Opportunities For Savings Research Articles

Identifikasi Aliran Energi Listrik pada Mesin CNC Machining Center

<p><em>CNC machine tools have been widely used in the process and manufacturing industries, which have the potential to increase the intensity of electrical energy consumption so that energy efficiency is needed. Energy efficiency is a necessity for the sustainability of the process and manufacturing industrial sector which will be related to energy costs and environmental factors. In order to carry out energy efficiency, it is necessary to identify the consumption of electrical energy by tracing and mapping the electrical energy flow to the components in a CNC machining center machine, so opportunities for energy savings can be known. This research was conducted by collecting data by monitoring energy consumption in stand-by, setting and cutting machine conditions. Cutting tests are carried out to determine the energy consumption of each machine component that affects energy use. After that it can be seen the energy flow pattern by classifying the energy user components into primary and secondary components. Based on the analysis of electrical energy consumption data during the cutting process, it is known that the significat energy users are the spindle motor, the axis feed motor (X, Y, Z) and the coolant motor.</em></p>

A Cost Analysis of Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitors in the United States

ObjectiveTo perform a cost analysis of generic and brand-name PDE5 inhibitors at different dosages and pharmacies across the US. MethodsUsing an all-payer retail pharmacy-claims database, we analyzed prescription drug data for three generic and six brand-name oral PDE5 inhibitors at different dosages across US chain and independent pharmacies in 2019. ResultsWe obtained cash price data from 60,186 pharmacies (35,976 chain and 24,210 independent). The nationwide mean cash price per unit (PPU) ranged from $8.6±5.2 (sildenafil 20mg at chain pharmacies) to $107.1±71 (Adcirca 20mg at independent pharmacies) equal to 1,145.3% difference. Chain pharmacies provided significantly lower average prices for one brand-name and six generic PDE5 inhibitors. Tadalafil PPU was cheaper at higher quantities, however PPU increased with quantity prescribed for sildenafil. Looking at the top 10 metropolitan statistical areas, the highest PPUs were observed for tadalafil (Cialis) 10mg and sildenafil (Viagra) 50mg in Atlanta ($67.4±8.7) and Los Angeles ($50.3±24.0), while New York ($9.7±2.6) and Miami ($27.9±16.4) had the lowest PPUs for tadalafil (Cialis) 5mg and sildenafil (Viagra) 100mg, respectively. ConclusionA substantial variability in PDE5 inhibitor cash prices exists across manufacturer, dosage, quantity, pharmacy type, and location. In addition, the pricing does not necessarily correlate with the regional socioeconomic factors. This highlights the importance of provider awareness and patient counseling on drug price including potentially assisting patients in identifying opportunities for cost savings.

A continuous‐time service network design and vehicle routing problem

AbstractThis paper considers the integrated planning of goods transportation through a multi‐echelon supply chain consisting of a nationwide network and regional distribution system. The previously studied Service Network Design and Routing Problem considered similar planning decisions, albeit with multiple restrictions regarding the transportation of goods that can eliminate the opportunities for transportation savings. It also does not explicitly model the opportunity to increase vehicle utilization by having vehicles serve multiple purposes within the supply chain. We propose a mathematical model of the problem we consider that is inspired by the operations of an industrial partner. We present an adaptation of the Dynamic Discretization Discovery algorithm to solve this problem and illustrate its computational effectiveness on instances derived from the operations of a retail distribution network in France. Finally, we illustrate the potential savings enabled by solving the proposed model.

Temperature transition optimization in cryogenic systems: Application to liquid nitrogen expenditure reduction in a thermal vacuum chamber case study

This paper presents outcomes regarding liquid nitrogen consumption reduction in a thermal vacuum chamber, with the motivation of lessening operational costs during space equipment testing. The article briefly outlines the optimal control application to thermal and cryogenic-related control systems based on a gas cycle, and assesses liquid nitrogen savings opportunities for a chamber including six shrouds with independent temperature requirements. In this case study, optimization of temperature transition profiles and a proposed modification in the control setup yielded potential savings from 14.1% to 20.4% in the examined experimental transitions.

