental health and impaired physical functions. Interventions such as reduction in disease progression and control of disease activity, early vocational rehabilitation measures and vocational retraining in patients at risk of quitting working life, and self-management programs to learn coping strategies might decrease future RA-related productivity costs.

Tantalum Nitride Electron-Selective Contact for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Yang, Xinbo

2018-04-19

Minimizing carrier recombination at contact regions by using carrier‐selective contact materials, instead of heavily doping the silicon, has attracted considerable attention for high‐efficiency, low‐cost crystalline silicon (c‐Si) solar cells. A novel electron‐selective, passivating contact for c‐Si solar cells is presented. Tantalum nitride (TaN x ) thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition are demonstrated to provide excellent electron‐transporting and hole‐blocking properties to the silicon surface, due to their small conduction band offset and large valence band offset. Thin TaNx interlayers provide moderate passivation of the silicon surfaces while simultaneously allowing a low contact resistivity to n‐type silicon. A power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 20% is demonstrated with c‐Si solar cells featuring a simple full‐area electron‐selective TaNx contact, which significantly improves the fill factor and the open circuit voltage (Voc) and hence provides the higher PCE. The work opens up the possibility of using metal nitrides, instead of metal oxides, as carrier‐selective contacts or electron transport layers for photovoltaic devices.

Pharmacoeconomic Considerations in Treating Actinic Keratosis: An Update.

Science.gov (United States)

Vale, Spencer M; Hill, Dane; Feldman, Steven R

2017-02-01

Actinic keratosis is one of the most common dermatological diagnoses worldwide, especially among the elderly, fair-skinned, and immunocompromised, and is associated with a risk of transformation to skin cancer. With actinic keratosis and skin cancer prevalence increasing as the aged population expands in the US, optimizing treatment strategies may produce cost savings for the healthcare system. Since the time of our last review in 2008, investigation of the economic considerations in treating actinic keratosis has advanced. To provide an update of treatment cost effectiveness and to review factors relating to the costs of care, we conducted a systematic review of pharmacoeconomic publications since December 2008. We identified 11 pharmacoeconomic studies, with one cost-of-treatment, five cost-effectiveness, and five cost-utility analyses. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) was well tolerated and produced a favorable cosmetic outcome in most studies. Ingenol mebutate, the newest but most expensive topical field therapy, 5-fluorouracil, and PDT were the most cost-effective treatments in our review. Patient adherence to therapy and the management of adverse effects were significant contributors to treatment costs. In the US, treatment guidelines and formalized cost-effectiveness analyses for actinic keratosis are absent from the recent literature. Future pharmacoeconomic investigation will depend on up-to-date comparative efficacy data, as well as clarification of rates of, and management strategies for, adverse effects, therapeutic non-adherence, and lesion recurrence.

A decision tool for selecting trench cap designs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paige, G.B.; Stone, J.J.; Lane, L.J. [USDA-ARS, Tucson, AZ (United States)] [and others

1995-12-31

A computer based prototype decision support system (PDSS) is being developed to assist the risk manager in selecting an appropriate trench cap design for waste disposal sites. The selection of the {open_quote}best{close_quote} design among feasible alternatives requires consideration of multiple and often conflicting objectives. The methodology used in the selection process consists of: selecting and parameterizing decision variables using data, simulation models, or expert opinion; selecting feasible trench cap design alternatives; ordering the decision variables and ranking the design alternatives. The decision model is based on multi-objective decision theory and uses a unique approach to order the decision variables and rank the design alternatives. Trench cap designs are evaluated based on federal regulations, hydrologic performance, cover stability and cost. Four trench cap designs, which were monitored for a four year period at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, are used to demonstrate the application of the PDSS and evaluate the results of the decision model. The results of the PDSS, using both data and simulations, illustrate the relative advantages of each of the cap designs and which cap is the {open_quotes}best{close_quotes} alternative for a given set of criteria and a particular importance order of those decision criteria.

Cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas mitigation in transport: A review of methodological approaches and their impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kok, Robert; Annema, Jan Anne; Wee, Bert van

2011-01-01

A review is given of methodological practices for ex ante cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of transport greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures, e.g. fuel economy and CO 2 standards for road vehicles in the US and EU. Besides the fundamental differences between different types of policies and abatement options which inherently result in different CEA outcomes, differences in methodological choices and assumptions are another important source of variation in CEA outcomes. Fourteen methodological issues clustered into six groups are identified on which thirty-three selected studies are systematically reviewed. The potential variation between lower and upper cost-effectiveness estimates for GHG mitigation measures in transport, resulting from different methodological choices and assumptions, lies in the order of $400 per tonne CO 2 -eq. The practise of using CEA for policy-making could improve considerably by clearly indicating the specific purpose of the CEA and its strengths and limitations for policy decisions. Another improvement is related to the dominant approach in transport GHG mitigation studies: the bottom-up financial technical approach which assesses isolated effects, implying considerable limitations for policy-making. A shift to welfare-economic approaches using a hybrid model has the potential to establish an improved assessment of transport GHG mitigation measures based on realistic market responses and behavioural change. - Highlights: ► We identify fourteen important methodological issues clustered into six groups. ► We systematically review thirty-three selected transport GHG mitigation studies. ► Methodological choices can lead to a difference by up to $400 per tonne CO 2 -eq. ► The dominant bottom-up approach has limitations for policy-making. ► Welfare-economic approaches could improve cost-effectiveness analysis.

Policy Framework for Covering Preventive Services Without Cost Sharing: Saving Lives and Saving Money?

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Stephanie C; Pearson, Steven D

2016-08-01

The US Affordable Care Act mandates that private insurers cover a list of preventive services without cost sharing. The list is determined by 4 expert committees that evaluate the overall health effect of preventive services. We analyzed the process by which the expert committees develop their recommendations. Each committee uses different criteria to evaluate preventive services and none of the committees consider cost systematically. We propose that the existing committees adopt consistent evidence review methodologies and expand the scope of preventive services reviewed and that a separate advisory committee be established to integrate economic considerations into the final selection of free preventive services. The comprehensive framework and associated criteria are intended to help policy makers in the future develop a more evidence-based, consistent, and ethically sound approach.

Are there SO2 externality costs beyond the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanghi, A.; Joseph, A.L.

1992-01-01

Inclusion of environmental externality costs in the selection of utility resources has become a reality in New York, Massachusetts, Nevada and California. Soon several other jurisdictions are likely to join these states in using environmental externality costs in decision-making. The consideration of environmental externalities are bound to profoundly affect utility decision-making in the future. So far attention has focused largely on air emission externalities of SO 2 , NO x and CO 2 . However, the recent Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) will reduce SO 2 emissions from utilities by about 50 percent. With such a large reduction in SO 2 loading, the question has been raised as to the need to further consider SO 2 externality costs in decision-making. This paper comments on this issue. By using generation and emission data from New York utilities, the paper shows that SO 2 emission externalities exist even after complying with requirements of the CAAA

System considerations for airborne, high power superconducting generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Southall, H.L.; Oberly, C.E.

1979-01-01

The design of rotating superconducting field windings in high power generators is greatly influenced by system considerations. Experience with two superconducting generators designed to produce 5 and 20 Mw resulted in a number of design restrictions. The design restrictions imposed by system considerations have not prevented low weight and high voltage power generation capability. The application of multifilament Nb;sub 3;Sn has permitted a large thermal margin to be designed into the rotating field winding. This margin permits the field winding to remain superconducting under severe system operational requirements. System considerations include: fast rotational startup, fast ramped magnetic fields, load induced transient fields and airborne cryogen logistics. Preliminary selection of a multifilament Nb;sub 3;Sn cable has resulted from these considerations. The cable will carry 864 amp at 8.5K and 6.8 Tesla. 10 refs

Do individuals respond to cost-sharing subsidies in their selections of marketplace health insurance plans?

Science.gov (United States)

DeLeire, Thomas; Chappel, Andre; Finegold, Kenneth; Gee, Emily

2017-12-01

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides assistance to low-income consumers through both premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions (CSRs). Low-income consumers' lack of health insurance literacy or information regarding CSRs may lead them to not take-up CSR benefits for which they are eligible. We use administrative data from 2014 to 2016 on roughly 22 million health insurance plan choices of low-income individuals enrolled in ACA Marketplace coverage to assess whether they behave in a manner consistent with being aware of the availability of CSRs. We take advantage of discontinuous changes in the schedule of CSR benefits to show that consumers are highly sensitive to the value of CSRs when selecting insurance plans and that a very low percentage select dominated plans. These findings suggest that CSR subsidies are salient to consumers and that the program is well designed to account for any lack of health insurance literacy among the low-income population it serves. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cost-effective conservation of an endangered frog under uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Lucy E; Heard, Geoffrey W; Chee, Yung En; Wintle, Brendan A

2016-04-01

How should managers choose among conservation options when resources are scarce and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of actions? Well-developed tools exist for prioritizing areas for one-time and binary actions (e.g., protect vs. not protect), but methods for prioritizing incremental or ongoing actions (such as habitat creation and maintenance) remain uncommon. We devised an approach that combines metapopulation viability and cost-effectiveness analyses to select among alternative conservation actions while accounting for uncertainty. In our study, cost-effectiveness is the ratio between the benefit of an action and its economic cost, where benefit is the change in metapopulation viability. We applied the approach to the case of the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), which is threatened by urban development. We extended a Bayesian model to predict metapopulation viability under 9 urbanization and management scenarios and incorporated the full probability distribution of possible outcomes for each scenario into the cost-effectiveness analysis. This allowed us to discern between cost-effective alternatives that were robust to uncertainty and those with a relatively high risk of failure. We found a relatively high risk of extinction following urbanization if the only action was reservation of core habitat; habitat creation actions performed better than enhancement actions; and cost-effectiveness ranking changed depending on the consideration of uncertainty. Our results suggest that creation and maintenance of wetlands dedicated to L. raniformis is the only cost-effective action likely to result in a sufficiently low risk of extinction. To our knowledge we are the first study to use Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis to explicitly incorporate parametric and demographic uncertainty into a cost-effective evaluation of conservation actions. The approach offers guidance to decision makers aiming to achieve cost

Impact of risk considerations on dosimetry of radiopharmaceuticals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eckerman, K.F.

