Cost Of Use Research Articles

A Biosensor Based on Magnetic Resonance Relaxation

Detection methods for biological pathogens have been a growing research topic. Many techniques are promising, but there is still work to be done. This work uses a novel technique of magnetic resonance relaxation for the detection of pathogens. By conjugating magnetic particles with binding agents to specific targets, nuclear magnetic resonance can be used for detection. Relaxation time, T2, of the protons in water is monitored and changes in this value result in the detection of the pathogens. This technique is ideal because of four major improvements: contact statistics, sample preparation, non-specific binding concerns, and ease and cost of use.

Challenges in the implementation of "end-of-life care" guidelines in India: How to open the "Gordian Knot"?

Challenges in the implementation of "end-of-life care" guidelines in India: How to open the "Gordian Knot"?

Cloud computing adoption and determining factors in different industries: a case study of Thailand

The cloud computing model is a modern concept of computation that provides a number of benefits to its adopters. This online computing model has been widely used in the Western world and accepted to have some business and economic impacts. The aim of this paper is first to provide some basic knowledge about cloud computing and point out the greatest benefit of it, which is cost reduction in fixed ICT capital and services. Second, this study attempts to find the determining factors for cloud computing adoption and proposes some policy recommendations accordingly. Thailand is selected as ground for investigation. The discrete choice model of logistic regression is selected as an econometric tool to extract the relationships of different attributes and the probability of cloud computing adoption in 206 industries. The results point out significant determining factors categorised into internet and technology, cost, and difficulties in ICT usage. Some policy implications include an effort to improve internet capability of employees, provide investment incentives such as tax reduction and low-cost loans for initial setups of cloud computing systems, and develop reliable internet network with advanced capability and low cost of use.

EFEKTIVITAS PEMBUBUHAN KAPORIT DALAM MENURUNKAN KADAR ZAT BESI (Fe) PADA AIR SUMUR GALI TAHUN 2013

Ground water often contains iron (Fe) is quite large. That it contains iron (Fe) in the water can cause the color of the water turns yellow brown after a while contact with air. Attempts to obtain water with iron levels are eligible, do not always have the sophisticated technology but could also be using chemicals like the simplest way and do not require great effort and cost in use, one of which is by way of affixing chlorine. This study aims to determine how much chlorine affixing effectiveness in lowering levels of iron (Fe) in the dug well water. This type of research is the design of Quasi-Experiments (Quasi-Experiment Design) using a time series design (Time Series Design), which uses laboratory tests. Samples taken as much as 28 liters of water in which the sample for the pretest while the other sample is done by providing chlorine treatment at a dose of 1.5 mg / l, 2.0 mg / l, and 2.5 mg / l with a settling time of 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes. The results showed that iron (Fe) in water wells dug by the settling time 30 minutes look after affixing chlorine with a dose of 1.5 mg / l decrease of 16.66%, a dose of 2.5 mg / l of 22.6% , 2.5 mg / l at 28.37%. Later in the deposition time of 60 minutes after affixing chlorine with a dose of 1.5 mg/ l decrease of 24.75%, a dose of 2.0 mg / l at 34.15%, and at a dose of 2.5mg/ l down 45, 70%. While at the time of deposition 90 minutes after affixing chlorine with a dose of 1.5 mg / l decrease of 37.12%, a dose of 2.0 mg / l at 49.00%, and a dose of 2.5 mg / l decrease by 50 , 16%%. To address water quality dug well that levels of substance iron (Fe) is more than the standard, it can be used chlorine as a water treatment dug wells to get clean water that meets health requirements. It is advisable for people to use a dose of 2.5 mg / l after 90 minutes settling time. To study further examination of other chemical parameters such as organic compounds that can be known whether the chlorine also can decrease these parameters.

Analysis on Energy Conservation Materials’ Influence on Energy Saving Construction Cost

Engery-saving buildings are not always high-cost, the construction needs to consider not only the cost of construction, but also the consumption cost in use. We adopt new energy conservation materials and remarkable management mode to reduce the cost of energy-saving building, and fight to get the most benefit with the least investment, in order to master sovereignty in the fierce competition of energy-saving construction market, and to promote the sustainable development of energy-saving building.