Modified Brain Injury Guidelines for preinjury anticoagulation in traumatic brain injury: An opportunity to reduce health care resource utilization.

The Brain Injury Guidelines (BIG) stratify patients by traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity to provide management recommendations to reduce health care resource burden but mandates that patients on anticoagulation (AC) are allocated to the most severe tertile (BIG 3). We sought to analyze TBI patients on AC therapy using a modified BIG model to determine if this population can offer further opportunity for safe reductions in health care resource utilization. Patients 55 years or older on AC with traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) from two centers were retrospectively stratified into BIG 1 to 3 risk groups using modified BIG criteria excluding AC as a criterion. Intracranial hemorrhage progression, neurosurgical intervention (NSI), death, and worsened discharge status were compared. A total of 221 patients were included, with 23%, 29%, and 48% classified as BIG 1, BIG 2, and BIG 3, respectively. The BIG 3 cohort had a higher rate of AC reversal agents administered (66%) compared with the BIG 1 (40%) and BIG 2 (54%) cohorts ( p < 0.01), as well as ICH progression discovered on repeat head computed tomography (56% vs. 38% vs. 26%, respectively; p < 0.001). No patients in the BIG 1 and 2 cohorts required NSI. No patients in BIG 1 and 3% of patients in BIG 2 died secondary to the ICH. In the BIG 3 cohort, 16% of patients required NSI and 26% died. Brain Injury Guidelines 3 patients had 15 times the odds of mortality compared with BIG 1 patients ( p < 0.01). The AC population had higher rates of ICH progression than the BIG literature, but this did not lead to more NSI or mortality in the lower tertiles of our modified BIG protocol. If the modified BIG used the original tertile management on our population, then NS consultation may have been reduced by up to 52%. These modified criteria may be a safe opportunity for further health care resource and cost savings in the TBI population. Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level IV.

Analisis Audit Energi di Gedung Teknik Elektro Universitas Diponegoro

An energy audit is a work that aims to identify energy consumption in buildings that have been built so that they can find opportunities for energy savings in these buildings and buildings and improve energy efficiency and conservation in these buildings. The Electrical Engineering Building is one of the buildings at Diponegoro University that has been built for a long time, and to find out the savings opportunities in the building, an energy audit is needed. The energy audit was carried out during the pandemic era where lectures were still being held online and hybrid. Based on the results of the energy audit that has been carried out, it was found that the Energy Consumption Intensity (IKE) in the Electrical Engineering Building in 2021 was 8.59 while in 2022 it was 12.61. This is still in the efficient category according to Regulation of the Minister of energy and mineral resources No. 13/2012. Opportunities for savings can be implemented starting from no cost, low cost, to high cost to increase the efficiency of energy use in the Diponegoro University Electrical Engineering Building, so that energy use can be very efficient.

A digital twin for DNA data storage based on comprehensive quantification of errors and biases

Archiving data in synthetic DNA offers unprecedented storage density and longevity. Handling and storage introduce errors and biases into DNA-based storage systems, necessitating the use of Error Correction Coding (ECC) which comes at the cost of added redundancy. However, insufficient data on these errors and biases, as well as a lack of modeling tools, limit data-driven ECC development and experimental design. In this study, we present a comprehensive characterisation of the error sources and biases present in the most common DNA data storage workflows, including commercial DNA synthesis, PCR, decay by accelerated aging, and sequencing-by-synthesis. Using the data from 40 sequencing experiments, we build a digital twin of the DNA data storage process, capable of simulating state-of-the-art workflows and reproducing their experimental results. We showcase the digital twin’s ability to replace experiments and rationalize the design of redundancy in two case studies, highlighting opportunities for tangible cost savings and data-driven ECC development.

