Cost Reduction Effect Research Articles

Quality-by-Design Is a Tool for Quality Assurance in the Assessment of Enantioseparation of a Model Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient.

The design of experiments (DoE) is one of the quality-by-design tools valued in analytical method development, not only for cost reduction and time effectiveness, but also for enabling analytical method control and understanding via a systematic workflow, leading to analytical methods with built-in quality. This work aimed at using DoE to enhance method understanding for a developed UHPLC enantioseparation of terbutaline (TER), a model chiral drug, and to define quality assurance parameters associated with using chiral mobile phase additives (CMPA). Within a response surface methodology workflow, the effect of different factors on both chiral resolution and retention was screened and optimized using Plackett-Burman and central composite designs, respectively, followed by multivariate mathematical modeling. This study was able to delimit method robustness and elucidate enantiorecognition mechanisms involved in interactions of TER with the chiral modifiers. Among many CMPAs, successful TER enantioresolution was achieved using hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) added to the mobile phase as 5.4 mM HP-β-CD in 52.25 mM ammonium acetate. Yet, limited method robustness was observed upon switching between the different tested CMPA, concluding that quality can only be assured with specific minimal pre-run conditioning time with the CMPA, namely 16-column volume (60 min at 0.1 mL/min). For enantiorecognition understanding, computational molecular modeling revealed hydrogen bonding as the main binding interaction, in addition to dipole-dipole inside the CD cavity for the R enantiomer, while the S enantiomer was less interactive.

Effect of international trade on wage inequality with endogenous technology choice

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how trade openness affects wage inequality within and between trading countries under a new framework that incorporates the endogenous technology choice assumption. This assumption implies that as well as making a labor choice, the firms in our model simultaneously choose to adopt different technology compositions, rather than simply utilizing the standard constant technology, as assumed in most previous researches. Theoretically, we find that the endogenous technology choice partially absorbs the negative effect of the unskilled-skilled labor supply ratio on the relative wage within a country. Furthermore, compared with the standard constant technology model, the calibration of the new framework using data from 52 countries yields qualitatively and quantitatively different results for the impacts of transport costs on the relative wage between the two countries. Specifically, there are cases in which this difference generates contradictory interpretations of the effect of a transport cost reduction on wage inequality. For several pairs of countries, the wage differential between two countries becomes more evident in response to trade openness in the standard constant technology model, whereas in the endogenous technology choice model, the gap becomes narrower.

Green Social Responsibility and Company Financing Cost-Based on Empirical Studies of Listed Companies in China

Taking Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2007 to 2018 as research samples, this paper studies the relationship between green corporation social responsibility (CSR) and financing cost of Chinese companies by means of moderating effect and multiple regression analysis. It is found that, for companies, the better the performance of green social responsibility, the lower the financing cost. However, it is also found that for companies with different pollution degrees and natures of property rights, the financing cost reduction effects due to green social responsibility are quite different. Compared with low-polluting companies, the financing cost reduction effect arisen by green CSR will be weakened for high-polluting companies. Compared with private companies, the financing cost reduction effect from green CSR will also be weakened for state-owned companies. To sum up, the research results of this paper show that there is a significant saving effect on financing cost for companies undertaking green CSR, and companies’ characteristics of pollution degree and property right can regulate the impact of green CSR on financing cost. The conclusion of this paper can encourage companies to take green social responsibility actively and reduce the cost of financing.

Processing trade and energy efficiency: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

Although processing export accounts for a great proportion of Chinese exports, Chinese processing trade is always different from the traditional trade in many aspects. Under the background of Chinese energy problems becoming energy problems of the world, it is critically significant to analyze Chinese energy efficiency performance from the perspective of processing export. Our research examines how firms’ processing export behaviors affect their energy efficiency. Our results illustrate that energy efficiency performance of China’s processing exporters is worse than that of non-processing exporters. Besides, there is an obvious inverse U-shaped relationship between processing export intensities and energy efficiency. When enterprises engage in processing exports, the promotional effects on energy efficiency are constantly improving when processing export intensity is low. However, when firm’s processing export intensity is high, the promotional effects of processing export activities on energy efficiency decline rapidly. Our results also suggest that the increased levels of participation in processing exports can promote firms’ energy efficiency through innovation effect when processing export intensity is low, while the increased participation in processing exports will decrease energy efficiency through cost reduction effect when firms’ processing export intensity is high. This research is the first attempt to examine the impacts of firms’ processing export activities on their energy use performance and provides significant policy advisories on transformation of China’s trade mode.

