Acquisition Of Equipment Research Articles

Fuel consumption rate and emissions variability in waste collection services routes: case study of Cascais Ambiente

In the design waste collection systems, it is common practice to use a constant specific fuel consumption (e.g. litres per amount of waste collected or distance travelled). This is also the approach used in many cases for fleet management, namely, for decision-making on more fuel-efficient equipment acquisition. However, the specific fuel consumption is not constant and there are spatial and temporal variations. Accounting for this variability becomes relevant if a more refined cost or environmental optimization is intended. The present research effort evaluates the energy intensity of the waste collection service in the Cascais municipality, reporting the differences and the magnitude of the variability for the mixed waste collection service. Statistically significant differences are found between the circuits, the trucks, months of the year and days of the week. It is discussed that extrapolating average fuel consumption rates for decision-making in new waste collection systems may be prone to substantial error.

Multi-criteria decision analysis to support the acquisition of PCR equipment for the detection of COVID-19 in Colombia

Este estudio propone un análisis multicriterio para priorizar las alternativas de equipos utilizados en el procesamiento de pruebas de RT-PCR para la detección del virus SARS-CoV-2 a través del hisopado nasofaríngeo. Se empleó el Proceso de Análisis Jerárquico (AHP) basado en la Evaluación de Tecnologías en Salud (ETES) para llevar a cabo este análisis. Para su desarrollo, primero se realizó una revisión bibliográfica para identificar los cinco criterios y doce subcriterios incluidos que facilitan la toma de decisiones en la compra de equipos para el procesamiento de pruebas RT-PCR; posteriormente se caracterizó el proceso de uso de la tecnología en una institución prestadora de salud. Los resultados obtenidos revelaron que la efectividad clínica y la seguridad fueron los criterios más relevantes en la selección de la tecnología propuesta. Para comprobar la utilidad de la herramienta multicriterio, se evaluaron dos equipos específicos.

Long-term alliance for pathology equipment and technology acquisition: a paradigm shift for improved quality and efficiency.

Personnel costs are the largest single budget item in the clinical laboratory, other major expenses being equipment, analyzers, blood and blood components, and cost of day-to-day consumables. This report describes our experience with developing a long-term relationship with a single major vendor as a paradigm shift from the traditional multiple vendors, multiple contracts, and recurrent extended negotiations. Our objective was to develop a long-term approach for replacement of effete equipment and upgrades to operations in a pathology and laboratory medicine department in collaboration with vendors providing equipment and services. Major vendors were invited to visit the department to analyze the workload and workflow and suggest integrated solutions to meet the goals of the department. Multiple iterations of the proposals were evaluated, and a recommendation made to the medical center leadership. The vendor, the medical center, and the department jointly developed a 15-year partnership plan to improve the operations of pathology services. The agreement encompasses a range of management and performance criteria for both sides. The salient items discussed were laboratory staffing, turnaround time, workload change, test insourcing, reference laboratory costs, and scholarly productivity and teaching. The agreement reduced laboratory staffing by 21%, eliminated stat tests by reducing the turnaround time for routine tests to less than 45 minutes for 90% of tests, with an increase of 9.1% in the number of tests, Cost avoidance in salary and reference laboratory costs was $3,424,136/year against an expected target of $2 million in total savings, despite not including cost avoidance from promoting appropriate use of laboratory testing for inpatients and increase in revenue from increase in ambulatory testing. Vizient score in laboratory utilization improved from the 94th to 76th percentile. Scholarly output increased by more than 100%. This model of a long-term alliance with a chosen vendor led to improvements in quality and efficiency.

Responding to Environmental Uncertainties in Critical Supply Acquisition: An Examination of Contracting for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Abstract While prior research has long identified the centrality of critical supply acquisition to the government’s response to a crisis, there is less understanding of how to secure critical supplies that depend on global supply chains. The acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak (COVID-19) proved challenging not only due to threats of contractor deception but also due to disruptions in contractor supply chains. This research analyzes primary interview data with contracting officials involved in purchasing PPE in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. The results indicate the ways that contractor relationships were perceived useful in anticipating risks surrounding a contractor’s behavior (behavioral uncertainties), but insufficient in anticipating disruptions that can result from a contractor’s supply chains (environmental uncertainties). Contractor relations were perceived to help in predicting industry disruptions, but such relations were likely to be formed alongside transactional and short-term contract designs—and likely to require comparison with other data sources. The results indicate that improving the reliability of critical supply acquisition for future crises is likely to depend on developing expertise in supply chain analysis, especially as the U.S. government increasingly relies on global supply chains in critical supply acquisition.