1981-01-01

Estimates of the absorbed dose from clinical procedures involving the administration of radiopharmaceuticals are used primarily to determine the presumed risk of various procedures so that, in-so-far as possible, the selection of a given procedure can be based on a comparison of risk. Although this has been the basic objective, risk evaluation has generally been separated from the dosimetry considerations. In the recent revision of its radiation protection guidance, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has embodied risk considerations in its recommendations and risk concepts have become an integral part of the dosimetric framework. The impact of these considerations on the dosimetric assessments of radiopharmaceuticals and the resulting need for additional information is discussed

On Modeling and Analyzing Cost Factors in Information Systems Engineering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

Introducing enterprise information systems (EIS) is usually associated with high costs. It is therefore crucial to understand those factors that determine or influence these costs. Though software cost estimation has received considerable attention during the last decades, it is difficult to apply

Tariff Considerations for Micro-Grids in Sub-Saharan Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reber, Timothy J. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Booth, Samuel S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cutler, Dylan S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Li, Xiangkun [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Salasovich, James A. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-02-16

This report examines some of the key drivers and considerations policymakers and decision makers face when deciding if and how to regulate electricity tariffs for micro-grids. Presenting a range of tariff options, from mandating some variety of national (uniform) tariff to allowing micro-grid developers and operators to set fully cost-reflective tariffs, it examines various benefits and drawbacks of each. In addition, the report and explores various types of cross-subsidies and other transitional forms of regulation that may offer a regulatory middle ground that can help balance the often competing goals of providing price control on electricity service in the name of social good while still providing a means for investors to ensure high enough returns on their investment to attract the necessary capital financing to the market. Using the REopt tool developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to inform their study, the authors modeled a few representative micro-grid systems and the resultant levelized cost of electricity, lending context and scale to the consideration of these tariff questions. This simple analysis provides an estimate of the gap between current tariff regimes and the tariffs that would be necessary for developers to recover costs and attract investment, offering further insight into the potential scale of subsidies or other grants that may be required to enable micro-grid development under current regulatory structures. It explores potential options for addressing this gap while trying to balance This report examines some of the key drivers and considerations policymakers and decision makers face when deciding if and how to regulate electricity tariffs for micro-grids. Presenting a range of tariff options, from mandating some variety of national (uniform) tariff to allowing micro-grid developers and operators to set fully cost-reflective tariffs, it examines various benefits and drawbacks of each. In

SELECTION OF SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMBUSTION OF BOSNIAN COALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anes Kazagić

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with optimization of coal combustion conditions to support selection a sustainable combustion technology and an optimal furnace and boiler design. A methodology for optimization of coal combustion conditions is proposed and demonstrated on the example of Bosnian coals. The properties of Bosnian coals vary widely from one coal basin to the next, even between coal mines within the same basin. Very high percentage of ash (particularly in Bosnian brown coal makes clear certain differences between Bosnian coal types and other world coal types, providing a strong argument for investigating specific problems related to the combustion of Bosnian coals, as well as ways to improve their combustion behaviour. In this work, options of the referent energy system (boiler with different process temperatures, corresponding to the different combustion technologies; pulverised fuel combustion (slag tap or dry bottom furnace and fluidized bed combustion, are under consideration for the coals tested. Sustainability assessment, based on calculation economic and environment indicators, in combination with common low cost planning method, is used for the optimization. The total costs in the lifetime are presented by General index of total costs, calculated on the base of agglomeration of basic economic indicators and the economic indicators derived from environmental indicators. So, proposed methodology is based on identification of those combustion technologies and combustion conditions for coals tested for which the total costs in lifetime of the system under consideration are lowest, provided that all environmental issues of the energy system is fulfilled during the lifetime. Inputs for calculation of the sustainability indicators are provided by the measurements on an experimental furnace with possibility of infinite variation of process temperature, supported by good praxis from the power plants which use the fuels tested and by thermal

Analysis of cost estimation and wind energy evaluation using wind energy conversion systems (WECS) for electricity generation in six selected high altitude locations in Nigeria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohunakin, S. Olayinka; Ojolo, S. Joshua; Ogunsina, S. Babatunde; Dinrifo, R. Rufus

2012-01-01

Two commercial wind turbines namely AN Bonus 300 kW/33 and AN Bonus 1 MW/54 were technically assessed for electricity generation in six selected high altitude sites spreading across the North-West and North-East geopolitical regions of Nigeria by computing their capacity factors, annual power and energy outputs. The economic evaluation of using the two wind energy conversion systems (medium and large) for electric power generation in the selected locations were also estimated using the present value cost method. The results showed that capacity factors of the two turbines in the selected sites ranged between 4.6 and 43%. Average minimum cost per kW h was obtained in Kano as $0.0222/kW h with AN Bonus 1 MW while the highest average cost is $0.2074/kW h with AN Bonus 300 kW in Kaduna. The highest cost in each of the location was obtained with the medium WECs (AN Bonus 300 kW). In addition, Kano and Katsina were also found to be very economical for any of the adopted wind turbine models. Gusau and Kaduna, at cost of unit energy of about $0.30/kW h were found to be more profitable for non-connected electrical and mechanical applications (water pumping, battery charging) than diesel generator. - Highlights: ► All the locations considered have mean wind speeds above 4.8 m/s. ► Economical wind applications are possible in Kano and Katsina. ► Highest capacity factor and energy output are obtained using AN Bonus 1 MW in Kano. ► Specific cost of unit energy per kW h is cheaper using AN Bonus 1 MW.

Review. Promises, pitfalls and challenges of genomic selection in breeding programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ibanez-Escriche, N.; Gonzalez-Recio, O.

2011-07-01

The aim of this work was to review the main challenges and pitfalls of the implementation of genomic selection in the breeding programs of different livestock species. Genomic selection is now one of the main challenges in animal breeding and genetics. Its application could considerably increase the genetic gain in traits of interest. However, the success of its practical implementation depends on the selection scheme characteristics, and these must be studied for each particular case. In dairy cattle, especially in Holsteins, genomic selection is a reality. However, in other livestock species (beef cattle, small ruminants, monogastrics and fish) genomic selection has mainly been used experimentally. The main limitation for its implementation in the mentioned livestock species is the high geno typing costs compared to the low selection value of the candidate. Nevertheless, nowadays the possibility of using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips of low density to make genomic selection applications economically feasible is under study. Economic studies may optimize the benefits of genomic selection (GS) to include new traits in the breeding goals. It is evident that genomic selection offers great potential; however, a suitable geno typing strategy and recording system for each case is needed in order to properly exploit it. (Author) 50 refs.

Improving the performance of membrane bioreactors by powdered activated carbon dosing with cost considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, W; Paetkau, M; Cicek, N

2010-01-01

Effects of powdered activated carbon (PAC) dosing on the overall performance of membrane bioreactors (MBR) were investigated in two bench-scale submerged MBRs. Positive impacts of PAC dosing on membrane fouling and the removal of 17beta-estradiol (E2) and 17alpha-ethyinylestradiol (EE2) were demonstrated over a six-month stable operational period. PAC dosing in the MBR increased the removal rates of E2 and EE2 by 3.4% and 15.8%, respectively. The average soluble extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and colloidal total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations in the PAC-MBR sludge was 60.1% and 61.8% lower than the control MBR sludge, respectively. Lower soluble EPS and colloidal TOC concentrations in the PAC-MBR sludge resulted in a slower rate of trans-membrane pressure (TMP) increase during MBRs operation, which could prolong the lifespan of membranes. Cost assessment showed that PAC dosing could reduce the operating cost for membrane cleaning and/or membrane replacement by about 25%. The operating cost for PAC dosing could be offset by the benefit from its reducing the cost for membrane maintenance.

Considerations Concerning the Application of Target Costing Method in the Industry of Dairy Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mortură Laura Alexandra

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the present conditions of the market economy, which is in full process of globalization, theadaptation of the more complex and diverse needs of the final consumers, leads to a permanentcreation and development of new products and services by the entities in order to satisfy theseneeds. Thus, the entities must apply efficient and tested methods for determining and provisioningthe costs which will result from launching new products on the market, methods which wouldsupport and ensure the best quality – price report, and which are to reduce the production costs upto a level of not affecting the quality of the final product. Such a method, according to specialtyliterature is the modern method of Target Costing.

Improving the baking quality of bread wheat by genomic selection in early generations.

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, Sebastian; Kummer, Christian; Gallee, Martin; Hellinger, Jakob; Ametz, Christian; Akgöl, Batuhan; Epure, Doru; Löschenberger, Franziska; Buerstmayr, Hermann

2018-02-01

Genomic selection shows great promise for pre-selecting lines with superior bread baking quality in early generations, 3 years ahead of labour-intensive, time-consuming, and costly quality analysis. The genetic improvement of baking quality is one of the grand challenges in wheat breeding as the assessment of the associated traits often involves time-consuming, labour-intensive, and costly testing forcing breeders to postpone sophisticated quality tests to the very last phases of variety development. The prospect of genomic selection for complex traits like grain yield has been shown in numerous studies, and might thus be also an interesting method to select for baking quality traits. Hence, we focused in this study on the accuracy of genomic selection for laborious and expensive to phenotype quality traits as well as its selection response in comparison with phenotypic selection. More than 400 genotyped wheat lines were, therefore, phenotyped for protein content, dough viscoelastic and mixing properties related to baking quality in multi-environment trials 2009-2016. The average prediction accuracy across three independent validation populations was r = 0.39 and could be increased to r = 0.47 by modelling major QTL as fixed effects as well as employing multi-trait prediction models, which resulted in an acceptable prediction accuracy for all dough rheological traits (r = 0.38-0.63). Genomic selection can furthermore be applied 2-3 years earlier than direct phenotypic selection, and the estimated selection response was nearly twice as high in comparison with indirect selection by protein content for baking quality related traits. This considerable advantage of genomic selection could accordingly support breeders in their selection decisions and aid in efficiently combining superior baking quality with grain yield in newly developed wheat varieties.

CHARACTERIZING COSTS, SAVINGS AND BENEFITS OF A SELECTION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN THE UNITED STATES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, T.; Slaa, J.W.; Sathaye, J.

2010-12-15

Implementation and adoption of efficient end-use technologies have proven to be one of the key measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout the industries. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among one of the most cost effective investments that the industry could make in improving efficiency and productivity while reducing CO2 emissions. Over the years, there have been incentives to use resources and energy in a cleaner and more efficient way to create industries that are sustainable and more productive. With the working of energy programs and policies on GHG inventory and regulation, understanding and managing the costs associated with mitigation measures for GHG reductions is very important for the industry and policy makers around the world. Successful implementation of emerging technologies not only can help advance productivities and competitiveness but also can play a significant role in mitigation efforts by saving energy. Providing evaluation and estimation of the costs and energy savings potential of emerging technologies is the focus of our work in this project. The overall goal of the project is to identify and select emerging and under-utilized energy-efficient technologies and practices as they are important to reduce energy consumption in industry while maintaining economic growth. This report contains the results from performing Task 2"Technology evaluation" for the project titled"Research Opportunities in Emerging and Under-Utilized Energy-Efficient Industrial Technologies," which was sponsored by California Energy Commission and managed by CIEE. The project purpose is to analyze market status, market potential, and economic viability of selected technologies applicable to the U.S. In this report, LBNL first performed re-assessments of all of the 33 emerging energy-efficient industrial technologies, including re-evaluation of the 26 technologies that were previously identified by Martin et al. (2000) and

Tariffs by marginal cost are the real economic values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, A.M. dos

1989-01-01

An analysis of the electric power tariffs by marginal cost in Brazilian sectors is presented with some considerations bout the economy, politics and a forecasting for 1995. Two tables with tariffs and costs are also shown. (author)

The indirect costs and benefits of greenhouse gas limitations: Mauritius case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Markandya, A.; Boyd, R.

1999-09-01

There has been a considerable amount of work carried out on the appraisal of different projects and programmes that reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs). These studies have focused on the development of appropriate methodologies for estimating of the costs of GHG limitation, and measuring the amount of GHGs abated. These are two of the central issues that need to be considered prior to finalising a policy for GHG mitigation, and ideally one would pursue those policy measures that effectively reduce GHGs at least cost. Although the cost (when correctly measured) should have a strong bearing on which policies to select, it is not the only consideration. Other factors will influence the decision, such as the impacts of the policies on different social groups in society, particularly on vulnerable groups, the benefits of the GHG limitation in other spheres (e.g. reduced air pollution), and the impacts of the policies on broader concern such as sustainability. In developing countries these other factors are even more important than they are in the industrialised countries. GHG limitation does not have as high a priority relative to other goals; such as poverty alleviation, reductions in employment, etc. as it does in the wealthier countries. Indeed, one can argue that the major focus of policy will be development, poverty alleviation etc. and that GHG limitation will be an addendum to a programme designed to meet those needs. Taking account of the GHG component may change the detailed design of a policy or programme, rather than being the main issue that determines the policy. In recognition of the importance of these broader social and environmental issues in developing countries, a methodology has been developed which provides a framework for the assessment of the wider impacts arising from GHG limitation projects, and advice on how to incorporate them into the decision-making framework. The purpose of this report is to apply the methodology to a set of selected GHG

Selective heteroepitaxy on deeply grooved substrate: A route to low cost semipolar GaN platforms of bulk quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tendille, Florian, E-mail: florian.tendille@crhea.cnrs.fr; Vennéguès, Philippe; De Mierry, Philippe [CRHEA - CNRS (Centre de Recherche sur l' Hétéro-Epitaxie et ses Applications), Rue Bernard Gregory, Parc de Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne (France); Martin, Denis; Grandjean, Nicolas [Institute of Physics, EPFL, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

2016-08-22

Semipolar GaN crystal stripes larger than 100 μm with dislocation densities below 5 × 10{sup 6} cm{sup −2} are achieved using a low cost fabrication process. An original sapphire patterning procedure is proposed, enabling selective growth of semipolar oriented GaN stripes while confining the defects to specific areas. Radiative and non-radiative crystalline defects are investigated by cathodoluminescence and can be correlated to the development of crystal microstructure during the growth process. A dislocation reduction mechanism, supported by transmission electron microscopy, is proposed. This method represents a step forward toward low-cost quasi-bulk semipolar GaN epitaxial platforms with an excellent structural quality which will allow for even more efficient III-nitride based devices.