Pilot Study of Pharmacists' Attitudes towards and Expectations for Remuneration of Valueadded Pharmacy Services (VAPS) in Bulgaria.

Value-added pharmacy services (VAPS) are additional services to the traditional pharmacy activities, which do not in-clude dispensing of medicinal products and professional consultation. These services have cost reduction effect on the healthcare system and add value to the work of the pharmacist as a healthcare professional. To assess the pharmacists' attitudes and expectations towards the remuneration of value-added pharmacy services (VAPS) in Bulgaria. A cross-sectional study including pharmacists working in community pharmacies was carried out between August 2018 and October 2018. A web-based 15-item questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed to all members of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (n=5165). Two hundred thirty-three questionnaires were filled in and returned (response rate of 4.5%). Data were processed by SPSS v. 24.0. Over 51% of the community pharmacies in Bulgaria offer VAPS, mainly measuring blood pressure (67.4%) and blood glucose (12.9%). Over two-thirds of the pharmacists considered charging a remuneration fee for blood pressure measurement irrelevant. About 30.5% of those who held the opposite opinion proposed that the fee charged should not be higher than EUR 2.56. Over 44% of the re-spondents proposed that the fee for blood glucose measurement should not be higher than the same amount. Most pharmacists (98.3%) supported the idea of charging a remuneration fee for injections and influenza vaccination in a pharmacy. The study shows that pharmacists in Bulgaria are ready to offer VAPS, but additional remuneration for the services should be provided.

Does disease management for diabetic nephropathy reduce medical expenditure? Evidence from a three-period difference-in-differences analysis

BackgroundTo discriminatively evaluate the cost-saving effects of a disease management program for diabetic nephropathy patients through care process rectification and, subsequently, improved health outcomes.MethodsThis study links public medical insurance claims data to the health records of a disease management program for diabetic nephropathy patients. To account for selection bias caused by the non-randomized allocation of the disease management program for diabetes patients, we adopted a fixed-effect model of panel data analysis. To discriminatively evaluate the cost-saving effects of the disease management program for diabetic nephropathy patients through care process rectification and, subsequently, improved health outcomes, we expanded the difference-in-differences analysis from the traditional two-period model to a three-period model, comprising the before-intervention, during-intervention, and after-intervention periods. Data were extracted from municipal public insurers in Kure, Japan.ResultsThe cost-reduction effect in terms of treatment costs from the before-intervention period to the during-intervention period (the rectification effect) was 4.02%, and the cost-saving effect from the during-intervention period to the after-intervention period (the health improvement effect) was 2.95%.ConclusionsA disease management program for diabetes patients organized by local public insurers in Japan reduced costs both by amending treatment processes and by subsequently improving the prognosis of the disease.

Cost reduction effects of in-situ PC production for heavily loaded long-span buildings

ABSTRACTThe precast concrete (PC) method is preferable in construction activities for its short construction time, guaranteed quality, and cost-effectiveness. Most researchers and engineers believe that these benefits are maximized if the PC components are produced at manufacturing plants. However, under similar production conditions, the in-situ production of PC components can save production costs while providing quality equal to or better than in-plant production. Several studies have described the benefits for the cost reduction effects of in-situ production. However, the verification by using case studies was not conducted. The purpose of this study is to analyze the cost reduction effects of the in-situ production of PC elements. For this study, a case project was selected to establish an in-situ production plan and PC columns were produced on site. Then, the cost reduction effects were analyzed using the actual data of the case project. The results of this study will be used as a core for the development of algorithms for in-situ production of PC components.

