Assessing economic tradeoffs in forest management.

Treesearch

Ernie Niemi; Ed. Whitelaw

1999-01-01

Method is described for assessing the competing demands for forest resources in a forest management plan by addressing economics values, economic impacts, and perceptions of fairness around each demand. Economics trends and forces that shape the dynamic ecosystem-economy relation are developed. The method is demonstrated through an illustrative analysis of a forest-...

Environmental and economic assessment of a road safety product made with virgin and recycled HDPE: a comparative study.

PubMed

L Simões, Carla; Costa Pinto, Lígia M; Bernardo, C A

2013-01-15

The development of value-added products made from post-consumer plastic recyclates has become an important goal in the quest for a sustainable society. To attain such goal, tools with higher accuracy and wider scope are increasingly necessary. The present work describes the application of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)/Life Cycle Costing (LCC) integrated model, with inclusion of externalities (environmental and social costs), to Anti-Glare Lamellae (AGL) made with High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). It compares an AGL currently manufactured from virgin HDPE (current AGL) with an alternative one made with recycled HDPE (optional AGL). The results obtained show that neither the current nor the optional AGL depict the best environmental performance in all impact categories. Nevertheless, there is a clear overall environmental and economic advantage in replacing virgin HDPE with recycled HDPE. The present work also makes evident that the LCA/LCC integrated model allows the identification of economic and environmental win-win and trade-off situations related to the full life cycle of products. As such, its results can be used as valuable guidelines in product development. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing Economic Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolken, Lawrence C.

1984-01-01

Defines the predominate classifications of economic systems: traditional, command, market, capitalism, socialism, and communism. Considers property rights, role of government, economic freedom, incentives, market structure, economic goals and means of achieving those goals for each classification. Identifies 26 print and audio-visual sources for…

Managing Air Quality - Human Health, Environmental and Economic Assessments

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Human health and environmental assessments characterize health and environmental risks associated with exposure to pollution. Economic assessments evaluate the cost and economic impact of a policy or regulation & can estimate economic benefits.

Assessing groundwater policy with coupled economic-groundwater hydrologic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulligan, Kevin B.; Brown, Casey; Yang, Yi-Chen E.; Ahlfeld, David P.

2014-03-01

This study explores groundwater management policies and the effect of modeling assumptions on the projected performance of those policies. The study compares an optimal economic allocation for groundwater use subject to streamflow constraints, achieved by a central planner with perfect foresight, with a uniform tax on groundwater use and a uniform quota on groundwater use. The policies are compared with two modeling approaches, the Optimal Control Model (OCM) and the Multi-Agent System Simulation (MASS). The economic decision models are coupled with a physically based representation of the aquifer using a calibrated MODFLOW groundwater model. The results indicate that uniformly applied policies perform poorly when simulated with more realistic, heterogeneous, myopic, and self-interested agents. In particular, the effects of the physical heterogeneity of the basin and the agents undercut the perceived benefits of policy instruments assessed with simple, single-cell groundwater modeling. This study demonstrates the results of coupling realistic hydrogeology and human behavior models to assess groundwater management policies. The Republican River Basin, which overlies a portion of the Ogallala aquifer in the High Plains of the United States, is used as a case study for this analysis.

Concept of economic readiness levels assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuniaristanto, Sutopo, W.; Widiyanto, A.; Putri, A. S.

2017-11-01

This research aims to build a concept of Economic Readiness Level (ERL) assessment for incubation center. ERL concept is arranged by considering both market and business aspects. Every aspect is divided into four phases and each of them consists of some indicators. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to develop the ERL in calculating the weight of every single aspect and indicator. Interval scale between 0 and 4 is also applied in indicator assessment. In order to calculate ERL, score in every indicator and the weight of both the aspect and indicator are considered. ERL value is able to show in detail the innovative product readiness level from economic sight, market and business aspect. There are four levels in Economic Readiness Level scheme which are investigation, feasibility, planning and introduction.

Improvement of economic security management system of municipalities with account of transportation system development: methods of assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khe Sun, Pak; Vorona-Slivinskaya, Lubov; Voskresenskay, Elena

2017-10-01

The article highlights the necessity of a complex approach to assess economic security of municipalities, which would consider municipal management specifics. The approach allows comparing the economic security level of municipalities, but it does not describe parameter differences between compared municipalities. Therefore, there is a second method suggested: parameter rank order method. Applying these methods allowed to figure out the leaders and outsiders of the economic security among municipalities and rank all economic security parameters according to the significance level. Complex assessment of the economic security of municipalities, based on the combination of the two approaches, allowed to assess the security level more accurate. In order to assure economic security and equalize its threshold values, one should pay special attention to transportation system development in municipalities. Strategic aims of projects in the area of transportation infrastructure development in municipalities include the following issues: contribution into creating and elaborating transportation logistics and manufacture transport complexes, development of transportation infrastructure with account of internal and external functions of the region, public transport development, improvement of transport security and reducing its negative influence on the environment.

Osteopathic manipulative treatment: A systematic review and critical appraisal of comparative effectiveness and health economics research.

PubMed

Steel, Amie; Sundberg, Tobias; Reid, Rebecca; Ward, Lesley; Bishop, Felicity L; Leach, Matthew; Cramer, Holger; Wardle, Jon; Adams, Jon

2017-02-01

In recent years, evidence has emerged regarding the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative treatments (OMT). Despite growing evidence in this field, there is need for appropriate research designs that effectively reflect the person-centred system of care promoted in osteopathy and provide data which can inform policy decisions within the healthcare system. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify, appraise and synthesise the evidence from comparative effectiveness and economic evaluation research involving OMT. A database search was conducted using CINAHL, PubMed, PEDro, AMED, SCOPUS and OSTMED.DR, from their inception to May 2015. Two separate searches were undertaken to identify original research articles encompassing the economic evaluation and comparative effectiveness of OMT. Identified comparative effectives studies were evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and appraised using the Good Reporting of Comparative Effectiveness (GRACE) principles. Identified economic studies were assessed with the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) guidelines. Sixteen studies reporting the findings of comparative effectiveness (n = 9) and economic evaluation (n = 7) research were included. The comparative effectiveness studies reported outcomes for varied health conditions and the majority (n = 6) demonstrated a high risk of bias. The economic evaluations included a range of analyses and considerable differences in the quality of reporting were evident. Despite some positive findings, published comparative effectiveness and health economic studies in OMT are of insufficient quality and quantity to inform policy and practice. High quality, well-designed, research that aligns with international best practice is greatly needed to build a pragmatic evidence base for OMT. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social and economic assessment of the Chugach National Forest area.

Treesearch

Lisa K. Crone; Pat Reed; Julie Schaefers

2002-01-01

This is an assessment of the social and economic conditions in the Chugach National Forest area for use as background information for forest planning. Current regional conditions and recent trends are compared and contrasted with state and national conditions and recent trends. Regional employment and income trends in industries that use forest-related resources are...

Techno-economic assessment of a hybrid solar receiver and combustor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Jin Han; Nathan, Graham; Dally, Bassam; Chinnici, Alfonso

2016-05-01

A techno-economic analysis is performed to compare two different configurations of hybrid solar thermal systems with fossil fuel backup to provide continuous electricity output. The assessment compares a Hybrid Solar Receiver Combustor (HSRC), in which the functions of a solar cavity receiver and a combustor are integrated into a single device with a reference conventional solar thermal system using a regular solar cavity receiver with a backup boiler, termed the Solar Gas Hybrid (SGH). The benefits of the integration is assessed by varying the size of the storage capacity and heliostat field while maintaining the same overall thermal input to the power block.

Comparative analysis of economic models in selected solar energy computer programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, J. W.; Barnes, K. A.

1982-01-01

The economic evaluation models in five computer programs widely used for analyzing solar energy systems (F-CHART 3.0, F-CHART 4.0, SOLCOST, BLAST, and DOE-2) are compared. Differences in analysis techniques and assumptions among the programs are assessed from the point of view of consistency with the Federal requirements for life cycle costing (10 CFR Part 436), effect on predicted economic performance, and optimal system size, case of use, and general applicability to diverse systems types and building types. The FEDSOL program developed by the National Bureau of Standards specifically to meet the Federal life cycle cost requirements serves as a basis for the comparison. Results of the study are illustrated in test cases of two different types of Federally owned buildings: a single family residence and a low rise office building.

Health technology assessment and comparative effectiveness research: a pharmaceutical industry perspective.

PubMed

Hao, Yanni; Thomas, Adrian

2013-08-01

We briefly review the characteristics of several established health technology assessment (HTA) programs in industrialized societies including Germany, the UK and France. Special attention is paid on two issues: the position of HTA in coverage decision making and the role of economic assessment in evaluation processes. Although law makers in the USA have barred the use of NICE's cost/quality-adjusted life year or similar health economics approaches by public payers for coverage decision making, there are suggestions of prioritizing relative efficacy evaluation over economic assessment under a comparative effectiveness research (CER) framework to inform payment rates of public payers (an approach similar to German and French HTA processes). However, such an approach is unlikely to prove viable. It should also be noted that, if cost considerations are made explicit in US CER policy decisions, CER may become an unsustainable approach undermined by a conflicting emphasis on both cost containment and a demand for costly comparative evidence. On the other hand, properly designed CER initiatives can serve as a facilitator of more efficient research activities and drug development models. With these points in mind, the likely pathway of US CER is explored and the plausible impact on industry innovation is discussed.

Economics Framework for the 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buckles, Stephen; Melican, Claire

2006-01-01

This document provides a guide for the development of the 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Economics Assessment. The framework is designed to assess the outcomes of student education in and understanding of economics in grade 12 as part of NAEP. Economic literacy is defined as the ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate…

Health Economics of Dengue: A Systematic Literature Review and Expert Panel's Assessment

PubMed Central

Beatty, Mark E.; Beutels, Philippe; Meltzer, Martin I.; Shepard, Donald S.; Hombach, Joachim; Hutubessy, Raymond; Dessis, Damien; Coudeville, Laurent; Dervaux, Benoit; Wichmann, Ole; Margolis, Harold S.; Kuritsky, Joel N.

2011-01-01

Dengue vaccines are currently in development and policymakers need appropriate economic studies to determine their potential financial and public health impact. We searched five databases (PubMed, EMBASE, LILAC, EconLit, and WHOLIS) to identify health economics studies of dengue. Forty-three manuscripts were identified that provided primary data: 32 report economic burden of dengue and nine are comparative economic analyses assessing various interventions. The remaining two were a willingness-to-pay study and a policymaker survey. An expert panel reviewed the existing dengue economic literature and recommended future research to fill information gaps. Although dengue is an important vector-borne disease, the economic literature is relatively sparse and results have often been conflicting because of use of inconsistent assumptions. Health economic research specific to dengue is urgently needed to ensure informed decision making on the various options for controlling and preventing this disease. PMID:21363989

Material flow-based economic assessment of landfill mining processes.

PubMed

Kieckhäfer, Karsten; Breitenstein, Anna; Spengler, Thomas S

2017-02-01

This paper provides an economic assessment of alternative processes for landfill mining compared to landfill aftercare with the goal of assisting landfill operators with the decision to choose between the two alternatives. A material flow-based assessment approach is developed and applied to a landfill in Germany. In addition to landfill aftercare, six alternative landfill mining processes are considered. These range from simple approaches where most of the material is incinerated or landfilled again to sophisticated technology combinations that allow for recovering highly differentiated products such as metals, plastics, glass, recycling sand, and gravel. For the alternatives, the net present value of all relevant cash flows associated with plant installation and operation, supply, recycling, and disposal of material flows, recovery of land and landfill airspace, as well as landfill closure and aftercare is computed with an extensive sensitivity analyses. The economic performance of landfill mining processes is found to be significantly influenced by the prices of thermal treatment (waste incineration as well as refuse-derived fuels incineration plant) and recovered land or airspace. The results indicate that the simple process alternatives have the highest economic potential, which contradicts the aim of recovering most of the resources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geologic coal assessment: The interface with economics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Attanasi, E.D.

2001-01-01

Geologic resource assessments describe the location, general characteristics, and estimated volumes of resources, whether in situ or technically recoverable. Such compilations are only an initial step in economic resource evaluation. This paper identifies, by examples from the Illinois and Appalachian basins, the salient features of a geologic assessment that assure its usefulness to downstream economic analysis. Assessments should be in sufficient detail to allocate resources to production units (mines or wells). Coal assessments should include the spatial distribution of coal bed characteristics and the ability to allocate parts of the resource to specific mining technologies. For coal bed gas assessment, the production well recoveries and well deliverability characteristics must be preserved and the risk structure should be specified so dryholes and noncommercial well costs are recovered by commercially successful wells. ?? 2001 International Association for Mathematical Geology.

Economic evaluation of pediatric influenza immunization program compared with other pediatric immunization programs: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Gibson, Edward; Begum, Najida; Sigmundsson, Birgir; Sackeyfio, Alfred; Hackett, Judith; Rajaram, Sankarasubramanian

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT This study compared the economic value of pediatric immunisation programmes for influenza to those for rotavirus (RV), meningococcal disease (MD), pneumococcal disease (PD), human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B (Hep B), and varicella reported in recent (2000 onwards) cost-effectiveness (CE) studies identified in a systematic review of PubMed, health technology, and vaccination databases. The systematic review yielded 51 economic evaluation studies of pediatric immunisation — 10 (20%) for influenza and 41 (80%) for the other selected diseases. The quality of the eligible articles was assessed using Drummond's checklist. Although inherent challenges and limitations exist when comparing economic evaluations of immunisation programmes, an overall comparison of the included studies demonstrated cost-effectiveness/cost saving for influenza from a European-Union-Five (EU5) and United States (US) perspective; point estimates for cost/quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) from dominance (cost-saving with more effect) to ≤45,444 were reported. The economic value of influenza programmes was comparable to the other vaccines of interest, with cost/QALY in general considerably lower than RV, Hep B, MD and PD. Independent of the perspective and type of analysis, the economic impact of a pediatric influenza immunisation program was influenced by vaccine efficacy, immunisation coverage, costs, and most significantly by herd immunity. This review suggests that pediatric influenza immunisation may offer a cost effective strategy when compared with HPV and varicella and possibly more value compared with other childhood vaccines (RV, Hep B, MD and PD). PMID:26837602

Economic evaluation of pediatric influenza immunization program compared with other pediatric immunization programs: A systematic review.

PubMed

Gibson, Edward; Begum, Najida; Sigmundsson, Birgir; Sackeyfio, Alfred; Hackett, Judith; Rajaram, Sankarasubramanian

2016-05-03

This study compared the economic value of pediatric immunisation programmes for influenza to those for rotavirus (RV), meningococcal disease (MD), pneumococcal disease (PD), human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B (Hep B), and varicella reported in recent (2000 onwards) cost-effectiveness (CE) studies identified in a systematic review of PubMed, health technology, and vaccination databases. The systematic review yielded 51 economic evaluation studies of pediatric immunisation - 10 (20%) for influenza and 41 (80%) for the other selected diseases. The quality of the eligible articles was assessed using Drummond's checklist. Although inherent challenges and limitations exist when comparing economic evaluations of immunisation programmes, an overall comparison of the included studies demonstrated cost-effectiveness/cost saving for influenza from a European-Union-Five (EU5) and United States (US) perspective; point estimates for cost/quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) from dominance (cost-saving with more effect) to ≤45,444 were reported. The economic value of influenza programmes was comparable to the other vaccines of interest, with cost/QALY in general considerably lower than RV, Hep B, MD and PD. Independent of the perspective and type of analysis, the economic impact of a pediatric influenza immunisation program was influenced by vaccine efficacy, immunisation coverage, costs, and most significantly by herd immunity. This review suggests that pediatric influenza immunisation may offer a cost effective strategy when compared with HPV and varicella and possibly more value compared with other childhood vaccines (RV, Hep B, MD and PD).

[Health assessment and economic assessment in health: introduction to the debate on the points of intersection].

PubMed

Sancho, Leyla Gomes; Dain, Sulamis

2012-03-01

The study aims to infer the existence of a continuum between Health Assessment and Economic Assessment in Health, by highlighting points of intersection of these forms of appraisal. To achieve this, a review of the theoretical foundations, methods and approaches of both forms of assessment was conducted. It was based on the theoretical model of health evaluation as reported by Hartz et al and economic assessment in health approaches reported by Brouwer et al. It was seen that there is a continuum between the theoretical model of evaluative research and the extrawelfarist approach for economic assessment in health, and between the normative theoretical model for health assessment and the welfarist approaches for economic assessment in health. However, in practice the assessment is still conducted using the normative theoretical model and with a welfarist approach.

Assessing sufficient capability: A new approach to economic evaluation.

PubMed

Mitchell, Paul Mark; Roberts, Tracy E; Barton, Pelham M; Coast, Joanna

2015-08-01

Amartya Sen's capability approach has been discussed widely in the health economics discipline. Although measures have been developed to assess capability in economic evaluation, there has been much less attention paid to the decision rules that might be applied alongside. Here, new methods, drawing on the multidimensional poverty and health economics literature, are developed for conducting economic evaluation within the capability approach and focusing on an objective of achieving "sufficient capability". This objective more closely reflects the concern with equity that pervades the capability approach and the method has the advantage of retaining the longitudinal aspect of estimating outcome that is associated with quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), whilst also drawing on notions of shortfall associated with assessments of poverty. Economic evaluation from this perspective is illustrated in an osteoarthritis patient group undergoing joint replacement, with capability wellbeing assessed using ICECAP-O. Recommendations for taking the sufficient capability approach forward are provided. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An economic assessment of contemporary kidney transplant practice.

PubMed

Axelrod, David A; Schnitzler, Mark A; Xiao, Huiling; Irish, William; Tuttle-Newhall, Elizabeth; Chang, Su-Hsin; Kasiske, Bertram L; Alhamad, Tarek; Lentine, Krista L

2018-05-01

Kidney transplantation is the optimal therapy for end-stage renal disease, prolonging survival and reducing spending. Prior economic analyses of kidney transplantation, using Markov models, have generally assumed compatible, low-risk donors. The economic implications of transplantation with high Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) deceased donors, ABO incompatible living donors, and HLA incompatible living donors have not been assessed. The costs of transplantation and dialysis were compared with the use of discrete event simulation over a 10-year period, with data from the United States Renal Data System, University HealthSystem Consortium, and literature review. Graft failure rates and expenditures were adjusted for donor characteristics. All transplantation options were associated with improved survival compared with dialysis (transplantation: 5.20-6.34 quality-adjusted life-years [QALYs] vs dialysis: 4.03 QALYs). Living donor and low-KDPI deceased donor transplantations were cost-saving compared with dialysis, while transplantations using high-KDPI deceased donor, ABO-incompatible or HLA-incompatible living donors were cost-effective (<$100 000 per QALY). Predicted costs per QALY range from $39 939 for HLA-compatible living donor transplantation to $80 486 for HLA-incompatible donors compared with $72 476 for dialysis. In conclusion, kidney transplantation is cost-effective across all donor types despite higher costs for marginal organs and innovative living donor practices. © 2018 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Revisiting the effect of colonial institutions on comparative economic development

PubMed Central

Regele, Matthew

2017-01-01

European settler mortality has been proposed as an instrument to predict the causal effect of colonial institutions on differences in economic development. We examine the relationship between mortality, temperature, and economic development in former European colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. We find that (i) European settler mortality rates increased with regional temperatures and (ii) economic output decreased with regional temperatures. Conditioning on the continent of settlement and accounting for colonies that were not independent as of 1900 undermines the causal effect of colonial institutions on comparative economic development. Our findings run counter to the institutions hypothesis of economic development, showing instead that geography affected both historic mortality rates and present-day economic output. PMID:28481920

Sugammadex compared with neostigmine/glycopyrrolate for routine reversal of neuromuscular block: a systematic review and economic evaluation†

PubMed Central

Paton, F.; Paulden, M.; Chambers, D.; Heirs, M.; Duffy, S.; Hunter, J. M.; Sculpher, M.; Woolacott, N.

2010-01-01

Summary The cost-effectiveness of sugammadex for the routine reversal of muscle relaxation produced by rocuronium or vecuronium in UK practice is uncertain. We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials of sugammadex compared with neostigmine/glycopyrrolate and an economic assessment of sugammadex for the reversal of moderate or profound neuromuscular block (NMB) produced by rocuronium or vecuronium. The economic assessment aimed to establish the reduction in recovery time and the ‘value of time saved’ which would be necessary for sugammadex to be potentially cost-effective compared with existing practice. Three trials indicated that sugammadex 2 mg kg−1 (4 mg kg−1) produces more rapid recovery from moderate (profound) NMB than neostigmine/glycopyrrolate. The economic assessment indicated that if the reductions in recovery time associated with sugammadex in the trials are replicated in routine practice, sugammadex would be cost-effective if those reductions are achieved in the operating theatre (assumed value of staff time, £4.44 per minute), but not if they are achieved in the recovery room (assumed value of staff time, £0.33 per minute). However, there is considerable uncertainty in these results. Sugammadex has the potential to be cost-effective compared with neostigmine/glycopyrrolate for the reversal of rocuronium-induced moderate or profound NMB, provided that the time savings observed in trials can be achieved and put to productive use in clinical practice. Further research is required to evaluate the effects of sugammadex on patient safety, predictability of recovery from NMB, patient outcomes, and efficient use of resources. PMID:20935005

Conducting Site and Economic Renewable Energy Project Feasibility Assessments

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Toolbox for Renewable Energy Project Development's Conducting Site and Economic Renewable Energy Project Feasibility Assessments page provides tools and resources to evaluate solar project feasibility and economics that influence project development.

Assessing the techno-economics of modular hybrid solar thermal systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Jin Han; Chinnici, Alfonso; Dally, Bassam; Nathan, Graham

2017-06-01

A techno-economic assessment was performed on modular hybrid solar thermal (in particular, solar power tower) systems with combustion from natural gas as backup to provide a continuous supply of electricity. Two different configurations were compared, i.e. a Hybrid Solar Receiver Combustor (HSRC), in which the functions of a solar cavity receiver and a combustor are integrated into a single device, and a Solar Gas Hybrid (SGH), which is a reference hybrid solar thermal system with a standalone solar-only cavity receiver and a backup boiler. The techno-economic benefits were assessed by varying the size of the modular components, i.e. the heliostat field and the solar receivers. It was found that for modularization to be cost effective requires more than the increased learning from higher production of a larger number of smaller units, such as access to alternative, lower-cost manufacturing methods and/or the use of a low melting point Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) such as sodium to reduce parasitic losses. In particular, for a plant with 30 units of 1MWth modules, the Levelized Cost of Electricity is competitive compared with a single unit of 30MWth after ˜100 plants are installed for both the HSRC and SGH if the systems employ the use of sodium as the heat transfer fluid.

Towards an integrated economic assessment of climate change impacts on agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lotze-Campen, H.; Piontek, F.; Stevanovic, M.; Popp, A.; Bauer, N.; Dietrich, J.; Mueller, C.; Schmitz, C.

2012-12-01

For a detailed understanding of the effects of climate change on global agricultural production systems, it is essential to consider the variability of climate change patterns as projected by General Circulation Models (GCMs), their bio-physical impact on crops and the response in land-use patterns and markets. So far, approaches that account for the interaction of bio-physical and economic impacts are largely lacking. We present an integrative analysis by using a soft-coupled system of a biophysical impact model (LPJmL, Bondeau et al. 2007), an economically driven land use model (MAgPIE, Lotze-Campen et al. 2008) and an integrated assessment model (ReMIND-R, Leimbach et al. 2010) to study climate change impacts and economic damages in the agricultural sector. First, the dynamic global vegetation and hydrology model LPJmL is used to derive climate change impacts on crop yields for wheat, maize, soy, rice and other major crops. A range of different climate projections is used, taken from the dataset provided by the Intersectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP, www.isi-mip.org), which bias-corrected the latest CMIP5 climate data (Taylor et al. 2011). Crop yield impacts cover scenarios with and without CO2 fertilization as well as different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and different GCMs. With increasing temperature towards the end of the century yields generally decrease in tropical and subtropical regions, while they tend to benefit in higher latitudes. LPJmL results have been compared to other global crop models in the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP, www.agmip.org). Second, changes in crop yields are analysed with the spatially explicit agro-economic model MAgPIE, which covers their interaction with economic development and changes in food demand. Changes in prices as well as welfare changes of producer and consumer surplus are taken as economic indicators. Due to climate-change related reductions in

Economic assessment of the construction industry: A construction-economics nexus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barber, Herbert Marion, Jr.

The purpose of this study was to conduct an economic assessment of the construction industry. More specifically, this study addresses ambiguities within the literature that are associated with the construction-economics nexus. The researcher 1) investigated the relationships between economic indicators and stock prices of U.S. construction equipment manufacturers, 2) investigated the relationships between energy production, consumption, and corruption, and 3) determined the economic effect electricity generation and electricity consumption has on economies of scale. The researcher used descriptive and inferential statistics in this study and determined that economists, researchers, policy-makers, and others should have predicted the 2007-08 world economic collapse 5-6 years prior to realization of the event given that construction indices and GDP grossly regressed from statistically acceptable trends as early as 2002 and perhaps 2000. Substantiating this claim, the effect of the cost of construction materials and labor, i.e. construction index, on GDP was significant for years leading up to the collapse (1970-2007). Additionally, it was determined that energy production and consumption are predictors of governmental corruption in some countries. In the Republic of Botswana, for example, the researcher determined that energy production and consumption statistically jointly effected governmental corruption. In addition to determining statistical effect, a model for predicting governmental corruption was developed based on energy production and consumption volumes. Also, the researcher found that electricity generation in the 25 largest world economies had a statistically significant effect on GDP. Electricity consumption also had an effect on GDP, as well, but not on other economic indicators. More importantly than the quantitative findings, the researcher concluded that the construction-economics nexus is far more complex than most policy-makers realize. As such

Assessment of economic vulnerability to infectious disease crises.

PubMed

Sands, Peter; El Turabi, Anas; Saynisch, Philip A; Dzau, Victor J

2016-11-12

Infectious disease crises have substantial economic impact. Yet mainstream macroeconomic forecasting rarely takes account of the risk of potential pandemics. This oversight contributes to persistent underestimation of infectious disease risk and consequent underinvestment in preparedness and response to infectious disease crises. One reason why economists fail to include economic vulnerability to infectious disease threats in their assessments is the absence of readily available and digestible input data to inform such analysis. In this Viewpoint we suggest an approach by which the global health community can help to generate such inputs, and a framework to use these inputs to assess the economic vulnerability to infectious disease crises of individual countries and regions. We argue that incorporation of these risks in influential macroeconomic analyses such as the reports from the International Monetary Fund's Article IV consultations, rating agencies and risk consultancies would simultaneously improve the quality of economic risk forecasting and reinforce individual government and donor incentives to mitigate infectious disease risks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The total assessment profile, volume 1. [including societal impact cost effectiveness, and economic analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leininger, G.; Jutila, S.; King, J.; Muraco, W.; Hansell, J.; Lindeen, J.; Franckowiak, E.; Flaschner, A.

1975-01-01

A methodology is described for the evaluation of societal impacts associated with the implementation of a new technology. Theoretical foundations for the methodology, called the total assessment profile, are established from both the economic and social science perspectives. The procedure provides for accountability of nonquantifiable factors and measures through the use of a comparative value matrix by assessing the impacts of the technology on the value system of the society.

Linking Physical Climate Research and Economic Assessments of Mitigation Policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stainforth, David; Calel, Raphael

2017-04-01

Evaluating climate change policies requires economic assessments which balance the costs and benefits of climate action. A certain class of Integrated Assessment Models (IAMS) are widely used for this type of analysis; DICE, PAGE and FUND are three of the most influential. In the economics community there has been much discussion and debate about the economic assumptions implemented within these models. Two aspects in particular have gained much attention: i) the costs of damages resulting from climate change - the so-called damage function, and ii) the choice of discount rate applied to future costs and benefits. There has, however, been rather little attention given to the consequences of the choices made in the physical climate models within these IAMS. Here we discuss the practical aspects of the implementation of the physical models in these IAMS, as well as the implications of choices made in these physical science components for economic assessments[1]. We present a simple breakdown of how these IAMS differently represent the climate system as a consequence of differing underlying physical models, different parametric assumptions (for parameters representing, for instance, feedbacks and ocean heat uptake) and different numerical approaches to solving the models. We present the physical and economic consequences of these differences and reflect on how we might better incorporate the latest physical science understanding in economic models of this type. [1] Calel, R. and Stainforth D.A., "On the Physics of Three Integrated Assessment Models", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, in press.

Environmental and Economic Assessment of Electrothermal Swing Adsorption of Air Emissions from Sheet-Foam Production Compared to Conventional Abatement Techniques.

PubMed

Johnsen, David L; Emamipour, Hamidreza; Guest, Jeremy S; Rood, Mark J

2016-02-02

A life-cycle assessment (LCA) and cost analysis are presented comparing the environmental and economic impacts of using regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO), granular activated carbon (GAC), and activated carbon fiber cloth (ACFC) systems to treat gaseous emissions from sheet-foam production. The ACFC system has the lowest operational energy consumption (i.e., 19.2, 8.7, and 3.4 TJ/year at a full-scale facility for RTO, GAC, and ACFC systems, respectively). The GAC system has the smallest environmental impacts across most impact categories for the use of electricity from select states in the United States that produce sheet foam. Monte Carlo simulations indicate the GAC and ACFC systems perform similarly (within one standard deviation) for seven of nine environmental impact categories considered and have lower impacts than the RTO for every category for the use of natural gas to produce electricity. The GAC and ACFC systems recover adequate isobutane to pay for themselves through chemical-consumption offsets, whereas the net present value of the RTO is $4.1 M (20 years, $0.001/m(3) treated). The adsorption systems are more environmentally and economically competitive than the RTO due to recovered isobutane for the production process and are recommended for resource recovery from (and treatment of) sheet-foam-production exhaust gas. Research targets for these adsorption systems should focus on increasing adsorptive capacity and saturation of GAC systems and decreasing electricity and N2 consumption of ACFC systems.