Joint care can outweigh costs of nonkin competition in communal breeders.

Science.gov (United States)

Bebbington, Kat; Fairfield, Eleanor A; Spurgin, Lewis G; Kingma, Sjouke A; Dugdale, Hannah; Komdeur, Jan; Richardson, David S

2018-01-01

Competition between offspring can greatly influence offspring fitness and parental investment decisions, especially in communal breeders where unrelated competitors have less incentive to concede resources. Given the potential for escalated conflict, it remains unclear what mechanisms facilitate the evolution of communal breeding among unrelated females. Resolving this question requires simultaneous consideration of offspring in noncommunal and communal nurseries, but such comparisons are missing. In the Seychelles warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis, we compare nestling pairs from communal nests (2 mothers) and noncommunal nests (1 mother) with singleton nestlings. Our results indicate that increased provisioning rate can act as a mechanism to mitigate the costs of offspring rivalry among nonkin. Increased provisioning in communal broods, as a consequence of having 2 female parents, mitigates any elevated costs of offspring rivalry among nonkin: per-capita provisioning and survival was equal in communal broods and singletons, but lower in noncommunal broods. Individual offspring costs were also more divergent in noncommunal broods, likely because resource limitation exacerbates differences in competitive ability between nestlings. It is typically assumed that offspring rivalry among nonkin will be more costly because offspring are not driven by kin selection to concede resources to their competitors. Our findings are correlational and require further corroboration, but may help explain the evolutionary maintenance of communal breeding by providing a mechanism by which communal breeders can avoid these costs.

The political economy of abortion in India: cost and expenditure patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Duggal, Ravi

2004-11-01

Access to abortion services is not difficult in India, even in remote areas. Providers of abortion range from traditional birth attendants to auxiliary nurse midwives and pharmacists, unqualified and qualified private doctors, to gynaecologists. Despite a well-defined law, there is a lack of regulation of abortion services or providers, and the cost to women is determined by supply side economics. The state is not a leading provider of abortions; services remain predominantly in the private sector. Abortions in the public sector are free only if the woman accepts some form of contraception; other fees may also be charged. The cost of abortion varies considerably, depending on the number of weeks of pregnancy, the woman's marital status, the method used, type of anaesthesia, whether it is a sex-selective abortion, whether diagnostic tests are carried out, whether the provider is registered and whether hospitalisation is required. A review of existing studies indicates that abortions cost a substantial amount--first trimester abortion averages Rs.500- 1000 and second trimester abortion Rs.2000-3000. Given the number of unqualified providers and with 15-20% of maternal deaths due to unsafe abortions, the costs of unsafe abortions must also be counted. It is imperative for the state to regulate the abortion economy in India, both to rationalise costs and assure safe abortions for women.

Investigation of metal fluoride thermal energy storage materials: availability, cost, and chemistry. Final report, July 15, 1976--December 15, 1976

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eichelberger, J.L.

1976-12-01

Storage of thermal energy in the 400 to 1000/sup 0/C range is attracting increasing consideration for use in solar power, central power, vehicular, and commercial process systems. This study investigates the practicality of using metal fluorides as the heat storage medium. The projected availability of metal fluorides has been studied and is shown to be adequate for widespread thermal storage use. Costs are projected and discussed in relation to thermal energy storage applications. Phase diagrams, heats of fusion, heat capacities, vapor pressures, toxicity, stability, volume changes, thermal conductivities, fusion kinetics, corrosion, and container materials of construction for a wide range of fluorides have been examined. Analyses of these data in consideration of thermal energy storage requirements have resulted in selection of the most cost-effective fluoride mixture for each of 23 temperature increments between 400 and 1000/sup 0/C. Thermo-physical properties of these 23 materials are presented. Comparison of fluoride with non-fluoride materials shows that the fluorides are suitable candidates for high temperature applications on the bases of cost, heat capacity/unit volume, heat capacity/unit weight, corrosive properties, and availability.

How much does it cost to care for survivors of colorectal cancer? Caregiver's time, travel and out-of-pocket costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanly, Paul; Céilleachair, Alan Ó; Skally, Mairead; O'Leary, Eamonn; Kapur, Kanika; Fitzpatrick, Patricia; Staines, Anthony; Sharp, Linda

2013-09-01

Cancer treatment is increasingly delivered in an outpatient setting. This may entail a considerable economic burden for family members and friends who support patients/survivors. We estimated financial and time costs associated with informal care for colorectal cancer. Two hundred twenty-eight carers of colorectal cancer survivors diagnosed on October 2007-September 2009 were sent a questionnaire. Informal care costs included hospital- and domestic-based foregone caregiver time, travel expenses and out-of-pocket (OOP) costs during two phases: diagnosis and treatment and ongoing care (previous 30 days). Multiple regression was used to determine cost predictors. One hundred fifty-four completed questionnaires were received (response rate = 68%). In the diagnosis and treatment phase, weekly informal care costs per person were: hospital-based costs, incurred by 99% of carers, mean = €393 (interquartile range (IQR), €131-€541); domestic-based time costs, incurred by 85%, mean = €609 (IQR, €170-€976); and domestic-based OOP costs, incurred by 68%, mean = €69 (IQR, €0-€110). Ongoing costs included domestic-based time costs incurred by 66% (mean = €66; IQR, €0-€594) and domestic-based OOP costs incurred by 52% (mean = €52; IQR, €0-€64). The approximate average first year informal care cost was €29,842, of which 85 % was time costs, 13% OOP costs and 2% travel costs. Significant cost predictors included carer age, disease stage, and survivor age. Informal caregiving associated with colorectal cancer entails considerable time and OOP costs. This burden is largely unrecognised by policymakers, service providers and society in general. These types of studies may facilitate health decision-makers in better assessing the consequences of changes in cancer care organisation and delivery.

Assessing Cost-Effectiveness in Obesity (ACE-Obesity: an overview of the ACE approach, economic methods and cost results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Swinburn Boyd

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of the ACE-Obesity study was to determine the economic credentials of interventions which aim to prevent unhealthy weight gain in children and adolescents. We have reported elsewhere on the modelled effectiveness of 13 obesity prevention interventions in children. In this paper, we report on the cost results and associated methods together with the innovative approach to priority setting that underpins the ACE-Obesity study. Methods The Assessing Cost Effectiveness (ACE approach combines technical rigour with 'due process' to facilitate evidence-based policy analysis. Technical rigour was achieved through use of standardised evaluation methods, a research team that assembles best available evidence and extensive uncertainty analysis. Cost estimates were based on pathway analysis, with resource usage estimated for the interventions and their 'current practice' comparator, as well as associated cost offsets. Due process was achieved through involvement of stakeholders, consensus decisions informed by briefing papers and 2nd stage filter analysis that captures broader factors that influence policy judgements in addition to cost-effectiveness results. The 2nd stage filters agreed by stakeholders were 'equity', 'strength of the evidence', 'feasibility of implementation', 'acceptability to stakeholders', 'sustainability' and 'potential for side-effects'. Results The intervention costs varied considerably, both in absolute terms (from cost saving [6 interventions] to in excess of AUD50m per annum and when expressed as a 'cost per child' estimate (from Conclusion The use of consistent methods enables valid comparison of potential intervention costs and cost-offsets for each of the interventions. ACE-Obesity informs policy-makers about cost-effectiveness, health impact, affordability and 2nd stage filters for important options for preventing unhealthy weight gain in children. In related articles cost-effectiveness results and

Mate-sampling costs and sexy sons.

Science.gov (United States)

Kokko, H; Booksmythe, I; Jennions, M D

2015-01-01

Costly female mating preferences for purely Fisherian male traits (i.e. sexual ornaments that are genetically uncorrelated with inherent viability) are not expected to persist at equilibrium. The indirect benefit of producing 'sexy sons' (Fisher process) disappears: in some models, the male trait becomes fixed; in others, a range of male trait values persist, but a larger trait confers no net fitness advantage because it lowers survival. Insufficient indirect selection to counter the direct cost of producing fewer offspring means that preferences are lost. The only well-cited exception assumes biased mutation on male traits. The above findings generally assume constant direct selection against female preferences (i.e. fixed costs). We show that if mate-sampling costs are instead derived based on an explicit account of how females acquire mates, an initially costly mating preference can coevolve with a male trait so that both persist in the presence or absence of biased mutation. Our models predict that empirically detecting selection at equilibrium will be difficult, even if selection was responsible for the location of the current equilibrium. In general, it appears useful to integrate mate sampling theory with models of genetic consequences of mating preferences: being explicit about the process by which individuals select mates can alter equilibria. © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Costing improvement of remanufacturing crankshaft by integrating Mahalanobis-Taguchi System and Activity based Costing

Science.gov (United States)

Abu, M. Y.; Nor, E. E. Mohd; Rahman, M. S. Abd

2018-04-01

Integration between quality and costing system is very crucial in order to achieve an accurate product cost and profit. Current practice by most of remanufacturers, there are still lacking on optimization during the remanufacturing process which contributed to incorrect variables consideration to the costing system. Meanwhile, traditional costing accounting being practice has distortion in the cost unit which lead to inaccurate cost of product. The aim of this work is to identify the critical and non-critical variables during remanufacturing process using Mahalanobis-Taguchi System and simultaneously estimate the cost using Activity Based Costing method. The orthogonal array was applied to indicate the contribution of variables in the factorial effect graph and the critical variables were considered with overhead costs that are actually demanding the activities. This work improved the quality inspection together with costing system to produce an accurate profitability information. As a result, the cost per unit of remanufactured crankshaft of MAN engine model with 5 critical crankpins is MYR609.50 while Detroit engine model with 4 critical crankpins is MYR1254.80. The significant of output demonstrated through promoting green by reducing re-melting process of damaged parts to ensure consistent benefit of return cores.

Costs and Benefits of Implementing Green Building Policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fan, Ke; Wei, G; Qian, K.; Chan, E

2017-01-01

Green building (GB) policies have been implemented to promote GB and address climate change. Most of the existing literatures have studied the costs and benefits of developing GB, without considerations of GB policies’ impacts. This paper aims to study costs and benefits of implementing GB policy

Strategic logistics service provider selection influenced by relationships, cost and market dynamics - a multi-factorial case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tambo, Torben

2012-01-01

Selection of logistics service providers (LSPs) is regarded critical and complex. Relationships tend to last for many years and have a critical role in the architecting of supply chains. Occasionally, relationships between buyer and LSP come to a crossroad of termination, extension or change......; attrition of relationships can be caused by poor quality, changed market conditions, changed management, changed operational conditions on either side, and moves from competitors. This study uses a case-based methodology to provide an in-depth account of business motivations in relationship development...... in LSP selection. The study presents a tendering process as a fulcrum of "non-conformant‟ behaviour and unexpected outcome. Major findings are that contract-bound services and cost structures seem to drift into less transparent and informal patterns of interactions over time; this is wearing...