IoT-Enabled Light Intensity-Controlled Seamless Highway Lighting System

Motivated by enormous highway-lighting energy consumption, smart lighting development is crucial to better manage available resources. While existing literature focused on ensuring cost-effective lighting, an equally important requirement, namely the visual comfort of motorists, is almost disregarded. This article proposes a novel Internet of Things-enabled system that can be intelligently controlled according to the traffic demand. Cooperative relay-network architecture is the central element that leverages upon placement of cyber-enabled lampposts to allow for sensing-exchanging highway traffic information. Data accumulation is exploited to automate adaptive switching on/off the lighting and provide backtracking detection of faulty lampposts. From the service provider's perspective, we envision to deploy low-cost highly durable sensing and network components to significantly cut down the operating cost. From the road user's perspective, the relay-network is envisaged to provide seamless driving experience where sufficient lighting is always perceived along the road. A critical analysis quantitatively evaluates the seamless driving experience considering car arrival rate, outage probability, and device malfunction probability. A road occupancy-based cost estimation analysis demonstrates the effective cost reduction of the proposal compared to existing systems. Furthermore, the performance of chosen communication modules under different setups is assessed through simulation, suggesting appropriate protocol for different highway traffic conditions.

Projecting cost development for future large-scale power-to-gas implementations by scaling effects

Power-to-gas (PtG) is widely expected to play a valuable role in future renewable energy systems. In addition to partly allowing a further utilization of the existing gas infrastructure for energy transport and storage, hydrogen or synthetic natural gas (SNG) from electric power represents a high-density energy carrier and important feedstock material for further processing. This premise leads to a significant demand for large-scale PtG plants, which was evaluated with an amount of up to 4530 GWel for electrolysis and up to 1360 GWSNG for methanation capacities at a global scale. Together with the upscaling of single-MW plants available today, this will enable to achieve appropriate cost reduction effects through technological learning. Under given scenarios, reduction potentials for CAPEX of >75% are expected for multi-MW PtG plants in the long-term, with significant advantages of PEM and solid oxide electrolysis over alkaline systems in the short- and mid-term. The resulting effects on PtG product costs were evaluated via a holistic techno-economic assessment, resulting in SNG production costs of 15 €-cent/kWh and below for large-scale appliances in 2050, depending on the renewable electricity supply.

열원 순환용 펌프의 인버터 제어를 통한 전력 절감효과 분석

열원 순환용 펌프의 인버터 제어를 통한 전력 절감효과 분석

Per capita income and the demand for skills

Almost all of the literature about the growth of income inequality and the relationship between skilled and unskilled wages approaches the issue from the production side of general equilibrium (skill-biased technical change, international trade). We add a role for income-dependent demand interacted with factor intensities in production. We explore how income growth and trade liberalization influence the demand for skilled labor when preferences are non-homothetic and when income-elastic goods are more intensive in skilled labor, an empirical regularity documented in Caron et al. (2014). To do so, we simulate the growth in both income and exports observed between 1995 and 2010 by adjusting sector-neutral productivity and trade costs. Relative to what we would obtain with homothetic preferences, we show that these changes lead to significant increases in the skill premium, especially in developing countries. Our results are mostly driven by productivity growth shifting consumption towards skill-intensive goods, but non-homothetic preferences also matter when evaluating the effect of trade. Overall, the negative effect of trade cost reductions on the skill premium predicted for developing countries under homothetic preferences (Stolper-Samuelson) is strongly mitigated, and sometimes reversed.