A Pathway to Hallux Valgus Correction: Intra- and Interexaminer Reliability of Hallux Alignment

Hallux Valgus is an orthopedic deformity of the forefoot region characterized by a lateral deviation of the first toe by more than 15 degrees with a medial deviation of the first metatarsal, often associated with a rotational deformity of the hallux phalanges. The work presented here is part of a broader study. To assess the (mis)alignment of the hallux, computerized photogrammetry was performed with Kinovea® software. Scientific articles about the reliability of photogrammetry for the (mis)alignment of a hallux evaluation are unknown. The main objective of this work is to verify the reliability of intra- and interexaminer evaluations in the assessment of a hallux (mis)alignment using computerized photogrammetry. For the intrarater evaluation, one examiner analyzed an aleatory sample of 40 feet to measure the (mis)alignment of the hallux, repeating the analysis five or fourteen days later. For the interrater evaluation, two examiners analyzed an aleatory sample of 20 feet. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and paired samples t-test were applied with a significance level of 0.05. Both inter- and intraexaminer-reliability analyses were rated as excellent (ICCs > 0.7), indicating yet another way to assess hallux (mis)alignment by nonradiological means, avoiding the radiation exposure associated with radiographs and the cost associated with the equipment acquisition.

Influence of Project Funding on Implementation of Government-Funded Projects in Imenti North Sub-County, Meru County

Monitoring and evaluation is a critical component of project design, execution, and management. Kenyan county administrations have been carrying out development projects since 2013, but the completion of some of the development projects has faced serious implementation challenges. This study analysed the monitoring and evaluation practices that influence the implementation of a project that is financed by funds from the government. The targeted population comprised 113 staff working in the selected five departments in Meru County Government that deal with projects at the sub-county level. A sample size of 92 staff participated in the study. Staff was selected using the proportionate stratified together with a simple random sampling technique, while all heads of department were purposively picked. A questionnaire was distributed to staff while HODs were interviewed. Piloting enabled checking the reliability and validity of instruments. The mean and standard deviation helped to summarise the collected data. The results indicated that project funding, competencies of a project manager, employee capacity building and community participation were empirically confirmed to have significant weight on the successful implementation of projects. The study noted that reliable revenue streams, standards, best practices, and a well-designed financial plan are essential for the successful implementation of projects. The study recommends the need for the county government to allocate sufficient funding at the project’s inception to facilitate the acquisition of requisite equipment and finance initial operational activities. The government departments at the county level should prioritise enhancing the project management skills of staff involved in projects. The finishing of the identified projects is indispensable; hence, the results will change the manner in which government-funded projects are implemented by the county government.

Necessary Products for the Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Injuries: Lessons Learned That Translate Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic.

To identify the challenges encountered in obtaining the required support surfaces and products to meet pressure injury (PrI) prevention and treatment needs during COVID-19. The authors used SurveyMonkey to gather data on healthcare perceptions and the challenges experienced regarding specific product categories deemed necessary for PrI prevention and treatment in US acute care settings during the pandemic. They created three anonymous surveys for the target populations of supply chain personnel and healthcare workers. The surveys addressed healthcare workers' perceptions, product requests, and the ability to fulfill product requests and meet facility protocols without substitution in the categories of support surfaces and skin and wound care supplies. Respondents answered one of the three surveys for a total sample of 174 respondents. Despite specific instructions, nurses responded to the surveys designed for supply chain personnel. Their responses and comments were interesting and capture their perspectives and insights. Three themes emerged from the responses and general comments: (1) expectations differed between supply chain staff and nurses for what was required for PrI prevention and treatment; (2) inappropriate substitution with or without proper staff education occurred; and (3) preparedness. It is important to identify experiences and challenges in the acquisition and availability of appropriate equipment and products for PrI prevention and treatment. To foster ideal PrI prevention and treatment outcomes, a proactive approach is required to face daily issues or the next crisis.

Strategic Budget Planning for Complex Medical Devices: A Case Study on Surgical Microscopes

Dramatic developments in medical device technologies significantly influence the cost of equipment acquisition and operating expenses. Sometimes the budget estimation needed for rudimentary medical equipment can be complicated, even more so for a complex device with several add-on features. In Canada, the budget allocated to capital equipment purchases is challenging because the budget comes from the provincial government to the hospitals. The capital equipment budget amount is challenging because of the public healthcare funding model, whereby fiscal budgets come from the provincial government to the hospitals. The capital equipment budget allocation is limited and restricted in hospital as “big ticket” items compete with other capital requests. Having a strategic budgeting plan, completed by a clinical engineer, ensures a sufficient budget for the capital request. A strategic budgeting plan was central to this study to estimate the required funding for replacing aged existing surgical microscopes at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. This study demonstrates the development of a methodology to guide budget planning and includes inventory assessment, market analysis, the identification of clinical requirements, cost analysis, and the utilization of the outputs of these steps for capital planning requests. A basic step-by-step approach can be followed by any clinical engineering department before submitting a capital planning request for complex medical devices.