Yield and cost of individual common diagnostic tests in new primary care outpatients in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Takemura, Yuzuru; Ishida, Haku; Inoue, Yuji; Beck, J Robert

2002-01-01

Appropriate diagnostic testing involves considerations of cost-effectiveness. We examined the cost-effectiveness of individual tests in a panel of tests defined by the Japan Society of Clinical Pathology. We studied 540 new, symptomatic primary care outpatients with a set of 30 common diagnostic tests [the Essential Laboratory Tests (2); ELT(2) panel] for clinical evaluation and identification of occult disease. A useful result (UR) of testing was defined as a finding that contributed to a change in a physician's diagnosis or decision-making relating to a "tentative initial diagnosis" obtained from history and physical examination alone. The ELT(2) panel testing yielded 398 URs and uncovered 261 occult diseases among 540 patients. In total, 1592 tests contributed to either UR-generation or discovery of occult disease. The cost per effective test (cost required per test that contributed to either definition of effectiveness) ranged from 108 yen (approximately 0.92 US dollars) for total cholesterol to 6200 yen (approximately 52.50 dollars) for chest x-ray. Contribution rates and the cost per effective test varied among disease categories. We restructured panel components considering the effectiveness of each test. Subsets of the ELT(2) would have improved cost-effectiveness and achieved cost savings in five of eight disease categories. Assembly of tests based on cost-effectiveness can improve clinical efficiency and decrease total cost of panel testing for selected patient groups.

Cost-benefit analysis of mollusc eating in a shorebird I : Foraging and processing costs estimated by the doubly labelled water method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Piersma, T; Dekinga, A; van Gils, JA; Achterkamp, B; Visser, GH

2003-01-01

Although the energy costs of foraging and food processing in vertebrates may be considerable, they have rarely been quantified separately. Here we present estimates for both cost factors based on a series of trials with a shorebird, the red knot Calidris canutus, fed natural and artificial prey

Strategies for controlling acid rain: economic considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forster, B.A.; Crocker, T.D.

1992-01-01

There are two competing approaches to reducing pollution such as the acid rain precursors SOsub(2) and NOsub(x). In the command and control approach, pollution control legislation may dictate the technological method by which specified pollution reductions are to be achieved. A key feature of command-and-control regulations is their inflexibility. The alternative approach relies on market mechanisms and incentives to induce firms to reduce pollution voluntarily. Economists generally prefer this approach because it permits flexibility for firms in selecting abatement methods to minimize costs. This chapter deals with qualitative issues in determining and achieving an ''optimal'' pollution level using various taxes, subsidies or quantitative restrictions. Alternative permit schemes for achieving regional pollution control are considered. Statistical studies are discussed which compare the command-and-control approach with the economic incentives approach and show that there are substantial cost differences between them in most cases. Finally, some institutional factors, that may lead to more costly acid rain control schemes being selected, are examined. A list of 61 references is appended. (UK)

Design considerations for incineration of transuranic-contaminated solid wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenig, R.A.

1977-01-01

The Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory has established a development program to evaluate alternate production-level (100-200 lb/hr throughput) volume reduction processes for transuranic-contaminated solid waste. The first process selected for installation and study is based on controlled-air incineration. Design considerations leading to selection of feed preparation, incineration, residue removal, and off-gas cleanup components and their respective radioactive containment provisions will be presented

Predicting electricity consumption and cost for South African mines / S.S. (Stephen) Cox.

OpenAIRE

Cox, Samuel Stephen

2013-01-01

Electricity costs in South Africa have risen steeply; there are a number of factors that have contributed to this increase. The increased costs have a considerable inuence on the mines and mining sector in general. It requires considerable planning to assist mines in such management. The present study addresses the development of a way to predict both electricity consumption and costs, which general involves a large range of personnel. The majority of planning personnel can be more usefull...

Cost Analysis for Large Civil Transport Rotorcraft

Science.gov (United States)

Coy, John J.

2006-01-01

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

Draft Submission; Social Cost of Energy Generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1990-01-05

This report is intended to provide a general understanding of the social costs associated with electric power generation. Based on a thorough review of recent literature on the subject, the report describes how these social costs can be most fully and accurately evaluated, and discusses important considerations in applying this information within the competitive bidding process. [DJE 2005

Moral Consideration Regarding the Arizona Tax Credit Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony G. Rud

2000-08-01

Full Text Available I begin by commenting on the language used, both by the Arizona tax credit law, and by our commentators, and then turn to a discussion of a factor I believe fuels the impetus for sectarian education. I end with a consideration of questions related to the social, cognitive, and moral costs of such privatization, in contrast to a democratic commitment to education.

2 CFR Appendix B to Part 225 - Selected Items of Cost

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... PRINCIPLES FOR STATE, LOCAL, AND INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS (OMB CIRCULAR A-87) Pt. 225, App. B Appendix B to.... Royalties and other costs for the use of patents 39. Selling and marketing 40. Taxes 41. Termination costs... principles to be applied in establishing the allowability or unallowability of certain items of cost. These...

Cyanobacteria and Microalgae: Thermoeconomic Considerations in Biofuel Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umberto Lucia

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In thermodynamics, the useful work in any process can be evaluated by using the exergy quantity. The analyses of irreversibility are fundamental in the engineering design and in the productive processes’ development in order to obtain the economic growth. Recently, the use has been improved also in the thermodynamic analysis of the socio-economic context. Consequently, the exergy lost is linked to the energy cost required to maintain the productive processes themselves. The fundamental role of the fluxes and the interaction between systems and their environment is highlighted. The equivalent wasted primary resource value for the work-hour is proposed as an indicator to support the economic considerations on the biofuel production by using biomass and bacteria. The equivalent wasted primary resource value for the work-hour is proposed as an indicator to support the economic considerations of the biofuel production by using biomass and bacteria. Moreover, the technological considerations can be developed by using the exergy inefficiency. Consequently, bacteria use can be compared with other means of biofuel production, taking into account both the technologies and the economic considerations. Cyanobacteria results as the better organism for biofuel production.

Diabetes: cost of illness in Norway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenssen Trond

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Diabetes mellitus places a considerable burden on patients in terms of morbidity and mortality and on society in terms of costs. Costs related to diabetes are expected to increase due to increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to estimate the health care costs attributable to type 1 and type 2 diabetes in Norway in 2005. Methods Data on inpatient hospital services, outpatient clinic visits, physician services, drugs, medical equipment, nutrition guidance, physiotherapy, acupuncture, foot therapy and indirect costs were collected from national registers and responses to a survey of 584 patients with diabetes. The study was performed with a prevalence approach. Uncertainty was explored by means of bootstrapping. Results When hospital stays with diabetes as a secondary diagnosis were excluded, the total costs were €293 million, which represents about 1.4% of the total health care expenditure. Pharmaceuticals accounted for €95 million (32%, disability pensions €48 million (16%, medical devices €40 million (14% and hospital admissions €21 million (7%. Patient expenditures for acupuncture, physiotherapy and foot therapy were many times higher than expenditure for nutritional guidance. Indirect costs (lost production from job absenteeism accounted for €70.1 million (24% of the €293 million and included sick leave (€16.7 million, disability support and disability pensions (€48.2 million and other indirect costs (€5.3 million. If all diabetes related hospital stays are included (primary- and secondary diagnosis total costs amounts to €535 million, about 2.6% of the total health care expenditure in Norway. Conclusions Diabetes represents a considerable burden to society in terms of health care costs and productivity losses.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in sickle cell disease: patient selection and special considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhatia M

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Monica Bhatia,1 Sujit Sheth21Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplantation, Columbia University Medical Center, 2Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USAAbstract: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation remains the only curative treatment currently in use for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD. The first successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was performed in 1984. To date, approximately 1,200 transplants have been reported. Given the high prevalence of this disorder in Africa, and its emergence in the developed world through immigration, this number is relatively small. There are many reasons for this; primary among them are the availability of a donor, the risks associated with this complex procedure, and the cost and availability of resources in the developing world. Of these, it is fair to say that the risks associated with the procedure have steadily decreased to the point where, if currently performed in a center with experience using a matched sibling donor, overall survival is close to 100% and event-free survival is over 90%. While there is little controversy around offering hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to symptomatic SCD patients with a matched sibling donor, there is much debate surrounding the use of this modality in “less severe” patients. An overview of the current state of our understanding of the pathology and treatment of SCD is important to show that our current strategy is not having the desired impact on survival of homozygous SCD patients, and should be changed to significantly impact the small proportion of these patients who have matched siblings and could be cured, especially those without overt clinical manifestations. Both patient families and providers must be made to understand the progressive nature of SCD, and should be encouraged to screen full siblings of patients with homozygous SCD for their potential to

Economic considerations in the use of inhaled anesthetic agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Golembiewski, Julie

2010-04-15

To describe the components of and factors contributing to the costs of inhaled anesthesia, basis for quantifying and comparing these costs, and practical strategies for performing pharmacoeconomic analyses and reducing the costs of inhaled anesthetic agents. Inhaled anesthesia can be costly, and some of the variable costs, including fresh gas flow rates and vaporizer settings, are potential targets for cost savings. The use of a low fresh gas flow rate maximizes rebreathing of exhaled anesthetic gas and is less costly than a high flow rate, but it provides less control of the level of anesthesia. The minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) hour is a measure that can be used to compare the cost of inhaled anesthetic agents at various fresh gas flow rates. Anesthesia records provide a sense of patterns of inhaled anesthetic agent use, but the amount of detail can be limited. Cost savings have resulted from efforts to reduce the direct costs of inhaled anesthetic agents, but reductions in indirect costs through shortened times to patient recovery and discharge following the judicious use of these agents are more difficult to demonstrate. The patient case mix, fresh gas flow rates typically used during inhaled anesthesia, availability and location of vaporizers, and anesthesia care provider preferences and practices should be taken into consideration in pharmacoeconomic evaluations and recommendations for controlling the costs of inhaled anesthesia. Understanding factors that contribute to the costs of inhaled anesthesia and considering those factors in pharmacoeconomic analyses and recommendations for use of these agents can result in cost savings.