Master's in Economics Programs: Comparing Canada and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walstad, William; Milkman, Martin I.; McCoy, James P.

2008-01-01

The authors compare various characteristics of terminal master's of economics programs in Canada and the United States. As far as they know, this is the first article to present results from a survey of Canadian master's programs in economics. Using a Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, they found significant differences between the Canadian and U.S.…

3. How comprehensive can we be in the economic assessment of vaccines?

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT In two previous papers we argued on current vaccines economic assessment not fully comprehensive when using the incremental cost-utility analysis normally applied for treatments. Many differences exist between vaccines and drug treatments making vaccines economic evaluation more cumbersome. Four challenges overwhelmingly present in vaccines assessment are less important for treatments: requirements for population, societal perspectives, budget impact evaluation, and time focused objectives (control or elimination). Based on this, economic analysis of vaccines may need to be presented to many different stakeholders with various evaluation preferences, in addition to the current stakeholders involved for drugs treatment assessment. Then, we may need a tool making the inventory of the different vaccines health economic assessment programmes more comprehensive. The cauliflower value toolbox has been developed with that aim, and its use is illustrated here with rotavirus vaccine. Given the broader perspectives for vaccine assessment, it provides better value and cost evaluations. Cost-benefit analysis may be the preferred economic assessment method when considering substitution from treatment to active medical prevention. Other economic evaluation methods can be selected (i.e. optimisation modelling, return on investment) when project prioritisation is the main focus considered and when stakeholders would like to influence the development of the healthcare programme. PMID:29785253

Economics and Comparative and International Education: Past, Present, Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolhuter, Charl

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to map this place of economics in the field of study of Comparative and International Education. Interrelationship between economy and education is concerned, two broad lines of enquiry lie within the scope of Comparative and International Education: economy as shaping force of education systems and the effect of education…

Current process and future path for health economic assessment of pharmaceuticals in France

PubMed Central

Toumi, Mondher; Rémuzat, Cécile; El Hammi, Emna; Millier, Aurélie; Aballéa, Samuel; Chouaid, Christos; Falissard, Bruno

2015-01-01

The Social Security Funding Law for 2012 introduced the Economic and Public Health Assessment Committee (Commission Evaluation Economique et de Santé Publique, or CEESP) in the Social Security Code as a specialised committee affiliated with the Haute Autorité de Santé in charge of providing recommendations and health economic opinions. This article provides an in-depth description of the CEESP's structure and working methods, and analyses the impact of health economic assessment on market access of drugs in France. It also points out the areas of uncertainty and the conflicting rules following the introduction of the health economic assessment in France. The authors also provide their personal opinion on the likely future of health economic assessment of drugs in France, including the possible merge of the CEESP and the Transparency Committee, the implementation of a French threshold, and the extension of health economic assessment to a larger number of products. PMID:27123173

A comparative assessment of economic-incentive and command-and-control instruments for air pollution and CO2 control in China's iron and steel sector.

PubMed

Liu, Zhaoyang; Mao, Xianqiang; Tu, Jianjun; Jaccard, Mark

2014-11-01

China's iron and steel sector is faced with increasing pressure to control both local air pollutants and CO2 simultaneously. Additional policy instruments are needed to co-control these emissions in this sector. This study quantitatively evaluates and compares two categories of emission reduction instruments, namely the economic-incentive (EI) instrument of a carbon tax, and the command-and-control (CAC) instrument of mandatory application of end-of-pipe emission control measures for CO2, SO2 and NOx. The comparative evaluation tool is an integrated assessment model, which combines a top-down computable general equilibrium sub-model and a bottom-up technology-based sub-model through a soft-linkage. The simulation results indicate that the carbon tax can co-control multiple pollutants, but the emission reduction rates are limited under the tax rates examined in this study. In comparison, the CAC instruments are found to have excellent effects on controlling different pollutants separately, but not jointly. Such results indicate that no single EI or CAC instrument is overwhelmingly superior. The environmental and economic effectiveness of an instrument highly depends on its specific attributes, and cannot be predicted by the general policy category. These findings highlight the necessity of clearer identification of policy target priorities, and detail-oriented and integrated policy-making among different governmental departments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What Makes the Finnish Different in Science? Assessing and Comparing Students' Science Learning in Three Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geller, Cornelia; Neumann, Knut; Boone, William J.; Fischer, Hans E.

2014-01-01

This manuscript details our efforts to assess and compare students' learning about electricity in three countries. As our world is increasingly driven by technological advancements, the education of future citizens in science becomes one important resource for economic productivity. Not surprisingly international large-scale assessments are viewed…

Systematic Review of Economic Models Used to Compare Techniques for Detecting Peripheral Arterial Disease.

PubMed

Moloney, Eoin; O'Connor, Joanne; Craig, Dawn; Robalino, Shannon; Chrysos, Alexandros; Javanbakht, Mehdi; Sims, Andrew; Stansby, Gerard; Wilkes, Scott; Allen, John

2018-04-23

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common condition, in which atherosclerotic narrowing in the arteries restricts blood supply to the leg muscles. In order to support future model-based economic evaluations comparing methods of diagnosis in this area, a systematic review of economic modelling studies was conducted. A systematic literature review was performed in June 2017 to identify model-based economic evaluations of diagnostic tests to detect PAD, with six individual databases searched. The review was conducted in accordance with the methods outlined in the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination's guidance for undertaking reviews in healthcare, and appropriate inclusion criteria were applied. Relevant data were extracted, and studies were quality assessed. Seven studies were included in the final review, all of which were published between 1995 and 2014. There was wide variation in the types of diagnostic test compared. The majority of the studies (six of seven) referenced the sources used to develop their model, and all studies stated and justified the structural assumptions. Reporting of the data within the included studies could have been improved. Only one identified study focused on the cost-effectiveness of a test typically used in primary care. This review brings together all applied modelling methods for tests used in the diagnosis of PAD, which could be used to support future model-based economic evaluations in this field. The limited modelling work available on tests typically used for the detection of PAD in primary care, in particular, highlights the importance of future work in this area.

Relative importance of physical and economic factors in Appalachian coalbed gas assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Attanasi, E.D.

1998-01-01

In the 1995 National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey, only 20% of the assessed technically recoverable Appalachian Province coalbed gas resources were economic. Physical and economic variables are examined to explain the disparity between economic and technically recoverable coalbed gas. The Anticline and Syncline plays of the Northern Appalachian Basin, which account for 77% of the assessed technically recoverable coalbed gas, are not economic. Analysis shows marginal reductions in costs or rate of return will not turn these plays into commercial successes. Physical parameters that determine ultimate well recoverability and the rate of gas recovery are primary reasons the Northern Appalachian Basin plays are non-commercial. If the application of new well stimulation technology could offset slow gas desorption rates, Appalachian Province economic gas could increase to more then 70% of the technically recoverable gas. Similarly, if operators are able to develop strategies to selectively drill plays by avoiding dry holes and non-commercial occurrences, the economic fraction of technically recoverable gas could increase to over half.In the 1995 National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey, only 20% of the assessed technically recoverable Appalachian Province coalbed gas resources were economic. Physical and economic variables are examined to explain the disparity between economic and technically recoverable coalbed gas. The Anticline and Syncline plays of the Northern Appalachian Basin, which account for 77% of the assessed technically recoverable coalbed gas, are not economic. Analysis shows marginal reductions in costs or rate of return will not turn these plays into commercial successes. Physical parameters that determine ultimate well recoverability and the rate of gas recovery are primary reasons the Northern Appalachian Basin plays are non-commercial. If the application of new well

Economic assessment of rotavirus vaccination in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Al-Aidaroos, Amal Y A; Standaert, Baudouin; Meszaros, Kinga; Shibl, Atef M

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), rotavirus universal mass vaccination has been introduced in 2013, however, there is limited information available on the economic benefit and the epidemiological impact of the programme to date. We used a Markov cohort model to evaluate and compare the economic value of rotavirus vaccination with no vaccination in a birth cohort of 562,428 infants. This lifetime analysis considered the societal perspective. Model input was obtained through consensus of local experts after two rounds of evaluation of the proposed estimates. The primary outcome measure was to assess cost-effectiveness and to define the cost-neutrality level reached by comparing vaccination with no vaccination as a function of the price adjustment of the vaccination course. With an assumed vaccine coverage rate of 96%, the already started rotavirus vaccination is expected to reduce the overall burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis by 65% with model exercise, over lifetime. The maximum impact will be seen in rotavirus gastroenteritis-related hospitalizations (93%). Outpatient and emergency visits are shown to decline by 87% each while the occurrence of nosocomial infections, by 78%. Cost neutrality is reached if the vaccine price per course is less than SAR 178.20 at steady state. Rotavirus vaccination should be recommended in KSA given the important clinical impact the vaccine can have and the good value for money it can obtain. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Economic sustainability assessment in semi-steppe rangelands.

PubMed

Mofidi Chelan, Morteza; Alijanpour, Ahmad; Barani, Hossein; Motamedi, Javad; Azadi, Hossein; Van Passel, Steven

2018-05-08

This study was conducted to determine indices and components of economic sustainability assessment in the pastoral units of Sahand summer rangelands. The method was based on descriptive-analytical survey (experts and researchers) with questionnaires. Analysis of variance showed that the mean values of economic components are significantly different from each other and the efficiency component has the highest mean value (0.57). The analysis of rangeland pastoral units with the technique for order-preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) indicated that from an economic sustainability standpoint, Garehgol (Ci = 0.519) and Badir Khan (Ci = 0.129), pastoral units ranked first and last, respectively. This study provides a clear understanding of existing resources and opportunities for policy makers that is crucial to approach economic sustainable development. Accordingly, this study can help better define sustainable development goals and monitor the progress of achieving them. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessment of eco-environmental quality of Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone.

PubMed

Ma, He; Shi, Longyu

2016-05-01

Regional eco-environmental quality is the key and foundation to the sustainable socio-economic development of a region. Eco-environmental quality assessment can reveal the capacity of sustainable socio-economic development in a region and the degree of coordination between social production and the living environment. As part of a new development strategy for Fujian Province, the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone (hereafter referred to as the Economic Zone) provides an important guarantee for the development of China's southeastern coastal area. Based on ecological and remote sensing data on the Economic Zone obtained in 2000, 2005, and 2010, this study investigated county-level administrative regions with a comprehensive index of eco-environmental indicators. An objective weighting method was used to determine the importance of each indicator. This led to the development of an indicator system to assess the eco-environmental quality of the economic zone. ArcGIS software was used to assess the eco-environmental quality of the economic zone based on each indicator. The eco-environmental quality index (EQI) of the county-level administrative regions was calculated. The overall eco-environmental quality of the Economic Zone during the period studied is described and analyzed. The results show that the overall eco-environmental quality of the Economic Zone is satisfactory, but significant intraregional differences still exist. The key to improving the overall eco-environmental quality of this area is to restore vegetation and preserve biodiversity.

Technical, economic and environmental assessment of sludge treatment wetlands.

PubMed

Uggetti, Enrica; Ferrer, Ivet; Molist, Jordi; García, Joan

2011-01-01

Sludge treatment wetlands (STW) emerge as a promising sustainable technology with low energy requirements and operational costs. In this study, technical, economic and environmental aspects of STW are investigated and compared with other alternatives for sludge management in small communities (<2000 population equivalent). The performance of full-scale STW was characterised during 2 years. Sludge dewatering increased total solids (TS) concentration by 25%, while sludge biodegradation lead to volatile solids around 45% TS and DRI(24h) between 1.1 and 1.4 gO(2)/kgTS h, suggesting a partial stabilisation of biosolids. In the economic and environmental assessment, four scenarios were considered for comparison: 1) STW with direct land application of biosolids, 2) STW with compost post-treatment, 3) centrifuge with compost post-treatment and 4) sludge transport to an intensive wastewater treatment plant. According to the results, STW with direct land application is the most cost-effective scenario, which is also characterised by the lowest environmental impact. The life cycle assessment highlights that global warming is a significant impact category in all scenarios, which is attributed to fossil fuel and electricity consumption; while greenhouse gas emissions from STW are insignificant. As a conclusion, STW are the most appropriate alternative for decentralised sludge management in small communities. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The October 1973 NASA mission model analysis and economic assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Results are presented of the 1973 NASA Mission Model Analysis. The purpose was to obtain an economic assessment of using the Shuttle to accommodate the payloads and requirements as identified by the NASA Program Offices and the DoD. The 1973 Payload Model represents a baseline candidate set of future payloads which can be used as a reference base for planning purposes. The cost of implementing these payload programs utilizing the capabilities of the shuttle system is analyzed and compared with the cost of conducting the same payload effort using expendable launch vehicles. There is a net benefit of 14.1 billion dollars as a result of using the shuttle during the 12-year period as compared to using an expendable launch vehicle fleet.

A systematic review of the quality of economic models comparing thrombosis inhibitors in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

PubMed

Hatz, Maximilian H M; Leidl, Reiner; Yates, Nichola A; Stollenwerk, Björn

2014-04-01

Thrombosis inhibitors can be used to treat acute coronary syndromes (ACS). However, there are various alternative treatment strategies, of which some have been compared using health economic decision models. To assess the quality of health economic decision models comparing thrombosis inhibitors in patients with ACS undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, and to identify areas for quality improvement. The literature databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, EconLit, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) and Health Technology Assessment (HTA). A review of the quality of health economic decision models was conducted by two independent reviewers, using the Philips checklist. Twenty-one relevant studies were identified. Differences were apparent regarding the model type (six decision trees, four Markov models, eight combinations, three undefined models), the model structure (types of events, Markov states) and the incorporation of data (efficacy, cost and utility data). Critical issues were the absence of particular events (e.g. thrombocytopenia, stroke) and questionable usage of utility values within some studies. As we restricted our search to health economic decision models comparing thrombosis inhibitors, interesting aspects related to the quality of studies of adjacent medical areas that compared stents or procedures could have been missed. This review identified areas where recommendations are indicated regarding the quality of future ACS decision models. For example, all critical events and relevant treatment options should be included. Models also need to allow for changing event probabilities to correctly reflect ACS and to incorporate appropriate, age-specific utility values and decrements when conducting cost-utility analyses.

Economic assessment of flood forecasts for a risk-averse decision-maker

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matte, Simon; Boucher, Marie-Amélie; Boucher, Vincent; Fortier-Filion, Thomas-Charles

2017-04-01

A large effort has been made over the past 10 years to promote the operational use of probabilistic or ensemble streamflow forecasts. It has also been suggested in past studies that ensemble forecasts might possess a greater economic value than deterministic forecasts. However, the vast majority of recent hydro-economic literature is based on the cost-loss ratio framework, which might be appealing for its simplicity and intuitiveness. One important drawback of the cost-loss ratio is that it implicitly assumes a risk-neutral decision maker. By definition, a risk-neutral individual is indifferent to forecasts' sharpness: as long as forecasts agree with observations on average, the risk-neutral individual is satisfied. A risk-averse individual, however, is sensitive to the level of precision (sharpness) of forecasts. This person is willing to pay to increase his or her certainty about future events. In fact, this is how insurance companies operate: the probability of seeing one's house burn down is relatively low, so the expected cost related to such event is also low. However, people are willing to buy insurance to avoid the risk, however small, of loosing everything. Similarly, in a context where people's safety and property is at stake, the typical decision maker is more risk-averse than risk-neutral. Consequently, the cost-loss ratio is not the most appropriate tool to assess the economic value of flood forecasts. This presentation describes a more realistic framework for assessing the economic value of such forecasts for flood mitigation purposes. Borrowing from economics, the Constant Absolute Risk Aversion utility function (CARA) is the central tool of this new framework. Utility functions allow explicitly accounting for the level of risk aversion of the decision maker and fully exploiting the information related to ensemble forecasts' uncertainty. Three concurrent ensemble streamflow forecasting systems are compared in terms of quality (comparison with

"Economics with Training Wheels": Using Blogs in Teaching and Assessing Introductory Economics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cameron, Michael P.

2012-01-01

Blogs provide a dynamic interactive medium for online discussion, consistent with communal constructivist pedagogy. The author of this article describes and evaluates a blog assignment used in the teaching and assessment of a small (40-60 students) introductory economics course. Using qualitative and quantitative data collected across four…

The assessment of eco-design with a comprehensive index incorporating environmental impact and economic profit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Shuo; Fu, Yun; Wang, Xiuteng; Xu, Bingsheng; Li, Zheng

2017-11-01

Eco-design is an advanced design approach which plays an important part in the national innovation project and serves as a key point for the successful transformation of the supply structure. However, the practical implementation of the pro-environmental designs and technologies always faces a dilemma situation, where some processes can effectively control their emissions to protect the environment at relatively high costs, while others pursue the individual interest in making profit by ignoring the possible adverse environmental impacts. Thus, the assessment on the eco-design process must be carried out based on the comprehensive consideration of the economic and environmental aspects. Presently, the assessment systems in China are unable to fully reflect the new environmental technologies regarding their innovative features or performance. Most of the assessment systems adopt scoring method based on the judgments of the experts, which are easy to use but somewhat subjective. The assessment method presented in this paper includes the environmental impact (EI) assessment based on LCA principal and willingness-to-pay theory, and economic profit (EP) assessment mainly based on market price. The results from the assessment are in the form of EI/EP, which evaluate the targeted process from a combined perspective of environmental and economic performance. A case study was carried out upon the utilization process of coal fly ash, which indicates the proposed method can compare different technical processes in an effective and objective manner, and provide explicit and insightful suggestions for decision making.

Economic Studies in Colorectal Cancer: Challenges in Measuring and Comparing Costs

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Estimates of the costs associated with cancer care are essential both for assessing burden of disease at the population level and for conducting economic evaluations of interventions to prevent, detect, or treat cancer. Comparisons of cancer costs between health systems and across countries can improve understanding of the economic consequences of different health-care policies and programs. We conducted a structured review of the published literature on colorectal cancer (CRC) costs, including direct medical, direct nonmedical (ie, patient and caregiver time, travel), and productivity losses. We used MEDLINE to identify English language articles published between 2000 and 2010 and found 55 studies. The majority were conducted in the United States (52.7%), followed by France (12.7%), Canada (10.9%), the United Kingdom (9.1%), and other countries (9.1%). Almost 90% of studies estimated direct medical costs, but few studies estimated patient or caregiver time costs or productivity losses associated with CRC. Within a country, we found significant heterogeneity across the studies in populations examined, health-care delivery settings, methods for identifying incident and prevalent patients, types of medical services included, and analyses. Consequently, findings from studies with seemingly the same objective (eg, costs of chemotherapy in year following CRC diagnosis) are difficult to compare. Across countries, aggregate and patient-level estimates vary in so many respects that they are almost impossible to compare. Our findings suggest that valid cost comparisons should be based on studies with explicit standardization of populations, services, measures of costs, and methods with the goal of comparability within or between health systems or countries. Expected increases in CRC prevalence and costs in the future highlight the importance of such studies for informing health-care policy and program planning. PMID:23962510

A generic bio-economic farm model for environmental and economic assessment of agricultural systems.

PubMed

Janssen, Sander; Louhichi, Kamel; Kanellopoulos, Argyris; Zander, Peter; Flichman, Guillermo; Hengsdijk, Huib; Meuter, Eelco; Andersen, Erling; Belhouchette, Hatem; Blanco, Maria; Borkowski, Nina; Heckelei, Thomas; Hecker, Martin; Li, Hongtao; Oude Lansink, Alfons; Stokstad, Grete; Thorne, Peter; van Keulen, Herman; van Ittersum, Martin K

2010-12-01

Bio-economic farm models are tools to evaluate ex-post or to assess ex-ante the impact of policy and technology change on agriculture, economics and environment. Recently, various BEFMs have been developed, often for one purpose or location, but hardly any of these models are re-used later for other purposes or locations. The Farm System Simulator (FSSIM) provides a generic framework enabling the application of BEFMs under various situations and for different purposes (generating supply response functions and detailed regional or farm type assessments). FSSIM is set up as a component-based framework with components representing farmer objectives, risk, calibration, policies, current activities, alternative activities and different types of activities (e.g., annual and perennial cropping and livestock). The generic nature of FSSIM is evaluated using five criteria by examining its applications. FSSIM has been applied for different climate zones and soil types (criterion 1) and to a range of different farm types (criterion 2) with different specializations, intensities and sizes. In most applications FSSIM has been used to assess the effects of policy changes and in two applications to assess the impact of technological innovations (criterion 3). In the various applications, different data sources, level of detail (e.g., criterion 4) and model configurations have been used. FSSIM has been linked to an economic and several biophysical models (criterion 5). The model is available for applications to other conditions and research issues, and it is open to be further tested and to be extended with new components, indicators or linkages to other models.

A Generic Bio-Economic Farm Model for Environmental and Economic Assessment of Agricultural Systems

PubMed Central

Louhichi, Kamel; Kanellopoulos, Argyris; Zander, Peter; Flichman, Guillermo; Hengsdijk, Huib; Meuter, Eelco; Andersen, Erling; Belhouchette, Hatem; Blanco, Maria; Borkowski, Nina; Heckelei, Thomas; Hecker, Martin; Li, Hongtao; Oude Lansink, Alfons; Stokstad, Grete; Thorne, Peter; van Keulen, Herman; van Ittersum, Martin K.

2010-01-01

Bio-economic farm models are tools to evaluate ex-post or to assess ex-ante the impact of policy and technology change on agriculture, economics and environment. Recently, various BEFMs have been developed, often for one purpose or location, but hardly any of these models are re-used later for other purposes or locations. The Farm System Simulator (FSSIM) provides a generic framework enabling the application of BEFMs under various situations and for different purposes (generating supply response functions and detailed regional or farm type assessments). FSSIM is set up as a component-based framework with components representing farmer objectives, risk, calibration, policies, current activities, alternative activities and different types of activities (e.g., annual and perennial cropping and livestock). The generic nature of FSSIM is evaluated using five criteria by examining its applications. FSSIM has been applied for different climate zones and soil types (criterion 1) and to a range of different farm types (criterion 2) with different specializations, intensities and sizes. In most applications FSSIM has been used to assess the effects of policy changes and in two applications to assess the impact of technological innovations (criterion 3). In the various applications, different data sources, level of detail (e.g., criterion 4) and model configurations have been used. FSSIM has been linked to an economic and several biophysical models (criterion 5). The model is available for applications to other conditions and research issues, and it is open to be further tested and to be extended with new components, indicators or linkages to other models. PMID:21113782

Towards improved socio-economic assessments of ocean acidification's impacts.

PubMed

Hilmi, Nathalie; Allemand, Denis; Dupont, Sam; Safa, Alain; Haraldsson, Gunnar; Nunes, Paulo A L D; Moore, Chris; Hattam, Caroline; Reynaud, Stéphanie; Hall-Spencer, Jason M; Fine, Maoz; Turley, Carol; Jeffree, Ross; Orr, James; Munday, Philip L; Cooley, Sarah R

2013-01-01

Ocean acidification is increasingly recognized as a component of global change that could have a wide range of impacts on marine organisms, the ecosystems they live in, and the goods and services they provide humankind. Assessment of these potential socio-economic impacts requires integrated efforts between biologists, chemists, oceanographers, economists and social scientists. But because ocean acidification is a new research area, significant knowledge gaps are preventing economists from estimating its welfare impacts. For instance, economic data on the impact of ocean acidification on significant markets such as fisheries, aquaculture and tourism are very limited (if not non-existent), and non-market valuation studies on this topic are not yet available. Our paper summarizes the current understanding of future OA impacts and sets out what further information is required for economists to assess socio-economic impacts of ocean acidification. Our aim is to provide clear directions for multidisciplinary collaborative research.

Economic risk assessment of drought impacts on irrigated agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez-Nicolas, A.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Macian-Sorribes, H.

2017-07-01

In this paper we present an innovative framework for an economic risk analysis of drought impacts on irrigated agriculture. It consists on the integration of three components: stochastic time series modelling for prediction of inflows and future reservoir storages at the beginning of the irrigation season; statistical regression for the evaluation of water deliveries based on projected inflows and storages; and econometric modelling for economic assessment of the production value of agriculture based on irrigation water deliveries and crop prices. Therefore, the effect of the price volatility can be isolated from the losses due to water scarcity in the assessment of the drought impacts. Monte Carlo simulations are applied to generate probability functions of inflows, which are translated into probabilities of storages, deliveries, and finally, production value of agriculture. The framework also allows the assessment of the value of mitigation measures as reduction of economic losses during droughts. The approach was applied to the Jucar river basin, a complex system affected by multiannual severe droughts, with irrigated agriculture as the main consumptive demand. Probability distributions of deliveries and production value were obtained for each irrigation season. In the majority of the irrigation districts, drought causes a significant economic impact. The increase of crop prices can partially offset the losses from the reduction of production due to water scarcity in some districts. Emergency wells contribute to mitigating the droughts' impacts on the Jucar river system.

Assessing Family Economic Status From Teacher Reports.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moskowitz, Joel M.; Hoepfner, Ralph

The utility of employing teacher reports about characteristics of students and their parents to assess family economic status was investigated using multiple regression analyses. The accuracy of teacher reports about parents' educational background was also explored, in addition to the effect of replacing missing data with logical, mean, or modal…

Assessment of the Economic Structure of Brazilian Agribusiness

PubMed Central

Rodrigues Moreira, Vilmar; Kureski, Ricardo; Pereira da Veiga, Claudimar

2016-01-01

This paper presents an economic assessment of Brazilian agribusiness and its relationship with other economic sectors. It was found that, in 2011, agribusiness had a share of 18.45% (basic prices) and 19.77% (market prices) of Brazilian GDP. The tax burden of agribusiness (20.68%) was higher than that of other sectors (13.59%), despite agribusiness being a major contributor to the generation of foreign exchange, employment, and essential products, such as food. Brazilian agribusiness is a major employer, responsible for 29.39% of national employment. However, its average income is lower than in the other sectors of the Brazilian economy. Finally, agribusiness was found to be the biggest generator of foreign exchange, with a positive balance of trade. It was possible to conclude that agribusiness forms a strong link between agriculture and livestock, industry, and services in other economic sectors. For this reason, it can be said that the development of agribusiness is highly relevant to the process of Brazilian economic development and is therefore important to the progress of economic policies. PMID:27243040

Assessment of the Economic Structure of Brazilian Agribusiness.

PubMed

Rodrigues Moreira, Vilmar; Kureski, Ricardo; Pereira da Veiga, Claudimar

2016-01-01

This paper presents an economic assessment of Brazilian agribusiness and its relationship with other economic sectors. It was found that, in 2011, agribusiness had a share of 18.45% (basic prices) and 19.77% (market prices) of Brazilian GDP. The tax burden of agribusiness (20.68%) was higher than that of other sectors (13.59%), despite agribusiness being a major contributor to the generation of foreign exchange, employment, and essential products, such as food. Brazilian agribusiness is a major employer, responsible for 29.39% of national employment. However, its average income is lower than in the other sectors of the Brazilian economy. Finally, agribusiness was found to be the biggest generator of foreign exchange, with a positive balance of trade. It was possible to conclude that agribusiness forms a strong link between agriculture and livestock, industry, and services in other economic sectors. For this reason, it can be said that the development of agribusiness is highly relevant to the process of Brazilian economic development and is therefore important to the progress of economic policies.

Solar Heating and Cooling: An Economic Assessment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGarity, Arthur E.

This study serves as an introduction to the important economic considerations that are necessary for an assessment of the potential for solar heating and cooling in the United States. The first chapter introduces the technology that is used to tap solar energy for residential and commercial applications and illustrates the potential significance…

The weather roulette: assessing the economic value of seasonal wind speed predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christel, Isadora; Cortesi, Nicola; Torralba-Fernandez, Veronica; Soret, Albert; Gonzalez-Reviriego, Nube; Doblas-Reyes, Francisco

2016-04-01

Climate prediction is an emerging and highly innovative research area. For the wind energy sector, predicting the future variability of wind resources over the coming weeks or seasons is especially relevant to quantify operation and maintenance logistic costs or to inform energy trading decision with potential cost savings and/or economic benefits. Recent advances in climate predictions have already shown that probabilistic forecasting can improve the current prediction practices, which are based in the use of retrospective climatology and the assumption that what happened in the past is the best estimation of future conditions. Energy decision makers now have this new set of climate services but, are they willing to use them? Our aim is to properly explain the potential economic benefits of adopting probabilistic predictions, compared with the current practice, by using the weather roulette methodology (Hagedorn & Smith, 2009). This methodology is a diagnostic tool created to inform in a more intuitive and relevant way about the skill and usefulness of a forecast in the decision making process, by providing an economic and financial oriented assessment of the benefits of using a particular forecast system. We have selected a region relevant to the energy stakeholders where the predictions of the EUPORIAS climate service prototype for the energy sector (RESILIENCE) are skillful. In this region, we have applied the weather roulette to compare the overall prediction success of RESILIENCE's predictions and climatology illustrating it as an effective interest rate, an economic term that is easier to understand for energy stakeholders.

Phosphorus recovery from municipal wastewater: An integrated comparative technological, environmental and economic assessment of P recovery technologies.

