Cheaper Alternatives Research Articles

Substituting Convolutions for Neural Network Compression

Many practitioners would like to deploy deep, convolutional neural networks in memory-limited scenarios, e.g., on an embedded device. However, with an abundance of compression techniques available it is not obvious how to proceed; many bring with them additional hyperparameter tuning, and are specific to particular network types. In this paper, we propose a simple compression technique that is general, easy to apply, and requires minimal tuning. Given a large, trained network, we propose (i) substituting its expensive convolutions with cheap alternatives, leaving the overall architecture unchanged; (ii) treating this new network as a student and training it with the original as a teacher through distillation. We demonstrate this approach separately for (i) networks predominantly consisting of full 3 ×3 convolutions and (ii) 1 ×1 or pointwise convolutions which together make up the vast majority of contemporary networks. We are able to leverage a number of methods that have been developed as efficient alternatives to fully-connected layers for pointwise substitution, allowing us provide Pareto-optimal benefits in efficiency/accuracy.

First-principles study on h-BSi3 sheet as a promising high-performance anode for sodium-ion batteries.

Seeking cheap, efficient and sustainable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) has emerged as a realm of research, due to the abundance of Na in the earth's crust. We have investigated the relative performance of novel intrinsically metallic h-BSi3 (BS) sheet as an anode for SIBs, compared to LIBs, through Density Functional Theory studies. Our calculations show that BS has higher chemisorption interactions with Na than Li atoms while drawing substantial electron densities from both, turning them into cations. BS is able to reach a high specific capacity of 1127.62 mA h g-1 for Na, while only as half of that for Li, at ambient temperatures ranging 300-600 K. The moderate sodiation (0.77 V) and lithiation (0.79 V) voltages facilitate BS to prevent the SEI layer formation, metal plating and harmful dendrite growth and to maintain good energy density. BS retains good electronic and ionic conductivities after hosting both Na and Li adatoms, while the former diffuses with about as half the barriers as those of the latter, supporting faster charge/discharge rate and greater preservation of storage capacities in high current densities when BS is used as an anode in SIBs. Na adsorptions cause relatively lower structural deformations to BS, and refrain from forming clusters, leading to good cyclic stability. The superior electrochemical performance of Na, thus, makes BS a potential anode material for SIBs.

The efficacy of diet supplemented with Lepidium sativum (Chandrashoor) on expressed breast milk volume in hypogalactic mothers - An open-label noncross-over randomized trial.

Hypogalactia is the common condition, especially in preterm deliveries. Some herbs in Indian medicines such as Lepidium sativum L. (L. sativum) have galactogogeus effects. The galactogogeus effect of L. sativum (Chandrashoora) has not been quantified in randomized control trials in humans till date. We intend to study the galactogogeus effects of L. sativum in hypogalactic mothers through an open-label noncross-over trial. The target population were women who had delivered infants <32 weeks gestation with no lower limit to gestational age and their babies admitted in neonatal intensive care unit for prematurity. Participants who were taking specific drugs as a result of their primary illnesses, such as chemotherapy, sedatives, or antiseziure medications, were excluded. The randomization was achieved with computer-generated random number table. The experimental group (n = 23) received 2.5 g of L. sativum (Chandrashoora) seeds each day, soaked in luke warm water for half an hour in the morning, along with instructions about how to take the seeds. The control group did not receive any medication (n = 23). According to the institutional procedure, participants were trained to express breast milk six times using a breast pump. The amount of milk extracted was measured every day for 28 days. The difference in milk production between the two groups at 28 days was the primary endpoint. The secondary endpoint was to asses if any of the trial medicines had any adverse drug effects. A total of 46 participants completed the study till 28 days. In both groups, demographic factors were comparable. The study group surpassed the control group in terms of breast milk volume slowly and reached statistical significance (P = 0.00002) after 28 days of therapy. No adverse drug effects were reported by the participants. There was statistically significant improvement in breast milk production at 28 days in hypogalactic mothers in the experimental group. L. sativum can be used as cheap alternatives to costly medicines to improve lactation with minimal costs and no adverse drug reactions.