Isobaric Expansion Engines–Compressors: Thermodynamic Analysis of Multistage Vapor Driven Compressors

Isobaric expansion (IE) engines can directly convert heat into mechanical energy, making them particularly attractive for applications such as vapor-driven pumps and compressors. A recent initial assessment investigating the utilization of IE engines as vapor-driven reciprocating compressors has revealed that the vapor use efficiency is inherently low in the case of the simplest direct-acting compressor designs. Based on this analysis, it was anticipated that multistage compression can offer significant advantages for vapor-driven compressors. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a comprehensive analytical thermodynamic analysis of direct vapor-driven multistage reciprocating compressors. The analysis considers processes without intercooling and processes with intercooling of the compressed gas between stages. The findings demonstrate that, for vapor-driven compression, the benefits of multistage compression are superior to those known for conventional compression processes. Multistage vapor-driven compression not only reduces compression work and temperature elevation but, more importantly, mitigates the adverse effects on vapor compression of the driving vapor, thereby enabling a substantial improvement in vapor utilization efficiency. Furthermore, the total volume of the IE engine compressor experiences a significant decrease with an increasing number of stages. Consequently, under specific process parameters, the overall dimensions of the engine-compressor system may also decrease as the number of stages increases. The results offer significant opportunities for energy savings in energy-intensive compression processes by replacing electrical energy with readily available low-grade heat sources (&lt;100 °C). Such processes include hydrogen, air, and ethylene compression at high pressure.

Opportunities for Savings in Risk Arrangements for Oncologic Care

As the US accelerates adoption of alternative payment through global payment models such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) or Medicare Advantage (MA), high spending for cancer care is a potential target for savings. To quantify the extent to which ACOs and other risk-bearing organizations operating in a specific geographic area (hospital referral region [HRR]) could achieve savings by steering patients to efficient medical oncology practices. This observational study included serial cross-sections of Medicare beneficiaries with cancer from 2010 to 2018. Data were analyzed from August 2021 to March 2023. Total spending and spending by category in the 1-year period following an index visit for a patient with newly diagnosed (incident) or poor-prognosis cancer. The incident cohort included 1 309 825 patients with a mean age of 74.0 years; the most common cancer types were breast (21.4%), lung (16.7%), and colorectal cancer (10.0%). The poor prognosis cohort included 1 429 973 (mean age, 72.7 years); the most common cancer types were lung (26.6%), lymphoma (11.7%), and leukemia (7.3%). Options for steering varied across markets; the top quartile market had 10 or more oncology practices, but the bottom quartile had 3 or fewer oncology practices. Total spending (including Medicare Part D) in the incident cohort increased from a mean of $57 314 in 2009 to 2010 to $66 028 in 2016 to 2017. Within markets, total spending for practices in the highest spending quartile was 19% higher than in the lowest quartile. Hospital spending was the single largest component of spending in both time periods ($20 390 and $19 718, respectively) followed by Part B (infused) chemotherapy ($8022 and $11 699). Correlations in practice-level spending between the first-year (2009) and second-year (2010) spending were high (>0.90 in all categories with most >0.98), but these attenuated over time. These results suggest there may be opportunities for ACOs and other risk-bearing organizations to select or drive referrals to lower-spending oncology practices in many local markets.

Energy audit and management of environmental GHG emissions based on multi-objective genetic algorithm and data envelopment analysis: An agriculture case

This study aimed to address the challenges of energy consumption and environmental emissions in the mushroom production sector through an energy audit analysis and life cycle assessment approach. The main objective of the study was to estimate energy and environmental indicators, optimize their outputs using multi-objective genetic algorithm and data envelopment analysis methods, and identify opportunities for energy savings in the mushroom production process. The energy flow analysis revealed that the total input energy for mushroom production was 1022537.82 MJ/m2, while the total output energy was only 11125.94 MJ/m2, resulting in an energy use efficiency rate of 0.01, indicating significant energy imbalance and inefficiency. Electrical energy consumption had the largest share of total consumed energy, approximately 80.6%. The life cycle assessment results showed that the mushroom production chain emits about 8.50 × 10+3 kg of CO2 GHG. The results of energy optimization demonstrate that between 6.5% and 25% reductions in energy utilization can be achieved during mushroom production. Among the input energies, compost had the largest quota in energy savings of almost 7% and 26% by data envelopment analysis and multi-objective genetic algorithm techniques, respectively. Thus, it is recommended to implement the multi-objective genetic algorithm technique to identify opportunities for energy savings and reduce environmental emissions in the mushroom production sector, which can lead to significant energy savings and contribute to environmental sustainability while reducing operating costs.