PubMed

Egle, L; Rechberger, H; Krampe, J; Zessner, M

2016-11-15

Phosphorus (P) is an essential and limited resource. Municipal wastewater is a promising source of P via reuse and could be used to replace P derived from phosphate rocks. The agricultural use of sewage sludge is restricted by legislation or is not practiced in several European countries due to environmental risks posed by organic micropollutants and pathogens. Several technologies have been developed in recent years to recover wastewater P. However, these technologies target different P-containing flows in wastewater treatment plants (effluent, digester supernatant, sewage sludge, and sewage sludge ash), use diverse engineering approaches and differ greatly with respect to P recycling rate, potential of removing or destroying pollutants, product quality, environmental impact and cost. This work compares 19 relevant P recovery technologies by considering their relationships with existing wastewater and sludge treatment systems. A combination of different methods, such as material flow analysis, damage units, reference soil method, annuity method, integrated cost calculation and a literature study on solubility, fertilizing effects and handling of recovered materials, is used to evaluate the different technologies with respect to technical, ecological and economic aspects. With regard to the manifold origins of data an uncertainty concept considering validity of data sources is applied. This analysis revealed that recovery from flows with dissolved P produces clean and plant-available materials. These techniques may even be beneficial from economic and technical perspectives under specific circumstances. However, the recovery rates (a maximum of 25%) relative to the wastewater treatment plant influent are relatively low. The approaches that recover P from sewage sludge apply complex technologies and generally achieve effective removal of heavy metals at moderate recovery rates (~40-50% relative to the WWTP input) and comparatively high costs. Sewage sludge ash is

Socio-economic analysis: a tool for assessing the potential of nanotechnologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brignon, Jean-Marc

2011-07-01

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) has a long history, especially in the USA, of being used for the assessment of new regulation, new infrastructure and more recently for new technologies. Under the denomination of Socio-Economic Analysis (SEA), this concept is used in EU safety and environmental regulation, especially for the placing of chemicals on the market (REACh regulation) and the operation of industrial installations (Industrial Emissions Directive). As far as REACh and other EU legislation apply specifically to nanomaterials in the future, SEA might become an important assessment tool for nanotechnologies. The most important asset of SEA regarding nanomaterials, is the comparison with alternatives in socio-economic scenarios, which is key for the understanding of how a nanomaterial "socially" performs in comparison with its alternatives. "Industrial economics" methods should be introduced in SEAs to make industry and the regulator share common concepts and visions about economic competitiveness implications of regulating nanotechnologies, SEA and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) can complement each other : Socio-Economic LCA are increasingly seen as a complete assessment tool for nanotechnologies, but the perspective between Social LCA and SEA are different and the respective merits and limitations of both approaches should be kept in mind. SEA is a "pragmatic regulatory impact analysis", that uses a cost/benefit framework analysis but remains open to other disciplines than economy, and open to the participation of stakeholders for the construction of scenarios of the deployment of technologies and the identification of alternatives. SEA is "pragmatic" in the sense that it is driven by the purpose to assess "what happens" with the introduction of nanotechnology, and uses methodologies such as Life Cycle Analysis only as far as they really contribute to that goal. We think that, being pragmatic, SEA is also adaptative, which is a key quality to handle the novelty of

Economic evaluation of home-based telebehavioural health care compared to in-person treatment delivery for depression.

PubMed

Bounthavong, Mark; Pruitt, Larry D; Smolenski, Derek J; Gahm, Gregory A; Bansal, Aasthaa; Hansen, Ryan N

2018-02-01

Introduction Home-based telebehavioural healthcare improves access to mental health care for patients restricted by travel burden. However, there is limited evidence assessing the economic value of home-based telebehavioural health care compared to in-person care. We sought to compare the economic impact of home-based telebehavioural health care and in-person care for depression among current and former US service members. Methods We performed trial-based cost-minimisation and cost-utility analyses to assess the economic impact of home-based telebehavioural health care versus in-person behavioural care for depression. Our analyses focused on the payer perspective (Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs) at three months. We also performed a scenario analysis where all patients possessed video-conferencing technology that was approved by these agencies. The cost-utility analysis evaluated the impact of different depression categories on the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of the model assumptions. Results In the base case analysis the total direct cost of home-based telebehavioural health care was higher than in-person care (US$71,974 versus US$20,322). Assuming that patients possessed government-approved video-conferencing technology, home-based telebehavioural health care was less costly compared to in-person care (US$19,177 versus US$20,322). In one-way sensitivity analyses, the proportion of patients possessing personal computers was a major driver of direct costs. In the cost-utility analysis, home-based telebehavioural health care was dominant when patients possessed video-conferencing technology. Results from probabilistic sensitivity analyses did not differ substantially from base case results. Discussion Home-based telebehavioural health care is dependent on the cost of supplying video-conferencing technology to patients but offers the opportunity to

Clinical, Ergonomic, and Economic Outcomes With Multichamber Bags Compared With (Hospital) Pharmacy Compounded Bags and Multibottle Systems: A Systematic Literature Review.

PubMed

Alfonso, Jorge Emilio; Berlana, David; Ukleja, Andrew; Boullata, Joseph

2017-09-01

Multichamber bags (MCBs) may offer potential clinical, ergonomic, and economic advantages compared with (hospital) pharmacy compounded bags (COBs) and multibottle systems (MBSs). A systematic literature review was performed to identify and assess the available evidence regarding advantages of MCBs compared with COBs and MBSs. Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Databases, and EconLit were searched for articles reporting clinical, ergonomic, and economic outcomes for MCBs compared with COBs or MBSs. The search was limited to studies conducted in hospitalized patients >2 years of age that were published in English between January 1990 and November 2014. The Population Intervention Comparison Outcomes Study Design (PICOS) framework was used for the analysis. From 1307 unique citations, 74 potentially relevant publications were identified; review of references identified 2 additional publications. Among the 76 publications, 18 published studies met the inclusion criteria. Most were retrospective in design. Ten studies reported clinical outcomes, including 1 prospective randomized trial and multiple retrospective analyses that reported a lower risk of bloodstream infection for MCBs compared with other delivery systems. Sixteen studies reported ergonomic and/or economic outcomes; most reported a potential cost benefit for MCBs, with consistent reports of reduced time and labor compared with other systems. The largest cost benefit was observed in studies evaluating total hospitalization costs. The systematic literature review identified evidence of potential clinical, ergonomic, and economic benefits for MCBs compared with COBs and MBSs; however, methodological factors limited evidence quality. More prospective studies are required to corroborate existing evidence.

A socio-economic impact assessment of the European launcher sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monte, Luca del; Scatteia, Luigi

2017-08-01

In a context where the economic strains are challenging European policies as well as the very fabric of governmental contributions to public life, innovation and efficacy of public policy in research are called upon to support growth in Europe and to sustain employment and entrepreneurial capacities. Governments need evidence that the investments in space, while providing strategic tools to implement sovereign policies, create jobs and build the competitive European economy of the future. This is particularly true when the decisions at stake have a potential bearing on the future of the European space sector for at least the next 30 years, as it has been the case for the ESA Council at ministerial level meeting in December 2014. On that occasion, Ministers took the decision to start the development of a new Ariane 6 launcher and Vega evolutions having a critical bearing on the Member States' strategic industrial capabilities and on the sustainability of the European guaranteed access to space. Given the importance of the subject, and following similar studies undertaken in the past for e.g. the Ariane 1-4 programme, the Agency has requested an independent consulting team to perform a dedicated study to assess ex-post the direct, indirect and induced socio-economic impacts of the Ariane 5 programme (mid-term evaluation) and of the Vega programme (early evaluation) globally, at European level, and within the economies and industries of each ESA Member State. This paper presents the assessment of the socio-economic impacts allowing the evaluation of the return on public investments in launchers through ESA in a wider perspective, going beyond the purely economic terms. The scope of the assessment covered in total approximately 25 ESA programmatic and activity lines and 30,000 commitments from 1986 to end 2012. In the framework of the study, the economic impact of the European launcher programmes is measured through a GDP impact defined as the straight economic

Economic assessment of biodiesel production from waste frying oils.

PubMed

Araujo, Victor Kraemer Wermelinger Sancho; Hamacher, Silvio; Scavarda, Luiz Felipe

2010-06-01

Waste frying oils (WFO) can be a good source for the production of biodiesel because this raw material is not part of the food chain, is low cost and can be used in a way that resolves environmental problems (i.e. WFO is no longer thrown into the sewage network). The goal of this article is to propose a method to evaluate the costs of biodiesel production from WFO to develop an economic assessment of this alternative. This method embraces a logistics perspective, as the cost of collection of oil from commercial producers and its delivery to biodiesel depots or plants can be relevant and is an issue that has been little explored in the academic literature. To determine the logistics cost, a mathematical programming model is proposed to solve the vehicle routing problem (VRP), which was applied in an important urban center in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), a relevant and potential center for biodiesel production and consumption. Eighty-one biodiesel cost scenarios were compared with information on the commercialization of biodiesel in Brazil. The results obtained demonstrate the economic viability of biodiesel production from WFO in the urban center studied and the relevance of logistics in the total biodiesel production cost. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accuracy, precision, and economic efficiency for three methods of thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) population density assessment.

PubMed

Sutherland, Andrew M; Parrella, Michael P

2011-08-01

Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is a major horticultural pest and an important vector of plant viruses in many parts of the world. Methods for assessing thrips population density for pest management decision support are often inaccurate or imprecise due to thrips' positive thigmotaxis, small size, and naturally aggregated populations. Two established methods, flower tapping and an alcohol wash, were compared with a novel method, plant desiccation coupled with passive trapping, using accuracy, precision and economic efficiency as comparative variables. Observed accuracy was statistically similar and low (37.8-53.6%) for all three methods. Flower tapping was the least expensive method, in terms of person-hours, whereas the alcohol wash method was the most expensive. Precision, expressed by relative variation, depended on location within the greenhouse, location on greenhouse benches, and the sampling week, but it was generally highest for the flower tapping and desiccation methods. Economic efficiency, expressed by relative net precision, was highest for the flower tapping method and lowest for the alcohol wash method. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed for all three methods used. If relative density assessment methods such as these can all be assumed to accurately estimate a constant proportion of absolute density, then high precision becomes the methodological goal in terms of measuring insect population density, decision making for pest management, and pesticide efficacy assessments.

A comparative assessment of endogenous water institutional change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pande, Saket; Ersten, Maurits

2013-04-01

This paper builds the theory of endogenous institutional change, first proposed by Greif and Laitin (2004), for water scarce regions in context of water institutions. The current emphasis on environmental change, including hydrological change, largely ignores the adaptation of human societies to change. Humans have mostly been considered as boundary conditions or parameters of the dynamics of hydrological change and are not considered as conduits of feedbacks. Nonetheless, the dynamical representation of hydrological change with feedbacks between various components of a system is assuring since it is reminiscent of processual ecological anthropology(Orlove, 1980), except that individual decision making is absent. This paper proposes to consider selected dryland basins of the world, to conceptualize proxies of water relevant socio-economic organisation, such as spatial scales of upstream-downstream cooperation in water use, synthesized over time and then proposes a comparative assessment to test regularities predicted by an extension of river game theory (Ambec and Ehlers, 2008; van der Brink et al, 2012) to endogenous institutional change. References: Orlove, B. S. (1980). Ecological Anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 9 (1980), pp. 235-273. Greif. A. and D. D. Laitin (2004). A Theory of Endogenous Institutional Change. American Political Science Review, Vol. 98, No. 4 November 2004. Ambec, S. and L. Ehlers (2008). Sharing a river amongst satiable agents. Games and Economic Behavior, 64, 35-50. Van der Brink, G. van der Laan and N. Moes (2012). Fair agreements for sharing international rivers with multiple springs and externalities. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 63, 388-403.

Bio-oil transport by pipeline: a techno-economic assessment.

PubMed

Pootakham, Thanyakarn; Kumar, Amit

2010-09-01

Bio-oil, produced by fast pyrolysis of biomass, has high energy density compared to 'as received' biomass. The study assesses and compares the cost of transportation ($/liter of bio-oil) of bio-oil by pipeline and truck. The fixed and variable cost components of transportation of bio-oil at a pipeline capacity of 560 m(3)/day and to a distance of 100 km are 0.0423$/m(3) and 0.1201$/m(3)/km, respectively. Pipeline transportation of bio-oil costs less than transportation by liquid tank truck (load capacity 30 m(3)) and super B-train trailer (load capacity 60 m(3)) above pipeline capacities of 1000 and 1700 m(3)/day, respectively. When transportation distance is greater than 100 km, bio-oil must be heated at booster stations. When transporting bio-oil by pipeline to a distance of 400 km, minimum pipeline capacities of 1150 and 2000 m(3)/day are required to compete economically with liquid tank trucks and super B-train tank trailers, respectively. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrated economic and climate projections for impact assessment

EPA Science Inventory

We designed scenarios for impact assessment that explicitly address policy choices and uncertainty in climate response. Economic projections and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions for the “no climate policy” scenario and two stabilization scenarios: at 4.5 W/m2 and 3.7 W/m2 b...

Materials, system designs and modelling approaches in techno-economic assessment of all-vanadium redox flow batteries - A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minke, Christine; Turek, Thomas

2018-02-01

The vanadium redox flow battery (VFB) is one of the most promising stationary electrochemical storage systems. The reduction of system costs is a major challenge in the realization of its widespread application. The high complexity of this technology requires a close linking of technologic and economic aspects in system cost assessment. The present review provides an extensive literature analysis with a focus on techno-economic assessment of VFB. Considered materials, system designs and modelling approaches are assessed and compared in order to present and evaluate the current status of system cost assessment in a transparent way. Systems in a range of 2 kW-50 MW providing energy for up to 150 h are covered in literature resulting in an immense range of specific total system costs of 564-12931 € kW-1 or 89-1738 € (kWh)-1. Based on the data from the reviewed studies, guide values of 650 € (kWh)-1 and 550 € (kWh)-1 for installed VFB systems in a power range of 10-1000 kW providing energy for 4 h and 8 h respectively are derived from literature. Moreover, the relevance of precision in the definition of scope and components for meaningful results of techno-economic assessments of VFB systems is pointed out.

Moving beyond the cost-loss ratio: economic assessment of streamflow forecasts for a risk-averse decision maker

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matte, Simon; Boucher, Marie-Amélie; Boucher, Vincent; Fortier Filion, Thomas-Charles

2017-06-01

A large effort has been made over the past 10 years to promote the operational use of probabilistic or ensemble streamflow forecasts. Numerous studies have shown that ensemble forecasts are of higher quality than deterministic ones. Many studies also conclude that decisions based on ensemble rather than deterministic forecasts lead to better decisions in the context of flood mitigation. Hence, it is believed that ensemble forecasts possess a greater economic and social value for both decision makers and the general population. However, the vast majority of, if not all, existing hydro-economic studies rely on a cost-loss ratio framework that assumes a risk-neutral decision maker. To overcome this important flaw, this study borrows from economics and evaluates the economic value of early warning flood systems using the well-known Constant Absolute Risk Aversion (CARA) utility function, which explicitly accounts for the level of risk aversion of the decision maker. This new framework allows for the full exploitation of the information related to a forecasts' uncertainty, making it especially suited for the economic assessment of ensemble or probabilistic forecasts. Rather than comparing deterministic and ensemble forecasts, this study focuses on comparing different types of ensemble forecasts. There are multiple ways of assessing and representing forecast uncertainty. Consequently, there exist many different means of building an ensemble forecasting system for future streamflow. One such possibility is to dress deterministic forecasts using the statistics of past error forecasts. Such dressing methods are popular among operational agencies because of their simplicity and intuitiveness. Another approach is the use of ensemble meteorological forecasts for precipitation and temperature, which are then provided as inputs to one or many hydrological model(s). In this study, three concurrent ensemble streamflow forecasting systems are compared: simple statistically dressed

Economic Evaluation of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Oncology: Is There a Difference Compared to Conventional Medicine?

PubMed

Huebner, Jutta; Prott, Franz J; Muecke, Ralph; Stoll, Christoph; Buentzel, Jens; Muenstedt, Karsten; Micke, Oliver

2017-01-01

To analyze the financial burden of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in cancer treatment. Based on a systematic search of the literature (Medline and the Cochrane Library, combining the MeSH terms 'complementary therapies', 'neoplasms', 'costs', 'cost analysis', and 'cost-benefit analysis'), an expert panel discussed different types of analyses and their significance for CAM in oncology. Of 755 publications, 43 met our criteria. The types of economic analyses and their parameters discussed for CAM in oncology were cost, cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, and cost-utility analyses. Only a few articles included arguments in favor of or against these different methods, and only a few arguments were specific for CAM because most CAM methods address a broad range of treatment aim parameters to assess effectiveness and are hard to define. Additionally, the choice of comparative treatments is difficult. To evaluate utility, healthy subjects may not be adequate as patients with a life-threatening disease and may be judged differently, especially with respect to a holistic treatment approach. We did not find any arguments in the literature that were directed at the economic analysis of CAM in oncology. Therefore, a comprehensive approach assessment based on criteria from evidence-based medicine evaluating direct and indirect costs is recommended. The usual approaches to conventional medicine to assess costs, benefits, and effectiveness seem adequate in the field of CAM in oncology. Additionally, a thorough deliberation on the comparator, endpoints, and instruments is mandatory for designing studies. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Assessing the benefits and economic values of trees

Treesearch

David J. Nowak

2017-01-01

Understanding the environmental, economic, and social/community benefits of nature, in particular trees and forests, can lead to better vegetation management and designs to optimize environmental quality and human health for current and future generations. Computer models have been developed to assess forest composition and its associated effects on environmental...

National Launch System comparative economic analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prince, A.

1992-01-01

Results are presented from an analysis of economic benefits (or losses), in the form of the life cycle cost savings, resulting from the development of the National Launch System (NLS) family of launch vehicles. The analysis was carried out by comparing various NLS-based architectures with the current Shuttle/Titan IV fleet. The basic methodology behind this NLS analysis was to develop a set of annual payload requirements for the Space Station Freedom and LEO, to design launch vehicle architectures around these requirements, and to perform life-cycle cost analyses on all of the architectures. A SEI requirement was included. Launch failure costs were estimated and combined with the relative reliability assumptions to measure the effects of losses. Based on the analysis, a Shuttle/NLS architecture evolving into a pressurized-logistics-carrier/NLS architecture appears to offer the best long-term cost benefit.

Assessment of economic and water quality impacts of land use change using a simple bioeconomic model.

PubMed

Bhattarai, Gandhi; Srivastava, Puneet; Marzen, Luke; Hite, Diane; Hatch, Upton

2008-07-01

The objective of this study is to assess the economic and water quality impact of land use change in a small watershed in the Wiregrass region of Alabama. The study compares changes in water quality and revenue from agricultural and timber production due to changes in land use between years 1992 and 2001. The study was completed in two stages. In the first stage, a biophysical model was used to estimate the effect of land use change on nitrogen and phosphorus runoff and sediment deposition in the main channel; in the second stage, farm enterprise budgeting tools were used to estimate the economic returns for the changes in land use condition. Both biophysical and economic results are discussed, and a case for complex optimization to develop a decision support system is presented.

[Prospective economic evaluation of image-guided radiation therapy for prostate cancer in the framework of the national programme for innovative and costly therapies assessment].

PubMed

Pommier, P; Morelle, M; Perrier, L; de Crevoisier, R; Laplanche, A; Dudouet, P; Mahé, M-A; Chauvet, B; Nguyen, T-D; Créhange, G; Zawadi, A; Chapet, O; Latorzeff, I; Bossi, A; Beckendorf, V; Touboul, E; Muracciole, X; Bachaud, J-M; Supiot, S; Lagrange, J-L

2012-09-01

The main objective of the economical study was to prospectively and randomly assess the additional costs of daily versus weekly patient positioning quality control in image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), taking into account the modalities of the 3D-imaging: tomography (CBCT) or gold seeds implants. A secondary objective was to prospectively assess the additional costs of 3D versus 2D imaging with portal imaging for patient positioning controls. Economics data are issued from a multicenter randomized medico-economics trial comparing the two frequencies of patient positioning control during prostate IGRT. A prospective cohort with patient positioning control with PI (control group) was constituted for the cost comparison between 3D (IGRT) versus 2D imaging. The economical evaluation was focused to the radiotherapy direct costs, adopting the hospital's point of view and using a microcosting method applied to the parameters that may lead to cost differences between evaluated strategies. The economical analysis included a total of 241 patients enrolled between 2007 and 2011 in seven centres, 183 in the randomized study (128 with CBCT and 55 with fiducial markers) and 58 in the control group. Compared to weekly controls, the average additional cost per patient of daily controls was €847 (CBCT) and €179 (markers). Compared to PI, the average additional cost per patient was €1392 (CBCT) and €997 (fiducial markers) for daily controls; €545 (CBCT) and €818 (markers) in case of weekly controls. A daily frequency for image control in IGRT and 3D images patient positioning control (IGRT) for prostate cancer lead to significant additional cost compared to weekly control and 2D imaging (PI). Long-term clinical assessment will permit to assess the medico-economical ratio of these innovative radiotherapy modalities. Copyright © 2012 Société française de radiothérapie oncologique (SFRO). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

A life cycle assessment and economic analysis of the Scum-to-Biodiesel technology in wastewater treatment plants.

PubMed

Mu, Dongyan; Addy, Min; Anderson, Erik; Chen, Paul; Ruan, Roger

2016-03-01

This study used life cycle assessment and technical economic analysis tools in evaluating a novel Scum-to-Biodiesel technology and compares the technology with scum digestion and combustion processes. The key variables that control environmental and economic performance are identified and discussed. The results show that all impacts examined for the Scum-to-Biodiesel technology are below zero indicating significant environmental benefits could be drawn from it. Of the three technologies examined, the Scum-to-Biodiesel technology has the best environmental performance in fossil fuel depletion, GHG emissions, and eutrophication, whereas combustion has the best performance on acidification. Of all process inputs assessed, process heat, glycerol, and methanol uses had the highest impacts, much more than any other inputs considered. The Scum-to-Biodiesel technology also makes higher revenue than other technologies. The diesel price is a key variable for its economic performance. The research demonstrates the feasibility and benefits in developing Scum-to-Biodiesel technology in wastewater treatment facilities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing top-down and bottom-up costing approaches for economic evaluation within social welfare.

PubMed

Olsson, Tina M

2011-10-01

This study compares two approaches to the estimation of social welfare intervention costs: one "top-down" and the other "bottom-up" for a group of social welfare clients with severe problem behavior participating in a randomized trial. Intervention costs ranging over a two-year period were compared by intervention category (foster care placement, institutional placement, mentorship services, individual support services and structured support services), estimation method (price, micro costing, average cost) and treatment group (intervention, control). Analyses are based upon 2007 costs for 156 individuals receiving 404 interventions. Overall, both approaches were found to produce reliable estimates of intervention costs at the group level but not at the individual level. As choice of approach can greatly impact the estimate of mean difference, adjustment based on estimation approach should be incorporated into sensitivity analyses. Analysts must take care in assessing the purpose and perspective of the analysis when choosing a costing approach for use within economic evaluation.

Current methodological issues in the economic assessment of personalized medicine.

PubMed

Annemans, Lieven; Redekop, Ken; Payne, Katherine

2013-01-01

There is a need for methodological scrutiny in the economic assessment of personalized medicine. In this article, we present a list of 10 specific issues that we argue pose specific methodological challenges that require careful consideration when designing and conducting robust model-based economic evaluations in the context of personalized medicine. Key issues are related to the correct framing of the research question, interpretation of test results, data collection of medical management options after obtaining test results, and expressing the value of tests. The need to formulate the research question clearly and be explicit and specific about the technology being evaluated is essential because various test kits can have the same purpose and yet differ in predictive value, costs, and relevance to practice and patient populations. The correct reporting of sensitivity/specificity, and especially the false negatives and false positives (which are population dependent), of the investigated tests is also considered as a key element. This requires additional structural complexity to establish the relationship between the test result and the consecutive treatment changes and outcomes. This process involves translating the test characteristics into clinical utility, and therefore outlining the clinical and economic consequences of true and false positives and true and false negatives. Information on treatment patterns and on their costs and outcomes, however, is often lacking, especially for false-positive and false-negative test results. The analysis can even become very complex if different tests are combined or sequentially used. This potential complexity can be handled by explicitly showing how these tests are going to be used in practice and then working with the combined sensitivities and specificities of the tests. Each of these issues leads to a higher degree of uncertainty in economic models designed to assess the added value of personalized medicine compared

A Comparative Analysis of Life-Cycle Assessment Tools for ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

We identified and evaluated five life-cycle assessment tools that community decision makers can use to assess the environmental and economic impacts of end-of-life (EOL) materials management options. The tools evaluated in this report are waste reduction mode (WARM), municipal solid waste-decision support tool (MSW-DST), solid waste optimization life-cycle framework (SWOLF), environmental assessment system for environmental technologies (EASETECH), and waste and resources assessment for the environment (WRATE). WARM, MSW-DST, and SWOLF were developed for US-specific materials management strategies, while WRATE and EASETECH were developed for European-specific conditions. All of the tools (with the exception of WARM) allow specification of a wide variety of parameters (e.g., materials composition and energy mix) to a varying degree, thus allowing users to model specific EOL materials management methods even outside the geographical domain they are originally intended for. The flexibility to accept user-specified input for a large number of parameters increases the level of complexity and the skill set needed for using these tools. The tools were evaluated and compared based on a series of criteria, including general tool features, the scope of the analysis (e.g., materials and processes included), and the impact categories analyzed (e.g., climate change, acidification). A series of scenarios representing materials management problems currently relevant to c

Public health and economic risk assessment of waterborne contaminants and pathogens in Finland.

PubMed

Juntunen, Janne; Meriläinen, Päivi; Simola, Antti

2017-12-01

This study shows that a variety of mathematical modeling techniques can be applied in a comprehensive assessment of the risks involved in drinking water production. In order to track the effects from water sources to the end consumers, we employed four models from different fields of study. First, two models of the physical environment, which track the movement of harmful substances from the sources to the water distribution. Second, a statistical quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to assess the public health risks of the consumption of such water. Finally, a regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to assess the economic effects of increased illnesses. In order to substantiate our analysis, we used an illustrative case of a recently built artificial recharge system in Southern Finland that provides water for a 300,000 inhabitant area. We examine the effects of various chemicals and microbes separately. Our economic calculations allow for direct effects on labor productivity due to absenteeism, increased health care expenditures and indirect effects for local businesses. We found that even a considerable risk has no notable threat to public health and thus barely measurable economic consequences. Any epidemic is likely to spread widely in the urban setting we examined, but is also going to be short-lived in both public health and economic terms. Our estimate for the ratio of total and direct effects is 1.4, which indicates the importance of general equilibrium effects. Furthermore, the total welfare loss is 2.4 times higher than the initial productivity loss. The major remaining uncertainty in the economic assessment is the indirect effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of a decision model for the techno-economic assessment of municipal solid waste utilization pathways.

PubMed

Khan, Md Mohib-Ul-Haque; Jain, Siddharth; Vaezi, Mahdi; Kumar, Amit

2016-02-01

Economic competitiveness is one of the key factors in making decisions towards the development of waste conversion facilities and devising a sustainable waste management strategy. The goal of this study is to develop a framework, as well as to develop and demonstrate a comprehensive techno-economic model to help county and municipal decision makers in establishing waste conversion facilities. The user-friendly data-intensive model, called the FUNdamental ENgineering PrinciplEs-based ModeL for Estimation of Cost of Energy and Fuels from MSW (FUNNEL-Cost-MSW), compares nine different waste management scenarios, including landfilling and composting, in terms of economic parameters such as gate fees and return on investment. In addition, a geographic information system (GIS) model was developed to determine suitable locations for waste conversion facilities and landfill sites based on integration of environmental, social, and economic factors. Finally, a case study on Parkland County and its surrounding counties in the province of Alberta, Canada, was conducted and a sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the influence of the key technical and economic parameters on the calculated results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Economic Assessment of Electronic Text. Report Number Six of the Electronic Text Report Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carey, John

This report outlines economic components that will eventually contribute to large models of electronic text services in institutions of higher education, and provides a simple and practical assessment of economic issues associated with electronic text for college administrators, faculty, and planners. This assessment constitutes a layman's guide…

Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of Automated Transit Information Systems Technology

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-03-01

This report is the final product of a program to assess the socio-economic impacts of automated transit information system (ATIS) technology deployments on the transit industry's telephone information/marketing function. In the course of this program...

Integrated Assessment of Health-related Economic Impacts of U.S. Air Pollution Policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saari, R. K.; Rausch, S.; Selin, N. E.

2012-12-01

We examine the environmental impacts, health-related economic benefits, and distributional effects of new US regulations to reduce smog from power plants, namely: the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Using integrated assessment methods, linking atmospheric and economic models, we assess the magnitude of economy-wide effects and distributional consequences that are not captured by traditional regulatory impact assessment methods. We study the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, a modified allowance trading scheme that caps emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide from power plants in the eastern United States and thus reduces ozone and particulate matter pollution. We use results from the regulatory regional air quality model, CAMx (the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions), and epidemiologic studies in BenMAP (Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program), to quantify differences in morbidities and mortalities due to this policy. To assess the economy-wide and distributional consequences of these health impacts, we apply a recently developed economic and policy model, the US Regional Energy and Environmental Policy Model (USREP), a multi-region, multi-sector, multi-household, recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium economic model of the US that provides a detailed representation of the energy sector, and the ability to represent energy and environmental policies. We add to USREP a representation of air pollution impacts, including the estimation and valuation of health outcomes and their effects on health services, welfare, and factor markets. We find that the economic welfare benefits of the Rule are underestimated by traditional methods, which omit economy-wide impacts. We also quantify the distribution of benefits, which have varying effects across US regions, income groups, and pollutants, and we identify factors influencing this distribution, including the geographic variation of pollution and population as well as underlying

Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment of Water Reuse Strategies in Residential Buildings

EPA Science Inventory

This paper evaluates the environmental sustainability and economic feasibility of four water reuse designs through economic input-output life cycle assessments (EIO-LCA) and benefit/cost analyses. The water reuse designs include: 1. Simple Greywater Reuse System for Landscape Ir...