Chemical composition of snail meat species (Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina) in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria

The cost of procuring meat as an animal protein source in Nigeria is on the increase. There is therefore the need to source for alternative cheap source of animal protein that can serve the populace the nutritive value needed in the body system. The study was carried out to assess the proximate composition and mineral analysis of the two species of snail meat (Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina) in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State Nigeria. The result revealed that snail meat (Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina) were found to contain; 0.16g/100g and 0.18g/100g of Crude fibre, 1.43g/100g and 0.79g/100g of Ash content, 1.53g/100g and 0.88g/100g of Ether extract, 22.75g/100g and 11.92g/100g of Crude Protein, 0.09g/100g and 0.19g/100g of NFE (Nitrogen Free Extract), 74.06g/100g and 86.1g/100g of moisture content respectively while the mineral content of snail meat (Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina) was found to be 1.216mg/g and 1.343mg/g of Phosphorus, 0.426mg/g and 0.438mg/g of Magnesium, 0.084mg/g and 0.093mg/g of Iron, 2.011mg/g and 2.046mg/g of Calcium, 1.934mg/g and 1.967mg/g of Potassium, 0.795mg/g and 1.000mg/g of Chlorine. The overall nutritional potential of the two species was quite good. These results show that these species of snail are highly nutritive. The findings were discussed in line with the importance and implication of the uses of edible land snail meat to man. It is therefore recommended that there is need to increase animal protein production in Nigeria and other developing countries of the world as a panacea to imminent problem of malnutrition.

Resíduo da indústria cervejeira como precursor de carvão ativado comparado a outros resíduos agroindustriais: uma revisão

O carvão ativado (CA) consiste em um material baseado em carbono, com uma estrutura porosa interna bem desenvolvida, com grande área superficial, sendo um adsorvente muito popular utilizado para tratamento de água e efluentes. O Brasil é o terceiro maior produtor de cerveja do mundo, em razão da grande quantidade de resíduos gerados por esse ramo industrial, assim várias alternativas são propostas para utilização dos resíduos, uma delas é a produção de CA com o bagaço do malte. Para avaliar o bagaço do malte como precursor para o CA ele foi comparado a outros resíduos agroindustriais que são utilizados como precursores para o CA, como o resíduo da produção de café e a casca de laranja. Foi comparado também o tipo de ativação física e química para a obtenção do CA e a capacidade de adsorção, fenômeno físico químico em que o componente de uma fase gasosa ou líquida são transferidos para uma superfície sólida. Os componentes que se juntam a fase sólida são chamados de adsorbatos e o componente que retêm a fase líquida é chamado de adsorvente (CA). O bagaço do malte como precursor para o CA se mostrou como uma alternativa promissora pelos resultados atingidos em comparação com outros resíduos agroindustriais e por ser uma alternativa barata e com muita disponibilidade de resíduo.

INDIA’S JUMBLED PUBLIC POLICY JURISPRUDENCE: STRETCH, DEMARCATE AND ‘SAW (PIPES)’

The incorporation of arbitration clauses in commercial contracts has become a norm. By incorporating an arbitration clause, contracting parties promise to refer their future disputes not to a court of law but to an arbitral tribunal that may consist of one or more arbitrators.2 The rationale behind waiving one’s right of going to court is the efficacy of the arbitral process, as it aspires to be a quicker and cheaper alternative.

Validation of a Novel, Flash-Freezing Method: Aluminum Platform.

Stored biological materials should have minimal pre‐analytical variations in order to provide researchers with high‐quality samples that will give reliable and reproducible results, yet methods of storage should be easy to implement, with minimal cost and health hazard. Frozen tissue samples are a valuable biological resource. Here we compare different methods, such as liquid nitrogen (LN) or dry ice (DI), to a cheap and safe alternative using an aluminum platform (AP). Murine fresh liver and pancreas tissues were used with varying lengths of warm ischemia time. Quality assessment was based on histological evaluation, DNA and RNA extraction and quantification, and RNA degradation analysis, as well preservation of antigens for immunofluorescence, in a blinded manner. Both in superficial and deep tissue sections, based on histological assessment, AP is superior to DI, or as good as LN techniques in terms of presence of ice crystals, cutting artifacts, and overall quality/structural preservation. DNA and RNA were successfully extracted in reasonable quantities from all freezing techniques, but RNA degradation was seen for pancreas samples across all techniques. Immunofluorescence with cytokeratin8 (CK‐8), alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA), CD3, and B220 shows equally good outcomes for AP and LN, which are better than DI. The aluminum platform is a cheap, yet reliable method to freeze samples, rapidly preserving histological, antigenic, and DNA/RNA quality. Wider testing is required across different sample types. © 2020 The Authors. Basic Protocol: Flash‐freezing fresh tissue with aluminum platform Alternate Protocol 1: Freezing fresh tissue with liquid nitrogen Alternate Protocol 2: Freezing fresh tissue with dry ice

Revisiting Amorphous LixTiO2: Can x = 1 be Exceeded through Chlorine Modification?