Has Commercial System Reform Effectively Stimulated Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Prefecture-level Cities

Commercial system reform is the most directly related economic system for a new business. It is the basic part of business environment, which greatly affects the cost, complexity and uncertainty of entrepreneurship. In recent years, China has initiated and promoted commercial system reform, which provides rare materials for evaluating the effect of entrepreneurship environment. In this paper, commercial system reform is regarded as a quasi-natural experiment. We collect the data of 283 prefecture-level cities’ commercial system reform by hand, use the Difference-in-Differences Model to investigate the impact of commercial system reform on entrepreneurship, and discuses the influencing mechanism and heterogeneity effect.The contributions of this paper are highlighted in the following aspects: First, the commercial system is the focus of system reform since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Some litera- ture pays attention to the influence of institutions on entrepreneurship, but there is no literature on the effect of commercial system reform on entrepreneurship. More importantly, although the existing literature discusses the impact of administrative examination and approval reform, it focuses more on the administrative examination and approval center. Based on the existing literature, this paper makes theoretical analysis and empirical evaluation on the entrepreneurial effect of commercial system reform for the first time. Second, our study takes the gradual reform of the commercial system as a quasi-natural experiment, and finds out the feasible strategy to identify the economic effect of commercial system reform. In this paper, the text analysis method is used to identify the process of commercial system reform, and the DID Model is used to investigate the impact of commercial system reform on entrepreneurship. Third, this study also analyzes the impact mechanism of commercial system reform on entrepreneurship, focusing on the market entry cost reduction effect and the government operation quality improvement effect. In addition, we also identify the heterogeneity effect of commercial system reform on entrepreneurship.The results show that commercial system reform has significantly increased the growth rate of new enterprises, and thus improved the level of regional entrepreneurship. Specifically, the implementation of commercial system reform has increased about 2% of regional entrepreneurship activities. This finding has passed a series of robustness tests. The test of the impact mechanism shows that commercial system reform reduces the cost of market entry and improves the efficiency of the government, thus promoting entrepreneurship. Further research shows that the promotion of foreign direct investment, the easing of financing constraints and the improvement of human capital can strengthen the promotion effect of commercial system reform on entrepre- neurship. The findings of this study provide useful reference for deepening economic system reform and stimulating market vitality to the maximum extent.

How does trade openness affect female labours?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the non-linear threshold effects between trade openness and female labours to participate in the labour markets.Design/methodology/approachThe authors consider data for nine Asian countries from 1990 to 2016 period and perform the panel threshold regression method.FindingsEmpirical results indicate that the threshold value is occurred. With the increase of trade openess, the female labour force participation rate shows a trend of rising first and then declining. Furthermore, exports also have an asymmetric threshold effect on female labour force participation, which is partly in accordance with the discrimination model (Becker, 1957). On the other hand, imports dependency will hinder female labour force participation regardless of a threshold effect. The authors obtain similar results when the authors consider the female employment rate as substitution.Practical implicationsSpecifically, increased trade openness may contribute positively or negatively towards overall female labour force participation rate (FLFPR), attributed to the relative importance of these opposing effects. Thus, when the cost reduction effect, resulting from intensified competitive pressure and comparative advantages would enhance the participation rate, the technology channel operates in the opposite direction. Therefore, from the perspective of female employment, trade openness is not the more the better.Originality/valueThis study innovatively discusses the non-linear correlation between trade openness and FLFPR and distinguishes the different contributions from exports and imports. The advanced threshold regression model assumes the existence of threshold value from trade to female employment. Thereby, targeted policies for the government should be applied to promote active female in the labour market.

Guidance for diabetic foot management during COVID-19 pandemic

The Indian COVID-19 situation is and will demand more and more hospital bed capacity to manage. With diabetic foot disease (DFD) being a leading cause of hospital bed occupancy, managing these patients based on evidence-based guidelines can significantly reduce the rates of hospitalization. Every hospital bed that is not needed for a patient with DFD , gives room for occupancy by a patient suffering from COVID-19. The goal of doctors treating diabetic foot is aimed at early successful treatment of infections and preventing amputations, decreasing the hospital stay of inpatients, and effective cost reduction. Hence, changing our way of approach to managing a patient with diabetic foot and implementing new and unique ways is the need of the hour at this time of crisis. This guidance also has a section on managing diabetes in people with diabetic foot during the COVID19 pandemic.