Evaluating ecological and economic benefits of a low-carbon industrial park based on millennium ecosystem assessment framework.

PubMed

Chen, Bin; He, Guoxuan; Yang, Jin; Zhang, Jieru; Su, Meirong; Qi, Jing

2012-01-01

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework was modified with a special focus on ecosystem service values. A case study of a typical low-carbon industrial park in Beijing was conducted to assess the ecological and economic benefits. The total economic value of this industrial park per year is estimated to be 1.37 × 10(8) RMB yuan, where the accommodating and social cultural services are the largest two contributors. Due to the construction of small grasslands or green roofs, considerable environmental regulation services are also provided by the park. However, compared with an ecoindustrial park, carbon mitigation is the most prominent service for the low-carbon industrial park. It can be concluded that low-carbon industrial park construction is an efficacious way to achieve coordinated development of society, economy, and environment, and a promising approach to achieving energy saving and carbon reduction.

Economics and the 1995 National Assessment of U.S. oil and gas resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Attanasi, E.D.

1995-01-01

This report summarizes the economic component of the U.S. Geological Survey's 1995 National Assessment of oil and gas resources for the US onshore areas and State waters. This area accounts for 80 percent of US hydrocarbon production and 85 percent of US proved reserves. The Minerals Management Service has released a parallel study for Federal offshore areas (1996). Estimates are as of January 1994. The economic evaluation uses mean values of the technically recoverable resources assessed by geologists.

Writing, Evaluating and Assessing Data Response Items in Economics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trotman-Dickenson, D. I.

1989-01-01

Describes some of the problems in writing data response items in economics for use by A Level and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) students. Examines the experience of two series of workshops on writing items, evaluating them and assessing responses from schools. Offers suggestions for producing packages of data response items as…

Assessment of UASB-DHS technology for sewage treatment: a comparative study from a sustainability perspective.

PubMed

Maharjan, Namita; Nomoto, Naoki; Tagawa, Tadashi; Okubo, Tsutomu; Uemura, Shigeki; Khalil, Nadeem; Hatamoto, Masashi; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Harada, Hideki

2018-04-06

This paper assesses the technical and economic sustainability of a combined system of an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB)-down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) for sewage treatment. Additionally, this study compares UASB-DHS with current technologies in India like trickling filters (TF), sequencing batch reactor (SBR), moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), and other combinations of UASB with post-treatment systems such as final polishing ponds (FPU) and extended aeration sludge process (EASP). The sustainability of the sewage treatment plants (STPs) was evaluated using a composite indicator, which incorporated environmental, societal, and economic dimensions. In case of the individual sustainability indicator study, the results showed that UASB-FPU was the most economically sustainable system with a score of 0.512 and aeration systems such as MBBR, EASP, and SBR were environmentally sustainable, whereas UASB-DHS system was socially sustainable. However, the overall comparative analysis indicated that the UASB-DHS system scored the highest value of 2.619 on the global sustainability indicator followed by EASP and MBBR with scores of 2.322 and 2.279, respectively. The highlight of this study was that the most environmentally sustainable treatment plants were not economically and socially sustainable. Moreover, sensitivity analysis showed that five out of the seven scenarios tested, the UASB-DHS system showed good results amongst the treatment system.

Economic assessment of the use value of geospatial information

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bernknopf, Richard L.; Shapiro, Carl D.

2015-01-01

Geospatial data inform decision makers. An economic model that involves application of spatial and temporal scientific, technical, and economic data in decision making is described. The value of information (VOI) contained in geospatial data is the difference between the net benefits (in present value terms) of a decision with and without the information. A range of technologies is used to collect and distribute geospatial data. These technical activities are linked to examples that show how the data can be applied in decision making, which is a cultural activity. The economic model for assessing the VOI in geospatial data for decision making is applied to three examples: (1) a retrospective model about environmental regulation of agrochemicals; (2) a prospective model about the impact and mitigation of earthquakes in urban areas; and (3) a prospective model about developing private–public geospatial information for an ecosystem services market. Each example demonstrates the potential value of geospatial information in a decision with uncertain information.

Some aspects of resource uncertainty and their economic consequences in assessment of the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Attanasi, E.D.; Schuenemeyer, J.H.

2002-01-01

Exploration ventures in frontier areas have high risks. Before committing to them, firms prepare regional resource assessments to evaluate the potential payoffs. With no historical basis for directly estimating size distribution of undiscovered accumulations, reservoir attribute probability distributions can be assessed subjectively and used to project undiscovered accumulation sizes. Three questions considered here are: (1) what distributions should be used to characterize the subjective assessments of reservoir attributes, (2) how parsimonious can the analyst be when eliciting subjective information from the assessment geologist, and (3) what are consequences of ignoring dependencies among reservoir attributes? The standard or norm used for comparing outcomes is the computed cost function describing costs of finding, developing, and producing undiscovered oil accumulations. These questions are examined in the context of the US Geological Survey's recently published regional assessment of the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. We study effects of using the various common distributions to characterize the geologist's subjective distributions representing reservoir attributes. Specific findings show that triangular distributions result in substantial bias in economic forecasts when used to characterize skewed distributions. Moreover, some forms of the lognormal distribution also result in biased economic inferences. Alternatively, we generally determined four fractiles (100, 50, 5, 0) to be sufficient to capture essential economic characteristics of the underlying attribute distributions. Ignoring actual dependencies among reservoir attributes biases the economic evaluation. ?? 2002 International Association for Mathematical Geology.

Waste-to-methanol: Process and economics assessment.

PubMed

Iaquaniello, Gaetano; Centi, Gabriele; Salladini, Annarita; Palo, Emma; Perathoner, Siglinda; Spadaccini, Luca

2017-11-01

The waste-to-methanol (WtM) process and related economics are assessed to evidence that WtM is a valuable solution both from economic, strategic and environmental perspectives. Bio-methanol from Refuse-derived-fuels (RdF) has an estimated cost of production of about 110€/t for a new WtM 300t/d plant. With respect to waste-to-energy (WtE) approach, this solution allows various advantages. In considering the average market cost of methanol and the premium as biofuel, the WtM approach results in a ROI (Return of Investment) of about 29%, e.g. a payback time of about 4years. In a hybrid scheme of integration with an existing methanol plant from natural gas, the cost of production becomes a profit even without considering the cap for bio-methanol production. The WtM process allows to produce methanol with about 40% and 30-35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions with respect to methanol production from fossil fuels and bio-resources, respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Specific guidelines for assessing and improving the methodological quality of economic evaluations of newborn screening

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Economic evaluation of newborn screening poses specific methodological challenges. Amongst others, these challenges refer to the use of quality adjusted life years (QALYs) in newborns, and which costs and outcomes need to be considered in a full evaluation of newborn screening programmes. Because of the increasing scale and scope of such programmes, a better understanding of the methods of high-quality economic evaluations may be crucial for both producers/authors and consumers/reviewers of newborn screening-related economic evaluations. The aim of this study was therefore to develop specific guidelines designed to assess and improve the methodological quality of economic evaluations in newborn screening. Methods To develop the guidelines, existing guidelines for assessing the quality of economic evaluations were identified through a literature search, and were reviewed and consolidated using a deductive iterative approach. In a subsequent test phase, these guidelines were applied to various economic evaluations which acted as case studies. Results The guidelines for assessing and improving the methodological quality of economic evaluations in newborn screening are organized into 11 categories: “bibliographic details”, “study question and design”, “modelling”, “health outcomes”, “costs”, “discounting”, “presentation of results”, “sensitivity analyses”, “discussion”, “conclusions”, and “commentary”. Conclusions The application of the guidelines highlights important issues regarding newborn screening-related economic evaluations, and underscores the need for such issues to be afforded greater consideration in future economic evaluations. The variety in methodological quality detected by this study reveals the need for specific guidelines on the appropriate methods for conducting sound economic evaluations in newborn screening. PMID:22947299

Statistical, economic and other tools for assessing natural aggregate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bliss, J.D.; Moyle, P.R.; Bolm, K.S.

2003-01-01

Quantitative aggregate resource assessment provides resource estimates useful for explorationists, land managers and those who make decisions about land allocation, which may have long-term implications concerning cost and the availability of aggregate resources. Aggregate assessment needs to be systematic and consistent, yet flexible enough to allow updating without invalidating other parts of the assessment. Evaluators need to use standard or consistent aggregate classification and statistic distributions or, in other words, models with geological, geotechnical and economic variables or interrelationships between these variables. These models can be used with subjective estimates, if needed, to estimate how much aggregate may be present in a region or country using distributions generated by Monte Carlo computer simulations.

Integrating enzyme fermentation in lignocellulosic ethanol production: life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis.

PubMed

Olofsson, Johanna; Barta, Zsolt; Börjesson, Pål; Wallberg, Ola

2017-01-01

Cellulase enzymes have been reported to contribute with a significant share of the total costs and greenhouse gas emissions of lignocellulosic ethanol production today. A potential future alternative to purchasing enzymes from an off-site manufacturer is to integrate enzyme and ethanol production, using microorganisms and part of the lignocellulosic material as feedstock for enzymes. This study modelled two such integrated process designs for ethanol from logging residues from spruce production, and compared it to an off-site case based on existing data regarding purchased enzymes. Greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy balances were studied in a life-cycle assessment, and cost performance in a techno-economic analysis. The base case scenario suggests that greenhouse gas emissions per MJ of ethanol could be significantly lower in the integrated cases than in the off-site case. However, the difference between the integrated and off-site cases is reduced with alternative assumptions regarding enzyme dosage and the environmental impact of the purchased enzymes. The comparison of primary energy balances did not show any significant difference between the cases. The minimum ethanol selling price, to reach break-even costs, was from 0.568 to 0.622 EUR L -1 for the integrated cases, as compared to 0.581 EUR L -1 for the off-site case. An integrated process design could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from lignocellulose-based ethanol production, and the cost of an integrated process could be comparable to purchasing enzymes produced off-site. This study focused on the environmental and economic assessment of an integrated process, and in order to strengthen the comparison to the off-site case, more detailed and updated data regarding industrial off-site enzyme production are especially important.

Expansion of environmental impact assessment for eco-efficiency evaluation of China's economic sectors: An economic input-output based frontier approach.

PubMed

Xing, Zhencheng; Wang, Jigan; Zhang, Jie

2018-09-01

Due to the increasing environmental burdens caused by dramatic economic expansion, eco-efficiency indicating how efficient the economic activity is with respect to its environmental impacts has become a topic of considerable interest in China. In this context, Economic Input-output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) are combined to assess the environmental impacts and eco-efficiency of China's 26 economic sectors. The EIO-LCA results indicate that Electricity Production and Supply sector is the largest net exporter in energy usage, CO 2 emission and exhaust emission categories, while Construction sector is the largest net importer for five impact categories except for water withdrawal. Moreover, Construction sector is found to be the destination of the largest sector-to-sector environmental impact flows for the five impact categories and make the most contributions to the total environmental impacts. Another key finding is that Agriculture sector is both the largest net exporter and the greatest contributor for water withdrawal category. DEA results indicate that seven sectors are eco-efficient while over 70% of China's economic sectors are inefficient and require significant improvements. The average target improvements range between 23.30% and 35.06% depending on the impact category. Further sensitivity analysis reveals that the average sensitivity ratios vary from 7.7% to 15.7% among the six impact categories, which are found to be negatively correlated with their improvement potentials. Finally, several policy recommendations are made to mitigate environmental impacts of China's economic sectors and improve their eco-efficiency levels. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative environmental and economic analysis of conventional and nanofluid solar hot water technologies.

PubMed

Otanicar, Todd P; Golden, Jay S

2009-08-01

This study compares environmental and economic impacts of using nanofluids to enhance solar collector efficiency as compared to conventional solar collectors for domestic hotwater systems. Results show that for the current cost of nanoparticles the nanofluid based solar collector has a slightly longer payback period but at the end of its useful life has the same economic savings as a conventional solar collector. The nanofluid based collector has a lower embodied energy (approximately 9%) and approximately 3% higher levels of pollution offsets than a conventional collector. In addition if 50% penetration of residential nanofluid based solar collector systems for hot water heating could be achieved in Phoenix, Arizona over 1 million metric tons of CO2 would be offset per year.

How Does the Economic Crisis Affect the Psychological Well-Being? Comparing College Students and Employees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wetzel, Kathrin; Mertens, Anne; Röbken, Heinke

2012-01-01

Little is known about differences in the impact of economic stress on students as compared to persons holding secure job positions. Besides the macroeconomic effects, an economic downturn can also affect individual's physical health and psychological well-being (Aytaç & Rankin, 2009). Prior research showed that socio-demographic…

Assessing economic impact of storm surge under projected sea level rise scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Angel, D. C.; Yoskowitz, D.

2017-12-01

Global sea level is expected to rise 0.2-2m by the year 2100. Rising sea level is expected to have a number of impacts such as erosion, saltwater intrusion, and decline in coastal wetlands; all which have direct and indirect socio-economic impact to coastal communities. By 2050, 25% of the world's population will reside within flood-prone areas. These statistics raise a concern for the economic cost that sea level and flooding has on the growing coastal communities. Economic cost of storm surge inundation and rising seas may include loss or damage to public facilities and infrastructure that may become temporarily inaccessible, as well as disruptions to business and services. This goal of this project is to assess economic impacts of storms under four SLR scenarios including low, intermediate-low, intermediate-high, and high (0.2m, 0.5m, 1.2m and 2m, respectively) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico region. To assess flooding impact on communities from storm surge, this project utilizes HAZUS-MH software - a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based modeling tool developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency - to estimate physical, economic, and social impacts of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes. The HAZUS database comes integrated with aggregate and site specific inventory which includes: demographic data, general building stock, agricultural statistics, vehicle inventory, essential facilities, transportation systems, utility systems (among other sensitive facilities). User-defined inundation scenarios will serve to identify assets at risk and damage estimates will be generated using the Depth Damage Function included in the HAZUS software. Results will focus on 3 communities in the Gulf and highlight changes in storm flood impact. This approach not only provides a method for economic impact assessment but also begins to create a link between ecosystem services and natural and nature-based features such as wetlands, beaches and dunes

Potential economic impact assessment for cattle parasites in Mexico review

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Here, economic losses caused by cattle parasites in Mexico were estimated on an annual basis. The main factors taken into consideration for this assessment included the total number of animals at risk, potential detrimental effects of parasitism on milk production or weight gain, and records of cond...

Life cycle assessment and economic analysis of a low concentrating photovoltaic system.

PubMed

De Feo, G; Forni, M; Petito, F; Renno, C

2016-10-01

Many new photovoltaic (PV) applications, such as the concentrating PV (CPV) systems, are appearing on the market. The main characteristic of CPV systems is to concentrate sunlight on a receiver by means of optical devices and to decrease the solar cells area required. A low CPV (LCPV) system allows optimizing the PV effect with high increase of generated electric power as well as decrease of active surface area. In this paper, an economic analysis and a life cycle assessment (LCA) study of a particular LCPV scheme is presented and its environmental impacts are compared with those of a PV traditional system. The LCA study was performed with the software tool SimaPro 8.0.2, using the Econinvent 3.1 database. A functional unit of 1 kWh of electricity produced was chosen. Carbon Footprint, Ecological Footprint and ReCiPe 2008 were the methods used to assess the environmental impacts of the LCPV plant compared with a corresponding traditional system. All the methods demonstrated the environmental convenience of the LCPV system. The innovative system allowed saving 16.9% of CO2 equivalent in comparison with the traditional PV plant. The environmental impacts saving was 17% in terms of Ecological Footprint, and, finally, 15.8% with the ReCiPe method.

78 FR 52761 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; One Year Assessment of the Social and Economic...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-26

... Collection; Comment Request; One Year Assessment of the Social and Economic Impacts of Hurricane Sandy on New... is for a new information collection. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center's Social Sciences Branch seeks to conduct a one year assessment of the social and economic impacts from Hurricane Sandy to the...

Use of the Exponential and Exponentiated Demand Equations to Assess the Behavioral Economics of Negative Reinforcement

PubMed Central

Fragale, Jennifer E. C.; Beck, Kevin D.; Pang, Kevin C. H.

2017-01-01

Abnormal motivation and hedonic assessment of aversive stimuli are symptoms of anxiety and depression. Symptoms influenced by motivation and anhedonia predict treatment success or resistance. Therefore, a translational approach to the study of negatively motivated behaviors is needed. We describe a novel use of behavioral economics demand curve analysis to investigate negative reinforcement in animals that separates hedonic assessment of footshock termination (i.e., relief) from motivation to escape footshock. In outbred Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, relief increased as shock intensity increased. Likewise, motivation to escape footshock increased as shock intensity increased. To demonstrate the applicability to anxiety disorders, hedonic and motivational components of negative reinforcement were investigated in anxiety vulnerable Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats. WKY rats demonstrated increased motivation for shock cessation with no difference in relief as compared to control SD rats, consistent with a negative bias for motivation in anxiety vulnerability. Moreover, motivation was positively correlated with relief in SD, but not in WKY. This study is the first to assess the hedonic and motivational components of negative reinforcement using behavioral economic analysis. This procedure can be used to investigate positive and negative reinforcement in humans and animals to gain a better understanding of the importance of motivated behavior in stress-related disorders. PMID:28270744

Economic assessment photovoltaic/battery systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Day, J. T.; Hayes, T. P.; Hobbs, W. J.

1981-02-01

The economics of residential PV/battery systems were determined from the utility perspective using detailed computer simulation to determine marginal costs. Brief consideration is also given to the economics of customer ownership, utility distribution system impact, and the implications of PURPA.

Effects of Prior Economic Education, Native Language, and Gender on Economic Knowledge of First-Year Students in Higher Education. A Comparative Study between Germany and the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brückner, Sebastian; Förster, Manuel; Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga; Walstad, William B.

2015-01-01

The assessment of university students' economic knowledge has become an increasingly important research area within and across countries. Particularly, the different influences of prior education, native language, and gender as some of the main prerequisites on students' economic knowledge have been highlighted since long. However, the findings…

Subjective measures of socio-economic position and the wealth index: a comparative analysis.

PubMed

Howe, Laura D; Hargreaves, James R; Ploubidis, George B; De Stavola, Bianca L; Huttly, Sharon R A

2011-05-01

The wealth index is a commonly-used measure of socio-economic position (SEP) in low- and middle-income settings, but there is concern that it is strongly influenced by community-level as well as household-level factors. Subjective SEP indicators are infrequently used in health research. We use data from 11 280 households included in the Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2004/5. We compare the wealth index with four subjective measures of SEP: perceived food consumption adequacy, perceived overall consumption adequacy, an economic ladder question, and perceived income sufficiency. The wealth index is compared with each subjective SEP measure in terms of: (i) agreement of classification of households, (ii) targeting accuracy with respect to US$1-a-day poverty based on consumption expenditure, and (iii) the socio-economic processes (household- and community-level) giving rise to the SEP scores. Each subjective SEP indicator resulted in considerable differential classification of households compared with the wealth index. Three measures of subjective SEP (perceived food consumption adequacy, economic ladder question, and perceived income sufficiency) identified a higher proportion of dollar-a-day poor households as poor than the wealth index. The wealth index was strongly influenced by community infrastructure, but all subjective SEP indicators were free from strong community-level influence. The strengths and limitations of any measure of SEP depend on the context and purpose for which it is being used. In these data, the wealth index was strongly influenced by community infrastructure, whereas the subjective SEP measures were not, perhaps allowing analyses using them to disentangle household and community influences. Several subjective measures also corresponded to dollar-a-day poverty more strongly than the wealth index. Subjective measures may therefore be preferable to the wealth index in some circumstances, although they have their own set of potential biases.

Hurricane Sandy Economic Impacts Assessment: A Computable General Equilibrium Approach and Validation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boero, Riccardo; Edwards, Brian Keith

Economists use computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to assess how economies react and self-organize after changes in policies, technology, and other exogenous shocks. CGE models are equation-based, empirically calibrated, and inspired by Neoclassical economic theory. The focus of this work was to validate the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) CGE model and apply it to the problem of assessing the economic impacts of severe events. We used the 2012 Hurricane Sandy event as our validation case. In particular, this work first introduces the model and then describes the validation approach and the empirical data available for studying themore » event of focus. Shocks to the model are then formalized and applied. Finally, model results and limitations are presented and discussed, pointing out both the model degree of accuracy and the assessed total damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.« less

From Physical Process to Economic Cost - Integrated Approaches of Landslide Risk Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, M.; Damm, B.

2014-12-01

The nature of landslides is complex in many respects, with landslide hazard and impact being dependent on a variety of factors. This obviously requires an integrated assessment for fundamental understanding of landslide risk. Integrated risk assessment, according to the approach presented in this contribution, implies combining prediction of future landslide occurrence with analysis of landslide impact in the past. A critical step for assessing landslide risk in integrated perspective is to analyze what types of landslide damage affected people and property in which way and how people contributed and responded to these damage types. In integrated risk assessment, the focus is on systematic identification and monetization of landslide damage, and analytical tools that allow deriving economic costs from physical landslide processes are at the heart of this approach. The broad spectrum of landslide types and process mechanisms as well as nonlinearity between landslide magnitude, damage intensity, and direct costs are some main factors explaining recent challenges in risk assessment. The two prevailing approaches for assessing the impact of landslides in economic terms are cost survey (ex-post) and risk analysis (ex-ante). Both approaches are able to complement each other, but yet a combination of them has not been realized so far. It is common practice today to derive landslide risk without considering landslide process-based cause-effect relationships, since integrated concepts or new modeling tools expanding conventional methods are still widely missing. The approach introduced in this contribution is based on a systematic framework that combines cost survey and GIS-based tools for hazard or cost modeling with methods to assess interactions between land use practices and landslides in historical perspective. Fundamental understanding of landslide risk also requires knowledge about the economic and fiscal relevance of landslide losses, wherefore analysis of their

Economic assessment of climate adaptation options for urban drainage design in Odense, Denmark.

PubMed

Zhou, Q; Halsnæs, K; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, K

2012-01-01

Climate change is likely to influence the water cycle by changing the precipitation patterns, in some cases leading to increased occurrences of precipitation extremes. Urban landscapes are vulnerable to such changes due to the concentrated population and socio-economic values in cities. Feasible adaptation requires better flood risk quantification and assessment of appropriate adaptation actions in term of costs and benefits. This paper presents an economic assessment of three prevailing climate adaptation options for urban drainage design in a Danish case study, Odense. A risk-based evaluation framework is used to give detailed insights of the physical and economic feasibilities of each option. Estimation of marginal benefits of adaptation options are carried out through a step-by-step cost-benefit analysis. The results are aimed at providing important information for decision making on how best to adapt to urban pluvial flooding due to climate impacts in cities.

Economic Assessment of FMDv Releases from the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility

PubMed Central

Pendell, Dustin L.; Marsh, Thomas L.; Coble, Keith H.; Lusk, Jayson L.; Szmania, Sara C.

2015-01-01

This study evaluates the economic consequences of hypothetical foot-and-mouth disease releases from the future National Bio and Agro Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas. Using an economic framework that estimates the impacts to agricultural firms and consumers, quantifies costs to non-agricultural activities in the epidemiologically impacted region, and assesses costs of response to the government, we find the distribution of economic impacts to be very significant. Furthermore, agricultural firms and consumers bear most of the impacts followed by the government and the regional non-agricultural firms. PMID:26114546

Socio-economic and climate change impacts on agriculture: an integrated assessment, 1990–2080

PubMed Central

Fischer, Günther; Shah, Mahendra; N. Tubiello, Francesco; van Velhuizen, Harrij

2005-01-01

A comprehensive assessment of the impacts of climate change on agro-ecosystems over this century is developed, up to 2080 and at a global level, albeit with significant regional detail. To this end an integrated ecological–economic modelling framework is employed, encompassing climate scenarios, agro-ecological zoning information, socio-economic drivers, as well as world food trade dynamics. Specifically, global simulations are performed using the FAO/IIASA agro-ecological zone model, in conjunction with IIASAs global food system model, using climate variables from five different general circulation models, under four different socio-economic scenarios from the intergovernmental panel on climate change. First, impacts of different scenarios of climate change on bio-physical soil and crop growth determinants of yield are evaluated on a 5′×5′ latitude/longitude global grid; second, the extent of potential agricultural land and related potential crop production is computed. The detailed bio-physical results are then fed into an economic analysis, to assess how climate impacts may interact with alternative development pathways, and key trends expected over this century for food demand and production, and trade, as well as key composite indices such as risk of hunger and malnutrition, are computed. This modelling approach connects the relevant bio-physical and socio-economic variables within a unified and coherent framework to produce a global assessment of food production and security under climate change. The results from the study suggest that critical impact asymmetries due to both climate and socio-economic structures may deepen current production and consumption gaps between developed and developing world; it is suggested that adaptation of agricultural techniques will be central to limit potential damages under climate change. PMID:16433094

Socio-economic determinants of HIV testing and counselling: a comparative study in four African countries.

PubMed

Obermeyer, Carla Makhlouf; Neuman, Melissa; Hardon, Anita; Desclaux, Alice; Wanyenze, Rhoda; Ky-Zerbo, Odette; Cherutich, Peter; Namakhoma, Ireen

2013-09-01

Research indicates that individuals tested for HIV have higher socio-economic status than those not tested, but less is known about how socio-economic status is associated with modes of testing. We compared individuals tested through provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC), those tested through voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and those never tested. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted at health facilities in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda, as part of the Multi-country African Testing and Counselling for HIV (MATCH) study. A total of 3659 clients were asked about testing status, type of facility of most recent test and socio-economic status. Two outcome measures were analysed: ever tested for HIV and mode of testing. We compared VCT at stand-alone facilities and PITC, which includes integrated facilities where testing is provided with medical care, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) facilities. The determinants of ever testing and of using a particular mode of testing were analysed using modified Poisson regression and multinomial logistic analyses. Higher socio-economic status was associated with the likelihood of testing at VCT rather than other facilities or not testing. There were no significant differences in socio-economic characteristics between those tested through PITC (integrated and PMTCT facilities) and those not tested. Provider-initiated modes of testing make testing accessible to individuals from lower socio-economic groups to a greater extent than traditional VCT. Expanding testing through PMTCT reduces socio-economic obstacles, especially for women. Continued efforts are needed to encourage testing and counselling among men and the less affluent. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An Assessment of Direct and Indirect Economic Losses of Climatic Extreme Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otto, C.; Willner, S. N.; Wenz, L.; Levermann, A.

2015-12-01

Risk of extreme weather events like storms, heat extremes, and floods has already risen due to anthropogenic climate change and is likely to increase further under future global warming. Additionally, the structure of the global economy has changed importantly in the last decades. In the process of globalization, local economies have become more and more interwoven forming a complex network. Together with a trend towards lean production, this has resulted in a strong dependency of local manufacturers on global supply and value added chains, which may render the economic network more vulnerable to climatic extremes; outages of local manufacturers trigger indirect losses, which spread along supply chains and can even outstrip direct losses. Accordingly, in a comprehensive climate risk assessment these inter-linkages should be considered. Here, we present acclimate, an agent based dynamic damage propagation model. Its agents are production and consumption sites, which are interlinked by economic flows accounting for the complexity as well as the heterogeneity of the global supply network. Assessing the economic response on the timescale of the adverse event, the model permits to study temporal and spatial evolution of indirect production losses during the disaster and in the subsequent recovery phase of the economy. In this study, we focus on the dynamic economic resilience defined here as the ratio of direct to total losses. This implies that the resilience of the system under consideration is low if the high indirect losses are high. We find and assess a nonlinear dependence of the resilience on the disaster size. Further, we analyze the influence of the network structure upon resilience and discuss the potential of warehousing as an adaptation option.

Assessing the economic and environmental feasibility of utility scaled PV electricity production in the state of Georgia.

PubMed

Taylor, Ruthie; Critttenden, John

2012-01-01

Photovoltaic (PV) technology, an increasingly popular source for renewable energy, is being deployed in places with solar insolation that is comparable to that in state of Georgia. This study assesses the feasibility and environmental impact of utility scale photovoltaic (PV) electricity production in Georgia by assessing the economic costs, avoided costs, health benefits, and environmental benefits. The cost of PV used in this study is 3.52 $/kW. The RETScreen model was employed to analyze the impact of incentives on the economic viability of the plants that produce 93 GWh, 371 GWh, and 1,484 GWh, respectively. 57% of the capital cost is required in the form of incentives or subsidies to make the projects economically feasible. The high estimated cost of cleaning the equivalent amount of emissions from a coal-fired power plant is $14.5 million, $58 million, and $232 million for a 50 MW, 200 MW, and 800 MW plant, respectively Avoided costs in health damages are estimated to be $28 million, $112 million, and $449 million and the numbers of jobs to be created are 2,500, 10,000, and 40,000 for 50 MW, 200 MW, and 800 MW plants, respectively. And, the cumulative value of renewable energy credits from a 50 MW, 200 MW, and a 800 MW plant are $59 million, $237 million, and $789 million, respectively.

Selected Technical and Economic Comparisons of Synfuel Options

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-04-01

This study is a comparative technical and economic assessment of selected synfuel technologies. It contains papers written for Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to assist in preparation of the report "Increased Automobile Fuel Efficiency and Synt...