Techno-economic and environmental evaluation on radiative sky cooling-based novel passive envelope strategies to achieve building sustainability and carbon neutrality

As the pursuit of carbon neutrality gains momentum, retrofitting high-performance buildings with novel, energy-efficient passive envelope systems has emerged as a promising pathway towards building sustainability. To this end, this study aims to propose, evaluate, and optimize such envelope systems considering varying climate patterns in China by incorporating state-of-the-art passive cooling strategies into buildings. Comprehensive techno-economic and environmental evaluations were conducted on a standard-compliant three-story typical commercial building, considering newly proposed passive approaches. The energy performance evaluation reveals that the super-cool white roof corresponds to annual cooling electricity savings of 2.5–6.1% for the entire building and 7.0–17.1% for the top floor in response to varying climate patterns. By contrast, the radiative cooling red and yellow walls exhibit cooling energy saving rates of 1.4–1.9% and 1.9–2.6%, respectively. The insulated grey clear double-glazing window can garner even greater cooling energy savings of 2.6–13.5%. It is highlighted that for the cities located in cold regions, the thermal improvement in windows offers a significantly greater opportunity for cost savings and carbon reduction compared to retrofitting roof and wall surfaces. To maximize net savings, the optimization scheme can achieve cost savings in hot-summer cities ranging from 859.1 to 1835.1 $/year, with an average of 1151.2 $/year, and from 784.4 to 1076.5 $/year, with an average of 658.8 $/year for cold cities. To minimize carbon emissions, the optimal design approach can reduce carbon emissions by 18,093.6–37,526.6 kg/year, with an average of 22,745.0 kg/year, in response to varying climate patterns. Overall, this study sheds light on the state-of-the-art passive envelope strategies that can achieve energy-efficient carbon-neutral buildings for a variety of climates in China. The optimization scheme proposed in this study provides a useful framework for designing passive envelope systems that are tailored to specific climate patterns.

Costs and consequences of over-investigation of minor transfusion reactions.

Adverse transfusion events create a direct cost burden on the healthcare system through increased morbidity, mortality, extra investigations for diagnosis, patient treatment and increased use of hospital resources. Understanding the costs and impact minor transfusion reactions have on the healthcare system presents an opportunity for potential cost savings and improved clinical practice. To determine the cost associated with investigating minor transfusion reactions, to identify opportunities to improve the management of blood transfusion reactions and potential cost savings through the application of current national guidelines. A retrospective review of all suspected transfusion reactions reported to the laboratory over a 6-year period was performed. Reports were assessed for appropriateness of clinical management and associated investigations. Cost of inappropriate investigations and associated blood product discard was calculated using current national tariffs. Of the 274 reports, febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reactions were the most common reactions, with 96 (35%) cases. One hundred forty-eight patients were unnecessarily investigated for suspected transfusion reactions totalling AU$ 32 427.00. The initial total value of partially discarded blood products was AU$ 55 656.00. The study demonstrated that unnecessary investigation of minor transfusion reactions adds a significant financial burden to the healthcare system.

Occupants’ behavioural diversity regarding the indoor environment in social housing. Case study in Northern Spain

Previous research has shown that differences in preferences, habits, and uses can exist in buildings with similar characteristics, which can influence building performance, energy efficiency, and the well-being of occupants. Among this diversity, those residing in social housing have specific socio-economic and cultural characteristics. This study aims to provide evidence of the diversity of thermal preferences and heating-related behaviours in public social rental housing. It also seeks to develop a methodology for identifying behavioural and occupancy patterns that can be applied in building simulation programs and building stock management. To identify occupancy and heating patterns, quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods were applied. The data was collected from a variety of sources, including sensors and surveys. Advanced statistical methods were used to analyse the data and identify patterns and trends. The study was conducted in 58 dwellings of a public social rental housing building in northern Spain. The results showed a lack of association between perceived and monitored thermal comfort. Additionally, variability in the use of the dwelling has been found among similar socioeconomic profiles. The analysis of behavioural diversity revealed six clusters based on energy consumption behaviour, including occupancy patterns and heating usage. The patterns obtained can be integrated into building performance simulation programs, resulting in a more nuanced and accurate representation of energy consumption patterns. Moreover, these patterns can provide valuable insight into the diversity of energy consumption behaviours. This can be leveraged to unlock new opportunities for energy savings, efficiency gains, and enhancing the well-being of occupants across a variety of use cases.