An Exploratory Study on Management Competence for Better Work Practices of The Traditional Metal Fabrication Industry in Kumasi, Ghana

One of the identifiable resources that an industry can utilize as a driver for survival is managerial competence. Although literature is replete with evidence on this subject matter, no research work has been conducted on the relationship between managerial competence and performance of the traditional metal fabrication industries in Ghana. To address this information gap, this study explored the work place practices of three traditional metal craft industries in Kumasi, Ghana with managerial competence as a moderating factor. An inductive research approach based on qualitative research methodology was adopted. The target population was 300 people of which a sample size of 171 respondents was selected. Data were collected through the use of questionnaire designed with open and close-ended responses as well as personal observations conducted using a well-designed observation guide with clear attributes and angles of observation. The results showed that all the study participants interviewed exhibited various levels of operational competence of knowledge, technical skills, experience and character attitude needed to enhance the performance and day-to-day administration of their work. They also had good conflict resolution abilities and good decision-making skills, as well as an excellent apprenticeship system embodied in a succession plan. On the other hand, the study identified several factors that impacted negatively on the operations of their work including the inability to create a conducive work environment for high performance, poor equipment and tool maintenance culture, lack of proper PPEs, poor record keeping, poor innovation and creativity skills, and nonexistence of a system for the acquisition and utilization of modern equipment and technology. These limitations suggest lack of management competence. The study considers this as quite worrisome and recommends for the needed support from both governmental and NGOs, to safeguard the survival of the metal craft industry in Ghana.

The effectiveness of prehospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation

An analysis of the Yakutsk Emergency Department documentation for 2018–2022 was carried out in order to assess the effectiveness of prehospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It was revealed that over a number of years, the Department has maintained a fairly high level of successful resuscitation with restored cardiac activity (increased from 0 % in 2005 to 44.7 % in 2022). The result was achieved through continuous managerial efforts (training of mobile team personnel, increasing readiness for extended resuscitation in all mobile teams, gradual acquisition of technical equipment for providing comprehensive emergency services, daily quality control of medical services provided to patients, effective functioning of the operational department). A high-quality resuscitation performed by the teams contributes to the reduced mortality from preventable causes.

Impact of a quality improvement programme on the preparation and administration of medications via a nasoenteral feeding tube: 2014–2019 intervention study

AimsEvaluate the impact of a quality improvement programme on the reduction of feeding tube obstruction frequencies, analyse the predictive variables of this safety incident, and estimate the economic costs related...

Setup of a cryobank for ovarian tissue in a university-based setting.

Establishing and maintaining a newly set-up cryobank for ovarian tissue in a university setting requires at least 1 year's notice to start financial, spatial, lab equipment, and employee acquisition planning. Right before and after the start of the cryobank, the newly founded team should introduce itself to the hospitals and local and national health systems via mail, print flyers, and symposia in order to share the possibilities and the knowledge. Potential referrers should be provided with standard operating procedures and advice on getting used to the new system. Especially in the first year after the establishment, all procedures should be internally audited in order to avoid possible difficulties.

Virtual Rural Trauma Team Development Course: Trying to Zoom in on a Solution.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented centers from providing in-person interactive training programs such as the Rural Trauma Team Development Course. Adapting the course to a virtual platform is an option, yet little is known regarding the feasibility of using this format. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of providing a virtual rural trauma development course during COVID-19. This is a descriptive study of emergency medical technicians, nurses, emergency department technicians, and physicians from four rural community health care facilities and local emergency medical services who participated in a virtual Rural Trauma Team Development Course held in November 2021 which was transformed into a virtual platform using live remote interactive lectures, recorded case-based scenarios, and interactive virtual-based questions. The course was evaluated by the changes instituted at the centers based on program recommendations and a participant survey. A total of 41 participants were studied, of whom 31 (75%) returned the emailed postprogram survey. The majority (>75%) of respondents rated the activity as very good, with course objectives met. All four facilities instituted changes following the program, including enhancing policy and procedures, guidelines, advancing performance improvement triggers, and equipment acquisition. Individual-reported participant satisfaction was very high. The Rural Trauma Team Development Course can be provided virtually and is a feasible option for trauma centers to provide initial trauma management in the rural community in a safe pandemic-restrictive atmosphere.

