High Total Cost Research Articles

Practical solutions to problems experienced in open seawater RO plants operating on the Arabian Gulf

In 1991, the Water and Electricity Department of Abu Dhabi WED) commissioned a two million imperial gallons per day (9000 m 3/d) seawater reverse osmosis plant in Jabel Dhana, United Arab Emirates. Initially, the high salinity, hot Gulf seawater RO plant being operated on open sea intake has suffered from biological fouling, low plant availability and high total water cost. Today the plant is operating with a new simplified process, the availability has reached 98% and the running cost has substantially been reduced. The plant represents an outstanding example of the application of several biofouling control technologies recently developed for RO seawater desalination plants. This paper presents in detail the various actions taken at Jabel Dhana to control biological fouling, increase the plant availability to 98% and reduce the plant running cost.

Direct cost of rheumatoid arthritis during the first six years: a cost-of-illness study.

The objective was to estimate the annual direct disease-related cost of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during the first 6 yr and to determine which socio-demographic and clinical characteristics relate to these costs. The study population consisted of 424 RA patients who had participated in a (population-based) trial on therapeutic strategies for early RA since 1990 and were not lost to follow-up in April 1996. A questionnaire on costs due to RA was sent to these patients; 363 (86%) completed questionnaires were analysed. The total annual direct cost per patient was estimated by adding up the costs of health care workers, days admitted to care facilities, medication, monitoring for side-effects, alternative medicine, adaptations in the home, devices, and other direct costs such as travelling expenses. The mean annual direct cost due to RA was estimated to be Dfl. 11,550 per patient. An obvious increase in direct cost with increasing disease duration was not found. Patients with higher disease activity exhibited significantly higher costs compared to patients with lower disease activity. A multiple logistic regression model showed that greater disability and lower age increased the odds for high costs. The annual direct cost of RA averaged out at Dfl. 11,550 per patient (i.e. Pound Sterling 3680). A high total direct cost in the first 6 yr of disease is related to severe functional disability and lower age.

Household costs and public expenditure on primary education in five low income countries: A comparative analysis

Between 1993 and 1995 UNICEF sponsored the analysis of the cost of primary education in five countries (Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Myanmar, Uganda, and Viet Nam). Some of the results of those studies in terms of the relative importance of private and public costs are presented in this paper. This cost structure is linked to major problem areas in each education system. High total cost countries are found to have low enrolments. High total costs result from high teacher wages relative to per capita income. High private costs induce a large gender gap in outcome indicators, and countries with high-enrolments but low absolute public expenditure on education face serious difficulties maintaining quality and ensuring completion of the primary cycle. Some policies aimed at reducing cost, raising more resources and increasing efficiency are also analyzed.

AJP centennial. One hundred years of journal publication.

AJP centennial. One hundred years of journal publication.

Industrial Injury Cost Analysis by Occupation in an Electric Utility

The objective of this study was to establish a cost base of industrial injuries by occupations at the Southern California Edison Company (SCE). The cost base is a risk management tool to project future costs of current injuries by occupation. It provides an estimation of anticipated cost for use in strategic program development. The SCE workers' compensation database of industrial injuries was used in this study. Cost data from 1980 to 1987 were converted to 1993 dollars. Several years must elapse for the total cost data to accrue for complex medical lost time injury cases. The total average cost per injury for the 46 occupations was $5173. The occupational total average injury cost range was $300-$19 500, a difference in total average injury cost of more than $19 000. The costing model developed included three major cost categories: lost productivity, medical, and indemnity. It is a conservative estimate of the actual cost of an average injury event. Reducing injury rates in high total average injury cost occupations offers the maximum potential for cost savings.

Models of software accumulation

The administration of a software unit in an organization aims at producing and maintaining needed software as efficiently as possible. High efficiency means low total cost for existing software. The total cost consists of the cost for developing the software, including initial development and later additions of new features, and the cost for maintaining it, including correction of errors and bad design and modifications needed because of environmental changes. Software will accumulate over time depending on available resources. For a fixed budget, the accumulation of software will be the fastest in the early years of computerization when only little software has to be maintained, and will decline over time as maintenance will need a growing share of the budget. Simple models describing this accumulation process are developed and implications of strategic decisions for software development are illustrated based on these models.

Nestling Metabolism and Growth in the Black Noddy and White Tern

The White Tern (Gygis alba) and Black Noddy (Anous minutus) are two tropical charadriiform seabirds characterized by prolonged incubation of their eggs, slow embryonic growth, and a high total energetic cost of embryonic development (Whittow 1980, Pettit et al. 1981, Pettit and Whittow 1983). The present study was undertaken to ascertain if post-hatching growth was also slow and if the nestling period was prolonged in the two species. A long nestling period reduces the energy requirement of the chick (Ricklefs and White 1981) but may place an energetic burden upon breeding adults. To evaluate this possible energetic constraint in the Black Noddy, the oxygen consumption of the chick was measured to estimate the total energy cost of maintenance activities.

RELIABILITY AND REGULATION IN PRICING PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICE

SUMMARYThe principal question addressed in this paper concerns the optimal price profile for a regulated public utility where demand is stochastic. Through the introduction of rationing costs and a rate‐of‐return constraint, marginal revenue will be approximately equated to the cost associated with satisfying the last unit of consumers’demand. This has significant implications for capacity expansion. Namely, capacity is added to keep the risk of failure minimal. As a result, to the extent that the associated costs are higher for the last unit of capacity, a higher marginal revenue and hence price will result. That is, if the marginal unit of capacity has a high operating and delivery cost and low capital cost with high reliability and consequent high total cost (e.g., an internal combustion peaking unit), the indicated result follows.Consequently, there is a direct trade off between the level of risk of failure and marginal revenue. This provides a rationalization for the existence of the price differential between firm and interruptible customers. Finally, if the firm is contrained to earn a fair return on its capital investment, it will set prices to favor the consumers generating the expansion in capacity.