Practical considerations and patient selection for intrathecal drug delivery in the management of chronic pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saulino M

2014-11-01

assessed in three double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of 457 patients, and safety has been assessed in 1,254 patients overall, with severe chronic cancer, noncancer, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome pain types. Both agents are highlighted as first-line intrathecal therapy for the management of neuropathic or nociceptive pain. The purpose of this review is to discuss practical considerations for intrathecal drug delivery, delineate criteria for the identification and selection of candidates for intrathecal drug delivery, and consider which agent may be more appropriate for individual patients. Keywords: review, patient selection, chronic pain, intrathecal, drug delivery

Herd-Level Mastitis-Associated Costs on Canadian Dairy Farms

Science.gov (United States)

Aghamohammadi, Mahjoob; Haine, Denis; Kelton, David F.; Barkema, Herman W.; Hogeveen, Henk; Keefe, Gregory P.; Dufour, Simon

2018-01-01

Mastitis imposes considerable and recurring economic losses on the dairy industry worldwide. The main objective of this study was to estimate herd-level costs incurred by expenditures and production losses associated with mastitis on Canadian dairy farms in 2015, based on producer reports. Previously, published mastitis economic frameworks were used to develop an economic model with the most important cost components. Components investigated were divided between clinical mastitis (CM), subclinical mastitis (SCM), and other costs components (i.e., preventive measures and product quality). A questionnaire was mailed to 374 dairy producers randomly selected from the (Canadian National Dairy Study 2015) to collect data on these costs components, and 145 dairy producers returned a completed questionnaire. For each herd, costs due to the different mastitis-related components were computed by applying the values reported by the dairy producer to the developed economic model. Then, for each herd, a proportion of the costs attributable to a specific component was computed by dividing absolute costs for this component by total herd mastitis-related costs. Median self-reported CM incidence was 19 cases/100 cow-year and mean self-reported bulk milk somatic cell count was 184,000 cells/mL. Most producers reported using post-milking teat disinfection (97%) and dry cow therapy (93%), and a substantial proportion of producers reported using pre-milking teat disinfection (79%) and wearing gloves during milking (77%). Mastitis costs were substantial (662 CAD per milking cow per year for a typical Canadian dairy farm), with a large portion of the costs (48%) being attributed to SCM, and 34 and 15% due to CM and implementation of preventive measures, respectively. For SCM, the two most important cost components were the subsequent milk yield reduction and culling (72 and 25% of SCM costs, respectively). For CM, first, second, and third most important cost components were culling (48

Herd-Level Mastitis-Associated Costs on Canadian Dairy Farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahjoob Aghamohammadi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Mastitis imposes considerable and recurring economic losses on the dairy industry worldwide. The main objective of this study was to estimate herd-level costs incurred by expenditures and production losses associated with mastitis on Canadian dairy farms in 2015, based on producer reports. Previously, published mastitis economic frameworks were used to develop an economic model with the most important cost components. Components investigated were divided between clinical mastitis (CM, subclinical mastitis (SCM, and other costs components (i.e., preventive measures and product quality. A questionnaire was mailed to 374 dairy producers randomly selected from the (Canadian National Dairy Study 2015 to collect data on these costs components, and 145 dairy producers returned a completed questionnaire. For each herd, costs due to the different mastitis-related components were computed by applying the values reported by the dairy producer to the developed economic model. Then, for each herd, a proportion of the costs attributable to a specific component was computed by dividing absolute costs for this component by total herd mastitis-related costs. Median self-reported CM incidence was 19 cases/100 cow-year and mean self-reported bulk milk somatic cell count was 184,000 cells/mL. Most producers reported using post-milking teat disinfection (97% and dry cow therapy (93%, and a substantial proportion of producers reported using pre-milking teat disinfection (79% and wearing gloves during milking (77%. Mastitis costs were substantial (662 CAD per milking cow per year for a typical Canadian dairy farm, with a large portion of the costs (48% being attributed to SCM, and 34 and 15% due to CM and implementation of preventive measures, respectively. For SCM, the two most important cost components were the subsequent milk yield reduction and culling (72 and 25% of SCM costs, respectively. For CM, first, second, and third most important cost components were

Separate valuation subsystems for delay and effort decision costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Prévost, Charlotte; Pessiglione, Mathias; Météreau, Elise; Cléry-Melin, Marie-Laure; Dreher, Jean-Claude

2010-10-20

Decision making consists of choosing among available options on the basis of a valuation of their potential costs and benefits. Most theoretical models of decision making in behavioral economics, psychology, and computer science propose that the desirability of outcomes expected from alternative options can be quantified by utility functions. These utility functions allow a decision maker to assign subjective values to each option under consideration by weighting the likely benefits and costs resulting from an action and to select the one with the highest subjective value. Here, we used model-based neuroimaging to test whether the human brain uses separate valuation systems for rewards (erotic stimuli) associated with different types of costs, namely, delay and effort. We show that humans devalue rewards associated with physical effort in a strikingly similar fashion to those they devalue that are associated with delays, and that a single computational model derived from economics theory can account for the behavior observed in both delay discounting and effort discounting. However, our neuroimaging data reveal that the human brain uses distinct valuation subsystems for different types of costs, reflecting in opposite fashion delayed reward and future energetic expenses. The ventral striatum and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex represent the increasing subjective value of delayed rewards, whereas a distinct network, composed of the anterior cingulate cortex and the anterior insula, represent the decreasing value of the effortful option, coding the expected expense of energy. Together, these data demonstrate that the valuation processes underlying different types of costs can be fractionated at the cerebral level.

Designing Energy Supply Chains with the P-graph Framework under Cost Constraints and Sustainability Considerations

Science.gov (United States)

A computer-aided methodology for designing sustainable supply chains is presented using the P-graph framework to develop supply chain structures which are analyzed using cost, the cost of producing electricity, and two sustainability metrics: ecological footprint and emergy. They...

Automotive Lithium-ion Cell Manufacturing: Regional Cost Structures and Supply Chain Considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Donald [Clean Energy Manufacturing Analysis Center, Godlen, CO (United States); Elgqvist, Emma [Clean Energy Manufacturing Analysis Center, Godlen, CO (United States); Santhanagopalan, Shriram [Clean Energy Manufacturing Analysis Center, Godlen, CO (United States)

2016-04-08

Manufacturing capacity for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)--which power many consumer electronics and are increasingly used to power electric vehicles--is heavily concentrated in east Asia. Currently, China, Japan, and Korea collectively host 88% of all LIB cell and 79% of automotive LIB cell manufacturing capacity. Mature supply chains and strong cumulative production experience suggest that most LIB cell production will remain concentrated in Asia. However, other regions--including North America--could be competitive in the growing automotive LIB cell market under certain conditions. To illuminate the factors that drive regional competitiveness in automotive LIB cell production, this study models cell manufacturing cost and minimum sustainable price, and examines development of LIB supply chains and current LIB market conditions. Modeled costs are for large format, 20-Ah stacked pouch cells with lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide (NMC) cathodes and graphite anodes suitable for automotive application. Production volume is assumed to be at commercial scale, 600 MWh per year.

Food irradiation : estimates of cost of processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnamurthy, K.; Bongirwar, D.R.

1987-01-01

For estimating the cost of food irradiation, three factors have to be taken into consideration. These are : (1) capital cost incurred on irradiation device and its installation, (2) recurring or running cost which includes maintenance cost and operational expenditure, and (3) product specific cost dependent on the factors specific to the food item to be processed, its storage, handling and distribution. A simple method is proposed to provide estimates of capital costs and running costs and it is applied to prepare a detailed estimate of costs for irradiation processing of onions and fish in India. The cost of processing onions worked out to be between Rs. 40 to 120 per 1000 Kg and for fish Rs 354 per 1000 Kg. These estimates do not take into account transparation costs and fluctuations in marketing procedures. (M.G.B.). 7 tables

Genomic Selection Using Extreme Phenotypes and Pre-Selection of SNPs in Large Yellow Croaker (Larimichthys crocea).

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Linsong; Xiao, Shijun; Chen, Junwei; Wan, Liang; Wang, Zhiyong

2016-10-01

Genomic selection (GS) is an effective method to improve predictive accuracies of genetic values. However, high cost in genotyping will limit the application of this technology in some species. Therefore, it is necessary to find some methods to reduce the genotyping costs in genomic selection. Large yellow croaker is one of the most commercially important marine fish species in southeast China and Eastern Asia. In this study, genotyping-by-sequencing was used to construct the libraries for the NGS sequencing and find 29,748 SNPs in the genome. Two traits, eviscerated weight (EW) and the ratio between eviscerated weight and whole body weight (REW), were chosen to study. Two strategies to reduce the costs were proposed as follows: selecting extreme phenotypes (EP) for genotyping in reference population or pre-selecting SNPs to construct low-density marker panels in candidates. Three methods of pre-selection of SNPs, i.e., pre-selecting SNPs by absolute effects (SE), by single marker analysis (SMA), and by fixed intervals of sequence number (EL), were studied. The results showed that using EP was a feasible method to save the genotyping costs in reference population. Heritability did not seem to have obvious influences on the predictive abilities estimated by EP. Using SMA was the most feasible method to save the genotyping costs in candidates. In addition, the combination of EP and SMA in genomic selection also showed good results, especially for trait of REW. We also described how to apply the new methods in genomic selection and compared the genotyping costs before and after using the new methods. Our study may not only offer a reference for aquatic genomic breeding but also offer a reference for genomic prediction in other species including livestock and plants, etc.

Digital libraries philosophies, technical design considerations, and example scenarios

CERN Document Server

Stern, David

1999-01-01

An unparalleled overview of current design considerations for your digital library! Digital Libraries: Philosophies, Technical Design Considerations, and Example Scenarios is a balanced overview of public services, collection development, administration, and systems support, for digital libraries, with advice on adopting the latest technologies that appear on the scene. As a professional in the library and information science field, you will benefit from this special issue that serves as an overview of selected directions, trends, possibilities, limitations, enhancements, design principals, an

Structural considerations in steam generator replacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertheau, S.R.; Gazda, P.A.

1991-01-01

Corrosion of the tubes and tube-support structures inside pressurized water reactor (PWR) steam generators has led many utilities to consider a replacement of the generators. Such a project is a major undertaking for a utility and must be well planned to ensure an efficient and cost-effective effort. This paper discusses various structural aspects of replacement options, such as total or partial generator replacement, along with their associated pipe cuts; major structural aspects associated with removal paths through the equipment hatch or through an opening in the containment wall, along with the related removal processes; onsite movement and storage of the generators; and the advantages and disadvantages of the removal alternatives. This paper addresses the major structural considerations associated with a steam generator replacement project. Other important considerations (e.g., licensing, radiological concerns, electrical requirements, facilities for management and onsite administrative activities, storage and fabrication activities, and offsite transportation) are not discussed in this paper, but should be carefully considered when undertaking a replacement project

Oxidative shielding and the cost of reproduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Blount, Jonathan D; Vitikainen, Emma I K; Stott, Iain; Cant, Michael A

2016-05-01

Life-history theory assumes that reproduction and lifespan are constrained by trade-offs which prevent their simultaneous increase. Recently, there has been considerable interest in the possibility that this cost of reproduction is mediated by oxidative stress. However, empirical tests of this theory have yielded equivocal support. We carried out a meta-analysis to examine associations between reproduction and oxidative damage across markers and tissues. We show that oxidative damage is positively associated with reproductive effort across females of various species. Yet paradoxically, categorical comparisons of breeders versus non-breeders reveal that transition to the reproductive state is associated with a step-change reduction in oxidative damage in certain tissues and markers. Developing offspring may be particularly sensitive to harm caused by oxidative damage in mothers. Therefore, such reductions could potentially function to shield reproducing mothers, gametes and developing offspring from oxidative insults that inevitably increase as a consequence of reproductive effort. According to this perspective, we hypothesise that the cost of reproduction is mediated by dual impacts of maternally-derived oxidative damage on mothers and offspring, and that mothers may be selected to diminish such damage. Such oxidative shielding may explain why many existing studies have concluded that reproduction has little or no oxidative cost. Future advance in life-history theory therefore needs to take account of potential transgenerational impacts of the mechanisms underlying life-history trade-offs. © 2015 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Social cost in construction projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Çelik, Tolga; Kamali, Saeed; Arayici, Yusuf

2017-01-01

Despite the fact that completion of construction projects has a direct positive impact on the growth of national and local economies as well as humans' wellbeing, construction projects, especially in the urban areas, generate serious environmental nuisances for the adjacent residents and have unintentional adverse impacts on their surrounding environment. Construction causative adverse impacts on the neighbouring communities are known as the social costs. This study aims to present a state-of-the-art overview of social costs in construction industry in terms of definition, consideration, classification and quantification. Furthermore, it is aimed to bring the construction social cost phenomenon for the agenda of Environmental Impact Assessors.