50 shades of procurement: the European defense trilemma in defense procurement strategies

This article examines the strategic choices of countries regarding their acquisition of defense equipment, given the strategic and economic constraints that they have faced since the end of the Cold War. As Augustine’s laws make it increasingly complicated to develop and produce all the necessary weapons for a single country, countries must balance the wishful thinking of preserving industrial strategic autonomy and the cost of doing so under the constraint of meeting the needs of their armed forces. We discuss a trilemma of the European countries between independence, manageable costs, and economic spinoff. We analyze several procurement alternatives, including national production, European cooperative production, licensed production, off-the-shelf purchase, leasing, and capacity abandonment. Maximizing both strategic and economic advantages, is a myth. There is no “silver bullet” in terms of acquisition choice, and the returns on investment depend on countries’ preferences, goals, and markets.

In Situ Thermal Transmittance Assessment of the Building Envelope: Practical Advice and Outlooks for Standard and Innovative Procedures

Different standard methods for the assessment of the thermal performance of the building envelope are used: analogy with coeval building, theoretical method, heat flow meter measurement, simple hot box, infrared thermography, and thermometric method. Review papers on these methods, applied in situ and in laboratory, have been published, focusing on theory, equipment, metrological performance, test conditions and data acquisition, data analysis, benefits, and limitations. However, steps forward have been done and not been deepened in previous works: in fact, the representative points method and the weighted area method have been proposed, too, whilst artificial intelligence and data-driven methods have begun to prove the reliability also in the U-value prevision using available datasets. Considering this context, this work aims at updating the literature background considering exclusively in situ methods. The work starts from bibliometric and scientometric analysis not previously conducted: this helped to group the methods and to sketch the innovations and the future perspectives. Indeed, from the bibliometric and scientometric literature analysis what emerged was (i) the richness of the background on this topic, especially in the recent years, (ii) two macro-groups (methods with and without measurements), and (iii) the importance of paper keywords (otherwise, interesting papers are eluded by the output of simple database queries). The method study that followed aims at providing (i) a broader view of the thermal transmittance (U-value) assessment procedures, including the utmost recent applications, proposal, and outlooks in this field, (ii) the understanding on the fundamental theories of the techniques, (iii) practical advice for building-envelope assessment, focusing on the advantages and limitations useful for professionals and researchers involved in the energy audit, conservation, or refurbishment of building stock, (iv) the identification of the interconnection between the techniques that often rely on one another, and (v) final remarks and future perspective of the procedures, which embrace the use of artificial intelligence (AI). From the topic analysis, as a result, it emerged that this is an open field for future research, especially with the implementation of AI, which requires good datasets and trials on the models’ architectures, in terms of input layer, number of hidden layer and neurons, and percentage of data to be employed for model training and testing.

Measuring rock slope damage on rubble mound breakwater through digital photogrammetry

In coastal engineering, laboratory research is the primary way to investigate wave–structure interaction. Different techniques can be used to study the stability of coastal structures and the related damage level, among which, the most consolidated one exploits the laser profiling system, with costly and time-consuming procedures. The present research proposes an innovative method, based on photogrammetry, for the measurement of the damage of rock slope structures (i.e. depth and extension of the damaged area). The approach has been tested and validated during an experimental campaign carried out on a 2D-physical scaled model of a rubble mound breakwater at the EUMER Laboratory (University of Salento, Lecce, Italy). Photogrammetric outputs have been compared with the laser derived profiles, under different structures layouts and hydrodynamic conditions. Results have proven to be highly accurate (relative error lower than 5%), with time and cost-effective equipment (standard digital camera) and simple acquisition and processing procedures.

Association among Omani Gross Capital Formation, Final Consumption Expenditure, Exports, and Imports