Materials composition or energy characteristic – What is more important in environmental life cycle of buildings?

The energy requirement of buildings is directly related to the technology of their construction and the type and amount of used building materials. The higher the cost of purchasing materials, especially insulation materials is, the lower the expected costs of use are, which is connected with lower energy losses. The dilemma between the increased building costs and the higher costs of use is rather common, and the investors usually make their decisions based on the economic criteria. However, in the era of sustainable building and a tendency of introducing environmental factors into the decision making processes, the environmental costs related to the individual decision making scenarios have become a more frequent additional criterion accompanying the process of resolving of such a dilemma. Within the scope of this article, the results of a comparative environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of four functionally equivalent buildings with different material structure, construction technology and energy standards have been presented. The main goal of the analyses has been providing the answer to the question, what is the key element, from the environmental point of view, in the life cycle of buildings and is it a common element regardless of the technology of construction and the energy standards.

PGI14 - Cost Analysis of Proton Pump Inhibitors in the Treatment of Ulcer Duodenum in Ukraine

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are essential components schemes of antyhelicobacter therapy (AT) of peptic ulcer disease. The aim of research - to determine the costs of the use of PPIs in the traditional triple schemes AT (first and second line) of the working age patients with a duodenal ulcer in Ukraine. The objects of research - preparations of omeprazole, pantoprazole, rabeprazole, lansoprozol, ezomeprazol, which are present in Ukraine. Cost analysis on the use of PPIs in the schemes of AT was performed per one patient for 14 days with the daily doses of drugs: omeprazole - 40 mg, pantoprazole - 80 mg, rabeprazole - 40 mg, lansoprozol - 60 mg, ezomeprazol - 40 mg (according to the recommendations of the “Maastricht IV”, 2010). For determining the costs only the costs of the PPIs were taken into account. The prices of drugs were taken from the information system “Drugs” of Company “Morion” (December, 2012). The currency ratio of UAH to dollar (USA) on 10.12.12 was 7.99:1. To determine the range of costs for use of PPIs determined their trade names with the minimum and maximum costs for the AT. The range of costs for use of PPIs in the traditional triple schemes AT in Ukraine is wide enough, respectively: omeprazole - 1.15 - 19.15 $, pantoprazole - 5.11 - 49.28 $, lansoprozol - 5.14 - 10.66 $, rabeprazole - 4.27 - 63.40$, ezomeprazol 1.81 - 36.42$. Costs only for the use of PPIs in the schemes of AT of duodenal ulcer can be quite high in Ukraine. In this regard, the choice of PPIs for inclusion in the schemes of AT is advisable to use the results of pharmacoeconomic studies that will optimize the costs of the payer.

Research on Portable Field-Testing Device of Infrared Thermal Imager Performance

Performance test of infrared thermal imager is very significant for its working life and field maintenance, but available test equipment is huge volume, strict requirements for environment and user, high cost in use. According to the deficiency of field testing of infrared thermal imager performance, the method was put forward that using high precise temperature feedback controlled thermoelectric cooling module to instead expensive blackbody furnace. The techniques were adopted in the method such as infrared light signals simulation, optical-electric signals auto-detecting, image processing and the fusion of multi-detecting signals. The performance testing device of infrared thermal imager with low cost, convenient to field testing and maintenance was designed, the design broke the traditional model that the test of infrared thermal imager must be under the given condition, and the testing of electric and optical parameters should be separated. Keywords:infrared thermal imager; performance test; simulating infrared target; temperature feedback control

Generalized Nash Equilibria for the Service Provisioning Problem in Cloud Systems