LTO is a commonly used anode material for high power applications, due to its intrinsic high rate performance. LTO requires high temperature processes to crystallize the material, suffers from a low capacity of 600mAh/cm3 and high oxidation potential of 1.5V vs. Li+/Li [1]. TiO2 is a cheap alternative which exhibits high cycle life and requires less stringent high temperature processing. Amorphous TiO2 was shown to reach the theoretical capacity of 1260 mAh/cm3, twice that of LTO. The theoretical limit can only be achieved through nano-scaling of the system or through chlorine modification [2]. Hence, in both cases, all the available Ti+IV atoms are reduced to Ti+III with insertion of Li+ ion upon reductive lithiation step. Despite having twice the capacity of LTO, the energy density of batteries containing a TiO2 anode remains limited by the high oxidation potential (1.8V vs. Li+/Li), and suffer from poor rate performance.A low temperature ALD process to deposit chlorine modified TiO2:Cl was developed, which allows high levels of chlorine impurities to be incorporated into thin-film electrodes. High level chlorine modification of TiO2 is observed to significantly enhance the Li-ion storage capability of LixTiO2, potentially exceeding x = 1, beyond the current theoretical limit of 1260 mAh/cm3 or 330 mAh/g. In addition, the chlorine modification of TiO2 leads to greatly enhanced rate performance. Finally, when going beyond x>1, the onset potential of oxidation of LixTiO2 shift to lower potentials which is beneficial for the energy density of the cell with TiO2 as anode. Indeed, the onset of oxidation shifts from 1V vs. Li+/Li down to 0.6V vs. Li+/Li, with a capacity exceeding that of LTO obtained below 1.5V vs. Li+/Li.[1] N. Nitta, F. Wu, J. T. Lee, and G. Yushin, “Li-ion battery materials: Present and future,” Mater. Today, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 252–264, 2015[2] S. Moitzheim, J. E. Balder, P. Poodt, S. Unnikrishnan, S. De Gendt, and P. M. Vereecken, “Chlorine Doping of Amorphous TiO2 for Increased Capacity and Faster Li+-Ion Storage”, Chem. Mater., 29, pp. 10007−10018, 2017

Ex-Situ Investigation of Activated Stainless Steel As Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrode in Alkaline Media