Purpose – The primary pursuit of this investigation is to examine the link between Omani gross capital formation GCF (investment) as a dependent variable and imports, exports, and final consumption expenditure FCE as independent variables from 1990 to 2021 and how these variables impact Omani GCF behavior. Method– The co-integration model’s auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test is employed to achieve this investigation. The study scoped over 33 years, starting from 1990 and ending in 2021, entirely considered secondary data sourced from the World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.GDI.TOTL.CD?locations=OM),(https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.IMP.GNFS.CD?locations=OM-AD),(https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.CD?locations=OM-AD), and (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.TOTL.CD?locations=OM-AD). Findings – Results of the statistical analysis demonstrated that, after checking the value of F-statistic and comparing it with I1 Bound, the study concluded that there is a relationship between the independent variables and dependent one, and by conducting the Bounds Test (Long run relationship between variables), its outcomes say that there is a positive long-run link between imports and GCF and a negative long-run exists between FCE and GCF, whereas there is only a negative short-run between exports and GCF. Definition: According to the World Bank, the gross capital formation (formerly gross domestic investment) contains outlays on additions to the economy’s fixed assets with net alterations in the inventories’ level. Fixed assets consist of: Land advancements (fences, ditches, drains, and on). Plant, machinery, and equipment acquisitions. The roads’ construction, railways, and the like, containing hospitals, offices, schools, private residential dwellings, and commercial and industrial premises Inventories are stocks of goods firms hold to satisfy temporary or unanticipated oscillations in production or sales and “work in progress.” As per the 1993 SNA, net acquisitions of valuables are also considered capital formation.

Blended Finance: A Tool for Inciting Commercial Financial Institutions to Provide Financing for Machinery Acquisition for SMEs in Cameroon

As is the case of most economies around the world, the relevance of SMEs to the well-being of the Cameroonian economy is quite significant as they contribute meaningfully to employment creation, GDP as well as poverty alleviation. However, this category of businesses in Cameroon tends to implement very low levels of automation due to the lack of financing for equipment /machinery acquisition. This inevitably leads to high production costs and the inability to scale up production as multiple tasks are carried out manually. Certain opportunities cannot even be exploited as SMEs tend to congregate in sectors that are labor-intensive while avoiding technology and machinery-intensive sectors. Despite this situation, the OECD developed the blended finance tool which involves the usage of non-business funds such as developmental/ philanthropic funds to mobilize and orientate private capital towards sectors that will otherwise be neglected. It was therefore the purpose of this study to investigate if this tool can have a statistically significant impact on the willingness of financial institutions to finance machinery/ equipment acquisition in SMEs in Cameroon. Data collected from 232 bank and microfinance employees across Cameroon using a pretested questionnaire was analyzed using the One-way ANOVA analysis in SPSS. The results revealed a statistically significant impact of blended finance on the willingness of financial institutions to finance machinery/equipment acquisition in SMEs in Cameroon. It is therefore recommended that the governments as well as NGOs interested in SMEs make use of this tool to incite financial institutions to provide financing for this category of businesses.

ІННОВАЦІЙНА СИЛА ТА СТАТУС УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ В КОНТЕКСТІ ЄВРОІНТЕГРАЦІЙНИХ ПРОЦЕСІВ

The innovative power of Ukraine plays a vital role in driving its economic growth and competitiveness, primarily as the country aims to integrate with Europe and works towards attaining candidate status for EU membership. To accurately assess Ukraine's innovative status and identify areas for improvement, it is imperative to evaluate critical indicators and factors. Given the current economic realities, pursuing an effective innovation policy for our country is of utmost importance, considering its status as a candidate for European Union membership. The article aims to analyze the innovative power and status of the Ukrainian economy within the framework of European integration processes. It has been determined that the level of innovative activity in Ukrainian companies is currently below the international standard and needs to catch up to the average benchmark set by the European Union. Emphasis is placed on the fact that most innovations are primarily "new to the firm," often achieved through equipment acquisition, rather than "new to the world" innovations. The study revealed that Ukrainian companies encounter a challenging external environment in their pursuit of innovation. Consequently, critical positive and negative factors that significantly influence the potential innovative power of the Ukrainian economy have been identified. The article analyzes the international legal agreements that serve as the foundation for cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in research and innovation. Furthermore, it highlights that Ukraine is classified as a new innovator according to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2022. The article emphasizes the structural disparities between Ukraine and the European Union, which significantly impact the innovative status and strength of the Ukrainian economy. The research concluded that Ukraine has substantial potential for cultivating an innovation-driven economy, owing to its large talent pool and entrepreneurial aptitude. Nevertheless, the innovative potential of Ukraine has yet to be fully realized, and the military conflicts on Ukrainian territory have introduced a new existential risk to the country's innovation sphere. Overcoming this challenge necessitates the effective engagement of public-private partnerships, a substantial increase in scientific funding within Ukraine, and the utilization of new opportunities, including financial ones, presented by the candidate status for EU membership. Particularly, joining the European research area holds promise in this regard.

Acquisition and Disposition of Property, Plant, and Equipment

Acquisition and Disposition of Property, Plant, and Equipment