Investment for process quality improvement and setup cost reduction in an imperfect production process with warranty policy and shortages

Cost reduction for setup and improvement of processes quality are the main target of this research along with free minimal repair warranty for an imperfect production System. This paper deals with the effect of setup cost reduction and process quality improvement on the optimal production cycle time for an imperfect production process with free product minimal repair warranty. Here the production system is subject to a random breakdown from ancontrolledsystem to anout-of-controlstate. Shortages are fully backlogged. The main target to minimize the total cost by simultaneously optimizing the production run time, setup cost, and process quality. A solution algorithm with some numerical experiments are provided such as the proposed model can illustrate briefly. Sensitivity analysis section is decorated for the optimal solution of the model with respect to major cost parameters of the system are carried out, and the implications of the analysis are discussed.

Analytical Dead-Band Compensation for ZCS Modulation Applied to Hybrid Si-SiC Dual Active Bridge

This paper proposes a triangular modulation with zero current switching (ZCS) for a hybrid Si-SiC isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter (IBDC). Three of the four legs in the IBDC operate at ZCS and use Si IGBTs, while the fourth operates at zero voltage switching (ZVS) and uses SiC MOSFET. In that case, the turn-off switching losses are concentrated regardless of the direction of the power. The main contribution of this paper resides in the proposed dead-band compensation mechanism. This dead-band compensation is crucial when addressing ZCS modulation and improves the overall efficiency of the full operating range. As a co-benefit, the proposed mix of semiconductor technologies can result in an effective cost reduction compared with a full SiC IBDC. The paper contains a detailed explanation of the implemented modulation applied to an IBDC. The paper contributes to deploy a theoretical implementation where the effect of parasitic capacitance on semiconductors during the dead-band is analytically considered. The presented method results are validated on a laboratory set-up using a 20 kW - 40 kHz hybrid Si-SiC IBDC.

Minimizing Monetary Costs for Deadline Constrained Workflows in Cloud Environments

As one of the latest market-oriented resource provisioning paradigms, cloud computing has been widely adopted by a growing number of consumers due to its powerful computing ability and storage ability. Although cloud computing can achieve effective cost reduction and convenience enhancement in the development of large-scale applications, it results in a complex cost optimization problem for data-dependent tasks represented by a workflow. All tasks in a workflow should be scheduled according to a proper strategy such that the cost is minimized and the precedence constraints and timing requirements are satisfied. In this paper, we study the cost optimization problem of deadline constrained workflows on cloud computing, and propose two list scheduling algorithms named Look-back Workflow Scheduling (LBWS) and Structure Aware Workflow Scheduling (SAWS) to solve the problem. LBWS distributes the deadline over the workflow as sub-deadlines to tasks in different levels, and schedules the tasks according to their priorities to the resources which meet their sub-deadlines and the best time-cost trade off requirements. Compared with LBWS, SAWS considers tasks allocated to the same level at a time and provisions resources with minimum cost to these tasks. Experiments on scientific workflow applications with different data and computational characteristics are conducted to show that, the proposed approaches can achieve better performance in terms of success rate and monetary cost.

A Study on Impact of Transaction Performance for Using on Overseas Logistics Center

본 연구에서는 해외 물류센터의 활용이 대 고객 거래성과에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지에 대해 조사함으로써 해외 물류센터의 바람직한 운영 및 활용성에 대한 시사점을 제시하고자 하였다. 연구목적을 달성하기 위하여 문헌연구를 통한 요인분석을 실시하였으며, 해당 요인에 속하는 변수들이 물류센터를 활용한 거래성과 및 향후 지속적인 이용 가능성에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지에 대해 다중 및 위계적 회귀분석을 실시하여 통계적 유의성을 조사하였다. 연구결과, 해외 물류센터를 활용하는 요인은 가시성, 대응성, 부가성 3개의 요인으로 추출되었으며, 부가성과 대응성은 거래비용에 영향을 미치는 것으로 분석되었다. 또한 가시성은 거래지속의도에 영향을 미치며, 거래비용절감과 거래지속 의도는 상호 영향이 있는 것으로 분석되었다. 따라서 기업의 경쟁위위 확보에 있어 해외물류센터의 운영은 긍정적인 영향을 미치며, 해외물류센터의 활용은 대 고객 물류서비스품질의 향상과 물류비용 절감효과를 도모할 수 있을 것이다.Purpose : The purpose of this study is to suggest the implications for the desirable operation and utilization of overseas distribution centers by investigating how the utilization of overseas distribution centers affects customer transaction performance. Research design, data, methodology : To test the hypothesies, 91 data were collected by companies, Trade Related Institutions and so on. Factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted for hypothesis testing. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22.0. Results : As a result, the factors that utilize overseas logistics centers were extracted into three factors, visibility, responsiveness, and addition. In addition, visibility affects transaction intention, and transaction cost reduction and transaction intention were analyzed. Conclusions : Companies trying to gain a competitive advantage will have to actively use overseas logistics centers. In addition, if the logistics center is used overseas, the logistics service quality of customers should be improved, and the logistics cost reduction effect should be large.