Transition metal mixed oxides have been considered as promising catalysts for OER in alkaline media due to high catalytic activity, possible long lifetime and cheap alternatives to precious metal oxides [1-3]. Increasing research interest has been dedicated to Ni-based OER catalysts in particular, which possesses all desired qualities for a catalyst including being earth-abundant and have theoretically high catalytic activity [1]. Iron impurities in nickel hydroxide was found to lower OER overpotential in Ni-based alkaline batteries [4, 5], which paved the way for NiFe catalysts as active OER electrocatalysts in water electrolysis [5-9]. Large use of Ni-rich materials is becoming an increasing difficulty in alkaline electrolysis, and the search for cheaper bulk materials has recently been intensified. In particular, cheaper stainless steels being a source of both Fe and Ni have shown promise as OER electrode. However, the as-received stainless steel has low OER activity and some surface treatment, enriching the surface with nickel is necessary.In this work, we activate as-received 316 stainless steel bulk material by electrooxidation at 1.72 V vs RHE in KOH electrolyte at room temperature. We study the effect of electrolyte pH during activation as well as oxidation time. The electrode surface layer is studied using XPS, GDOES and SEM, while the surface activity is studied electrochemically using potential step and linear sweep voltammetry in a three-electrode Teflon cell. The active surface area was assessed using cyclic voltammetry. Reaction order and Tafel slope are determined to specify the reaction mechanism.We show that surface treatment of 316 stainless steel in the highest concentration of KOH (7.5 M) gives the highest activity for a minimum of 240 minutes oxidation time. Longer oxidation times did not improve electrochemical activity. Surface analysis by XPS, SEM and GDOES show a significant increase in surface Ni after activation, which was correlated to the improved activity. The surface content of Ni increased in general with increasing electrolyte pH during activation. SEM indicates small crystals on the surface, which could be due to precipitation of dissolved species on the activated samples. The best pretreatment performed in this study leads to an overvoltage of 320 mV at 10 mA cm-2. Krasil’shchikov reaction pathway is assigned as the OER reaction mechanism corresponding to the measured reaction order and Tafel slope. All the samples have the same Tafel slope. Repetitive polarization curves after 24h chronoamperometry indicate negligible change in performance with time. This indicates that the activated stainless steel is a promising electrode material for oxygen evolution. Han, L., S. Dong, and E. Wang, Transition‐metal (Co, Ni, and Fe)‐based electrocatalysts for the water oxidation reaction. Advanced materials, 2016. 28(42): p. 9266-9291. Singh, R., J. Singh, and A. Singh, Electrocatalytic properties of new spinel-type MMoO4 (M= Fe, Co and Ni) electrodes for oxygen evolution in alkaline solutions. international journal of hydrogen energy, 2008. 33(16): p. 4260-4264. Song, F., et al., Transition metal oxides as electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline solutions: an application-inspired renaissance. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2018. 140(25): p. 7748-7759. Conway, B. and P. Bourgault, The electrochemical behavior of the nickel–nickel oxide electrode: Part I. Kinetics of self-discharge. Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 1959. 37(1): p. 292-307. Lyons, M.E. and M.P. Brandon, The oxygen evolution reaction on passive oxide covered transition metal electrodes in aqueous alkaline solution. Part 1-Nickel. Int. J. Electrochem. Sci, 2008. 3(12): p. 1386-1424.

Medical Equipment Used for Forensic Data Extraction: A low-cost solution for forensic laboratories not provided with expensive diagnostic or advanced repair equipment

The data found on mobile phones, SIM cards, micro-SD cards, or Internet of Things devices are often decisive for judicial investigations because they provide a wealth of information to guide investigations; not to say solve them. However, investigators have to deal with two problems that greatly complicate the extraction of data from digital equipment: encryption of data and damage to the evidence (explosion, immersion, deliberate destruction, air crash, accidents). In these cases, investigators often have to be creative in order to successfully extract data from electronic devices in a judicial setting. Using medical equipment for data extraction is a new way that perfectly illustrates this creativity, which is necessary otherwise the investigator will be blocked by the new technology of protection and encryption.In this paper we will make use of four medical materials and equipment used routinely in the forensic autopsy field: the mobile 2D X-ray radiograph (used by dentists), the whole body 3D X-ray scanner, the dental control unit (burr and drill of dentists for legal odontolgy), and dental paste to model the teeth when identifying disaster victims. This work introduces medical materials and equipment that can be used by investigators for data extraction and introduces cheap alternatives for existing expensive solutions from the failure analysis industry. To demonstrate feasibility, we describe in detail experimental forensic cases in which medical devices could help data extraction: reverse-engineering, diagnostic samples, and preparation of mobile phones for forensic transplantation.In the final part, we look at the legal medicine of the future. We believe that the autopsy of tomorrow will definitely have to be supplemented by analysis of the electronic components present in the body (pacemaker, bio-sensor). Medical examiners and experts in electronics must now work together to put in place the forensic procedures of tomorrow.

Tired of Looking Gray and Boring Online? A Simple 3-Camera TV Studio/Classroom for Lively Online Teaching

Tired of the dreary webcam-look in my online classroom, I created a fairly simple and reasonably inexpensive three-camera studio using real video cameras for online teaching. This paper outlines how it was done, and provides suggestions for simpler, cheaper alternatives that are still far superior to traditional webcam approaches.

Rapid Detection of Adulteration in Dendrobium huoshanense Using NIR Spectroscopy Coupled with Chemometric Methods.