COAC: Cross-Layer Optimization of Accelerator Configurability for Efficient CNN Processing

To achieve high accuracy, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are increasingly growing in complexity and diversity in layer types and topologies. This makes it very challenging to efficiently deploy such networks on custom processor architectures for resource-scarce edge devices. Existing mapping exploration frameworks enable searching for the optimal execution schedules or hardware mappings of individual network layers, by optimizing each layer’s spatial (dataflow parallelization) and temporal unrolling (TU, execution order). However, these tools fail to take into account the overhead of supporting different unrolling schemes within a common hardware architecture. Using a fixed unrolling scheme across all layers is also not ideal, as this misses significant opportunities for energy and latency savings from optimizing the mapping of diverse layer types. A balanced approach assesses the right amount of mapping flexibility needed across target neural networks, while taking into account the overhead to support multiple unrollings. This article, therefore, presents cross-layer optimization of accelerator configurability (COAC), a cross-layer design space exploration and mapping framework to optimize the flexibility of neural processing architectures by balancing configurability overhead against resulting energy and latency savings for end-to-end inference. COAC does not only provide a systematical analysis of the architectural overhead in function of the supported spatial unrollings (SUs), but also builds an automated flow to find the best unrolling combination(s) for efficient end-to-end inference with limited hardware overhead. Results demonstrate that architectures with carefully optimized flexibility can achieve up to 38% energy-delay-product (EDP) savings for a set of six neural networks at the expense of a relative area increase of 9.5%.

Treatment Patterns &amp; Health Care Costs Among Patients With Stroke &amp; Spasticity

Abstract Date Presented 04/22/2023 Patients with poststroke spasticity experienced higher mean health care costs than those with stroke without spasticity. Earlier identification to optimize treatment of spasticity represents an opportunity for cost savings in health care systems. Primary Author and Speaker: Jonathan Bouchard Contributing Authors: Michael Hull, Ruthwik Anupindi, Jing He, Mitchell DeKoven, Jumaah Goldberg, Jonathan Bouchard

Electrical Energy Audit in Pakuwon City Mall 2 Building for Efficiency

This study conducted an electrical energy audit activity at the Pakuwon City Mall 2 (PCM2) Surabaya Building to determine the utilization of electrical energy in the electrical system which includes the type of energy, amount of energy used, energy equipment, energy intensity, load profile, the performance of energy equipment, Energy Saving Opportunities (ESOs) and value of Energy Consumption Intensity (ECI) in an air-conditioned room. From the calculation results is obtained that the value of ECI in the PCM2 Surabaya Building for an AC room is 8.231 kWh/m2/month and 98.772 kWh/m2/year and is included in the efficient criteria. Based on the research that has been done, it is known that most of the rooms in the PCM2 Surabaya Building have ideal room temperatures. The results of measuring the strong level of lighting in PCM2 Surabaya's rooms, most of the values met the standards set by SNI 03-6197-2000 and the results of measuring the quality of electric power in PCM2 Surabaya met the standards set by PLN.

Electricity and Lighting Audits at The Bono Pekanbaru Hotel

Electrical energy is one of the primary sources of energy support in our lives, which is very important in the operation of the hospitality industry, especially in using electronic equipment and air conditioning lighting. Many devices that require electrical energy to operate make energy consumption increase. Therefore, efforts to prevent waste of electricity use need to be made through energy audits as well as energy savings opportunities by performing calculations of Energy Consumption Intensity (ECI) values based on historical data of electrical consumption and performing measurements of light intensity on the lighting system available at The Bono Pekanbaru Hotel. Some rooms still exceed the set ECI value, which can be categorized as wasteful energy. It is necessary to do so energy-saving opportunities while on the lighting system based on the measurement of the light intensity carried out in each room, many rooms that do not meet the lighting standards and the basis of the visual still experience evaporation. This requires an energy audit and a lighting audit. On the important lighting system made, upgrade technology with the change of type and power of lighting on lighting will create energy savings in the use of electricity at the Hotel the Bono Pekanbaru and create a bright and comfortable room. Change the currently installed lights into LED lights so that the lighting system available in each room meets the SNI lighting standard 03-6197-2000.