In recent years, the evolution and the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architectures, autonomic, and utility computing have converged letting a new paradigm to emerge: cloud computing. Clouds allow the on-demand delivering of software, hardware, and data as services. Currently, the cloud offer is becoming wider day by day because all the major IT companies and service providers, like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, HP, IBM, and VMWare, have started providing solutions involving this new technological paradigm. As cloud-based services are more numerous and dynamic, the development of efficient service provisioning policies becomes increasingly challenging. In this paper, we take the perspective of Software as a Service (SaaS) providers that host their applications at an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider. Each SaaS needs to comply with quality-of-service requirements, specified in service-level agreement (SLA) contracts with the end users, which determine the revenues and penalties on the basis of the achieved performance level. SaaS providers want to maximize their revenues from SLAs, while minimizing the cost of use of resources supplied by the IaaS provider. Moreover, SaaS providers compete and bid for the use of infrastructural resources. On the other hand, the IaaS wants to maximize the revenues obtained providing virtualized resources. In this paper, we model the service provisioning problem as a generalized Nash game and we show the existence of equilibria for such game. Moreover, we propose two solution methods based on the best-reply dynamics, and we prove their convergence in a finite number of iterations to a generalized Nash equilibrium. In particular, we develop an efficient distributed algorithm for the runtime allocation of IaaS resources among competing SaaS providers. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by simulation and performing tests on a real prototype environment deployed on Amazon EC2. Results show that, compared to other state-of-the-art solutions, our model can improve the efficiency of the cloud system evaluated in terms of Price of Anarchy by 50-70 percent.

The Quest for Cobalt‐Free Alkyd Paint Driers

AbstractPaint formulations, based either on organic solvents or on water, often contain alkyd resins that depend on catalysts for their oxidative curing. Cobalt carboxylates are the most widely used to date, but the use of these compounds is under pressure because classification as carcinogens under the REACh system is probable, and as a consequence there is great interest in the development of alternative driers to cobalt‐based ones. A variety of manganese and iron carboxylates have been studied as paint drying catalysts in the last two decades, but these often show drawbacks with respect to activity, level of application, colour of the paint drier or cost in use. More recently, several reports on active manganese and iron paint driers containing polydentate ligands have been published. In particular, one iron‐based catalyst, identified originally for stain bleaching in laundry cleaning, shows good paint drying activity at very low dosage levels, outperforming cobalt carboxylates in a wide range of applications.

Arthropod survey on soybean crops in Cambodia: a comparison of the sweep netting and beat sheeting collection methods for estimating arthropod diversity and species richness

AbstractThis is the first assessment of insect assemblages on soybean crops in Cambodia. Sweep netting and beat sheeting collection methods were used to evaluate the effectiveness of sampling arthropods and their collection efficiency in soybean crops and to determine soybean insect diversity and composition at two sites. Overall, arthropod populations sampled by sweep netting were substantially different compared to populations collected by beat sheeting. The sweep netting caught significantly higher numbers of most Orders; however, the beat sheeting caught a significantly higher number of Acari. Beat sheeting was also effective for sampling Nezara viridula which is a major invertebrate pest of soybean. There was a significant interaction between location and collection methods for both Hemiptera and Hymenoptera assemblages. Selection of insect sampling method depends on many factors such as plant type, plant structure, field conditions, ease of use, cost of use and target insect species. However, the sweep netting was best for fast flying insects such as hymenopteran wasps and those located in upper parts of the plant canopy. The use of different sampling methods to assess pest, predator/parasitoid and general community structure in crops is crucial for assessing Integrated Pest Management strategies.

PND20 - Assessing drug costs for use in comparative effectiveness research

PND20 - Assessing drug costs for use in comparative effectiveness research

WaterML2.0: development of an open standard for hydrological time-series data exchange

The increasing global demand on freshwater is resulting in nations improving their terrestrial water monitoring and reporting systems to better understand the availability, and quality, of this valuable resource. A barrier to this is the inability for stakeholders to share information relating to water observations data: traditional hydrological information systems have relied on internal custom data formats to exchange data, leading to issues in data integration and exchange. Organisations are looking to information standards to assist in data exchange, integration and interpretation to lower costs in use, and re-use, of monitoring data. The WaterML2.0 Standards Working Group (SWG), working within the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and in cooperation with the joint OGC-World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Hydrology Domain Working Group (HDWG), has developed an open standard for the exchange of water observation data. The focus of the standard is time-series data, commonly used for hydrological applications such as flood forecasting, environmental reporting and hydrological infrastructure, where a lack of standards inhibits efficient re-use and automation. This paper describes the development methodology and principles of WaterML2.0, key parts of its information model, implementation scenarios, evaluation and future work. WaterML2.0 was adopted by the OGC as an official standard in September 2012.