Techno-economic assessment of Levulinic Acid Plant from Sorghum Bicolor in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gozan, M.; Ryan, B.; Krisnandi, Y.

2018-04-01

The increasing need of energy is one of the main energy security issues in Indonesia. Hence, alternative energy is needed. Levulinic acid (LA) is among chemical platform used in the synthesis for avariety of high-value materials, such as fuels and commodity chemicals. It is predicted that global LA market demand to reach 3.1 tons in 2016. This study examines industrial processdesign and economic analysis for LA production in Indonesia.Sorghum bicolor was used as feed because of its high cellulose, low lignin contents and availability in Indonesia. The conventional economic problem from biomass based production was diminished sincethe valuable waste from pretreatment processwas sold to otherindustry.This plant was recommended to be built in an industrial estate area in Jawa Timur (East Java) province. Results from simulation using SuperPro Designer 9.0 was used for the techno-economic assessment.The plant assessment showed that the minimum production capacity was 7.7 ton per day to achieve an internal rate of return (IRR) and payback period (PBP) values of 19.61% and 3.93 years, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that product selling price was the most predominant factor for IRR, NPV, PBP and ROI. Raw material and water had low effects on those economic parameters. These values indicated that LA plant was feasible to be built in Indonesia.

Framework for Assessing Environmental, Social, and Economic Sustainability of ICT Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odeh, Khuloud

2013-01-01

Key challenges that confront the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry today in defining and achieving social, environmental, and economic sustainability goals include identifying sustainable operating standards and best practices and measuring and assessing performance against those practices. The industry lacks a framework for…

Efficiency assessment of wastewater treatment plants: A data envelopment analysis approach integrating technical, economic, and environmental issues.

PubMed

Castellet, Lledó; Molinos-Senante, María

2016-02-01

The assessment of the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is essential to compare their performance and consequently to identify the best operational practices that can contribute to the reduction of operational costs. Previous studies have evaluated the efficiency of WWTPs using conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. Most of these studies have considered the operational costs of the WWTPs as inputs, while the pollutants removed from wastewater are treated as outputs. However, they have ignored the fact that each pollutant removed by a WWTP involves a different environmental impact. To overcome this limitation, this paper evaluates for the first time the efficiency of a sample of WWTPs by applying the weighted slacks-based measure model. It is a non-radial DEA model which allows assigning weights to the inputs and outputs according their importance. Thus, the assessment carried out integrates environmental issues with the traditional "techno-economic" efficiency assessment of WWTPs. Moreover, the potential economic savings for each cost item have been quantified at a plant level. It is illustrated that the WWTPs analyzed have significant room to save staff and energy costs. Several managerial implications to help WWTPs' operators make informed decisions were drawn from the methodology and empirical application carried out. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Efficiency assessment of investment in workers' health--economic issues].

PubMed

Rydlewska-Liszkowska, Izabela; Dawydzik, Lech T

2002-01-01

The economic analysis of efficiency of investment in health care and health at large by means of cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness techniques is the subject of implementation work in a number of countries. Poland's integration with the countries of the European Union justifies the need to understand and to use economic analyses. Unfortunately, these activities encounter many methodological and executive barriers. The investments in workers' health are not only investments in health care and the improvement of working conditions, but also in compensations, including financial ones, resulting from adverse effects of factors influencing the health of working population. The financial reporting system that exists in Poland does not ensure the possibility of full presentation of the aggregated data on the financing of activities for workers' health and diminishing of the adverse effects of factors present in the work environment. The information on the outcome of the investments in workers' health come from different sources, which means that it applies to different groups subjected to the analysis. The problem lies not only in the assessment of profitability of health investments but also in the social problem of the division of the resultant costs and benefits among various branches of the national economy. Therefore, the analyses involving mutual relations between individual sectors that invest in workers' health and those that bear consequences is essential in the terms of economic analyses. The authors present the determinants of economic evaluation in regard to health of working population in Poland.

CARDIOVASCULAR SCREENING OF YOUNG ATHLETES: A REVIEW OF ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS.

PubMed

Gerkens, Sophie; Van Brabandt, Hans; Desomer, Anja; Leonard, Christian; Neyt, Mattias

2017-01-01

Some experts have promoted preparticipative cardiovascular screening programs for young athletes and have claimed that such programs were cost-effective without performing a critical analysis of studies supporting this statement. In this systematic review, a critical assessment of economic evaluations on these programs is performed to determine if they really provide value for money. A systematic review of economic evaluations was performed on December 24, 2014. Web sites of health technology assessment agencies, the Cochrane database of systematic review, the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database of the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline, Psychinfo, and EconLit were searched to retrieve (reviews of) economic evaluations. No language or time restrictions were imposed and predefined selection criteria were used. Selected studies were critically assessed applying a structured data extraction sheet. Five relevant economic evaluations were critically assessed. Results of these studies were mixed. However, those in favor of screening made (methodological) incorrect choices, of which the most important one was not taking into account a no-screening alternative as comparator. Compared with no screening, other strategies (history and physical examination or history and physical examination plus electrocardiogram) were not considered cost-effective. Results of primary economic evaluations should not be blindly copied without critical assessment. Economic evaluations in this field lack the support of robust evidence. Negative consequences of screening (false positive findings, overtreatment) should also be taken into account and may cause more harm than good. A mass screening of young athletes for cardiovascular diseases does not provide value for money and should be discouraged.

Economic evaluations of comprehensive geriatric assessment in surgical patients: a systematic review.

PubMed

Eamer, Gilgamesh; Saravana-Bawan, Bianka; van der Westhuizen, Brenden; Chambers, Thane; Ohinmaa, Arto; Khadaroo, Rachel G

2017-10-01

Seniors presenting with surgical disease face increased risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality and have increased treatment costs. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is proposed to reduce morbidity, mortality, and the cost after surgery. A systematic review of CGA in emergency surgical patients was conducted. The primary outcome was cost-effectiveness; secondary outcomes were length of stay, return of function, and mortality. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were predefined. Systematic searches of MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane, and National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database were performed. Text screening, bias assessment, and data extraction were performed by two authors. There were 560 articles identified; abstract review excluded 499 articles and full-text review excluded 53 articles. Eight studies were included; one nonorthopedic trauma and seven orthopedic trauma studies. Bias assessment revealed moderate to high risk of bias for all studies. Economic evaluation assessment identified two high-quality studies and six moderate or low quality studies. Pooled analysis from four studies assessed loss of function; loss of function decreased in the experimental arm (odds ratio 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.88-0.97). Pooled results for length of stay from five studies found a significant decrease (mean difference: -1.17, 95% CI: -1.63 to -0.71) after excluding the nonorthopedic trauma study. Pooled mortality was significantly decreased in seven studies (risk ratio: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.67-0.90). All studies decreased cost and improved health outcomes in a cost-effective manner. CGA improved return of function and mortality with reduced cost or improved utility. Our review suggests that CGA is economically dominant and the most cost-effective care model for orthogeriatric patients. Further research should examine other surgical fields. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparing relative effects of education and economic resources on infant mortality in developing countries.

PubMed

Pamuk, Elsie R; Fuchs, Regina; Lutz, Wolfgang

2011-01-01

Research on the social determinants of health has often considered education and economic resources as separate indicators of socioeconomic status. From a policy perspective, however, it is important to understand the relative strength of the effect of these social factors on health outcomes, particularly in developing countries. It is also important to examine not only the impact of education and economic resources of individuals, but also whether community and country levels of these factors affect health outcomes. This analysis uses multilevel regression models to assess the relative effects of education and economic resources on infant mortality at the family, community, and country level using data from demographic and Health Surveys in 43 low-and lower-middle-income countries. We find strong effects for both per capita gross national income and completed secondary education at the country level, but a greater impact of education within families and communities.

Do Social Work Students Assess and Address Economic Barriers to Clients Implementing Agreed Tasks?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eamon, Mary Keegan; Zhang, Sai-jun

2006-01-01

Identical vignettes except for a sentence describing a client's economic resources were randomly assigned to 129 MSW students. The vignettes described a social worker who agreed with a client's decision to relocate her residence as a partial solution to a presenting problem but did not assess or address economic barriers to the client's…

A systematic review of socio-economic assessments in support of coastal zone management (1992-2011).

PubMed

Le Gentil, Eric; Mongruel, Rémi

2015-02-01

Cooperation between the social and natural sciences has become essential in order to encompass all the dimensions of coastal zone management. Socio-economic approaches are increasingly recommended to complement integrated assessment in support of these initiatives. A systematic review of the academic literature was carried out in order to analyze the main types of socio-economic assessments used to inform the coastal zone management process as well as their effectiveness. A corpus of 1682 articles published between 1992 and 2011 was identified by means of the representative coverage approach, from which 170 were selected by applying inclusion/exclusion criteria and then classified using a content analysis methodology. The percentage of articles that mention the use of socio-economic assessment in support of coastal zone management initiatives is increasing but remains relatively low. The review examines the links between the issues addressed by integrated assessments and the chosen analytical frameworks as well as the various economic assessment methods which are used in the successive steps of the coastal zone management process. The results show that i) analytical frameworks such as 'risk and vulnerability', 'DPSIR', 'valuation', 'ecosystem services' and 'preferences' are likely to lead to effective integration of social sciences in coastal zone management research while 'integration', 'sustainability' and 'participation' remain difficult to operationalize, ii) risk assessments are insufficiently implemented in developing countries, and iii) indicator systems in support of multi-criteria analyses could be used during more stages of the coastal zone management process. Finally, it is suggested that improved collaboration between science and management would require that scientists currently involved in coastal zone management processes further educate themselves in integrated assessment approaches and participatory methodologies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

A method to assess the allocation suitability of recreational activities: An economic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hsiao-Lin

1996-03-01

Most existing methods of planning focus on development of a recreational area; less consideration is placed on the allocation of recreational activities within a recreational area. Most existing research emphasizes the economic benefits of developing a recreational area; few authors assessed the allocation suitability of recreational activities from an economic point of view. The purpose of this work was to develop a model to assess the allocation suitability of recreational activities according to the application of a concept of analysis of cost and benefit under a premise of ecological concern. The model was verified with a case study of Taiwan. We suggest that the proposed model should form a critical part of recreational planning.

Valuing Quiet: An Economic Assessment of U.S. Environmental Noise as a Cardiovascular Health Hazard.

PubMed

Swinburn, Tracy K; Hammer, Monica S; Neitzel, Richard L

2015-09-01

Environmental noise pollution increases the risk for hearing loss, stress, sleep disruption, annoyance, and cardiovascular disease and has other adverse health impacts. Recent (2013) estimates suggest that more than 100 million Americans are exposed to unhealthy levels of noise. Given the pervasive nature and significant health effects of environmental noise pollution, the corresponding economic impacts may be substantial. This 2014 economic assessment developed a new approach to estimate the impact of environmental noise on the prevalence and cost of key components of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in the U.S. By placing environmental noise in context with comparable environmental pollutants, this approach can inform public health law, planning, and policy. The effects of hypothetical national-scale changes in environmental noise levels on the prevalence and corresponding costs of hypertension and coronary heart disease were estimated, with the caveat that the national-level U.S. noise data our exposure estimates were derived from are >30 years old. The analyses suggested that a 5-dB noise reduction scenario would reduce the prevalence of hypertension by 1.4% and coronary heart disease by 1.8%. The annual economic benefit was estimated at $3.9 billion. These findings suggest significant economic impacts from environmental noise-related cardiovascular disease. Given these initial findings, noise may deserve increased priority and research as an environmental health hazard. Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Health economic evaluations in orthodontics: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Petrén, Sofia; Björnsson, Liselotte; Norlund, Anders; Bondemark, Lars

2016-01-01

Summary Background: Economic evaluation is assuming increasing importance as an integral component of health services research. Aim: To conduct a systematic review of the literature and assess the evidence from studies presenting orthodontic treatment outcomes and the related costs. Materials/methods: The literature review was conducted in four steps, according to Goodman’s model, in order to identify all studies evaluating economic aspects of orthodontic interventions. The search covered the databases Medline, Cinahl, Cochrane, Embase, Google Scholar, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, and SCOPUS, for the period from 1966 to September 2014. The inclusion criteria were as follows: randomized controlled trials or controlled clinical trials comparing at least two different orthodontic interventions, evaluation of both economic and orthodontic outcomes, and study populations of all ages. The quality of each included study was assessed as limited, moderate, or high. The overall evidence was assessed according to the GRADE system (The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation). Results: The applied terms for searches yielded 1838 studies, of which 989 were excluded as duplicates. Application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria identified 26 eligible studies for which the full-text versions were retrieved and scrutinized. At the final analysis, eight studies remained. Three studies were based on cost-effectiveness analyses and the other five on cost-minimization analysis. Two of the cost-minimization studies included a societal perspective, i.e. the sum of direct and indirect costs. The aims of most of the studies varied widely and of studies comparing equivalent treatment methods, few were of sufficiently high study quality. Thus, the literature to date provides an inadequate evidence base for economic aspects of orthodontic treatment. Conclusion: This systematic review disclosed that few orthodontic studies have

Combined Sustainability Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis for the Production of Biomass-Derived High-Octane Gasoline Blendstock

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tan, Eric C. D.; Talmadge, Michael; Dutta, Abhijit

Conversion technologies for biomass to liquid hydrocarbon fuels are being actively developed. Converting biomass into advanced hydrocarbon fuels requires detailed assessments to help prioritize research; techno-economic analysis (TEA) is a long established tool used to assess feasibility and progress. TEA provides information needed to make informed judgments about the viability of any given conceptual conversion process; it is particularly useful to identify technical barriers and measure progress toward overcoming those barriers. Expansion of the cellulosic biofuels industry at the scale needed to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard goals is also expected to have environmental impacts. Hence, the success of themore » biofuels industry depends not only on economic viability, but also on environmental sustainability. A biorefinery process that is economically feasible but suffers from key sustainability drawbacks is not likely to represent a long-term solution to replace fossil-derived fuels. Overarching concerns like environmental sustainability need to be addressed for biofuels production. Combined TEA and environmental sustainability assessment of emerging pathways helps facilitate biorefinery designs that are both economically feasible and minimally impactful to the environment. This study focuses on environmental sustainability assessment and techno-economic analysis for the production of high-octane gasoline blendstock via gasification and methanol/dimethyl ether intermediates. Results from the conceptual process design with economic analysis, along with the quantification and assessment of the environmental sustainability, are presented and discussed. Sustainability metrics associated with the production of high-octane gasoline include carbon conversion efficiency, consumptive water use, life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, fossil energy consumption, energy return on investment and net energy value.« less

Comparative assessment of smallholder sustainability using an agricultural sustainability framework and a yield based index insurance: A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moshtaghi, Mehrdad; Adla, Soham; Pande, Saket; Disse, Markus; Savenije, Hubert

2017-04-01

The concept of sustainability is central to smallholder agriculture as subsistence farming is constantly impacted by livelihood insecurity and is constrained by access to capital, water technology and alternative employment opportunities. This study compares two approaches which aim at quantifying smallholder sustainability but differ in their underlying principles, methodologies for assessment and reporting, and applications. The yield index based insurance can protect the smallholder agriculture and help it to more economic sustainability because the income of smallholder depends on selling crops and this insurance scheme is based on crop yields. In this research, the trigger of this insurance sets on the basis of yields in previous years. The crop yields are calculated every year through socio-hydrology modeling and smallholder can get indemnity when crop yields are lower than average of previous five years (a crop failure). The FAO Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) is an inclusive and comprehensive framework for sustainability assessment in the food and agricultural sector. It follows the UN definition of the 4 dimensions of sustainability (good governance, environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being) and includes 21 themes and 58 sub-themes with a multi-indicator approach. The direct sustainability corresponding to the FAO SAFA economic resilience dimension is compared with the indirect notion of sustainability derived from the yield based index insurance. A semi-synthetic comparison is conducted to understand the differences in the underlying principles, methodologies and application of the two approaches. Both approaches are applied to data from smallholder regions of Marathwada in Maharashtra (India) which experienced a severe rise in farmer suicides in the 2000s which has been attributed to a combination of socio-hydrological factors.

Limits on use of health economic assessments for rare diseases.

PubMed

Hyry, H I; Stern, A D; Cox, T M; Roos, J C P

2014-03-01

Funding of expensive treatments for rare (orphan) diseases is contentious. These agents fare poorly on 'efficiency' or health economic measures, such as the quality-adjusted life years, because of high cost and frequently poor gains in quality of life and survival. We show that cost-effectiveness assessments are flawed, and have only a limited role to play in reimbursement decisions for orphan drugs and beyond.

Quality Assessment of Economic Evaluations of Suicide and Self-Harm Interventions.

PubMed

Bustamante Madsen, Lizell; Eddleston, Michael; Schultz Hansen, Kristian; Konradsen, Flemming

2018-03-01

Death following self-harm constitutes a major global public health challenge and there is an urgent need for governments to implement cost-effective, national suicide prevention strategies. To conduct a systematic review and quality appraisal of the economic evaluations of interventions aimed at preventing suicidal behavior. A systematic literature search was performed in several literature databases to identify relevant articles published from 2003 to 2016. Drummond's 10-item appraisal tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. In total, 25 documents encompassing 30 economic evaluations were included in the review. Of the identified evaluations, 10 studies were found to be of poor quality, 14 were of average quality, and six studies were considered of good quality. The majority of evaluations found the interventions to be cost-effective. Several limitations were identified and discussed in the article. A notable few economic evaluations were identified. The studies were diverse, primarily set in high-income countries, and often based on modeling, emphasizing the need for more primary research into the topic. The discussion of suicide and self-harm prevention should be as nuanced as possible, including health economics along with cultural, social, and political aspects.

Comparison of lignin extraction processes: Economic and environmental assessment.

PubMed

Carvajal, Juan C; Gómez, Álvaro; Cardona, Carlos A

2016-08-01

This paper presents the technical-economic and environmental assessment of four lignin extraction processes from two different raw materials (sugarcane bagasse and rice husks). The processes are divided into two categories, the first processes evaluates lignin extraction with prior acid hydrolysis step, while in the second case the extraction processes are evaluated standalone for a total analysis of 16 scenarios. Profitability indicators as the net present value (NPV) and environmental indicators as the potential environmental impact (PEI) are used through a process engineering approach to understand and select the best lignin extraction process. The results show that both economically and environmentally process with sulfites and soda from rice husk presents the best results; however the quality of lignin obtained with sulfites is not suitable for high value-added products. Then, the soda is an interesting option for the extraction of lignin if high quality lignin is required for high value-added products at low costs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Breast volume assessment: comparing five different techniques.

PubMed

Bulstrode, N; Bellamy, E; Shrotria, S

2001-04-01

Breast volume assessment is not routinely performed pre-operatively because as yet there is no accepted technique. There have been a variety of methods published, but this is the first study to compare these techniques. We compared volume measurements obtained from mammograms (previously compared to mastectomy specimens) with estimates of volume obtained from four other techniques: thermoplastic moulding, magnetic resonance imaging, Archimedes principle and anatomical measurements. We also assessed the acceptability of each method to the patient. Measurements were performed on 10 women, which produced results for 20 breasts. We were able to calculate regression lines between volume measurements obtained from mammography to the other four methods: (1) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 379+(0.75 MRI) [r=0.48], (2) Thermoplastic moulding, 132+(1.46 Thermoplastic moulding) [r=0.82], (3) Anatomical measurements, 168+(1.55 Anatomical measurements) [r=0.83]. (4) Archimedes principle, 359+(0.6 Archimedes principle) [r=0.61] all units in cc. The regression curves for the different techniques are variable and it is difficult to reliably compare results. A standard method of volume measurement should be used when comparing volumes before and after intervention or between individual patients, and it is unreliable to compare volume measurements using different methods. Calculating the breast volume from mammography has previously been compared to mastectomy samples and shown to be reasonably accurate. However we feel thermoplastic moulding shows promise and should be further investigated as it gives not only a volume assessment but a three-dimensional impression of the breast shape, which may be valuable in assessing cosmesis following breast-conserving-surgery.

A microbial model of economic trading and comparative advantage.

PubMed

Enyeart, Peter J; Simpson, Zachary B; Ellington, Andrew D

2015-01-07

The economic theory of comparative advantage postulates that beneficial trading relationships can be arrived at by two self-interested entities producing the same goods as long as they have opposing relative efficiencies in producing those goods. The theory predicts that upon entering trade, in order to maximize consumption both entities will specialize in producing the good they can produce at higher efficiency, that the weaker entity will specialize more completely than the stronger entity, and that both will be able to consume more goods as a result of trade than either would be able to alone. We extend this theory to the realm of unicellular organisms by developing mathematical models of genetic circuits that allow trading of a common good (specifically, signaling molecules) required for growth in bacteria in order to demonstrate comparative advantage interactions. In Conception 1, the experimenter controls production rates via exogenous inducers, allowing exploration of the parameter space of specialization. In Conception 2, the circuits self-regulate via feedback mechanisms. Our models indicate that these genetic circuits can demonstrate comparative advantage, and that cooperation in such a manner is particularly favored under stringent external conditions and when the cost of production is not overly high. Further work could involve implementing the models in living bacteria and searching for naturally occurring cooperative relationships between bacteria that conform to the principles of comparative advantage. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

PIAAC Skills and Economic Inequality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pena, Anita Alves

2016-01-01

Mixed findings characterize the literature on skills and economic distributions within and across countries. The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) offers new, internationally comparable data on literacy, numeracy, and digital problem-solving skills that can be combined with wage information. This paper…

Mathematical model comparing of the multi-level economics systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brykalov, S. M.; Kryanev, A. V.

2017-12-01

The mathematical model (scheme) of a multi-level comparison of the economic system, characterized by the system of indices, is worked out. In the mathematical model of the multi-level comparison of the economic systems, the indicators of peer review and forecasting of the economic system under consideration can be used. The model can take into account the uncertainty in the estimated values of the parameters or expert estimations. The model uses the multi-criteria approach based on the Pareto solutions.

Assessment of Health Level and Socio-Economic Characteristics of People Working in the Shipbuilding Industry: A Control Group Study

PubMed Central

Koulouri, Agoritsa; Roupa, Zoe; Sarafis, Pavlos; Hatzoglou, Chryssi; Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos

2015-01-01

Introduction: The health level of the population and the way people perceive it has been associated with their physical and mental health, as well as with their social and occupational characteristics. Purpose: The comparative assessment of mental and health level in shipbuilding industry workers and general population and its relationship to social and economic parameters. Methods: A group of one hundred men working in the shipbuilding industry aged 51.8±8.2 years old and a control group of one hundred men of the general population aged 51.1±6.4 were studied. All participants completed the General Health Questionnaire – 28 and Fagerstrom test and a form with demographic, occupational and economic status characteristics. The statistical software SPSS 17.0 was used for data analysis. Results: Twenty–six percent of the general population and 47% of men working in the shipbuilding industry assessed their health as moderate/poor. Higher median values of anxiety and depressive symptomatology were observed in individuals characterizing their health as moderate/poor (p<0.001), their work as physically too demanding and in individuals with high dependency on smoking (p<0.05). With regard to the parameter of physical complaints, people working in the shipbuilding industry, non-active employees and those with comorbidities were found more burdened in relation to the general population (p<0.05). Depressive disorders were more common in those stating that their economic situation had been significantly deteriorated and in individuals with chronic diseases, which also showed reduced social functioning (p<0.05). Conclusions: Health level and its individual dimensions are both associated with health self-assessment and occupational and economic status. The coexistence of chronic diseases and smoking dependence affects emotion and social functioning of individuals. PMID:25716381

Assessment of health level and socio-economic characteristics of people working in the shipbuilding industry: a control group study.

PubMed

Koulouri, Agoritsa; Roupa, Zoe; Sarafis, Pavlos; Hatzoglou, Chryssi; Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos

2014-10-09

The health level of the population and the way people perceive it has been associated with their physical and mental health, as well as with their social and occupational characteristics. The comparative assessment of mental and health level in shipbuilding industry workers and general population and its relationship to social and economic parameters. A group of one hundred men working in the shipbuilding industry aged 51.8±8.2 years old and a control group of one hundred men of the general population aged 51.1±6.4 were studied. All participants completed the General Health Questionnaire - 28 and Fagerstrom test and a form with demographic, occupational and economic status characteristics. The statistical software SPSS 17.0 was used for data analysis. Twenty-six percent of the general population and 47% of men working in the shipbuilding industry assessed their health as moderate/poor. Higher median values of anxiety and depressive symptomatology were observed in individuals characterizing their health as moderate/poor (p<0.001), their work as physically too demanding and in individuals with high dependency on smoking (p<0.05). With regard to the parameter of physical complaints, people working in the shipbuilding industry, non-active employees and those with comorbidities were found more burdened in relation to the general population (p<0.05). Depressive disorders were more common in those stating that their economic situation had been significantly deteriorated and in individuals with chronic diseases, which also showed reduced social functioning (p<0.05). Health level and its individual dimensions are both associated with health self-assessment and occupational and economic status. The coexistence of chronic diseases and smoking dependence affects emotion and social functioning of individuals.

Assessing the potential of economic instruments for managing drought risk at river basin scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Lopez-Nicolas, A.; Macian-Sorribes, H.

2015-12-01

Economic instruments work as incentives to adapt individual decisions to collectively agreed goals. Different types of economic instruments have been applied to manage water resources, such as water-related taxes and charges (water pricing, environmental taxes, etc.), subsidies, markets or voluntary agreements. Hydroeconomic models (HEM) provide useful insight on optimal strategies for coping with droughts by simultaneously analysing engineering, hydrology and economics of water resources management. We use HEMs for evaluating the potential of economic instruments on managing drought risk at river basin scale, considering three criteria for assessing drought risk: reliability, resilience and vulnerability. HEMs allow to calculate water scarcity costs as the economic losses due to water deliveries below the target demands, which can be used as a vulnerability descriptor of drought risk. Two generic hydroeconomic DSS tools, SIMGAMS and OPTIGAMS ( both programmed in GAMS) have been developed to evaluate water scarcity cost at river basin scale based on simulation and optimization approaches. The simulation tool SIMGAMS allocates water according to the system priorities and operating rules, and evaluate the scarcity costs using economic demand functions. The optimization tool allocates water resources for maximizing net benefits (minimizing total water scarcity plus operating cost of water use). SIMGAS allows to simulate incentive water pricing policies based on water availability in the system (scarcity pricing), while OPTIGAMS is used to simulate the effect of ideal water markets by economic optimization. These tools have been applied to the Jucar river system (Spain), highly regulated and with high share of water use for crop irrigation (greater than 80%), where water scarcity, irregular hydrology and groundwater overdraft cause droughts to have significant economic, social and environmental consequences. An econometric model was first used to explain the variation

An economic assessment of STOL aircraft potential including terminal area environmental considerations. Volume 2: Appendices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solomon, H. L.; Sokolsky, S.

1973-01-01

An economic assessment of short takeoff aircraft for short haul air transportation applications is presented. The economic viability and environmental compatibility of short takeoff aircraft service in high density areas were evaluated. The subjects discussed are: (1) aircraft configurations and performance, (2) airfield and terminal requirements, and (3) direct and indirect operating costs.

A Comparative Analysis on Assessment of Land Carrying Capacity with Ecological Footprint Analysis and Index System Method

PubMed Central

Qian, Yao; Tang, Lina; Qiu, Quanyi; Xu, Tong; Liao, Jiangfu

2015-01-01

Land carrying capacity (LCC) explains whether the local land resources are effectively used to support economic activities and/or human population. LCC can be evaluated commonly with two approaches, namely ecological footprint analysis (EFA) and the index system method (ISM). EFA is helpful to investigate the effects of different land categories whereas ISM can be used to evaluate the contributions of social, environmental, and economic factors. Here we compared the two LCC-evaluation approaches with data collected from Xiamen City, a typical region where rapid economic growth and urbanization are found in China. The results show that LCC assessments with EFA and ISM not only complement each other but also are mutually supportive. Both assessments suggest that decreases in arable land and increasingly high energy consumption have major negative effects on LCC and threaten sustainable development for Xiamen City. It is important for the local policy makers, planners and designers to reduce ecological deficits by controlling fossil energy consumption, protecting arable land and forest land from converting into other land types, and slowing down the speed of urbanization, and to promote sustainability by controlling rural-to-urban immigration, increasing hazard-free treatment rate of household garbage, and raising energy consumption per unit industrial added value. Although EFA seems more appropriate for estimating LCC for a resource-output or self-sufficient region and ISM is more suitable for a resource-input region, both approaches should be employed when perform LCC assessment in any places around the world. PMID:26121142

Shortchanging Education: A Case Study in Flawed Economics. Technical Assessment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Education, Washington, DC. Office of Planning, Budget, and Evaluation.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study, by measuring comparative education spending levels between the United States and other industrialized nations, shifts the focus of the education debate from the critical issue of how to reform American's education system to matching spending with other nations. The EPI calculates a country's education…

A Holistic Assessment of Energy Production: Environmental, Economic, and Social Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing in Williams County, North Dakota

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jagdeo, J.; Ravikumar, A. P.; Grubert, E.; Brandt, A. R.

2016-12-01

unified and holistic assessment that can be used to readily compare the impact of energy development across American counties. This type of assessment can be used in corporate and political decision-making to examine the environmental, economic, and social impacts of energy-related activity.