Dendrobium huoshanense (DHS) is a typical traditional Chinese medicine with unique medical and high economic values; however, it may easily be adulterated with cheaper alternatives (e.g. Dendrobium henanese, DHN), because of their similar appearances and tastes. In this study, adulteration of DHN in DHS was detected by near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric methods. By performing partial least squares (PLS) analysis, PLS multivariate methods including partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and partial least-squares regressions (PLSR) were applied to the obtained spectral data to build models. The PLS-DA model was employed to differentiate between pure DHS samples and those adulterated with DHN. The R2 value obtained for the PLS-DA model was 0.4898 with an RMSEP error of 0.1554, resulting in a 100% accuracy of validation sample sets. Similarly, a PLSR model was also developed to quantify the amount of DHN adulterant in DHS samples. Experimental results indicated that the good performance of the multiplicative scattering correction (MSC) model is the better model showing a prediction performance of RMSEP of 2.38 and R2 of 0.9946. These results suggest that the combination of NIR spectroscopy and chemometric method provides a fast, simple and reliable method for detecting adulteration of DHS. The method of classification allowed identification of both authentic and adulterated DHS samples. Comparison of six different techniques for spectra preprocessing to improve quantitative model performance was obtained with MSC derivative spectra. The method can detect most of the current DHS adulterations in the Chinese market.

Comparing the effectiveness of capture and replay against automatic input generation for Android graphical user interface testing

SummaryExploratory testing and fully automated testing tools represent two viable and cheap alternatives to traditional test‐case‐based approaches for graphical user interface (GUI) testing of Android apps. The former can be executed by capture and replay tools that directly translate execution scenarios registered by testers in test cases, without requiring preliminary test‐case design and advanced programming/testing skills. The latter tools are able to test Android GUIs without tester intervention. Even if these two strategies are widely employed, to the best of our knowledge, no empirical investigation has been performed to compare their performance and obtain useful insights for a project manager to establish an effective testing strategy. In this paper, we present two experiments we carried out to compare the effectiveness of exploratory testing approaches using a capture and replay tool (Robotium Recorder) against three freely available automatic testing tools (AndroidRipper, Sapienz, and Google Robo). The first experiment involved 20 computer engineering students who were asked to record testing executions, under strict temporal limits and no access to the source code. Results were slightly better than those of fully automated tools, but not in a conclusive way. In the second experiment, the same students were asked to improve the achieved testing coverage by exploiting the source code and the coverage obtained in the previous tests, without strict temporal constraints. The results of this second experiment showed that students outperformed the automated tools especially for long/complex execution scenarios. The obtained findings provide useful indications for deciding testing strategies that combine manual exploratory testing and automated testing.

‘Do not talk to strangers’: A study on trust in Brazilian ridesharing apps

The emergence of digital platforms based on network algorithms can mediate relationships of trust, boosting sharing economy business models. This study aims to identify the motivations and trust elements of ridesharing apps and analyze the weight of motivation variables in the explanation of trust in the platform service. The survey method was applied to a sample of 485 Brazilian users of a ridesharing app were addressed. Five factors were analyzed to users’ motivation: Perceived sustainability, Security risks, Enjoyment, Platform quality, and Economic reward. Results show that 50.6% of respondents use the service until three times per month (n = 246), while 12,6% use more than four times per week. This study contributes by showing that: (i) five key user motives and two types of trusts are empirically measured and examined for the Brazilian ridesharing market; (ii) the most significant variable that explains trust in platform is “Information providing”, following by platform safety and platform security; (iii) pleasant participation, enjoyment, and cheaper alternative were also significant for the trust in the platform; and (iv) trust in platform is higher than trust in drivers. These contributions could enhance applied solutions for sharing economy platforms and guide academic research on the topic.

UV-written grating couplers on thin-film lithium niobate ridge waveguides.

Grating couplers on thin-film lithium niobate ridge waveguides were designed and fabricated using UV-laser ablation. The calculated coupling efficiency with a sinusoidal grating can be as large as 53% in a 0.5 µm thin film. The maximum grating depth we fabricated was 130nm, limiting the coupling efficiency to a theoretical value of 18%. We fabricated grating couplers on adhered ridge waveguides of 20 µm thickness. Coupling light to waveguides on thin-film lithium niobate is still challenging, and here we present a fast, cheap and reliable fabrication alternative. It will benefit the on-chip testing of integrated components developed on this novel and promising material platform.