Social cost in construction projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Çelik, Tolga, E-mail: tolga.celik@emu.edu.tr [Department of Civil Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, T.R. North Cyprus, Via Mersin 10 (Turkey); Kamali, Saeed, E-mail: saeedkamali2002@gmail.com [Civil Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, 06800 Ankara (Turkey); Arayici, Yusuf, E-mail: yusuf.arayici@hku.edu.tr [Department of Civil Engineering, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep (Turkey)

2017-05-15

Despite the fact that completion of construction projects has a direct positive impact on the growth of national and local economies as well as humans' wellbeing, construction projects, especially in the urban areas, generate serious environmental nuisances for the adjacent residents and have unintentional adverse impacts on their surrounding environment. Construction causative adverse impacts on the neighbouring communities are known as the social costs. This study aims to present a state-of-the-art overview of social costs in construction industry in terms of definition, consideration, classification and quantification. Furthermore, it is aimed to bring the construction social cost phenomenon for the agenda of Environmental Impact Assessors.

BIM cost analysis of transport infrastructure projects

Science.gov (United States)

Volkov, Andrey; Chelyshkov, Pavel; Grossman, Y.; Khromenkova, A.

2017-10-01

The article describes the method of analysis of the energy costs of transport infrastructure objects using BIM software. The paper consideres several options of orientation of a building using SketchUp and IES VE software programs. These options allow to choose the best direction of the building facades. Particular attention is given to a distribution of a temperature field in a cross-section of the wall according to the calculation made in the ELCUT software. The issues related to calculation of solar radiation penetration into a building and selection of translucent structures are considered in the paper. The article presents data on building codes relating to the transport sector, on the basis of which the calculations were made. The author emphasizes that BIM-programs should be implemented and used in order to optimize a thermal behavior of a building and increase its energy efficiency using climatic data.

Potential to sequester carbon in Canadian forests: Some economic considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kooten, G.C. van; Arthur, L.M.; Wilson, W.R.

1992-01-01

The potential role of reforestation policies in reducing Canada's contribution to atmospheric CO 2 is examined. The results indicate sequestering carbon by reforestation of forest lands may be a cost-effective means for Canada to offset domestic emissions of CO 2 from other sources, and that planting forests on marginal agricultural lands also warrants consideration. But these policies need to be compared with alternatives for reducing CO 2 emissions to determine their relative cost-effectiveness. It is found that reforestation is more costly than policies to increase the fuel efficiency of automobiles, but economically more efficient than converting vehicles to natural gas. Forestation can make an important contribution to reduced atmospheric accumulation of carbon after the more cost-effective strategy, replacing less fuel-efficient automobiles, is exhausted (i.e. when the marginal costs of automobile emissions increase beyond those of forestation alternatives). Finally, it is demonstrated that, because of its vast forests, Canada is a net carbon sink. 26 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs

[Critical considerations on the legal regulation of sex selection (Part I)].

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez Alonso, Esteban Juan

2002-01-01

Gender selection, and particularly its regulation, is a controversial issue. The author discusses the current problems surrounding gender selection from the very beginnings, and illustrates his views with an actual and controversial case in which a woman allowed to undergo artificial insemination was given the possibility of choosing the sex of her child. The author also discusses possible solutions and the penal, administrative regulation of the issue, as well as examining the court's decision in this particular case.

Design considerations for on-site spent-fuel transfer systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, R.H.; Jones, C.R.

1989-06-01

Studies on spent fuel shipping logistics and operation make it clear that the use of large casks, i.e., 100--125 tons, is superior to smaller casks of similar construction. This superiority manifests itself in both transportation and/or shipping economics and safety as well as reduced personnel exposure in the processing of the casks. An on-site system for the transfer of spent fuel from the storage pool to a large shipping or storage cask, as well as the transfer of spent fuel directly from a storage cask to a shipping cask, could bring the large cask benefits to those restricted reactors. Sensing the need to look more closely at this opportunity, EPRI contracted with S. Levy, Incorporated of Campbell, CA to develop a set of design considerations for such transfer systems. Rather then embark on another design study, EPRI decided to first identify the system considerations that must be factored into any design. The format for this effort presents both the Consideration and the Rationale for the consideration. The resulting work identified thirty-six General Considerations and two Special Considerations. The Considerations are in the form of mandatory requirements and desirable but nonmandatory requirements. Additionally, a brief economic study was performed to get a feel for the cost considerations of on-site transfers. The study results suggest a relatively narrow set of scenarios where on-site transfers are economically superior to alternatives. These scenarios generally involve the use of concrete casks as on-site storage devices

Selecting an oxygen plant for a copper smelter modernization

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Kenneth H.; Hutchison, Robert L.

1994-10-01

The selection of an oxygen plant for the Cyprus Miami smelter modernization project began with a good definition of the use requirements and the smelter process variables that can affect oxygen demand. To achieve a reliable supply of oxygen with a reasonable amount of capital, critical equipment items were reviewed and reliability was added through the use of installed spares, purchase of insurance spare parts or the installation of equipment design for 50 percent of the production design such that the plant could operate with one unit while the other unit is being maintained. The operating range of the plant was selected to cover variability in smelter oxygen demand, and it was recognized that the broader operating range sacrificed about two to three percent in plant power consumption. Careful consideration of the plant "design point" was important to both the capital and operating costs of the plant, and a design point was specified that allowed a broad range of operation for maximum flexibility.

Epigenetic considerations in aquaculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mackenzie R. Gavery

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Epigenetics has attracted considerable attention with respect to its potential value in many areas of agricultural production, particularly under conditions where the environment can be manipulated or natural variation exists. Here we introduce key concepts and definitions of epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNA, review the current understanding of epigenetics in both fish and shellfish, and propose key areas of aquaculture where epigenetics could be applied. The first key area is environmental manipulation, where the intention is to induce an ‘epigenetic memory’ either within or between generations to produce a desired phenotype. The second key area is epigenetic selection, which, alone or combined with genetic selection, may increase the reliability of producing animals with desired phenotypes. Based on aspects of life history and husbandry practices in aquaculture species, the application of epigenetic knowledge could significantly affect the productivity and sustainability of aquaculture practices. Conversely, clarifying the role of epigenetic mechanisms in aquaculture species may upend traditional assumptions about selection practices. Ultimately, there are still many unanswered questions regarding how epigenetic mechanisms might be leveraged in aquaculture.

American business ethics and health care costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, T M; Klonoski, R J; Baillie, H W

1993-01-01

The health care industry operates in the margin between market competition and social welfare programs. Violations of business ethics on the market side add considerably to costs. When the inefficient use of resources and market distortions due to power and ignorance as well as legal and subsidized monopolies are added, increased costs can approach $100 billion. Modest remedies are suggested.

Decision Support for Personalized Cloud Service Selection through Multi-Attribute Trustworthiness Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Shuai; Xia, Chen-Yi; Zhou, Kai-Le; Yang, Shan-Lin; Shang, Jennifer S.

2014-01-01

Facing a customer market with rising demands for cloud service dependability and security, trustworthiness evaluation techniques are becoming essential to cloud service selection. But these methods are out of the reach to most customers as they require considerable expertise. Additionally, since the cloud service evaluation is often a costly and time-consuming process, it is not practical to measure trustworthy attributes of all candidates for each customer. Many existing models cannot easily deal with cloud services which have very few historical records. In this paper, we propose a novel service selection approach in which the missing value prediction and the multi-attribute trustworthiness evaluation are commonly taken into account. By simply collecting limited historical records, the current approach is able to support the personalized trustworthy service selection. The experimental results also show that our approach performs much better than other competing ones with respect to the customer preference and expectation in trustworthiness assessment. PMID:24972237

Excited delirium: Consideration of selected medical and psychiatric issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edith Samuel

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Edith Samuel1, Robert B Williams1, Richard B Ferrell21Department of Psychology, Atlantic Baptist University, Moncton, New Brunswick Canada; 2Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USAAbstract: Excited delirium, sometimes referred to as agitated or excited delirium, is the label assigned to the state of acute behavioral disinhibition manifested in a cluster of behaviors that may include bizarreness, aggressiveness, agitation, ranting, hyperactivity, paranoia, panic, violence, public disturbance, surprising physical strength, profuse sweating due to hyperthermia, respiratory arrest, and death. Excited delirium is reported to result from substance intoxication, psychiatric illness, alcohol withdrawal, head trauma, or a combination of these. This communication reviews the history of the origins of excited delirium, selected research related to its causes, symptoms, management, and the links noted between it and selected medical and psychiatric conditions. Excited delirium involves behavioral and physical symptoms that are also observed in medical and psychiatric conditions such as rhabdomyolysis, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, and catatonia. A useful contribution of this communication is that it links the state of excited delirium to conditions for which there are known and effective medical and psychiatric interventions.Keywords: excited delirium, excited states, cocaine misuse, restraint or in custody deaths

Some considerations on robotics for environmental friendliness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pin, F.G.

1993-01-01

This paper presents a series of considerations regarding the use and potential of robotic devices for supporting humans in a variety of tasks, while maintaining, if not improving, environmental friendliness. One of the main considerations brought forward here relates to the type of human-support functions which the robots are, or will be, expected to perform, and from this, a clear differentiation appears between robots designed to replace humans in environments that were engineered in the past for best human functionality, and robots designed to take functions in the future, in environments which could be better engineered for large-scale human-robot synergy. Other considerations discussed involve the ''life-cycle'' cleanliness of robotic systems, including the materials needs for their construction, their operation, their disposal and, more importantly, their energy consumption which will impact the cycle of natural resources utilization. These considerations are discussed using a variety of possible robotic systems applications in contexts varied as manufacturing, energy recovery and production, emergency situations handling, traffic improvement, waste management, agriculture, and space exploration. In all these applications, the operation costs and complexity of the robots seem to vary in inverse proportion to the amount of engineering that is feasible to make the task environment more robot-friendly, but with no seemingly direct impact on the potential for environmental friendliness of the robots

Some considerations on robotics for environmental friendliness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pin, F.G.

1993-12-01

This paper presents a series of considerations regarding the use and potential of robotic devices for supporting humans in a variety of tasks, while maintaining, if not improving, environmental friendliness. One of the main considerations brought forward here relates to the type of human-support functions which the robots are, or will be, expected to perform, and from this, a clear differentiation appears between robots designed to replace humans in environments that were engineered in the past for best human functionality, and robots designed to take functions in the future, in environments which could be better engineered for large-scale human-robot synergy. Other considerations discussed involve the ``life-cycle`` cleanliness of robotic systems, including the materials needs for their construction, their operation, their disposal and, more importantly, their energy consumption which will impact the cycle of natural resources utilization. These considerations are discussed using a variety of possible robotic systems applications in contexts varied as manufacturing, energy recovery and production, emergency situations handling, traffic improvement, waste management, agriculture, and space exploration. In all these applications, the operation costs and complexity of the robots seem to vary in inverse proportion to the amount of engineering that is feasible to make the task environment more robot-friendly, but with no seemingly direct impact on the potential for environmental friendliness of the robots.

[Costly drugs: analysis and proposals for the Mercosur countries].

Science.gov (United States)

Marín, Gustavo H; Polach, María Andrea

2011-08-01

Determine how the Mercosur countries access, regulate, and finance costly drugs and propose joint selection and financing strategies at the subregional level. Qualitative design, using content analyses of primary and secondary sources, document reviews, interviews, focus groups, and case studies. The variables selected included: selection criteria, access, financing, and regulations in the various countries. Costly drugs were divided into those that do not alter the natural course of the disease and those with demonstrated efficacy, using the defined daily dose to compare the costs of classical treatments and those involving costly drugs. The Mercosur countries generally lack formal strategies for dealing with the demand for costly drugs, and governments and insurers wind up financing them by court order. The case studies show that there are costly drugs whose efficacy has not been established but that nonetheless generate demand. The fragmentation of procurement, international commitments with regard to intellectual property, and low negotiating power exponentially increase the price of costly drugs, putting health system finances in jeopardy. Costly drugs must be regulated and rationally selected so that only those that substantively benefit people are accepted. To finance the drugs so selected, common country strategies are needed that include such options as flexible in trade agreements, the creation of national resource funds, or joint procurement by countries to enhance their negotiating power.