Assessing the Quality of Economic Evaluations of FDA Novel Drug Approvals: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Woersching, Alex L; Borrego, Matthew E; Raisch, Dennis W

2016-12-01

To systematically review and assess the quality of the novel drugs' economic evaluation literature in print during the drugs' early commercial availability following US regulatory approval. MEDLINE and the United Kingdom National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database were searched from 1946 through December 2011 for economic evaluations of the 50 novel drugs approved by the FDA in 2008 and 2009. The inclusion criteria were English-language, peer-reviewed, original economic evaluations (cost-utility, cost-effectiveness, cost-minimization, and cost-benefit analyses). We extracted and analyzed data from 36 articles considering 19 of the 50 drugs. Two reviewers assessed each publication's quality using the Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES) instrument and summarized study quality on a 100-point scale. Study quality had a mean of 70.0 ± 16.2 QHES points. The only study characteristics associated with QHES score (with P < 0.05) were having used modeling or advanced statistics, 75.1 versus 61.9 without; using quality-adjusted life years as an outcome, 75.9 versus 64.7 without; and cost-utility versus cost-minimization analysis, 75.9 versus 58.7. Studies most often satisfied quality aspects about stating study design choices and least often satisfied aspects about justifying design choices. The reviewed literature considered a minority of the 2008-2009 novel drugs and had mixed study quality. Cost-effectiveness stakeholders might benefit from efforts to improve the quality and quantity of literature examining novel drugs. Editors and reviewers may support quality improvement by stringently imposing economic evaluation guidelines about justifying study design choices. © The Author(s) 2016.

A framework for assessing Health Economic Evaluation (HEE) quality appraisal instruments.

PubMed

Langer, Astrid

2012-08-16

Health economic evaluations support the health care decision-making process by providing information on costs and consequences of health interventions. The quality of such studies is assessed by health economic evaluation (HEE) quality appraisal instruments. At present, there is no instrument for measuring and improving the quality of such HEE quality appraisal instruments. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to establish a framework for assessing the quality of HEE quality appraisal instruments to support and improve their quality, and to apply this framework to those HEE quality appraisal instruments which have been subject to more scrutiny than others, in order to test the framework and to demonstrate the shortcomings of existing HEE quality appraisal instruments. To develop the quality assessment framework for HEE quality appraisal instruments, the experiences of using appraisal tools for clinical guidelines are used. Based on a deductive iterative process, clinical guideline appraisal instruments identified through literature search are reviewed, consolidated, and adapted to produce the final quality assessment framework for HEE quality appraisal instruments. The final quality assessment framework for HEE quality appraisal instruments consists of 36 items organized within 7 dimensions, each of which captures a specific domain of quality. Applying the quality assessment framework to four existing HEE quality appraisal instruments, it is found that these four quality appraisal instruments are of variable quality. The framework described in this study should be regarded as a starting point for appraising the quality of HEE quality appraisal instruments. This framework can be used by HEE quality appraisal instrument producers to support and improve the quality and acceptance of existing and future HEE quality appraisal instruments. By applying this framework, users of HEE quality appraisal instruments can become aware of methodological deficiencies

The impact of inclusion criteria in health economic assessments.

PubMed

Richter, Anke; Thieda, Patricia; Thaler, Kylie; Gartlehner, Gerald

2011-05-01

The debate surrounding whether the findings of efficacy studies are applicable to real-world treatment situations is ongoing. The issue of lack of applicability due to a lack of clinical heterogeneity could be addressed by employing less restrictive inclusion criteria. Given that health economic assessments based on cost-effectiveness measures are required by many governments and insurance providers, the impact of this choice may be far reaching. The objective of this article was to explore the use of a pilot study to examine the impact of inclusion criteria on cost-effectiveness results and clinical heterogeneity. A health economic assessment was conducted using QRISK®2 and simulation modelling of different population groups within the pilot study in Lower Austria. Patients were referred by their family physicians to 'Active Prevention' (Vorsorge Aktiv), a community-based lifestyle intervention focused on exercise and nutritional programmes. Cardiovascular risk factors were recorded before and after the intervention and translated to cardiovascular events. As expected, enforcing restrictive inclusion criteria produced stronger and more irrefutable computations - in the expected number of events, the number of deaths, the incremental cost per life-year saved and in the 95% confidence interval. These findings provide insight into the issues surrounding clinical heterogeneity and the need for restrictive inclusion criteria. This is not a full health economic assessment of the intervention. While inclusion criteria provide stronger results by limiting populations to those who would benefit the most, they must be enforced, both within and outside the clinical trial setting. Enforcement has costs, both monetary and arising from unintended negative consequences of enforcement mechanisms. All these considerations will affect the results realized by the payer organization. A pilot study can reveal whether an intervention may be cost effective 'enough' without restrictive

An economic assessment of foot and mouth disease in Japan.

PubMed

Hayama, Y; Osada, Y; Oushiki, D; Tsutsui, T

2017-04-01

A large-scale foot and mouth disease (FMD) epidemic in Japan in 2010 caused severe economic losses for livestock and related industries. In this paper, the authors develop a clear and usable framework to estimate the economic impact of this FMD outbreak. An economic analysis is then conducted by combining this framework with an epidemiological model. The framework estimates the direct and indirect costs to livestock and related industries by applying an input-output model, as well as by addressing expenditure on disease control. The direct cost to the livestock industry was estimated at 51.2 billion Japanese yen (JPY), engendering an indirect cost to related industries of JPY 25.5 billion. The expenditure for disease control activities was estimated at JPY 8.2 billion. The total impact of the 2010 FMD epidemic was estimated at almost JPY 85 billion. Within the economic analysis, the authors evaluate several control measure scenarios: a baseline scenario, which assumes that the rapid disease spread observed in the early phase of the 2010 FMD epidemic would continue; prompt culling within 24 hours; early detection of the first case; and emergency vaccination within a radius of 10 km around the affected farms in either seven or 28 days. Prompt culling and early detection were superior from an economic point of view, reducing the total economic impact to 30% and 2% of that in the baseline scenario, respectively. Compared with these scenarios, vaccination was less cost effective. However, vaccination suppressed the speed of disease spread and shortened the duration of the epidemic, suggesting its potential effectiveness in curbing rapid disease spread in a densely populated area.

2. How is the economic assessment of vaccines performed today?

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT This paper describes how the economic assessment of vaccines is performed today. It discusses why it may be incomplete and explores potential approaches to adjust the analysis to be more comprehensive. Besides helping protect against serious disease, vaccines also help avoid mild disease episodes that may not receive medical attention but which have important societal consequences. They also benefit unvaccinated individuals by reducing disease transmission. Wider societal benefits may extend beyond a decrease in disease incidence, as lower transmission rates reduce the risk of epidemics, which in turn reduces the pressure on healthcare providers, and may improve the quality of care for patients with unrelated diseases. Vaccines also lower the use of antibiotics leading to less pressure on anti-microbial resistance. Conventional ICUA focuses on individual health benefits, like increased survival. Therefore, this approach may not adequately capture the wider vaccination benefits. We discuss differences between treatment and vaccine prevention in the economic assessment, and how ICUA has been adapted to cope with the inconsistencies. Although such adaptations may fulfil the demand of one specific stakeholder, they may not meet the needs of other stakeholders who operate at the societal level, such as ministries other than healthcare, employers, caregivers, and insurers. PMID:29785252

Economic decision-making compared with an equivalent motor task.

PubMed

Wu, Shih-Wei; Delgado, Mauricio R; Maloney, Laurence T

2009-04-14

There is considerable evidence that human economic decision-making deviates from the predictions of expected utility theory (EUT) and that human performance conforms to EUT in many perceptual and motor decision tasks. It is possible that these results reflect a real difference in decision-making in the 2 domains but it is also possible that the observed discrepancy simply reflects typical differences in experimental design. We developed a motor task that is mathematically equivalent to choosing between lotteries and used it to compare how the same subject chose between classical economic lotteries and the same lotteries presented in equivalent motor form. In experiment 1, we found that subjects are more risk seeking in deciding between motor lotteries. In experiment 2, we used cumulative prospect theory to model choice and separately estimated the probability weighting functions and the value functions for each subject carrying out each task. We found no patterned differences in how subjects represented outcome value in the motor and the classical tasks. However, the probability weighting functions for motor and classical tasks were markedly and significantly different. Those for the classical task showed a typical tendency to overweight small probabilities and underweight large probabilities, and those for the motor task showed the opposite pattern of probability distortion. This outcome also accounts for the increased risk-seeking observed in the motor tasks of experiment 1. We conclude that the same subject distorts probability, but not value, differently in making identical decisions in motor and classical form.

A global water scarcity assessment under Shared Socio-economic Pathways - Part 1: Water use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanasaki, N.; Fujimori, S.; Yamamoto, T.; Yoshikawa, S.; Masaki, Y.; Hijioka, Y.; Kainuma, M.; Kanamori, Y.; Masui, T.; Takahashi, K.; Kanae, S.

2013-07-01

A novel global water scarcity assessment for the 21st century is presented in a two-part paper. In this first paper, water use scenarios are presented for the latest global hydrological models. The scenarios are compatible with the socio-economic scenarios of the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs), which are a part of the latest set of scenarios on global change developed by the integrated assessment, the IAV (climate change impact, adaptation, and vulnerability assessment), and the climate modeling community. The SSPs depict five global situations based on substantially different socio-economic conditions during the 21st century. Water use scenarios were developed to reflect not only quantitative socio-economic factors, such as population and electricity production, but also key qualitative concepts such as the degree of technological change and overall environmental consciousness. Each scenario consists of five factors: irrigated area, crop intensity, irrigation efficiency, and withdrawal-based potential industrial and municipal water demands. The first three factors are used to estimate the potential irrigation water demand. All factors were developed using simple models based on a literature review and analysis of historical records. The factors are grid-based at a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° and cover the whole 21st century in five-year intervals. Each factor shows wide variation among the different global situations depicted: the irrigated area in 2085 varies between 2.7 × 106 and 4.5 × 106 km2, withdrawal-based potential industrial water demand between 246 and 1714 km3 yr-1, and municipal water between 573 and 1280 km3 yr-1. The water use scenarios can be used for global water scarcity assessments that identify the regions vulnerable to water scarcity and analyze the timing and magnitude of scarcity conditions.

A systematic review of financial and economic assessments of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) prevention and mitigation activities worldwide.

PubMed

Pinior, Beate; Firth, Clair L; Richter, Veronika; Lebl, Karin; Trauffler, Martine; Dzieciol, Monika; Hutter, Sabine E; Burgstaller, Johann; Obritzhauser, Walter; Winter, Petra; Käsbohrer, Annemarie

2017-02-01

Infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) results in major economic losses either directly through decreased productive performance in cattle herds or indirectly, such as through expenses for control programs. The aim of this systematic review was to review financial and/or economic assessment studies of prevention and/or mitigation activities of BVDV at national, regional and farm level worldwide. Once all predefined criteria had been met, 35 articles were included for this systematic review. Studies were analyzed with particular focus on the type of financially and/or economically-assessed prevention and/or mitigation activities. Due to the wide range of possible prevention and/or mitigation activities, these activities were grouped into five categories: i) control and/or eradication programs, ii) monitoring or surveillance, iii) prevention, iv) vaccination and v) individual culling, control and testing strategies. Additionally, the studies were analyzed according to economically-related variables such as efficiency, costs or benefits of prevention and/or mitigation activities, the applied financial and/or economic and statistical methods, the payers of prevention and/or mitigation activities, the assessed production systems, and the countries for which such evaluations are available. Financial and/or economic assessments performed in Europe were dominated by those from the United Kingdom, which assessed mostly vaccination strategies, and Norway which primarily carried out assessments in the area of control and eradication programs; whereas among non-European countries the United States carried out the majority of financial and/or economic assessments in the area of individual culling, control and testing. More than half of all studies provided an efficiency calculation of prevention and/or mitigation activities and demonstrated whether the inherent costs of implemented activities were or were not justified. The dairy sector was three times more likely to

Analysis of the methods for assessing socio-economic development level of urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, Olga; Bogacheva, Elena

2017-01-01

The present paper provides a targeted analysis of current approaches (ratings) in the assessment of socio-economic development of urban areas. The survey focuses on identifying standardized methodologies to area assessment techniques formation that will result in developing the system of intelligent monitoring, dispatching, building management, scheduling and effective management of an administrative-territorial unit. This system is characterized by complex hierarchical structure, including tangible and intangible properties (parameters, attributes). Investigating the abovementioned methods should increase the administrative-territorial unit's attractiveness for investors and residence. The research aims at studying methods for evaluating socio-economic development level of the Russian Federation territories. Experimental and theoretical territory estimating methods were revealed. Complex analysis of the characteristics of the areas was carried out and evaluation parameters were determined. Integral indicators (resulting rating criteria values) as well as the overall rankings (parameters, characteristics) were analyzed. The inventory of the most widely used partial indicators (parameters, characteristics) of urban areas was revealed. The resulting criteria of rating values homogeneity were verified and confirmed by determining the root mean square deviation, i.e. divergence of indices. The principal shortcomings of assessment methodologies were revealed. The assessment methods with enhanced effectiveness and homogeneity were proposed.

Measuring economic outcomes of alcohol treatment using the Economic Form 90.

PubMed

Bray, Jeremy W; Zarkin, Gary A; Miller, William R; Mitra, Debanjali; Kivlahan, Daniel R; Martin, Daniel J; Couper, David J; Cisler, Ron A

2007-03-01

This article assesses the ability of the economic outcome measures in the Economic Form 90 to detect differences across levels of alcohol dependence as measured by the Alcohol Dependence Scale. We used baseline data from the Combining Medications and Behavioral Interventions (COMBINE) Study, a large, multisite clinical trial, to assess the extent to which the economic items on the Economic Form 90 instrument can detect differences across levels of alcohol dependence. After adjusting for differences in demographic characteristics, the Economic Form 90 can detect significant differences across a range of dependence severity levels for the economic outcomes of inpatient medical care, emergency-department medical care, behavioral health care, being on parole or probation, and missed workdays, conditional on being employed. We did not detect significant differences across dependence severity for employment status, outpatient medical care, other criminal justice involvement, or motor vehicle accidents. The Economic Form 90 can identify differences in many economic outcomes associated with differing levels of alcohol dependence. This suggests that the Economic Form 90 may be useful in assessing changes in economic outcomes that result from changes in alcohol dependence.

Economic analysis and budget impact of clostridial collagenase ointment compared with medicinal honey for treatment of pressure ulcers in the US.

PubMed

Mearns, Elizabeth S; Liang, Michael; Limone, Brendan L; Gilligan, Adrienne M; Miller, Jeffrey D; Schaum, Kathleen D; Waycaster, Curtis R

2017-01-01

Pressure ulcer (PU) treatment poses significant clinical and economic challenges to health-care systems. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of enzymatic debridement with clostridial collagenase ointment (CCO) compared with autolytic debridement with medicinal honey (MH) for PU treatment from a US payer/Medicare perspective in the hospital outpatient department setting. A cost-effectiveness analysis using a Markov model was developed using a 1-week cycle length across a 1-year time horizon. The three health states were inflammation/senescence, granulation/proliferation (ie, patients achieving 100% granulation), and epithelialization. Data sources included the US Wound Registry, Medicare fee schedules, and other published clinical and cost studies about PU treatment. In the base case analysis over a 1-year time horizon, CCO was the economically dominant strategy (ie, simultaneously conferring greater benefit at less cost). Patients treated with CCO experienced 22.7 quality-adjusted life weeks (QALWs) at a cost of $6,161 over 1 year, whereas MH patients experienced 21.9 QALWs at a cost of $7,149. Patients treated with CCO achieved 11.5 granulation weeks and 6.0 epithelization weeks compared with 10.6 and 4.4 weeks for MH, respectively. The number of clinic visits was 40.1 for CCO vs 43.4 for MH, and the number of debridements was 12.3 for CCO compared with 17.6 for MH. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses determined CCO dominant in 72% of 10,000 iterations and cost-effective in 91%, assuming a benchmark willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000/quality-adjusted life year ($962/QALW). The budget impact analysis showed that for every 1% of patients shifted from MH to CCO, a cost savings of $9,883 over 1 year for a cohort of 1,000 patients was observed by the payer. The results of these economic analyses suggest that CCO is a cost-effective, economically dominant alternative to MH in the treatment of patients with PUs in the hospital

Assessment of wastewater treatment plant design for small communities: environmental and economic aspects.

PubMed

Molinos-Senante, M; Garrido-Baserba, M; Reif, R; Hernández-Sancho, F; Poch, M

2012-06-15

The preliminary design and economic assessment of small wastewater treatment plants (less than 2000 population equivalent) are issues of particular interest since wastewaters from most of these agglomerations are not covered yet. This work aims to assess nine different technologies set-up for the secondary treatment in such type of facilities embracing both economic and environmental parameters. The main novelty of this work is the combination of an innovative environmental decision support system (EDSS) with a pioneer approach based on the inclusion of the environmental benefits derived from wastewater treatment. The integration of methodologies based on cost-benefit analysis tools with the vast amount of knowledge from treatment technologies contained in the EDSS was applied in nine scenarios comprising different wastewater characteristics and reuse options. Hence, a useful economic feasibility indicator is obtained for each technology including internal and external costs and, for the first time, benefits associated with the environmental damage avoided. This new methodology proved to be crucial for supporting the decision process, contributing to improve the sustainability of new treatment facilities and allows the selection of the most feasible technologies of a wide set of possibilities. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[How to assess the economic cost of tropical diseases in a rural community].

PubMed

Guiguemde, T R

1986-01-01

Many tropical diseases cause disability and hinder the socio-economic development of the Third World countries where they rage. A method of assessment of the economic cost of these diseases during epidemiological studies has been suggested here. It calls on the following factors: the type of activity of the community, the gross income of the community, the cost of treatment and the types of the disability (degree of disability, length of disability in relation to the period of production, and the degree of men's activity).

Economic assessment of different mulches in conventional and water-saving rice production systems.

PubMed

Jabran, Khawar; Hussain, Mubshar; Fahad, Shah; Farooq, Muhammad; Bajwa, Ali Ahsan; Alharrby, Hesham; Nasim, Wajid

2016-05-01

Water-saving rice production systems including alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and aerobic rice (AR) are being increasingly adopted by growers due to global water crises. Application of natural and artificial mulches may further improve water economy of water-saving rice production systems. Conventionally flooded rice (CFR) system has been rarely compared with AWD and AR in terms of economic returns. In this 2-year field study, we compared CFR with AWD and AR (with and without straw and plastic mulches) for the cost of production and economic benefits. Results indicated that CFR had a higher production cost than AWD and AR. However, application of mulches increased the cost of production of AWD and AR production systems where plastic mulch was expensive than straw mulch. Although the mulching increased the cost of production for AWD and AR, the gross income of these systems was also improved significantly. The gross income from mulched plots of AWD and AR was higher than non-mulched plots of the same systems. In conclusion, AWD and AR effectively reduce cost of production by economizing the water use. However, the use of natural and artificial mulches in such water-saving environments further increased the economic returns. The maximized economic returns by using straw mulch in water-saving rice production systems definitely have pragmatic implications for sustainable agriculture.

Measuring the economic effects of Japan's Mikawa Port: Pre- and-post disaster assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibusawa, Hiroyuki; Miyata, Yuzuru

2017-10-01

This study examines the economic effects of Japan's Mikawa Port on Aichi Prefecture before and after a natural disaster interrupts its operations for one year. Using a regional input-output model, backward and forward linkage impacts are calculated along the waterfront where the auto industry is concentrated. In addition, economic damage from natural disasters is estimated. We assess the economic implications on the hinterland of Mikawa Port. Density functions of the backward and forward linkage impacts are derived. A production stoppage along the waterfront of Mikawa Port generates large indirect negative effects on the regional economy. Results found that density functions of the total impacts are decreasing function of distance but that several sectors are characterized by non-decreasing functions.

Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural Alternatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Oliver E.

1991-01-01

Combines institutional economics with aspects of contract law and organization theory to identify and explicate the key differences distinguishing three generic forms of economic organization: market, hybrid, and hierarchy. These generic forms are distinguished by different coordinating and control mechanisms and by different abilities to adapt to…

Whose Knowledge Counts in International Student Assessments: Examining the AHELO Epistemic Community of Economics Experts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, David J.

2016-01-01

International student assessments have become the "lifeblood" of the accountability movement in educational policy contexts. Drawing upon Stuart Hall's concept of representation, I critically examined who comprises epistemic communities responsible for developing the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Assessment of…

Joint protection and hand exercises for hand osteoarthritis: an economic evaluation comparing methods for the analysis of factorial trials

PubMed Central

Oppong, Raymond; Nicholls, Elaine; Whitehurst, David G. T.; Hill, Susan; Hammond, Alison; Hay, Elaine M.; Dziedzic, Krysia

2015-01-01

Objectives. Evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of joint protection and hand exercises for the management of hand OA is not well established. The primary aim of this study is to assess the cost-effectiveness (cost-utility) of these management options. In addition, given the absence of consensus regarding the conduct of economic evaluation alongside factorial trials, we compare different analytical methodologies. Methods. A trial-based economic evaluation to assess the cost-utility of joint protection only, hand exercises only and joint protection plus hand exercises compared with leaflet and advice was undertaken over a 12 month period from a UK National Health Service perspective. Patient-level mean costs and mean quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were calculated for each trial arm. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were estimated and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves were constructed. The base case analysis used a within-the-table analysis methodology. Two further methods were explored: the at-the-margins approach and a regression-based approach with or without an interaction term. Results. Mean costs (QALYs) were £58.46 (s.d. 0.662) for leaflet and advice, £92.12 (s.d. 0.659) for joint protection, £64.51 (s.d. 0.681) for hand exercises and £112.38 (s.d. 0.658) for joint protection plus hand exercises. In the base case, hand exercises were the cost-effective option, with an ICER of £318 per QALY gained. Hand exercises remained the most cost-effective management strategy when adopting alternative methodological approaches. Conclusion. This is the first trial evaluating the cost-effectiveness of occupational therapy-supported approaches to self-management for hand OA. Our findings showed that hand exercises were the most cost-effective option. PMID:25339642

Health economic evaluations in orthodontics: a systematic review.

PubMed

Sollenius, Ola; Petrén, Sofia; Björnsson, Liselotte; Norlund, Anders; Bondemark, Lars

2016-06-01

Economic evaluation is assuming increasing importance as an integral component of health services research. To conduct a systematic review of the literature and assess the evidence from studies presenting orthodontic treatment outcomes and the related costs. The literature review was conducted in four steps, according to Goodman's model, in order to identify all studies evaluating economic aspects of orthodontic interventions. The search covered the databases Medline, Cinahl, Cochrane, Embase, Google Scholar, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, and SCOPUS, for the period from 1966 to September 2014. The inclusion criteria were as follows: randomized controlled trials or controlled clinical trials comparing at least two different orthodontic interventions, evaluation of both economic and orthodontic outcomes, and study populations of all ages. The quality of each included study was assessed as limited, moderate, or high. The overall evidence was assessed according to the GRADE system (The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation). The applied terms for searches yielded 1838 studies, of which 989 were excluded as duplicates. Application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria identified 26 eligible studies for which the full-text versions were retrieved and scrutinized. At the final analysis, eight studies remained. Three studies were based on cost-effectiveness analyses and the other five on cost-minimization analysis. Two of the cost-minimization studies included a societal perspective, i.e. the sum of direct and indirect costs. The aims of most of the studies varied widely and of studies comparing equivalent treatment methods, few were of sufficiently high study quality. Thus, the literature to date provides an inadequate evidence base for economic aspects of orthodontic treatment. This systematic review disclosed that few orthodontic studies have presented both economic and clinical outcomes. There is currently

A systematic review assessing the economic impact of sildenafil citrate (Viagra) in the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

PubMed

Martin, Amber L; Huelin, Rachel; Wilson, David; Foster, Talia S; Mould, Joaquin F

2013-05-01

Sildenafil was the first oral phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor introduced as primary therapy for erectile dysfunction (ED). In the 7 years following its market launch, sildenafil was prescribed by more than 750,000 physicians to more than 23 million men worldwide. To date, few studies have evaluated the economic impact of sildenafil in treating ED. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness and impact of sildenafil on health care costs for patients with ED in multiple countries. Economic outcomes including cost, cost-effectiveness, cost of illness, cost consequence, resource use, productivity, work loss, and willingness to pay (WTP) were investigated. Using keywords related to economic outcomes and sildenafil, we systematically searched literature published between July 2001 and July 2011 using MEDLINE and EMBASE. Included articles pertained to costs, WTP, and economic evaluations. In the last 10 years, 12 studies assessed economic outcomes associated with sildenafil for ED. Most studies were conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom, with one study identified in Canada and one from Mexico. Six studies evaluated cost of illness, cost consequence, or cost of care, and four studies evaluated WTP or drug pricing by country in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United States and the United Kingdom, costs to health care systems have increased with demand for treatment. Cost analyses suggested that sildenafil would lower direct costs compared with other PDE5 inhibitors. U.S. and U.K. studies found that patients exhibited WTP for sildenafil. The two cost-effectiveness models we identified examined ED sub-groups, those with spinal cord injury and those with diabetes or hypertension. These models indicated favorable cost-effectiveness profiles for sildenafil compared with other active-treatment options in both Mexico and Canada. The relative value of sildenafil vs. surgically implanted prosthetic devices and other PDE5 inhibitors, is underscored

Market-level assessment of the economic benefits of atrazine in the United States

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Paul D

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND Atrazine and other triazine herbicides are widely used in US maize and sorghum production, yet the most recent market-level assessment of the economic benefits of atrazine is for market conditions prevalent in the early 1990s, before commercialization of transgenic crops. Grain markets have changed substantially since that time; for example, the size of the US maize market increased by 170% from 1990–1992 to 2007–2009. This paper reports a current assessment of the economic benefits of atrazine. RESULTS Yield increases and cost changes implied by triazine herbicides are projected to reduce maize prices by 7–8% and sorghum prices by 19–20%. Projected consumer benefits from lower prices range from $US 3.6 to 4.4 × 109 annually, with the net projected economic benefit for triazine herbicides to the US economy ranging from $US 2.9 to 3.4 × 109 annually because lower prices imply reduced producer income. Productivity gains from triazine herbicides maintain an estimated 270 000–390 000 ha of land in non-crop uses that generate environmental benefits not accounted for in this analysis. CONCLUSION Even in the current era, with transgenic varieties dominating crop production, atrazine and the other triazine herbicides continue to be a key part of maize and sorghum production and generate substantial economic benefits. © 2013 The Authors. PestManagement Science published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. PMID:24318916

Market-level assessment of the economic benefits of atrazine in the United States.

PubMed

Mitchell, Paul D

2014-11-01

Atrazine and other triazine herbicides are widely used in US maize and sorghum production, yet the most recent market-level assessment of the economic benefits of atrazine is for market conditions prevalent in the early 1990s, before commercialization of transgenic crops. Grain markets have changed substantially since that time; for example, the size of the US maize market increased by 170% from 1990-1992 to 2007-2009. This paper reports a current assessment of the economic benefits of atrazine. Yield increases and cost changes implied by triazine herbicides are projected to reduce maize prices by 7-8% and sorghum prices by 19-20%. Projected consumer benefits from lower prices range from $US 3.6 to 4.4 × 10(9) annually, with the net projected economic benefit for triazine herbicides to the US economy ranging from $US 2.9 to 3.4 × 10(9) annually because lower prices imply reduced producer income. Productivity gains from triazine herbicides maintain an estimated 270 000-390 000 ha of land in non-crop uses that generate environmental benefits not accounted for in this analysis. Even in the current era, with transgenic varieties dominating crop production, atrazine and the other triazine herbicides continue to be a key part of maize and sorghum production and generate substantial economic benefits. © 2013 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

A Survey of Residents' Perceptions of the Effect of Large-Scale Economic Developments on Perceived Safety, Violence, and Economic Benefits

PubMed Central

Geller, Ruth; Bear, Todd M.; Foulds, Abigail L.; Duell, Jessica; Sharma, Ravi

2015-01-01

Background. Emerging research highlights the promise of community- and policy-level strategies in preventing youth violence. Large-scale economic developments, such as sports and entertainment arenas and casinos, may improve the living conditions, economics, public health, and overall wellbeing of area residents and may influence rates of violence within communities. Objective. To assess the effect of community economic development efforts on neighborhood residents' perceptions on violence, safety, and economic benefits. Methods. Telephone survey in 2011 using a listed sample of randomly selected numbers in six Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Descriptive analyses examined measures of perceived violence and safety and economic benefit. Responses were compared across neighborhoods using chi-square tests for multiple comparisons. Survey results were compared to census and police data. Results. Residents in neighborhoods with the large-scale economic developments reported more casino-specific and arena-specific economic benefits. However, 42% of participants in the neighborhood with the entertainment arena felt there was an increase in crime, and 29% of respondents from the neighborhood with the casino felt there was an increase. In contrast, crime decreased in both neighborhoods. Conclusions. Large-scale economic developments have a direct influence on the perception of violence, despite actual violence rates. PMID:26273310

A Survey of Residents' Perceptions of the Effect of Large-Scale Economic Developments on Perceived Safety, Violence, and Economic Benefits.

PubMed

Fabio, Anthony; Geller, Ruth; Bazaco, Michael; Bear, Todd M; Foulds, Abigail L; Duell, Jessica; Sharma, Ravi

2015-01-01

Emerging research highlights the promise of community- and policy-level strategies in preventing youth violence. Large-scale economic developments, such as sports and entertainment arenas and casinos, may improve the living conditions, economics, public health, and overall wellbeing of area residents and may influence rates of violence within communities. To assess the effect of community economic development efforts on neighborhood residents' perceptions on violence, safety, and economic benefits. Telephone survey in 2011 using a listed sample of randomly selected numbers in six Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Descriptive analyses examined measures of perceived violence and safety and economic benefit. Responses were compared across neighborhoods using chi-square tests for multiple comparisons. Survey results were compared to census and police data. Residents in neighborhoods with the large-scale economic developments reported more casino-specific and arena-specific economic benefits. However, 42% of participants in the neighborhood with the entertainment arena felt there was an increase in crime, and 29% of respondents from the neighborhood with the casino felt there was an increase. In contrast, crime decreased in both neighborhoods. Large-scale economic developments have a direct influence on the perception of violence, despite actual violence rates.