Characteristics of sweeteners used in foods and their effects on human health

Abstract Foodstuffs containing large amounts of sucrose, which is rapidly absorbed by the human body, cause a marked increase in blood glucose levels; for some people, especially those with diabetes, this is undesirable. Therefore, efforts were undertaken to produce food with a reduced calorie content, but maintaining a sweet taste. Additionally, food producers were interested in cutting costs by replacing sugar with a cheaper alternative. Saccharin, one of the first synthetic sweeteners, was discovered in the USA in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Subsequently, other sugar substitutes were developed: synthetic (e.g. aspartame or acesulfame K), semi-synthetic (xylitol, mannitol), or polyols. The latter were used during the First and Second World War to increase the calorific content of the available food. Nowadays, the advancing obesity epidemic has resulted in the increasing popularity of synthetic and semi-synthetic sweeteners. However, from the beginning of their existence there have been controversies regarding their safety and impact on health. There have been many studies on individual sweeteners, specifying any adverse or side effects. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to summarizes the characteristics of the most popular sweeteners and their effects on human health.

Medical management of cataracts: promising or pointless?

Cataracts are a significant and common cause of reversible blindness, for which definitive management is by surgical removal. However, a lack of ophthalmologists and funding means many do not have access to such procedures worldwide. Therefore, a less invasive and cheaper alternative is desirable. This paper aims to provide a brief overview of the physiology and risk factors of cataract formation, as well as discussing current evidence regarding prevention and management of cataracts non-surgically. This review finds there are numerous promising prevention strategies to reduce the likelihood of a cataract developing. These include aldose reductase inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and vitamin supplementation. However, further large-scale human trials are required for definitive medical prevention strategies. There is also almost no data on alternative management of established cataract as opposed to prevention of cataract development. This identifies a key gap in the literature requiring further investigation.

Nickel doped molybdenum oxide thin film counter electrodes as a low-cost replacement for platinum in dye sensitized solar cells

Replacement of expensive platinum counter electrodes has been primarily focusing research on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Here, we present a facile solution-processed thin-film nickel doped molybdenum oxide counter electrode as a cheap alternative of Platinum. The most motivation of doping nickel in molybdenum oxide was to explore the synergic effect produced due to hypo-hyper electronic d orbital coupling between the pair. These results show the shift of valence band energy level upwards to properly align with electrolyte redox potential for facilitating hole transport. We found that optimized 10 mol. % Ni doping yielded the maximum efficiency of the fabricated solar cells.

Updates on the development of vaccines and therapeutic options against rabies

Even though rabies has been claiming more than 50,000 deaths annually worldwide, it is considered as a vaccine-preventable viral disease. More than 95 % of the total human rabies cases are caused by dogs. During the initial stage of infection, affected individuals usually show weakess at the bitten extremities and the virus can ultimately travel to the brain causing neurological signs. In attenuated (inactivated) form, the currently in use vaccines have been recommended by WHO for the prevention (i.e. pre-exposure prophylaxis, PrEP) and treatment (i.e. post-exposure prophylaxis, PEP) regime againstthe rabies virus (RABV). However, given that they normally require refrigeration and are costly, there have been discussions revolving around potential development of newer, safer and cheaper alternative that can perform better and more convenient than the ones that are currently in use. The current review aims to explore general characteristics of RABV before looking into potential candidates of vaccines that have been studied. Further studies on the pathogenic mechanism of RABV and therapeutic approaches are still required to prevent the deathly infection following clinical manifestation. In sum, integrated interventional strategy emphasizing human health and animal health is essential and requires collaboration between health authorities and the public.

Survival of the Fittest: Addressing the Disparities in the Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease.

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasingly becoming recognized as a global health concern as well as a critical determinant of poor health outcomes. Decreased access to health care and low socioeconomic status (SES) worsen the adverse effects of biologic or genetic predisposition to CKD. All the studies used were retrieved using the PubMed database. The literature suggests that in developing and developed countries, lower SES is inversely proportional to CKD. It shows an inconsistent relationship between CKD and race; that is, there may or may not be a relationship between these two variables. In the United States (US), the prevalence of the early stages of CKD is similar across different racial/ethnic groups. However, the preponderance of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is higher for minorities than their non-Hispanic white counterparts.Further investigation is required to understand the role of racial disparities and CKD as well as to understand the significant difference seen in the incidence when progressing from CKD to ESRD. It is necessary to recognize how lower SES and racial/ethnic disparity may result in the impediment of appropriate disease management. A possible approach is the use of the biopsychosocial model, which integrates biological, individual, and neighborhood factors. A practical method of providing appropriate care to these populations will require economically feasible prevention strategies as well as extending the scope of dialysis by the implementation of cheaper alternatives.