Cost-benefit and risk-benefit assessment for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eichholz, G.G.

1976-01-01

A cost benefit assessment is an essential part of the Environmental Impact Statement submitted as part of the licensing considerations for a nuclear facility. Such an assessment forms part of the initial decision to build a nuclear facility, enters critically into the selection of a suitable site, and ultimately forms part of the design procedures to optimize engineering solutions to deal with waste-heat dissipation, treatment methods for radioactive effluent control, and land and site use. Whereas the initial decision usually can be made in purely economic terms, the latter stages involve environmental and social issues that are not readily quantified and involve a qualitative judgment of what constitutes the least, readily achievable impact. The radiological impact of the plant on the surrounding population from the release of low-level effluents can be quantified and treated as a financial ''cost.'' Alternatively it can be treated as a ''risk'' and related to other risks modern man is subjected to and can be used as a means to establish site boundaries. Both cost-benefit and risk-benefit analyses represent essentially optimization approaches to the problem of making nuclear power plants economically competitive, socially and politically acceptable, and as safe or innocuous as one can reasonably make them

Determining the economic cost of ICU treatment: a prospective "micro-costing" study.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McLaughlin, Anne Marie

2012-02-01

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively assess the cost of patients in an adult intensive care unit (ICU) using bottom-up costing methodology and evaluate the usefulness of "severity of illness" scores in estimating ICU cost. METHODS AND DESIGN: A prospective study costing 64 consecutive admissions over a 2-month period in a mixed medical\\/surgical ICU. RESULTS: The median daily ICU cost (interquartile range, IQR) was 2,205 euro (1,932 euro-3,073 euro), and the median total ICU cost (IQR) was 10,916 euro (4,294 euro-24,091 euro). ICU survivors had a lower median daily ICU cost at 2,164 per day, compared with 3,496 euro per day for ICU non-survivors (P = 0.08). The requirements for continuous haemodiafiltration, blood products and anti-fungal agents were associated with higher daily and overall ICU costs (P = 0.002). Each point increase in SAPS3 was associated with a 305 euro (95% CI 31 euro-579 euro) increase in total ICU cost (P = 0.029). However, SAPS3 accounted for a small proportion of the variance in this model (R (2) = 0.08), limiting its usefulness as a stand-alone predictor of cost in clinical practice. A model including haemodiafiltration, blood products and anti-fungal agents explained 54% of the variance in total ICU cost. CONCLUSION: This bottom-up costing study highlighted the considerable individual variation in costs between ICU patients and identified the major factors contributing to cost. As the requirement for expensive interventions was the main driver for ICU cost, "severity of illness" scores may not be useful as stand-alone predictors of cost in the ICU.

Multiple-factor analysis of the net cost of drilling operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karnaushevskaya, Zh I; Kukhtevich, L I; Lisovskaya, G F; Maguryak, N S; Nasinnik, Z A

1979-01-01

Basic factors in the rise in net cost of drilling operations are examined in the association ''Ukrneft''. A mathematical model of their net cost is constructed which takes into consideration the given factors. A number of measures are suggested and their specific influence on the decrease in net cost of well construction is defined.

Codon and amino acid usage in two major human pathogens of genus Bartonella--optimization between replicational-transcriptional selection, translational control and cost minimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Sabyasachi; Paul, Sandip; Chatterjee, Sanjib; Dutta, Chitra

2005-01-01

Intra-genomic variation in synonymous codon and amino acid usage in two human pathogens Bartonella henselae and B. quintana has been carried out through multivariate analysis. Asymmetric mutational bias, coupled with replicational-transcriptional selection, has been identified as the prime selection force behind synonymous codon selection--a characteristic of the genus Bartonella, not exhibited by any other alpha-proteobacterial genome. Distinct codon usage patterns and low synonymous divergence values between orthologous sequences of highly expressed genes from the two Bartonella species indicate that there exists a residual intra-strand synonymous codon bias in the highly expressed genes, possibly operating at the level of translation. In the case of amino acid usage, the mean hydropathy level and aromaticity are the major sources of variation, both having nearly equal impact, while strand-specific mutational pressure and gene expressivity strongly influence the inter-strand variations. In both species under study, the highly expressed gene products tend not to contain heavy and/or aromatic residues, following the cost-minimization hypothesis in spite of their intracellular lifestyle. The codon and amino acid usage in these two human pathogens are, therefore, consequences of a complex balance between replicational-transcriptional selection, translational control, protein hydropathy and cost minimization.

Nuclear energy: the real cost. A special report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spencer, K.; Marshall, R.; Sweet, C.; Prior, M.; Welsh, I.; Bunyard, P.; Goldsmith, E.; Hildyard, N.; Jeffery, J.W. (Committee for the Study of the Economics of Nuclear Electricity, Camelford (UK))

1981-12-01

This report on the discussions within a small group of academics falls under the headings: chairman's foreword; summary and recommendations; the government's nuclear power programme and its implications; the CEGB's planning record; the past performance of Britain's nuclear power stations - a guide for the future (query); nuclear power -early uncertainties; historic costs - 'the fraud inherent in all inflationary finance'; current cost accounting; fuel costs - coal stays steady, nuclear rises; net effective cost and the rationale for nuclear power; reinterpreting net effective costs; other considerations; conclusions and recommendations; references.

[Atosiban treatment for preterm labor--financial considerations and savings by implementing clinical guidelines].

Science.gov (United States)

Hadar, Eran; Mansur, Nariman; Ambar, Irit; Hod, Moshe

2011-06-01

Preterm delivery is a significant cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Pregnant women, with symptoms and signs consistent with preterm labor, can be treated with various tocolytic drugs. Atosiban is one of many drugs indicated to arrest imminent preterm labor. Various studies show that the efficacy of atosiban is similar to other tocolytic drugs. The main advantage of atosiban is a relativeLy low incidence of adverse maternal reactions. Its considerable shortcoming is the financial cost, compared to other available drugs. In view of its cost, we have decided to implement a strict protocol to direct the use of atosiban, with the intent to reduce costs, without hampering quality of care. The protocol was implemented from July 2009, and it outlines the medical and procedural terms to use atosiban. We compared similar time periods before and after implementation of the protocol. The outcomes compared included: treatment success, rates of preterm deliveries and financial costs. Within the timeframe that the protocol was implemented, we have been able to demonstrate a 40% reduction in atosiban related costs, compared to a parallel period, when the clinical guidelines were not implemented. This translates into savings of about NIS 40,000 (New Israeli Shekel) (approximately $10,000). This was achieved without an increase in the rate of preterm deliveries. Implementing and enforcing a simple protocol of supervision on the use of atosiban enables a considerable reduction of financial costs related to atosiban, without hampering medical care.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-09-01

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

Advances in nuclear medicine instrumentation: considerations in the design and selection of an imaging system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Links, J.M.

1998-01-01

Nuclear medicine remains a vibrant and dynamic medical specialty because it so adeptly marries advances in basic science research, technology, and medical practice in attempting to solve patients' problems. As a physicist, it is my responsibility to identify or design new instrumentation and techniques, and to implement, validate, and help apply these new approaches in the practice of nuclear medicine. At Johns Hopkins, we are currently in the process of purchasing both a single-photon/coincidence tomographic imaging system and a dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. Given the exciting advances that have been made, but the conflicting opinions of manufacturers and colleagues alike regarding ''best'' choices, it seemed useful to review what is new now, and what is on the horizon, to help identify all of the important considerations in the design and selection of an imaging system. It is important to note that many of the ''advances'' described here are in an early stage of development, and may never make it to routine clinical practice. Further, not all of the advances are of equal importance, or have the same degree of general clinical applicability. Please also note that the references contained herein are for illustrative purposes and are not all-inclusive; no implication that those chosen are ''better'' than others not mentioned is intended. (orig.)

Least cost options for life extension

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davis, F.; Bradaric, M. [Bechtel Corp., San Francisco, CA (United States)

1995-12-01

Rehabilitation of existing electric generating capacity offers one of the most cost-effective ways of meeting near-term power needs in many Eastern and Central European countries. In particular, the uncertainty associated with other supply sources and severe capital constraints tends to favor investments which maximize the utilization of existing fossil-fired equipment. However, it is critical that least-cost planning principles, including the consideration of environmental impacts, be applied to the economic analysis of rehabilitation options. This paper draws on Bechtel`s experience in applying least-cost planning to plant rehabilitation studies in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. The examples provided illustrate the importance of least-cost planning and the effect of the value placed on environmental emissions.

Economic costs of electricity production in Poland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beeldman, M.; Solinski, J.

1994-02-01

This study presents a methodology for the calculation of the economic costs of the production of electricity. This methodology is applied to assess electricity production cost in Poland by type of power station for the years 1995 and 2000. In addition, an overview is presented of the methods used by the OECD countries, particularly in the Netherlands. The main conclusions of the study are: 1) the real economic costs to generate electricity in Poland are about two times higher compared with the traditional book-keeping data; 2) the investment costs will become the most important cost component in the near future; and 3) there are considerables differences in production cost per kWh for the different types of power plants in Poland. 4 appendices, 14 refs

Social costs of energy consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hohmeyer, O.

1988-01-01

This study systematically compares the external costs and benefits of different electricity generating technologies. It covers environmental and employment effects, the depletion of natural resources, and public subsidies. Electricity production based on fossil fuels and nuclear energy compared with electricity production based on wind energy and photovoltaic systems. The study shows that wind and photovoltaic solar energy induce far less social costs than conventionally generated electricity. The impact of excluding social costs on the competitive position of the different energy technologies is analyzed. It is shown that the allocation process is seriously distorted resulting in sub-optimal investment decisions concerning competing energy technologies. This exclusion of social costs can delay the introduction of renewable energy sources by more than ten years and results in considerable losses to society. (orig./HSCH) With 17 figs., 24 tabs

Integrated analysis considered mitigation cost, damage cost and adaptation cost in Northeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Park, J. H.; Lee, D. K.; Kim, H. G.; Sung, S.; Jung, T. Y.

2015-12-01

Various studies show that raising the temperature as well as storms, cold snap, raining and drought caused by climate change. And variety disasters have had a damage to mankind. The world risk report(2012, The Nature Conservancy) and UNU-EHS (the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security) reported that more and more people are exposed to abnormal weather such as floods, drought, earthquakes, typhoons and hurricanes over the world. In particular, the case of Korea, we influenced by various pollutants which are occurred in Northeast Asian countries, China and Japan, due to geographical meteorological characteristics. These contaminants have had a significant impact on air quality with the pollutants generated in Korea. Recently, around the world continued their effort to reduce greenhouse gas and to improve air quality in conjunction with the national or regional development goals priority. China is also working on various efforts in accordance with the international flows to cope with climate change and air pollution. In the future, effect of climate change and air quality in Korea and Northeast Asia will be change greatly according to China's growth and mitigation policies. The purpose of this study is to minimize the damage caused by climate change on the Korean peninsula through an integrated approach taking into account the mitigation and adaptation plan. This study will suggest a climate change strategy at the national level by means of a comprehensive economic analysis of the impacts and mitigation of climate change. In order to quantify the impact and damage cost caused by climate change scenarios in a regional scale, it should be priority variables selected in accordance with impact assessment of climate change. The sectoral impact assessment was carried out on the basis of selected variables and through this, to derive the methodology how to estimate damage cost and adaptation cost. And then, the methodology was applied in Korea

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the bivalent and quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccines from a societal perspective in Colombia.