Integrated Assessment of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ghana - Part 3: Social Sciences and Economics.

PubMed

Wilson, Mark L; Renne, Elisha; Roncoli, Carla; Agyei-Baffour, Peter; Tenkorang, Emmanuel Yamoah

2015-07-15

This article is one of three synthesis reports resulting from an integrated assessment (IA) of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana. Given the complexities that involve multiple drivers and diverse disciplines influencing ASGM, an IA framework was used to analyze economic, social, health, and environmental data and to co-develop evidence-based responses in collaboration with pertinent stakeholders. We look at both micro- and macro-economic processes surrounding ASGM, including causes, challenges, and consequences. At the micro-level, social and economic evidence suggests that the principal reasons whereby most people engage in ASGM involve "push" factors aimed at meeting livelihood goals. ASGM provides an important source of income for both proximate and distant communities, representing a means of survival for impoverished farmers as well as an engine for small business growth. However, miners and their families often end up in a "poverty trap" of low productivity and indebtedness, which reduce even further their economic options. At a macro level, Ghana's ASGM activities contribute significantly to the national economy even though they are sometimes operating illegally and at a disadvantage compared to large-scale industrial mining companies. Nevertheless, complex issues of land tenure, social stability, mining regulation and taxation, and environmental degradation undermine the viability and sustainability of ASGM as a livelihood strategy. Although more research is needed to understand these complex relationships, we point to key findings and insights from social science and economics research that can guide policies and actions aimed to address the unique challenges of ASGM in Ghana and elsewhere.

What can economics add to health technology assessment? Please not just another cost-effectiveness analysis!

PubMed

Bridges, John Fp

2006-02-01

Evidence based medicine is not only important for clinical practice, but national governments have embraced it through health technology assessment (HTA). HTA combines data from randomized controlled trials (RCT) and observational studies with an economic component (among other issues). HTA, however, is not taking full advantage of economics. This paper presents five areas in which economics may improve not only HTA, but the RCT methods that underpin it. HTA needs to live up to its original agenda of being a interdisciplinary field and draw methods not just from biostatistics, but from a range of discipline, including economics. By focusing only on cost effectiveness analysis (CEA), however, we go nowhere close to fulfilling this potential.

Comparison of AOPs for the removal of natural organic matter: performance and economic assessment.

PubMed

Murray, C A; Parsons, S A

2004-01-01

Control of disinfection by-products during water treatment is primarily achieved by reducing the levels of organic precursor species prior to chlorination. Many waters contain natural organic matter at levels up to 15 mg L(-1); therefore it is necessary to have a range of control methods to support conventional coagulation. Advanced oxidation processes are such processes and in this paper the Fenton and photo-Fenton processes along with photocatalysis are assessed for their NOM removal potential. The performance of each process is shown to be dependent on pH and chemical dose as well as the initial NOM concentration. Under optimum conditions the processes achieved greater than 90% removal of DOC and UV254 absorbance. This removal led to the THMFP of the source water being reduced from 140 to below 10 microg L(-1), well below UK and US standards. An economic assessment of the processes revealed that currently such processes are not economic. With advances in technology and tightening of water quality standards these processes should become economically feasible options.

Integrating life-cycle environmental and economic assessment with transportation and land use planning.

PubMed

Chester, Mikhail V; Nahlik, Matthew J; Fraser, Andrew M; Kimball, Mindy A; Garikapati, Venu M

2013-01-01

The environmental outcomes of urban form changes should couple life-cycle and behavioral assessment methods to better understand urban sustainability policy outcomes. Using Phoenix, Arizona light rail as a case study, an integrated transportation and land use life-cycle assessment (ITLU-LCA) framework is developed to assess the changes to energy consumption and air emissions from transit-oriented neighborhood designs. Residential travel, commercial travel, and building energy use are included and the framework integrates household behavior change assessment to explore the environmental and economic outcomes of policies that affect infrastructure. The results show that upfront environmental and economic investments are needed (through more energy-intense building materials for high-density structures) to produce long run benefits in reduced building energy use and automobile travel. The annualized life-cycle benefits of transit-oriented developments in Phoenix can range from 1.7 to 230 Gg CO2e depending on the aggressiveness of residential density. Midpoint impact stressors for respiratory effects and photochemical smog formation are also assessed and can be reduced by 1.2-170 Mg PM10e and 41-5200 Mg O3e annually. These benefits will come at an additional construction cost of up to $410 million resulting in a cost of avoided CO2e at $16-29 and household cost savings.

Economic analysis and assessment of syngas production using a modeling approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Hakkwan; Parajuli, Prem B.; Yu, Fei

Economic analysis and modeling are essential and important issues for the development of current feedstock and process technology for bio-gasification. The objective of this study was to develop an economic model and apply to predict the unit cost of syngas production from a micro-scale bio-gasification facility. An economic model was programmed in C++ computer programming language and developed using a parametric cost approach, which included processes to calculate the total capital costs and the total operating costs. The model used measured economic data from the bio-gasification facility at Mississippi State University. The modeling results showed that the unit cost ofmore » syngas production was $1.217 for a 60 Nm-3 h-1 capacity bio-gasifier. The operating cost was the major part of the total production cost. The equipment purchase cost and the labor cost were the largest part of the total capital cost and the total operating cost, respectively. Sensitivity analysis indicated that labor costs rank the top as followed by equipment cost, loan life, feedstock cost, interest rate, utility cost, and waste treatment cost. The unit cost of syngas production increased with the increase of all parameters with exception of loan life. The annual cost regarding equipment, labor, feedstock, waste treatment, and utility cost showed a linear relationship with percent changes, while loan life and annual interest rate showed a non-linear relationship. This study provides the useful information for economic analysis and assessment of the syngas production using a modeling approach.« less

Comparing preference assessments: selection- versus duration-based preference assessment procedures.

PubMed

Kodak, Tiffany; Fisher, Wayne W; Kelley, Michael E; Kisamore, April

2009-01-01

In the current investigation, the results of a selection- and a duration-based preference assessment procedure were compared. A Multiple Stimulus With Replacement (MSW) preference assessment [Windsor, J., Piché, L. M., & Locke, P. A. (1994). Preference testing: A comparison of two presentation methods. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 15, 439-455] and a variation of a Free-Operant (FO) preference assessment procedure [Roane, H. S., Vollmer, T. R., Ringdahl, J. E., & Marcus, B. A. (1998). Evaluation of a brief stimulus preference assessment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31, 605-620] were conducted with four participants. A reinforcer assessment was conducted to determine which preference assessment procedure identified the item that produced the highest rates of responding. The items identified as most highly preferred were different across preference assessment procedures for all participants. Results of the reinforcer assessment showed that the MSW identified the item that functioned as the most effective reinforcer for two participants.

An Assessment of the Economic Potential of Offshore Wind in the United States from 2015 to 2030

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beiter, Philipp; Musial, Walter; Kilcher, Levi

This study describes an assessment of the spatial variation of levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and levelized avoided cost of energy to understand the economic viability of fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind technologies across major U.S. coastal areas between 2015 and 2030. In particular, this study offers insights into the available offshore wind resource by region at different levels of LCOE and an assessment of the economically viable resource capacity in the United States.

Microalgal cultivation for value-added products: a critical enviro-economical assessment.

PubMed

Kothari, Richa; Pandey, Arya; Ahmad, Shamshad; Kumar, Ashwani; Pathak, Vinayak V; Tyagi, V V

2017-08-01

The present review focuses on the cultivation of algal biomass for generating value-added products (VAP) and to assess their economic benefits and harmful environmental impact. Additionally, the impact of bioreactor designs on the yield of microalgal biomass for VAP is also considered. All these factors are discussed in relation to the impact of microalgae production on the bio-economy sector of commercial biotechnology.

The potential of geological storage of CO2 in Austria: a techno-economic assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brüstle, Anna Katharina; Welkenhuysen, Kris; Bottig, Magdalena; Piessens, Kris; Ramirez, Andrea; Swenner, Rudy

2014-05-01

economic uncertainties. Results indicate a significant potential for CCS in Austria and a very high probability for any CO2 storage activity. The assessment of the average practical capacity of the whole country is 120Mt at 15€/tCO2 of storage budget, while the average matched national capacity is 40Mt. Concerning the individual reservoirs, reservoir development probabilities generally lie between 20 and 30%. These numbers served as basis for a reservoir exploration ranking. Compared to current emissions, total storage capacity is at the low end, which is likely the main technical limiting factor for CCS deployment in Austria. Also, current policy seems not in favour of CCS. Storage capacity is however high enough to provide a significant contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions in the country, in the order of a few million tonnes per year. Opportunities to combine CO2 geological storage and geothermal energy seem promising, but require additional evaluation. Welkenhuysen, K., Ramirez, A., Swennen, R. & Piessens, K., 2013. Ranking potential CO2 storage reservoirs: an exploration priority list for Belgium. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 17, p. 431-449

sFlt-1/PlGF ratio test for pre-eclampsia: an economic assessment for the UK.

PubMed

Vatish, M; Strunz-McKendry, T; Hund, M; Allegranza, D; Wolf, C; Smare, C

2016-12-01

To assess the economic impact of introducing into clinical practice in the UK the soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt-1) to placental growth factor (PlGF) ratio test for guiding the management of pre-eclampsia. We used an economic model estimating the incremental value of information, from a UK National Health Service payer's perspective, generated by the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio test, compared with current diagnostic procedures, in guiding the management of women with suspected pre-eclampsia. The economic model estimated costs associated with the diagnosis and management of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women between 24 + 0 and 36 + 6 weeks' gestation, managed in either a 'test' scenario in which the sFlt-1/PlGF test is used in addition to current diagnostic procedures, or a 'no-test' scenario in which clinical decisions are based on current diagnostic procedures alone. Test characteristics and resource use were derived from PROGNOSIS, a non-interventional study in women presenting with clinical suspicion of pre-eclampsia. The main outcome measure from the economic model was the cost per patient per episode of care, from first suspicion of pre-eclampsia to birth. Introduction of the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio test into clinical practice is expected to result in cost savings of £344 per patient compared with a no-test scenario. Savings are generated primarily through an improvement in diagnostic accuracy and subsequent reduction in unnecessary hospitalization. Introducing the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio test into clinical practice in the UK was shown to be cost-saving by reducing unnecessary hospitalization of women at low risk of developing pre-eclampsia. In addition, the test ensures that those women at higher risk are identified and managed appropriately. © 2016 Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. © 2016 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology

A framework for assessing Health Economic Evaluation (HEE) quality appraisal instruments

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Health economic evaluations support the health care decision-making process by providing information on costs and consequences of health interventions. The quality of such studies is assessed by health economic evaluation (HEE) quality appraisal instruments. At present, there is no instrument for measuring and improving the quality of such HEE quality appraisal instruments. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to establish a framework for assessing the quality of HEE quality appraisal instruments to support and improve their quality, and to apply this framework to those HEE quality appraisal instruments which have been subject to more scrutiny than others, in order to test the framework and to demonstrate the shortcomings of existing HEE quality appraisal instruments. Methods To develop the quality assessment framework for HEE quality appraisal instruments, the experiences of using appraisal tools for clinical guidelines are used. Based on a deductive iterative process, clinical guideline appraisal instruments identified through literature search are reviewed, consolidated, and adapted to produce the final quality assessment framework for HEE quality appraisal instruments. Results The final quality assessment framework for HEE quality appraisal instruments consists of 36 items organized within 7 dimensions, each of which captures a specific domain of quality. Applying the quality assessment framework to four existing HEE quality appraisal instruments, it is found that these four quality appraisal instruments are of variable quality. Conclusions The framework described in this study should be regarded as a starting point for appraising the quality of HEE quality appraisal instruments. This framework can be used by HEE quality appraisal instrument producers to support and improve the quality and acceptance of existing and future HEE quality appraisal instruments. By applying this framework, users of HEE quality appraisal instruments can become aware

Agroforestry versus farm mosaic systems - Comparing land-use efficiency, economic returns and risks under climate change effects.

PubMed

Paul, Carola; Weber, Michael; Knoke, Thomas

2017-06-01

Increasing land-use conflicts call for the development of land-use systems that reconcile agricultural production with the provisioning of multiple ecosystem services, including climate change mitigation. Agroforestry has been suggested as a global solution to increase land-use efficiency, while reducing environmental impacts and economic risks for farmers. Past research has often focused on comparing tree-crop combinations with agricultural monocultures, but agroforestry has seldom been systematically compared to other forms of land-use diversification, including a farm mosaic. This form of diversification mixes separate parcels of different land uses within the farm. The objective of this study was to develop a modelling approach to compare the performance of the agroforestry and farm mosaic diversification strategies, accounting for tree-crop interaction effects and economic and climate uncertainty. For this purpose, Modern Portfolio Theory and risk simulation were coupled with the process-based biophysical simulation model WaNuLCAS 4.0. For an example application, we used data from a field trial in Panama. The results show that the simulated agroforestry systems (Taungya, alley cropping and border planting) could outperform a farm mosaic approach in terms of cumulative production and return. Considering market and climate uncertainty, agroforestry showed an up to 21% higher economic return at the same risk level (i.e. standard deviation of economic returns). Farm compositions with large shares of land allocated to maize cultivation were also more severely affected by an increasing drought frequency in terms of both risks and returns. Our study demonstrates that agroforestry can be an economically efficient diversification strategy, but only if the design allows for economies of scope, beneficial interactions between trees and crops and higher income diversification compared to a farm mosaic. The modelling approach can make an important contribution to support

Skills Needs Assessment Process To Support Economic Development. HRD & ALL Research Series. Paper 90-01.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geroy, Gary D.; Kaman, Vickie

The purpose of skills-training needs-assessment is to identify what type of skills and knowledge are needed to support economic strategies and, as a result, improve organizational decisionmaking related to training investments and general work force development. This paper presents findings of 11 skills-retraining, needs-assessment,…

A global economic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of new treatments for advanced breast cancer in Canada.

PubMed

Beauchemin, C; Letarte, N; Mathurin, K; Yelle, L; Lachaine, J

2016-06-01

Objective Considering the increasing number of treatment options for metastatic breast cancer (MBC), it is important to develop high-quality methods to assess the cost-effectiveness of new anti-cancer drugs. This study aims to develop a global economic model that could be used as a benchmark for the economic evaluation of new therapies for MBC. Methods The Global Pharmacoeconomics of Metastatic Breast Cancer (GPMBC) model is a Markov model that was constructed to estimate the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life years (QALY) of new treatments for MBC from a Canadian healthcare system perspective over a lifetime horizon. Specific parameters included in the model are cost of drug treatment, survival outcomes, and incidence of treatment-related adverse events (AEs). Global parameters are patient characteristics, health states utilities, disutilities, and costs associated with treatment-related AEs, as well as costs associated with drug administration, medical follow-up, and end-of-life care. The GPMBC model was tested and validated in a specific context, by assessing the cost-effectiveness of lapatinib plus letrozole compared with other widely used first-line therapies for post-menopausal women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) and epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) MBC. Results When tested, the GPMBC model led to incremental cost-utility ratios of CA$131 811 per QALY, CA$56 211 per QALY, and CA$102 477 per QALY for the comparison of lapatinib plus letrozole vs letrozole alone, trastuzumab plus anastrozole, and anastrozole alone, respectively. Results of the model testing were quite similar to those obtained by Delea et al., who also assessed the cost-effectiveness of lapatinib in combination with letrozole in HR+/HER2 + MBC in Canada, thus suggesting that the GPMBC model can replicate results of well-conducted economic evaluations. Conclusions The GPMBC model can be very valuable as it allows a quick and valid assessment of the cost

Reducing the socio-economic status achievement gap at University by promoting mastery-oriented assessment.

PubMed

Smeding, Annique; Darnon, Céline; Souchal, Carine; Toczek-Capelle, Marie-Christine; Butera, Fabrizio

2013-01-01

In spite of official intentions to reduce inequalities at University, students' socio-economic status (SES) is still a major determinant of academic success. The literature on the dual function of University suggests that University serves not only an educational function (i.e., to improve students' learning), but also a selection function (i.e., to compare people, and orient them towards different positions in society). Because current assessment practices focus on the selection more than on the educational function, their characteristics fit better with norms and values shared by dominant high-status groups and may favour high-SES students over low-SES students in terms of performances. A focus on the educational function (i.e., mastery goals), instead, may support low-SES students' achievement, but empirical evidence is currently lacking. The present research set out to provide such evidence and tested, in two field studies and a randomised field experiment, the hypothesis that focusing on University's educational function rather than on its selection function may reduce the SES achievement gap. Results showed that a focus on learning, mastery-oriented goals in the assessment process reduced the SES achievement gap at University. For the first time, empirical data support the idea that low-SES students can perform as well as high-SES students if they are led to understand assessment as part of the learning process, a way to reach mastery goals, rather than as a way to compare students to each other and select the best of them, resulting in performance goals. This research thus provides a theoretical framework to understand the differential effects of assessment on the achievement of high and low-SES students, and paves the way toward the implementation of novel, theory-driven interventions to reduce the SES-based achievement gap at University.

Biophysical and socio-economic assessments of the coastal zone: The LOICZ approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Talaue-McManus, L.; Smith, S.V.; Buddemeier, R.W.

2003-01-01

The Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme focused on quantifying the role of the global coastal zone in the cycling of carbon and nutrients. From 1993 to date, it has developed protocols and tools that allow for site-specific and global assessments of coastal processes and their drivers. Indicators used in coastal assessments include the contribution of population and economic activities to waste load generation, and the resulting coastal system states relative to net production and nitrogen cycling. ?? 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The integral indicator of socio-economic assessment in regard to resource-oriented territories development in Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chuvashova, M. N.; Avramchikova, N. T.; Zelenkov, P. V.; Petrosyan, M. O.

2016-04-01

Economic peculiarity of Russian resource-oriented territories are based on a focal type of industrial complex, differentiation of economies within a principle of mining and processing of natural resources. To improve the economic condition and integrate into the world innovative process is essential to solve the problem of eliminating the prevalence of resourse focus in the industrial economic structure that could ensure the overcoming of the existing spa- cial dissociation and market mechanisms development in innovative promotion. The monitoring system, involving the integral indicator of socioeconomic and territorial potential assessment, has suggested by the authors. The integral indicator could guarantee the objective evaluation of economic condition within a territory that is vital for the governmental authorities to design strategies providing the economic development of administrative territories.

Landfill mining in Austria: foundations for an integrated ecological and economic assessment.

PubMed

Hermann, Robert; Baumgartner, Rupert J; Sarc, Renato; Ragossnig, Arne; Wolfsberger, Tanja; Eisenberger, Martin; Budischowsky, Andreas; Pomberger, Roland

2014-09-01

For the first time, basic technical and economic studies for landfill mining are being carried out in Austria on the basis of a pilot project. An important goal of these studies is the collection of elementary data as the basis for an integrated ecological and economic assessment of landfill mining projects with regard to their feasibility. For this purpose, economic, ecological, technical, organizational, as well as political and legal influencing factors are identified and extensively studied in the article. An important aspect is the mutual influence of the factors on each other, as this can significantly affect the development of an integrated assessment system. In addition to the influencing factors, the definition of the spatial and temporal system boundaries is crucial for further investigations. Among others, the quality and quantity of recovered waste materials, temporal fluctuations or developments in prices of secondary raw material and fuels attainable in the markets, and time and duration of dumping, play a crucial role. Based on the investigations, the spatial system boundary is defined in as much as all the necessary process steps, from landfill mining, preparing and sorting to providing a marketable material/product by the landfill operator, are taken into account. No general accepted definition can be made for the temporal system boundary because the different time-related influencing factors necessitate an individual project-specific determination and adaptation to the facts of the on-site landfill mining project. © The Author(s) 2014.

Comparing Assessment Methods in Undergraduate Statistics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baxter, Sarah E.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare undergraduate students' academic performance and attitudes about statistics in the context of two different types of assessment structures for an introductory statistics course. One assessment structure used in-class quizzes that emphasized computation and procedural fluency as well as vocabulary…

Conversion of bioprocess ethanol to industrial chemical products - Applications of process models for energy-economic assessments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rohatgi, Naresh K.; Ingham, John D.

1992-01-01

An assessment approach for accurate evaluation of bioprocesses for large-scale production of industrial chemicals is presented. Detailed energy-economic assessments of a potential esterification process were performed, where ethanol vapor in the presence of water from a bioreactor is catalytically converted to ethyl acetate. Results show that such processes are likely to become more competitive as the cost of substrates decreases relative to petrolium costs. A commercial ASPEN process simulation provided a reasonably consistent comparison with energy economics calculated using JPL developed software. Detailed evaluations of the sensitivity of production cost to material costs and annual production rates are discussed.

Economic Assessment: Stability, Security, Transition and Reconstruction Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-13

strategy has incorporated economic stability as a central part of post-combat operations and nation building. A viable, growing economy has also been a...and prosperity. Economic stability served as a tool for reconstruction as well as the catalyst for integration as outlined in the Marshall Plan...for future SSTR operations as it relates to economic stability is “Privatization can be a prerequisite for economic growth, especially where

Coastal vulnerability assessment with the use of environmental and socio-economic indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandrakis, George; Petrakis, Stelios; Vousdoukas, Mixalis; Ghionis, George; Hatziyanni, Eleni; Kampanis, Nikolaos

2014-05-01

Climate change has significant repercussions on the natural environment, triggering obvious changes in the natural processes that have a severe socio-economic impact on the coastal zone; where a great number of human activities are concentrated. So far, the estimation of coastal vulnerability was based primarily on the natural processes and less on socio-economic variables, which would assist in the identification of vulnerable areas. The present investigation proposes a methodology to examine the vulnerability of a highly touristic area in the Island of Crete to an expected sea level rise of up to ~40 cm by the year 2100, according to the A1B scenario of IPCC 2007. The methodology includes the combination of socio-economic indicators into a GIS-based coastal vulnerability index for wave-induced erosion. This approach includes three sub-indices that contribute equally to the overall index. The sub-indices refer to coastal forcing, socio-economic and coastal characteristics. All variables are ranked on a 1-5 scale with 5 indicating higher vulnerability. The socio-economic sub-index includes, as indicators, the population of the study area, cultural heritage sites, transport networks, land use and protection measures. The coastal forcing sub-index includes the frequency of extreme events, while the Coastal Vulnerability Index includes the geological variables (coastal geomorphology, historical coastline changes, and regional coastal slope) and the variables representing the marine processes (relative sea level rise, mean significant wave height, and tidal range). The main difficulty for the estimation of the index lies in assessing and ranking the socio-economic indicators. The whole approach was tested and validated through field and desktop studies, using as a case study the Elouda bay, Crete Isl., an area of high cultural and economic value, which combines monuments from ancient and medieval times, with a very high touristic development since the 1970s.

Double-Shift Schooling and EFA Goals: Assessing Economic, Educational and Social Impacts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orkodashvili, Mariam

2009-01-01

The aim of the paper is to discuss the system of double-shift schooling and assess it from economic, social and educational angles referring to different cases from Sub-Saharan African countries. The paper makes an attempt to prove that despite certain challenges that it faces, the system of double-shift schooling is the best solution for poor…

Comprehensive Family-Centered Training Programs: Five Comparative Case Studies. Evaluation of the Mountain-Plains Education & Economic Development Program, Inc.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bale, Richard L.; Sprague, C. Fremont

The Mountain-Plains Education & Economic Development Program, which exemplifies the comprehensive, residential family-centered approach to serving the economically disadvantaged, was compared to four similar programs in the United States: Arizona Job Colleges (AJC) in Arizona; Madera Employment Training Center (METC) in California; Manpower,…

Environmental-Economic Assessment Of Generation, Flow And Efficiency Of Use Of Production And Consumption Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikhailov, V. G.; Golofastova, N. N.; Galanina, T. V.; Koroleva, T. G.; Mikhailova, Ya S.

2017-01-01

The article deals with the issues of environmental and economic analysis of industrial and economic activities of an enterprise to assess the generation, flow and efficiency of production and consumption waste. The purpose of research is the analysis and the development of theoretical propositions for the functioning of the system of environmental and economic indicators for the effective management of production and consumption waste in the enterprise. The analysis of the existing systems of environmental and economic indicators taking into consideration the industry characteristics and the types of negative impacts is carried out. The main result of the study is the development of the system of environmental and economic indicators of production and consumption waste, adapted to the modern requirements. The results of the study can be recommended to support the effective management decision-making concerning waste management and the establishment of appropriate infrastructure.

Fold assessment for comparative protein structure modeling.

PubMed

Melo, Francisco; Sali, Andrej

2007-11-01

Accurate and automated assessment of both geometrical errors and incompleteness of comparative protein structure models is necessary for an adequate use of the models. Here, we describe a composite score for discriminating between models with the correct and incorrect fold. To find an accurate composite score, we designed and applied a genetic algorithm method that searched for a most informative subset of 21 input model features as well as their optimized nonlinear transformation into the composite score. The 21 input features included various statistical potential scores, stereochemistry quality descriptors, sequence alignment scores, geometrical descriptors, and measures of protein packing. The optimized composite score was found to depend on (1) a statistical potential z-score for residue accessibilities and distances, (2) model compactness, and (3) percentage sequence identity of the alignment used to build the model. The accuracy of the composite score was compared with the accuracy of assessment by single and combined features as well as by other commonly used assessment methods. The testing set was representative of models produced by automated comparative modeling on a genomic scale. The composite score performed better than any other tested score in terms of the maximum correct classification rate (i.e., 3.3% false positives and 2.5% false negatives) as well as the sensitivity and specificity across the whole range of thresholds. The composite score was implemented in our program MODELLER-8 and was used to assess models in the MODBASE database that contains comparative models for domains in approximately 1.3 million protein sequences.

Assessment of economic status in trauma registries: A new algorithm for generating population-specific clustering-based models of economic status for time-constrained low-resource settings.

PubMed

Eyler, Lauren; Hubbard, Alan; Juillard, Catherine

2016-10-01

Low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the world's poor bear a disproportionate share of the global burden of injury. Data regarding disparities in injury are vital to inform injury prevention and trauma systems strengthening interventions targeted towards vulnerable populations, but are limited in LMICs. We aim to facilitate injury disparities research by generating a standardized methodology for assessing economic status in resource-limited country trauma registries where complex metrics such as income, expenditures, and wealth index are infeasible to assess. To address this need, we developed a cluster analysis-based algorithm for generating simple population-specific metrics of economic status using nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) household assets data. For a limited number of variables, g, our algorithm performs weighted k-medoids clustering of the population using all combinations of g asset variables and selects the combination of variables and number of clusters that maximize average silhouette width (ASW). In simulated datasets containing both randomly distributed variables and "true" population clusters defined by correlated categorical variables, the algorithm selected the correct variable combination and appropriate cluster numbers unless variable correlation was very weak. When used with 2011 Cameroonian DHS data, our algorithm identified twenty economic clusters with ASW 0.80, indicating well-defined population clusters. This economic model for assessing health disparities will be used in the new Cameroonian six-hospital centralized trauma registry. By describing our standardized methodology and algorithm for generating economic clustering models, we aim to facilitate measurement of health disparities in other trauma registries in resource-limited countries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Economics of Comparative Effectiveness Studies

PubMed Central

Meltzer, David; Basu, Anirban; Conti, Rena

2013-01-01

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) can provide valuable information for patients, providers and payers. These stakeholders differ in their incentives to invest in CER. To maximize benefits from public investments in CER, it is important to understand the value of CER from the perspectives of these stakeholders and how that affects their incentives to invest in CER. This article provides a conceptual framework for valuing CER, and illustrates the potential benefits of such studies from a number of perspectives using several case studies. We examine cases in which CER provides value by identifying when one treatment is consistently better than others, when different treatments are preferred for different subgroups, and when differences are small enough that decisions can be made based on price. We illustrate these findings using value-of-information techniques to assess the value of research, and by examining changes in pharmaceutical prices following publication of a comparative effectiveness study. Our results suggest that CER may have high societal value but limited private return to providers or payers. This suggests the importance of public efforts to promote the production of CER. We also conclude that value-of-information tools may help inform policy decisions about how much public funds to invest in CER and how to prioritize the use of available public funds for CER, in particular targeting public CER spending to areas where private incentives are low relative to social benefits. PMID:20831292

Quality assessment of published health economic analyses from South America.