Measures for improving the adoption of higher efficiency appliances in Indonesian households: An analysis of lifetime use and decision-making in the purchase of electrical appliances

One approach to decreasing electricity consumption is to facilitate the replacement of older appliances with new, higher-efficiency. The objectives of this paper are to compare and analyse the replacement of appliances in two cities of Indonesia – Yogyakarta and Bandung – that are characterised by different cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, and decision-making processes in the household purchase of electrical appliances. A questionnaire survey method was employed to obtain information on behavioural economics and human psychosocial variables such as attitudes, beliefs and perceived benefits regarding the replacement and purchase of electrical appliances. The results show that refrigerators in Yogyakarta have a longer lifetime than in Bandung. However, in Bandung, air conditioners, electric fans, rice cookers, and water pumps have a longer lifetime than in Yogyakarta. These differences in the lifetime of appliances can be attributed to the cultural differences within the two cities that are reflected in the manner in which people use electrical appliances as well as to their lack of knowledge regarding appliance operation. An analysis of the factors influencing the purchase of appliances indicated that people in Yogyakarta show a greater awareness of the benefits of adopting higher-efficiency appliances than do persons in Bandung. The following suggestions could be implemented to improve the strategy of encouraging the adoption of higher-efficiency appliances: (1) in Yogyakarta, energy labelling could be applied to assist customers in understanding the rate of energy consumption of selected appliances; (2) in Bandung, the store sales staff could be trained to adapt their promotional messages to persuade people to purchase high-efficiency appliances and to promote the adoption of higher-efficiency models; and (3) the price of appliances could be correlated with the rate of energy consumption, and the total lifetime cost of use should be displayed in the store and included in promotional materials.

Typology of retractable roof structures in stadiums and sports halls

Retractable roof structures are one of the four fundamental systems (in addition to the playing area, stands and facade) in a stadium and sports hall. The roof protects users against various weather conditions and creates optimum circumstances for carrying out different activities. Stadiums and sports halls with retractable roof structures can host a greater variety of activities, improve the quality of their implementation and the quality of visitors’ experience, and affect the perception and experience of people using or observing such buildings. A retractable roof structure allows for natural lighting and ventilation of the venue, gives optimal conditions for grass growth on the playing field, and reduces costs of use and maintenance of the building. Different typologies of movement of roof structures (frequency of opening and closing, design of the structure, and methods of movement) are categorised in terms of their architectural and structural design. Application of different retractable roof systems worldwide is indicator of their effectiveness and efficiency, and is basis for use of movement also in other fundamental systems of stadiums and sports halls. Research and identification of characteristics of retractable roof structures lead to the design of new moving systems that can with the application of the moving principle change the purpose of movable elements or assume the characteristics of other fundamental systems.

Temporary Percutaneous Left Ventricular Support for Ablation of Untolerated Ventricular Tachycardias

Catheter ablation is increasingly recognized as an important option for the treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the serious clinical settings of frequent implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks, and arrhythmia storms, in a variety of structural heart diseases.1 The high incidence of VTs that are not hemodynamically tolerated forces challenges to the traditional approaches of using activation and entrainment mapping to localize the ablation target area, in favor of a strategy of substrate modification that can be performed during sinus rhythm. In some patients, however, a clear target cannot be detected during sinus rhythm; this frequently occurs in some forms of nonischemic cardiomyopathies. More recently, interest is growing in the possibility of making VT tolerable through cardiopulmonary support. Article see p 1202 In this issue of Circulation: Arrythmia and Electrophysiology , Ostadal et al2 provide experimental data on the different capabilities offered by 3 commercially available support systems. It should be kept in mind, however, that these systems are Food and Drug Administration–approved only to support temporary high-risk situations. The data offered in this study are limited in that they provide only information related to systemic arterial pressure in healthy animals and do not allow any evaluation of the different levels of perfusion attained at individual critical organs, ie, brain or kidney. The study does, however, offer a comparative evaluation of the performances of these different systems and offers the opportunity to discuss advantages and limitation of their use. Percutaneous left ventricular assist devices (pLVAD) are increasingly used in few high-volume and skilled centers around the world in an attempt to achieve hemodynamic support during previously nontolerated ventricular arrhythmias to allow use of electrophysiological maneuvers to identify the critical isthmus of the circuit where an effective ablation will produce a permanent interruption of the VT. It is hoped that …