Mass and Energy Balance Model Process to Maximize Efficiency and Productivity in Biofuel Production From Almond Fruit.

This study presents a mass and energy balance model to boost effectiveness and efficiency in biofuel creation from almond organic product. Material balance models were used to evaluate the material inputs and outputs in order to make the production process more sustainable and efficient. The mass equilibrium is a fundamental piece of the interaction for making biofuel from almond organic product, and following the mass of every part is important to guarantee that the cycle is successful and effective. Additionally, the energy balance model was developed to determine opportunities for energy savings and calculate the process's energy requirements. All of the test samples had a negative mass balance, which indicates that some mass was lost during the process. The energy balance showed that the production process uses a lot of energy and that changing the parameters of the process could save a lot of energy. In general, this study offers a comprehensive strategy for ensuring sustainability while simultaneously maximizing the efficiency and productivity of biofuel production from almond fruit.

ANALISIS AUDIT DELAY DAN SISTEM PENGENDALIAN INTERNAL ISO 50001 TERHADAP KINERJA PERUSAHAAN PT. INDUSTRI KARET DELI

Audit Delay is the length of time it takes for the audit to be completed by the auditor as measured by thedifference in time between the implementation date and the audit report. Audit delay can also bemeasured from the implementation schedule and the realization of the audit conducted by the auditor.The internal control system within the company includes the organizational structure, methods, and allmeasures that are coordinated to protect the company's assets, monitor the accuracy and reliability ofaccounting data, help efficiency and encourage compliance with company management policies.Company performance is a view of the overall condition of the company over a certain period of time,which is the result or achievement that is influenced by the company's operational activities in utilizingits resources. The research was conducted with secondary data types and sources. The data collectionmethod was carried out by conducting data processing and written interviews. Audit delay and internalcontrol systems have a significant impact on the sustainability of the company's energy managementsystem, with energy management aimed at reducing and controlling energy consumption, helping toincrease production, employee productivity, reduce risk, save the environment and costs. Avoidingaudit delays and supervising the internal control system will provide opportunities for energy savings,so that PT Industri Karet Deli's energy performance can achieve its targets and generate profits for thecompany. The conclusions and suggestions of this study are expected to provide information regardingthe average audit delay, so that the auditor can control these factors, management can be firm inmaking decisions regarding audit delays that occur in the energy management system and it isadvisable to plan field work properly so that the process the audit is carried out effectively andefficiently and can follow procedures in accordance with the provisions set by the company'smanagement.

Evaluation of potential cost savings through chemotherapy and biotherapy dose-rounding at a pediatric institution.

Rapidly increasing costs of medication acquisition can pose a challenge for health-system pharmacy budgets. The impact of dose-rounding in a pediatric oncology population has not previously been well documented and a retrospective review was undertaken to quantify the potential cost benefits. A retrospective chart review of patients with an oncologic diagnosis was performed for cytotoxic agents, asparaginase products, and biotherapy administered between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2017. In the analysis, orders that could be rounded down to the nearest vial size by 5 or 10% were included. Medication pricing information was based on wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) and was provided by the Department of Pharmacy. Cost savings per medication were determined by multiplying the WAC of the medication by the number of vials saved. Over a 4-year span, 347 patients were evaluated and 552 out of a possible 3110 orders (17.7%) met criteria for a theoretical cost savings of approximately $1,126,000 (∼$3200 per patient). Rounding down doses by up to 5% resulted in a potential savings of about $529,000. When rounding was extended to 5-10% of the originally ordered dose, an additional $597,000 of approximate cost savings could have been realized. The medications with the largest impact on cost savings were rituximab, pegaspargase, and erwinia asparaginase. For pediatric oncology patients, there exists a unique potential cost savings opportunity if doses are rounded down within 5 or 10% of the originally ordered weight-based or body surface area-calculated dose.