Effects of heterogeneous technological progress on haze pollution: Evidence from China

Technological progress plays an important role in combating haze pollution in the long run. However, existing studies often ignore the inconsistent effects on the reduction of haze brought by different types of technological progress. Considering the potential heterogeneity among technological progress, this paper constructs a theoretical framework to analyse the impact of heterogeneous technological progress on haze pollution, using annual data from 30 provinces and cities in China for the period of 2003 to 2016. A systematic GMM method is applied to empirically test the effects of neutral technological progress and biased technological progress on haze pollution. The results show that first, due to cost-reduction effect and income effect, neutral technological progress and labour-saving technological progress are conducive to haze reduction; while the impact of capital-saving technological progress on haze pollution is insignificant. Second, because of the energy rebound effect, energy-saving technological progress cannot effectively reduce haze pollution. Third, the haze-reduction effects of different types of technological progress show significant regional heterogeneity in China. Last, in terms of the control variables, strengthening environmental regulation is the only factor that can be helpful in haze reduction, others intensify haze pollution.

PCN159 COST-UTILITY ANALYSIS OF TRIFLURIDINE/TIPIRACIL FOR HEAVILY PRETREATED METASTATIC GASTRIC CANCER IN JAPAN

Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) significantly improved overall survival (OS) compared with a placebo in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic gastric cancer (mGC) in the TAGS trial. Based on the ATTRACTION-2 trial, nivolumab has been approved and recommended in patients with heavily pretreated mGC in Japan. Recently, FTD/TPI was approved in same patients in Japan and US. Our objective was to conduct a cost–utility analysis of FTD/TPI against nivolumab for those patients from the healthcare payer’s perspective. A partitioned survival model (PSM), which consisted of three health states—“pre-progression,” “post-progression,” and “death”—was constructed for this analysis. The PSM calculated the proportion of patients in each state; the cost, life-years, and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were then estimated. Efficacy and safety data were derived from the TAGS and ATTRACTION-2 trials. Weibull and exponential distributions were adopted to estimate survival curves for OS and progression-free survival (PFS). Utility scores were obtained from the phase II “INTEGRATE” trial of regorafenib, as no utility data were collected in the TAGS nor ATTRACTION-2 trials. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. The threshold value was set to JPY7,500,000/QALY. The expected median PFS were 1.99 months and 1.55 months for FTD/TPI and nivolumab, respectively. The median OS were 5.59 months and 5.26 months for FTD/TPI and nivolumab, respectively. The QALYs were 0.4379 and 0.5294 for FTD/TPI and nivolumab, respectively. The expected cost per patient was JPY2,054,625 and JPY5,018,148 for FTD/TPI and nivolumab, respectively. The expected median PFS and OS were equivalent between FTD/TPI and nivolumab, whereas QALY of FTD/TPI was slightly lower than that of nivolumab; however, the effect of cost reduction was very high. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of nivolumab against FTD/TPI was JPY32,352,489 (EUR265,184) per QALY gained. FTD/TPI was thought to be cost-effective against nivolumab for patients with heavily pretreated mGC.