A pilot study comparing two polymethylpentene extracorporeal membrane oxygenators

We compared two polymethylpentene oxygenators being used in our unit: the Maquet Quadrox-iD paediatric and the Medos Hilite 800LT. A mono-centric, prospective pilot study was conducted on ten consecutive newborn patients who had been admitted to our hospital service for extracorporeal circulation (EC) treatment. We examined the rate of oxygen transfer, the CO2 removal capacity and the average sweep gas flow required to produce this result. We also assessed the disturbances of haemostasis, the need for labile blood products and the membrane oxygenator lifetime and cost of use. According to our study, it seems to us that Medos Hilite 800LT membrane oxygenators demonstrate greater oxygen transfer and CO2 removal capacity than Maquet Quadrox-iD paediatric membrane oxygenators, at a similar cost. These results lead us to conclude that it is reasonable to continue using Medos Hilite 800LT membrane oxygenators. A broader comparison study would be necessary in order to support these initial results.

Interest of pregnant women in the use of SMS (short message service) text messages for the improvement of perinatal and postnatal care

BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) is emerging as a useful tool to improve healthcare access especially in the developing world, where limited access to health services is linked to poor antenatal care, and maternal and perinatal mortality.The objective of this study is to 1) understand pregnant women’s access and usage of cell phones and 2) survey the health information needs and interests in a population attending public hospitals and health centers of two cities in Argentina. This information is not available and it is the basis to develop a strategy for improving maternal care via cell phones.MethodsQuestionnaires were verbally administered to pregnant women who were attending an antenatal care visit in community health centers and public hospitals in Rosario, Santa Fe and Mercedes, Corrientes. Participants were 18 years of age or older and had previously given birth. The data obtained was qualitative and analyzed using SPSS version 18.ResultsA total of 147 pregnant women meeting inclusion criteria (Rosario: 63; Mercedes: 84) were approached and verbally consented to participate. The average age was 29.5 years, most lived in urban areas (89%) with a mean travel time of 43.4 minutes required to get to the health center and 57.3 minutes to get the hospital.Ninety-six percent of women (n = 140) responded that they would like to receive text messages and cell phone calls with information regarding prenatal care, although the topics and period of time to receive information varied greatly.ConclusionsConsidering the vast majority of the interviewed women had access to and were interested in receiving text messages and calls with educational information regarding pregnancy and infant health, pregnant women in Argentina could benefit from such an mHealth program. The low access to Internet suggests it is not an option for this population; however, this cannot be assumed as representative of the country’s situation.To retain active participation, other forms of health communication, such as a 2-way text message systems or toll-free numbers, could be considered in the future. Cost of use and implementing these options should be studied.

Impact Analysis of Load-Bearing Structure Form on the Construction Cost of Steel Frame Structure House

The influence of bearing structure form on the construction cost of use of steel in house building is obvious. Based on the calculation of different bearing structure forms, the steel consumption are given and the analysis of the influence on cost are shown in this paper. And the most economical bearing structure form of multi-storey steel structure house is also obtained.

Salmeterol & other drugs and Formoterol & other drugs prescribing patterns in the local health authority of messina (italy) during 2010

BackgroundAsthma and COPD are chronic diseases of the airways characterised by variable and recurring symptoms, airflow obstruction and bronchospasm. The progressive increase in incidence and prevalence has increased significally care...