Science.gov (United States)

Aponte-González, Johanna; Fajardo-Bernal, Luisa; Diaz, Jorge; Eslava-Schmalbach, Javier; Gamboa, Oscar; Hay, Joel W

2013-01-01

To compare costs and effectiveness of three strategies used against cervical cancer (CC) and genital warts: (i) Screening for CC; (ii) Bivalent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 vaccine added to screening; (iii) Quadrivalent HPV 6/11/16/18 vaccine added to screening. A Markov model was designed in order to simulate the natural history of the disease from 12 years of age (vaccination) until death. Transition probabilities were selected or adjusted to match the HPV infection profile in Colombia. A systematic review was undertaken in order to derive efficacy values for the two vaccines as well as for the operational characteristics of the cytology test. The societal perspective was used. Effectiveness was measured in number of averted Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYS). At commercial prices reported for 2010 the two vaccines were shown to be non-cost-effective alternatives when compared with the existing screening strategy. Sensitivity analyses showed that results are affected by the cost of vaccines and their efficacy values, making it difficult to determine with certainty which of the two vaccines has the best cost-effectiveness profile. To be 'cost-effective' vaccines should cost between 141 and 147 USD (Unite States Dollars) per vaccinated girl at the most. But at lower prices such as those recommended by WHO or the price of other vaccines in Colombia, HPV vaccination could be considered very cost-effective. HPV vaccination could be a convenient alternative for the prevention of CC in Colombia. However, the price of the vaccine should be lower for this vaccination strategy to be cost-effective. It is also important to take into consideration the willingness to pay, budgetary impact, and program implications, in order to determine the relevance of a vaccination program in this country, as well as which vaccine should be selected for use in the program.

An Evolutionary Algorithm for Multiobjective Fuzzy Portfolio Selection Models with Transaction Cost and Liquidity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Yue

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The major issues for mean-variance-skewness models are the errors in estimations that cause corner solutions and low diversity in the portfolio. In this paper, a multiobjective fuzzy portfolio selection model with transaction cost and liquidity is proposed to maintain the diversity of portfolio. In addition, we have designed a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition of the objective space to maintain the diversity of obtained solutions. The algorithm is used to obtain a set of Pareto-optimal portfolios with good diversity and convergence. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm, the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with the classic MOEA/D and NSGA-II through some numerical examples based on the data of the Shanghai Stock Exchange Market. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithm is able to obtain better diversity and more evenly distributed Pareto front than the other two algorithms and the proposed model can maintain quite well the diversity of portfolio. The purpose of this paper is to deal with portfolio problems in the weighted possibilistic mean-variance-skewness (MVS and possibilistic mean-variance-skewness-entropy (MVS-E frameworks with transaction cost and liquidity and to provide different Pareto-optimal investment strategies as diversified as possible for investors at a time, rather than one strategy for investors at a time.

Costs Associated with Intravenous Cancer Therapy Administration in Patients with Metastatic Soft Tissue Sarcoma in a US Population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mei Sheng Duh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The most common chemotherapies in metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (mSTS require intravenous (IV administration. This often requires patients to make multiple outpatient visits per chemotherapy cycle, possibly impeding patients’ daily activities and increasing caregiver burden and medical costs. This study investigated costs associated with IV cancer therapy administration in mSTS from the payer perspective of the health care system. Patients and Methods. From the Experian Healthcare database, 1,228 mSTS patients were selected. Data were analyzed on outpatient visits during 2005–2012 involving IV cancer therapy administration. Costs were estimated on a per patient per visit (PPPV and per patient per month (PPPM basis. Results. The mean (median cost of IV therapy was $2,427 ($1,532 PPPV and $5,468 ($4,310 PPPM, of which approximately 60% was IV drug costs. IV administration costs averaged $399 PPPV and $900 PPPM, representing 16.5% of total visit costs. Anthracycline and alkylating-agents-based therapies had the highest PPPV and PPPM IV administration costs, respectively (mean $479 and $1,336, resp.. Patients with managed care insurance had the highest IV administration costs (mean $504 PPPV; $1,120 PPPM. Conclusions. IV administration costs constitute a considerable proportion of the total costs of receiving an IV cancer therapy to treat mSTS.

RF system considerations for large high-duty-factor linacs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lynch, M.T.; Ziomek, C.D.; Tallerico, P.J.; Regan, A.H.; Eaton, L.; Lawrence, G.

1994-01-01

RF systems are often a major cost item for linacs, but this is especially true for large high-duty-factor linacs (up to and including CW) such as the Accelerator for Production of Tritium (APT) or the Accelerator for Transmutation of nuclear Waste (ATW). In addition, the high energy and high average beam current of these machines (approximately 1 GeV, 100--200 mA) leads to a need for excellent control of the accelerating fields in order to minimize the possibility of beam loss in the accelerator and the resulting activation. This paper will address the key considerations and limitations in the design of the RF system. These considerations impact the design of both the high power RF components and the RF controls. As might be expected, the two concerns sometimes lead to conflicting design requirements. For example minimum RF operating costs lead to a desire for operation near saturation of the high power RF generators in order to maximize the operating efficiency. Optimal control of the RF fields leads to a desire for maximum overdrive capability in those same generators in order to respond quickly to disturbances of the accelerator fields

An Interoperability Consideration in Selecting Domain Parameters for Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Science.gov (United States)

Ivancic, Will (Technical Monitor); Eddy, Wesley M.

2005-01-01

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) will be an important technology for electronic privacy and authentication in the near future. There are many published specifications for elliptic curve cryptosystems, most of which contain detailed descriptions of the process for the selection of domain parameters. Selecting strong domain parameters ensures that the cryptosystem is robust to attacks. Due to a limitation in several published algorithms for doubling points on elliptic curves, some ECC implementations may produce incorrect, inconsistent, and incompatible results if domain parameters are not carefully chosen under a criterion that we describe. Few documents specify the addition or doubling of points in such a manner as to avoid this problematic situation. The safety criterion we present is not listed in any ECC specification we are aware of, although several other guidelines for domain selection are discussed in the literature. We provide a simple example of how a set of domain parameters not meeting this criterion can produce catastrophic results, and outline a simple means of testing curve parameters for interoperable safety over doubling.

Growth Optimal Portfolio Selection Under Proportional Transaction Costs with Obligatory Diversification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duncan, T.; Pasik Duncan, B.; Stettner, L.

2011-01-01

A continuous time long run growth optimal or optimal logarithmic utility portfolio with proportional transaction costs consisting of a fixed proportional cost and a cost proportional to the volume of transaction is considered. The asset prices are modeled as exponent of diffusion with jumps whose parameters depend on a finite state Markov process of economic factors. An obligatory portfolio diversification is introduced, accordingly to which it is required to invest at least a fixed small portion of our wealth in each asset.

The costs and cost-effectiveness of an integrated sepsis treatment protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Talmor, Daniel; Greenberg, Dan; Howell, Michael D; Lisbon, Alan; Novack, Victor; Shapiro, Nathan

2008-04-01

Sepsis is associated with high mortality and treatment costs. International guidelines recommend the implementation of integrated sepsis protocols; however, the true cost and cost-effectiveness of these are unknown. To assess the cost-effectiveness of an integrated sepsis protocol, as compared with conventional care. Prospective cohort study of consecutive patients presenting with septic shock and enrolled in the institution's integrated sepsis protocol. Clinical and economic outcomes were compared with a historical control cohort. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Overall, 79 patients presenting to the emergency department with septic shock in the treatment cohort and 51 patients in the control group. An integrated sepsis treatment protocol incorporating empirical antibiotics, early goal-directed therapy, intensive insulin therapy, lung-protective ventilation, and consideration for drotrecogin alfa and steroid therapy. In-hospital treatment costs were collected using the hospital's detailed accounting system. The cost-effectiveness analysis was performed from the perspective of the healthcare system using a lifetime horizon. The primary end point for the cost-effectiveness analysis was the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained. Mortality in the treatment group was 20.3% vs. 29.4% in the control group (p = .23). Implementing an integrated sepsis protocol resulted in a mean increase in cost of approximately $8,800 per patient, largely driven by increased intensive care unit length of stay. Life expectancy and quality-adjusted life years were higher in the treatment group; 0.78 and 0.54, respectively. The protocol was associated with an incremental cost of $11,274 per life-year saved and a cost of $16,309 per quality-adjusted life year gained. In patients with septic shock, an integrated sepsis protocol, although not cost-saving, appears to be cost-effective and compares very favorably to other commonly delivered acute care interventions.

Design considerations for the commercial production of wood acrylics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witt, A.E.; Bosco, L.R.

1978-01-01

The major application of wood acrylics is for flooring, more specifically in high traffic area. The most important property is its abrasion resistance. As for the decisions in facility design, the following considerations must be made: irradiation or heat-catalyst to polymerize, machine irradiation or isotope irradiation, and wet or dry irradiation. Then, processing considerations are made on wood type, monomer selection, dye selection, fire retardant, dose conditions and crosslinker usage. In ''PermaGrain'' production, for example, the facility has the yearly production capacity of over 4,000,000 kilograms of wood acrylic. The starting wood form is small slats or fingers. After pressure cycle, the impregnant wet wood is lowered into an irradiation pool and the product canister passes around a cobalt 60 source. After irradiation, the product is taken out of the pool and allowed to cool. Then, final sizing and finishing are carried out. (Mori, K.)

Comparison of costs of electricity generation based on nuclear energy and pit coal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

Despite of a meanwhile considerable increase in costs of installation, especially of nuclear power stations, the differences in costs have increased in favour of nuclear electricity generation. The cost advantages are estimated 4 German Pfennig per kilowatt-hour in the base-load field for plants coming into operation at the end of this decade compared with the most profitable variant of pit coal utilization on which this investigation is based; compared to the use of German hard coal, assuming a relatively optimistic development of prices for domestic hard coal in the future, the cost advantage is estimated 8 German Pfennig per kilowatt-hour. The main reason is that in the past years the price for German hard coal as well as for imported coal considerably rose and for the future further increases have to be expected whereas the largest share of the costs of nuclear electricity generation doesn't increase, after the plant is completed. Considering the importance of the fuel costs within the total costs of electricity generation in coal power stations this must have its effects on the total result. These results also prove to be valid for a variation of important cost parameters. Only if the unlikely assumption that considerable variations of influences on costs - each unfavourable effecting nuclear electricity generation - would come together would prove to be true the economic efficiency of nuclear energy would be reduced or questioned. (UA) [de

Purchasing motors under consideration of full-cost pricing; Beschaffung von Motoren unter der Vollkostenbetrachtung (inklusive Permanentmagneterregte-Synchronmotoren) - Schlussbericht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mauchle, P. [Schnyder Ingenieure AG, Huenenberg (Switzerland); Ritz, Ch. [Schnyder Ingenieure AG, Steg (Switzerland)

2007-07-01

This final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at how full-cost pricing should be considered when purchasing electric motors. The authors consider it essential that the overall life-cycle costs are carefully considered. This also guarantees economical operation and enables users to avoid unexpected costs throughout the service life of the motor. The aim of this project was to provide industrial companies with suitable tools for calculating the overall life-cycle costs of motors at the time of their acquisition. These tools take the form of a sample 'Call for Tender' for motors along with software for calculating life-cycle costs. The factors involved, such as investment, installation costs, energy and environmental costs as well as operational, maintenance and disposal costs are examined.

Direct healthcare costs of selected diseases primarily or partially transmitted by water.

Science.gov (United States)