PubMed

Machado, Márcio; Iskedjian, Michael; Einarson, Thomas R

2006-05-01

Health economic analyses have become important to healthcare systems worldwide. No studies have previously examined South America's contribution in this area. To survey the literature with the purpose of reviewing, quantifying, and assessing the quality of published South American health economic analyses. A search of MEDLINE (1990-December 2004), EMBASE (1990-December 2004), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1990-December 2004), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (1982-December 2004), and Sistema de Informacion Esencial en Terapéutica y Salud (1980-December 2004) was completed using the key words cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), cost-utility analysis (CUA), cost-minimization analysis (CMA), and cost-benefit analysis (CBA); abbreviations CEA, CUA, CMA, and CBA; and all South American country names. Papers were categorized by type and country by 2 independent reviewers. Quality was assessed using a 12 item checklist, characterizing scores as 4 (good), 3 (acceptable), 2 (poor), 1 (unable to judge), and 0 (unacceptable). To be included in our investigation, studies needed to have simultaneously examined costs and outcomes. We retrieved 25 articles; one duplicate article was rejected, leaving 24 (CEA = 15, CBA = 6, CMA = 3; Brazil = 9, Argentina = 5, Colombia = 3, Chile = 2, Ecuador = 2, 1 each from Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela). Variability between raters was less than 0.5 point on overall scores (OS) and less than 1 point on all individual items. Mean OS was 2.6 (SD 1.0, range 1.4-3.8). CBAs scored highest (OS 2.8, SD 0.8), CEAs next (OS 2.7, SD 0.7), and CMAs lowest (OS 2.0, SD 0.5). When scored by type of question, definition of study aim scored highest (OS 3.0, SD 0.8), while ethical issues scored lowest (OS 1.5, SD 0.9). By country, Peru scored highest (mean OS 3.8) and Uruguay had the lowest scores (mean OS 2.2). A nonsignificant time trend was noted for OS (R2 = 0.12; p = 0.104). Quality scores of health economic analyses

Assessment of potential economic and environmental impacts caused by Phytophthora ramorum in Europe

Treesearch

Hella Kehlenbeck

2008-01-01

Economic and environmental impacts of Phytophthora ramorum in Europe were evaluated within the European Union framework 6 project on ?Risk Analysis for P. ramorum a pathogen threat to Europe? (RAPRA). Impact assessment was conducted according to three different scenarios: 1. ?Nursery System? - describes losses occurring in...

Environmental & economic life cycle assessment of current & future sewage sludge to energy technologies.

PubMed

Mills, N; Pearce, P; Farrow, J; Thorpe, R B; Kirkby, N F

2014-01-01

The UK Water Industry currently generates approximately 800GWh pa of electrical energy from sewage sludge. Traditionally energy recovery from sewage sludge features Anaerobic Digestion (AD) with biogas utilisation in combined heat and power (CHP) systems. However, the industry is evolving and a number of developments that extract more energy from sludge are either being implemented or are nearing full scale demonstration. This study compared five technology configurations: 1 - conventional AD with CHP, 2 - Thermal Hydrolysis Process (THP) AD with CHP, 3 - THP AD with bio-methane grid injection, 4 - THP AD with CHP followed by drying of digested sludge for solid fuel production, 5 - THP AD followed by drying, pyrolysis of the digested sludge and use of the both the biogas and the pyrolysis gas in a CHP. The economic and environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) found that both the post AD drying options performed well but the option used to create a solid fuel to displace coal (configuration 4) was the most sustainable solution economically and environmentally, closely followed by the pyrolysis configuration (5). Application of THP improves the financial and environmental performance compared with conventional AD. Producing bio-methane for grid injection (configuration 3) is attractive financially but has the worst environmental impact of all the scenarios, suggesting that the current UK financial incentive policy for bio-methane is not driving best environmental practice. It is clear that new and improving processes and technologies are enabling significant opportunities for further energy recovery from sludge; LCA provides tools for determining the best overall options for particular situations and allows innovation resources and investment to be focused accordingly. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A Comparative Judgement Approach to Teacher Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahon, Suzanne; Jones, Ian

2015-01-01

We report one teacher's response to a top-down shift from external examinations to internal teacher assessment for summative purposes in the Republic of Ireland. The teacher adopted a comparative judgement approach to the assessment of secondary students' understanding of a chemistry experiment. The aims of the research were to investigate whether…

A data envelope analysis to assess factors affecting technical and economic efficiency of individual broiler breeder hens.

PubMed

Romero, L F; Zuidhof, M J; Jeffrey, S R; Naeima, A; Renema, R A; Robinson, F E

2010-08-01

This study evaluated the effect of feed allocation and energetic efficiency on technical and economic efficiency of broiler breeder hens using the data envelope analysis methodology and quantified the effect of variables affecting technical efficiency. A total of 288 Ross 708 pullets were placed in individual cages at 16 wk of age and assigned to 1 of 4 feed allocation groups. Three of them had feed allocated on a group basis with divergent BW targets: standard, high (standard x 1.1), and low (standard x 0.9). The fourth group had feed allocated on an individual bird basis following the standard BW target. Birds were classified in 3 energetic efficiency categories: low, average, and high, based on estimated maintenance requirements. Technical efficiency considered saleable chicks as output and cumulative ME intake and time as inputs. Economic efficiency of feed allocation treatments was analyzed under different cost scenarios. Birds with low feed allocation exhibited a lower technical efficiency (69.4%) than standard (72.1%), which reflected a reduced egg production rate. Feed allocation of the high treatment could have been reduced by 10% with the same chick production as the standard treatment. The low treatment exhibited reduced economic efficiency at greater capital costs, whereas high had reduced economic efficiency at greater feed costs. The average energetic efficiency hens had a lower technical efficiency in the low compared with the standard feed allocation. A 1% increment in estimated maintenance requirement changed technical efficiency by -0.23%, whereas a 1% increment in ME intake had a -0.47% effect. The negative relationship between technical efficiency and ME intake was counterbalanced by a positive correlation of ME intake and egg production. The negative relationship of technical efficiency and maintenance requirements was synergized by a negative correlation of hen maintenance and egg production. Economic efficiency methodologies are effective

The potentials and challenges of algae based biofuels: a review of the techno-economic, life cycle, and resource assessment modeling.

PubMed

Quinn, Jason C; Davis, Ryan

2015-05-01

Microalgae biofuel production has been extensively evaluated through resource, economic and life cycle assessments. Resource assessments consistently identify land as non-limiting and highlight the need to consider siting based on combined geographical constraints of land and other critical resources such as water and carbon dioxide. Economic assessments report a selling cost of fuel that ranges between $1.64 and over $30 gal(-1) consistent with large variability reported in the life cycle literature, -75 to 534 gCO2-eq MJ(-1). Large drivers behind such variability stem from differences in productivity assumptions, pathway technologies, and system boundaries. Productivity represents foundational units in these assessments with current assumed yields in various assessments varying by a factor of 60. A review of the literature in these areas highlights the need for harmonized assessments such that direct comparisons of alternative processing technologies can be made on the metrics of resource requirements, economic feasibility, and environmental impact. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrated Assessment of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ghana — Part 3: Social Sciences and Economics

PubMed Central

Wilson, Mark L.; Renne, Elisha; Roncoli, Carla; Agyei-Baffour, Peter; Yamoah Tenkorang, Emmanuel

2015-01-01

This article is one of three synthesis reports resulting from an integrated assessment (IA) of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana. Given the complexities that involve multiple drivers and diverse disciplines influencing ASGM, an IA framework was used to analyze economic, social, health, and environmental data and to co-develop evidence-based responses in collaboration with pertinent stakeholders. We look at both micro- and macro-economic processes surrounding ASGM, including causes, challenges, and consequences. At the micro-level, social and economic evidence suggests that the principal reasons whereby most people engage in ASGM involve “push” factors aimed at meeting livelihood goals. ASGM provides an important source of income for both proximate and distant communities, representing a means of survival for impoverished farmers as well as an engine for small business growth. However, miners and their families often end up in a “poverty trap” of low productivity and indebtedness, which reduce even further their economic options. At a macro level, Ghana’s ASGM activities contribute significantly to the national economy even though they are sometimes operating illegally and at a disadvantage compared to large-scale industrial mining companies. Nevertheless, complex issues of land tenure, social stability, mining regulation and taxation, and environmental degradation undermine the viability and sustainability of ASGM as a livelihood strategy. Although more research is needed to understand these complex relationships, we point to key findings and insights from social science and economics research that can guide policies and actions aimed to address the unique challenges of ASGM in Ghana and elsewhere. PMID:26184277

Designing sustainable and economically attractive brownfield revitalization options using an integrated assessment model.

PubMed

Schädler, S; Morio, M; Bartke, S; Rohr-Zänker, R; Finkel, M

2011-03-01

We describe the development of an integrated assessment model which evaluates redevelopment options of large contaminated brownfields and we present the application of the model in a case study. Aiming to support efficient and sustainable revitalization and communication between stakeholders, the presented assessment model integrates three pinnacles of brownfield revitalization: (i) subsurface remediation and site preparation costs, (ii) market-oriented economic appraisal, and (iii) the expected contribution of planned future land use to sustainable community and regional development. For the assessment, focus is set on the early stage of the brownfield redevelopment process, which is characterized by limited data availability and by flexibility in land use planning and development scope. At this stage, revealing the consequences of adjustments and alterations in planning options can foster efficiency in communication between the involved parties and thereby facilitates the brownfield revitalization process. Results from the case-study application indicate that the integrated assessment provides help in the identification of land use options beneficial in both a sustainable and an economical sense. For the study site it is shown on one hand that brownfield redevelopment is not automatically in line with sustainable regional development, and on the other hand it is demonstrated that additional contributions to sustainability are not intrinsically tied to increased costs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Returns to Education in the Economic Transition: A Systematic Assessment Using Comparable Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flabbi, Luca; Paternostro, Stefano; Tiongson, Erwin R.

2008-01-01

This paper studies a sample of economies in transition to verify the assertion that returns to schooling increase as an economy transitions to a market environment. This claim has been difficult to assess in the past as the empirical evidence so far has covered only a few countries over short time periods. A number of studies find that returns to…

Regional economic impact assessment: Evaluating remedial alternatives for the Portland Harbor Superfund Site, Portland, Oregon, USA.

PubMed

Harrison, David; Coughlin, Conor; Hogan, Dylan; Edwards, Deborah A; Smith, Benjamin C

2018-01-01

The present paper describes a methodology for evaluating impacts of Superfund remedial alternatives on the regional economy in the context of a broader sustainability evaluation. Although economic impact methodology is well established, some applications to Superfund remedial evaluation have created confusion because of seemingly contradictory results. This confusion arises from failure to be explicit about 2 opposing impacts of remediation expenditures: 1) positive regional impacts of spending additional money in the region and 2) negative regional impacts of the need to pay for the expenditures (and thus forgo other expenditures in the region). The present paper provides a template for economic impact assessment that takes both positive and negative impacts into account, thus providing comprehensive estimates of net impacts. The paper also provides a strategy for identifying and estimating major uncertainties in the net impacts. The recommended methodology was applied at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site, located along the Lower Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, USA. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) developed remedial alternatives that it estimated would cost up to several billion dollars, with construction durations possibly lasting decades. The economic study estimated regional economic impacts-measured in terms of gross regional product (GRP), personal income, population, and employment-for 5 of the USEPA alternatives relative to the "no further action" alternative. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:32-42. © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Clinical and economic impact of mirabegron compared with antimuscarinics for the treatment of overactive bladder in Canada.

PubMed

Hakimi, Zalmai; Nazir, Jameel; McCrea, Charles; Berling, Malin; Fatoye, Francis; Ramos, Barbara; Wagg, Adrian

2017-06-01

The β 3 -adrenoceptor agonist, mirabegron, and antimuscarinic agents provide similar efficacy for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB), but mirabegron appears to be associated with better persistence, perhaps due to an absence of anticholinergic side-effects. This study estimated the expected costs associated with the management of OAB in Canada from a societal perspective by utilizing real-world evidence. An economic model with monthly cycles and a 1-year time horizon was developed to depict a treatment pathway for a hypothetical cohort of 100 patients with OAB. At model entry, patients receive mirabegron or an antimuscarinic. Patients who do not persist may switch treatment, undergo a minimally invasive procedure, or remain symptomatic (uncontrolled). The model includes direct costs (e.g. physician visits) and indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity). A one-way univariate sensitivity analysis assessed a ±20% variation in each of the key model inputs. At 1 year, a greater proportion of patients persisted on treatment with mirabegron compared with antimuscarinics (33% vs 15-23%), and a smaller proportion switched treatment (17% vs 20-22%). The number of healthcare visits (292 vs 299-304), pads used (74,098 vs 77,878-81,669), and work hours lost (4,497 vs 5,372-6,249) were all lower for mirabegron vs antimuscarinics. The estimated total annual cost of treatment per patient with mirabegron was $2,127.46 Canadian dollars (CAD) ($5.82 CAD/day) compared with $2,150.20-$2,496.69 CAD ($5.89-$6.84 CAD/day) for antimuscarinics. The one-way sensitivity analysis indicated the results are robust. Improved persistence observed in routine clinical practice with mirabegron appears to translate into benefits of reduced healthcare resource use, and lower direct and indirect costs of treatment compared with antimuscarinics. Overall, these data suggest that mirabegron may offer clinical and economic benefits for the management of patients with OAB in Canada.

Temporal trends in BMI in Argentina by socio-economic position and province-level economic development, 2005-2009.

PubMed

Christine, Paul J; Diez Roux, Ana V; Wing, Jeffrey J; Alazraqui, Marcio; Spinelli, Hugo

2015-04-01

We investigated temporal trends in BMI, and assessed hypothesized predictors of trends including socio-economic position (SEP) and province-level economic development, in Argentina. Using multivariable linear regression, we evaluated cross-sectional patterning and temporal trends in BMI and examined heterogeneity in these associations by SEP and province-level economic development with nationally representative samples from Argentina in 2005 and 2009. We calculated mean annual changes in BMI for men and women to assess secular trends. Women, but not men, exhibited a strong cross-sectional inverse association between SEP and BMI, with the lowest-SEP women having an average BMI 2.55 kg/m(2) greater than the highest-SEP women. Analysis of trends revealed a mean annual increase in BMI of 0.19 kg/m(2) and 0.15 kg/m(2) for women and men, respectively, with slightly greater increases occurring in provinces with greater economic growth. No significant heterogeneity in trends existed by individual SEP. BMI is increasing rapidly over time in Argentina irrespective of various sociodemographic characteristics. Higher BMI remains more common in women of lower SEP compared with those of higher SEP.

Health Economic Data in Reimbursement of New Medical Technologies: Importance of the Socio-Economic Burden as a Decision-Making Criterion.

PubMed

Iskrov, Georgi; Dermendzhiev, Svetlan; Miteva-Katrandzhieva, Tsonka; Stefanov, Rumen

2016-01-01

Assessment and appraisal of new medical technologies require a balance between the interests of different stakeholders. Final decision should take into account the societal value of new therapies. This perspective paper discusses the socio-economic burden of disease as a specific reimbursement decision-making criterion and calls for the inclusion of it as a counterbalance to the cost-effectiveness and budget impact criteria. Socio-economic burden is a decision-making criterion, accounting for diseases, for which the assessed medical technology is indicated. This indicator is usually researched through cost-of-illness studies that systematically quantify the socio-economic burden of diseases on the individual and on the society. This is a very important consideration as it illustrates direct budgetary consequences of diseases in the health system and indirect costs associated with patient or carer productivity losses. By measuring and comparing the socio-economic burden of different diseases to society, health authorities and payers could benefit in optimizing priority setting and resource allocation. New medical technologies, especially innovative therapies, present an excellent case study for the inclusion of socio-economic burden in reimbursement decision-making. Assessment and appraisal have been greatly concentrated so far on cost-effectiveness and budget impact, marginalizing all other considerations. In this context, data on disease burden and inclusion of explicit criterion of socio-economic burden in reimbursement decision-making may be highly beneficial. Realizing the magnitude of the lost socio-economic contribution resulting from diseases in question could be a reasonable way for policy makers to accept a higher valuation of innovative therapies.

Methodological approach for assessing the economic impact of forest fires using MODIS remote sensing images

Treesearch

Francisco Rodríguez y Silva; Juan Ramón Molina Martínez; Miguel Castillo Soto

2013-01-01

Assessing areas affected by forest fires requires comprehensive studies covering a wide range of analyzes. From an economic standpoint, assessing the affected area in monetary terms is crucial. Determining the degree of loss in the value of natural resources, both those of a tangible and intangible nature, enables knowing the residual value remaining after a fire, i.e...

Government use licenses in Thailand: an assessment of the health and economic impacts.

PubMed

Yamabhai, Inthira; Mohara, Adun; Tantivess, Sripen; Chaisiri, Kakanang; Teerawattananon, Yot

2011-08-14

Between 2006 and 2008, Thailand's Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) granted government use licenses for seven patented drugs in order to improve access to these essential treatments. The decision to grant the government use licenses was contentious both within and beyond the country. In particular, concerns were highlighted that the negative consequences might outweigh the expected benefits of the policy. This study conducted assessments of the health and economic implications of these government use licenses. The health and health-related economic impacts were quantified in terms of i) Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) gained and ii) increased productivity in US dollars (USD) as a result of the increased access to drugs. The study adopted a five-year timeframe for the assessment, commencing from the time of the grant of the government use licenses. Empirical evidence gathered from national databases was used to assess the changes in volume of exports after US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) withdrawal and level of foreign direct investment (FDI). As a result of the granting of the government use licenses, an additional 84,158 patients were estimated to have received access to the seven drugs over five years. Health gains from the use of the seven drugs compared to their best alternative accounted for 12,493 QALYs gained, which translates into quantifiable incremental benefits to society of USD132.4 million. The government use license on efavirenze was found to have the greatest benefit. In respect of the country's economy, the study found that Thailand's overall exports increased overtime, although exports of the three US GSP withdrawal products to the US did decline. There was also found to be no relationship between the government use licenses and the level of foreign investment over the period 2002 to 2008. The public health benefits of the government use licenses were generally positive. Specifically, the policy helped to increase access to patented

Government use licenses in Thailand: an assessment of the health and economic impacts

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Between 2006 and 2008, Thailand's Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) granted government use licenses for seven patented drugs in order to improve access to these essential treatments. The decision to grant the government use licenses was contentious both within and beyond the country. In particular, concerns were highlighted that the negative consequences might outweigh the expected benefits of the policy. This study conducted assessments of the health and economic implications of these government use licenses. Methods The health and health-related economic impacts were quantified in terms of i) Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) gained and ii) increased productivity in US dollars (USD) as a result of the increased access to drugs. The study adopted a five-year timeframe for the assessment, commencing from the time of the grant of the government use licenses. Empirical evidence gathered from national databases was used to assess the changes in volume of exports after US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) withdrawal and level of foreign direct investment (FDI). Results As a result of the granting of the government use licenses, an additional 84,158 patients were estimated to have received access to the seven drugs over five years. Health gains from the use of the seven drugs compared to their best alternative accounted for 12,493 QALYs gained, which translates into quantifiable incremental benefits to society of USD132.4 million. The government use license on efavirenze was found to have the greatest benefit. In respect of the country's economy, the study found that Thailand's overall exports increased overtime, although exports of the three US GSP withdrawal products to the US did decline. There was also found to be no relationship between the government use licenses and the level of foreign investment over the period 2002 to 2008. Conclusions The public health benefits of the government use licenses were generally positive. Specifically, the policy

Virtual chromoendoscopy for the real-time assessment of colorectal polyps in vivo: a systematic review and economic evaluation.

PubMed

Picot, Joanna; Rose, Micah; Cooper, Keith; Pickett, Karen; Lord, Joanne; Harris, Petra; Whyte, Sophie; Böhning, Dankmar; Shepherd, Jonathan

2017-12-01

Current clinical practice is to remove a colorectal polyp detected during colonoscopy and determine whether it is an adenoma or hyperplastic by histopathology. Identifying adenomas is important because they may eventually become cancerous if untreated, whereas hyperplastic polyps do not usually develop into cancer, and a surveillance interval is set based on the number and size of adenomas found. Virtual chromoendoscopy (VCE) (an electronic endoscopic imaging technique) could be used by the endoscopist under strictly controlled conditions for real-time optical diagnosis of diminutive (≤ 5 mm) colorectal polyps to replace histopathological diagnosis. To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the VCE technologies narrow-band imaging (NBI), flexible spectral imaging colour enhancement (FICE) and i-scan for the characterisation and management of diminutive (≤ 5 mm) colorectal polyps using high-definition (HD) systems without magnification. Systematic review and economic analysis. People undergoing colonoscopy for screening or surveillance or to investigate symptoms suggestive of colorectal cancer. NBI, FICE and i-scan. Diagnostic accuracy, recommended surveillance intervals, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), adverse effects, incidence of colorectal cancer, mortality and cost-effectiveness of VCE compared with histopathology. Electronic bibliographic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects were searched for published English-language studies from inception to June 2016. Bibliographies of related papers, systematic reviews and company information were screened and experts were contacted to identify additional evidence. Systematic reviews of test accuracy and economic evaluations were undertaken in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. Meta-analyses were conducted, where possible, to inform the independent

A systematic review of model-based economic evaluations of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for lower extremity artery disease.

PubMed

Vaidya, Anil; Joore, Manuela A; ten Cate-Hoek, Arina J; Kleinegris, Marie-Claire; ten Cate, Hugo; Severens, Johan L

2014-01-01

Lower extremity artery disease (LEAD) is a sign of wide spread atherosclerosis also affecting coronary, cerebral and renal arteries and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. Many economic evaluations have been published for LEAD due to its clinical, social and economic importance. The aim of this systematic review was to assess modelling methods used in published economic evaluations in the field of LEAD. Our review appraised and compared the general characteristics, model structure and methodological quality of published models. Electronic databases MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched until February 2013 via OVID interface. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, Health Technology Assessment database hosted by National Institute for Health research and National Health Services Economic Evaluation Database (NHSEED) were also searched. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed by using the Philips' checklist. Sixteen model-based economic evaluations were identified and included. Eleven models compared therapeutic health technologies; three models compared diagnostic tests and two models compared a combination of diagnostic and therapeutic options for LEAD. Results of this systematic review revealed an acceptable to low methodological quality of the included studies. Methodological diversity and insufficient information posed a challenge for valid comparison of the included studies. In conclusion, there is a need for transparent, methodologically comparable and scientifically credible model-based economic evaluations in the field of LEAD. Future modelling studies should include clinically and economically important cardiovascular outcomes to reflect the wider impact of LEAD on individual patients and on the society.

Cultural, Social, and Economic Capital Constructs in International Assessments: An Evaluation Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caro, Daniel H.; Sandoval-Hernández, Andrés; Lüdtke, Oliver

2014-01-01

The article employs exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to evaluate constructs of economic, cultural, and social capital in international large-scale assessment (LSA) data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009. ESEM integrates the…

Economic evaluation of the randomized European Achalasia trial comparing pneumodilation with Laparoscopic Heller myotomy.

PubMed

Moonen, A; Busch, O; Costantini, M; Finotti, E; Tack, J; Salvador, R; Boeckxstaens, G; Zaninotto, G

2017-11-01

A recent multicenter randomized trial in achalasia patients has shown that pneumatic dilation resulted in equivalent relief of symptoms compared to laparoscopic Heller myotomy. Additionally, the cost of each treatment should be also taken in consideration. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to perform an economic analysis of the European achalasia trial. Patients with newly diagnosed achalasia were enrolled from to 2003 to 2008 in 14 centers in five European countries and were randomly assigned to either pneumatic dilation (PD) or laparoscopic Heller (LHM). The economic analysis was performed in the three centers in three different countries where most patients were enrolled (Amsterdam [NL], Leuven, [B] and Padova [I]) and then applied to all patients included in the study. The total raw costs of the two treatments per patient include the initial costs, the costs of complications, and the costs of retreatments. Two hundred and one patients, 107 (57 males and 50 females, mean age 46 CI: 43-49 years) were randomized to LHM and 94 (59 males and 34 females, mean age 46 CI 43-50 years) to PD. The total cost of PD per patient was quite comparable in the three different centers; €3397 in Padova, €3259 in Amsterdam and €3792 in Leuven. For LHM, the total costs per patient were highest in Amsterdam: €4488 in Padova, €6720 in Amsterdam, and €5856 in Leuven. In conclusion, the strategy of treating achalasia starting with PD appears the most economic approach, independent of the health system. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Agricultural climate impacts assessment for economic modeling and decision support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomson, A. M.; Izaurralde, R. C.; Beach, R.; Zhang, X.; Zhao, K.; Monier, E.

2013-12-01

A range of approaches can be used in the application of climate change projections to agricultural impacts assessment. Climate projections can be used directly to drive crop models, which in turn can be used to provide inputs for agricultural economic or integrated assessment models. These model applications, and the transfer of information between models, must be guided by the state of the science. But the methodology must also account for the specific needs of stakeholders and the intended use of model results beyond pure scientific inquiry, including meeting the requirements of agencies responsible for designing and assessing policies, programs, and regulations. Here we present methodology and results of two climate impacts studies that applied climate model projections from CMIP3 and from the EPA Climate Impacts and Risk Analysis (CIRA) project in a crop model (EPIC - Environmental Policy Indicator Climate) in order to generate estimates of changes in crop productivity for use in an agricultural economic model for the United States (FASOM - Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model). The FASOM model is a forward-looking dynamic model of the US forest and agricultural sector used to assess market responses to changing productivity of alternative land uses. The first study, focused on climate change impacts on the UDSA crop insurance program, was designed to use available daily climate projections from the CMIP3 archive. The decision to focus on daily data for this application limited the climate model and time period selection significantly; however for the intended purpose of assessing impacts on crop insurance payments, consideration of extreme event frequency was critical for assessing periodic crop failures. In a second, coordinated impacts study designed to assess the relative difference in climate impacts under a no-mitigation policy and different future climate mitigation scenarios, the stakeholder specifically requested an assessment of a

A Comparative Analysis of Life-Cycle Assessment Tools for End-of-Life Materials Management Systems

EPA Science Inventory

We identified and evaluated five life-cycle assessment tools that community decision makers can use to assess the environmental and economic impacts of end-of-life (EOL) materials management options. The tools evaluated in this report are waste reduction mode (WARM), municipal s...

Review of US Comparative Economic Evidence for Treatment of Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma after Failure of First-Line VEGF Inhibitor Therapy

PubMed Central

Wong, Michael K.; Wang, Xufang; Chulikavit, Maruit J.; Liu, Zhimei

2013-01-01

Background In 2006, the economic burden of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) was estimated to be up to $1.6 billion worldwide and has since grown annually. With the continuing increase of the economic burden of this disease in the United States, there is a growing need for economic analyses to guide treatment and policy decisions for this patient population. Objective To evaluate available comparative economic data on targeted therapies for patients with mRCC who have failed first-line targeted therapies. Method A broad and comprehensive literature review was conducted of US-based studies between January 1, 2005, and February 11, 2013, evaluating comparative economic evidence for targeted agents that are used as second-line therapy or beyond. Based on the specific search parameters that focused on cost-effectiveness and economic comparisons between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/VEGF receptor (VEGFr) inhibitors and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, only 7 relevant, US-based economic evaluations were found appropriate for inclusion in the analysis. All authors, who are experts in the health economics and outcomes research field, reviewed the search results. Studies of interest were those with a targeted agent, VEGF/VEGFr or mTOR inhibitor, in at least 1 study arm. Discussion As a group, targeted therapies were found to be cost-effective options in treating patients with refractory mRCC in the United States. Oral therapies showed an economic advantage over intravenous agents, presumably because oral therapies have a lower impact on outpatient resources. Based on 3 studies, everolimus has been shown to have an economic advantage over temsirolimus and to be cost-effective compared with sorafenib. No economic comparison between everolimus and axitinib, the only 2 drugs with a National Comprehensive Cancer Network category 1 recommendation for use after the failure of VEGFr tyrosine kinase inhibitors, is available. Conclusion The limited

Economic burden of primary compared with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection in hospitalized patients: a prospective cohort study.

PubMed

Shah, D N; Aitken, S L; Barragan, L F; Bozorgui, S; Goddu, S; Navarro, M E; Xie, Y; DuPont, H L; Garey, K W

2016-07-01

Few studies have investigated the additional healthcare costs of recurrent C. difficile infection (CDI). To quantify inpatient treatment costs for CDI and length of stay among hospitalized patients with primary CDI only, compared with CDI patients who experienced recurrent CDI. This was a prospective, observational cohort study of hospitalized adult patients with primary CDI followed for three months to assess for recurrent CDI episodes. Total and CDI-attributable hospital length of stay (LOS) and hospitalization costs were compared among patients who did or did not experience at least one recurrent CDI episode. In all, 540 hospitalized patients aged 62±17 years (42% males) with primary CDI were enrolled, of whom 95 patients (18%) experienced 101 recurrent CDI episodes. CDI-attributable median (interquartile range) LOS and costs (in US$) increased from 7 (4-13) days and $13,168 (7,525-24,456) for patients with primary CDI only versus 15 (8-25) days and $28,218 (15,050-47,030) for patients with recurrent CDI (P<0.0001, each). Total hospital median LOS and costs increased from 11 (6-22) days and $20,693 (11,287-41,386) for patients with primary CDI only versus 24 (11-48) days and $45,148 (20,693-82,772) for patients with recurrent CDI (P<0.0001, each). The median cost of pharmacological treatment while hospitalized was $60 (23-200) for patients with primary CDI only (N=445) and $140 (30-260) for patients with recurrent CDI (P=0.0013). This study demonstrated that patients with CDI experience a significant healthcare economic burden attributed to CDI. Economic costs and healthcare burden increased significantly for patients with recurrent CDI. Copyright © 2016 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Retrospective database study to assess the economic impact of hip fracture in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Lambrelli, Dimitra; Burge, Russel; Raluy-Callado, Mireia; Chen, Shih-Yin; Wu, Ning; Schoenfeld, Michael J

2014-11-01

Publications containing recent, real-world data on the economic impact of hip fractures in the UK are lacking. This retrospective electronic medical records database analysis assessed medication and healthcare resource use, direct healthcare costs, and factors predicting increased resource use and costs in adult UK hip fracture patients. Data were obtained from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to the Hospital Episode Statistics for adult patients hospitalized for their first hip fracture between January 1, 2006 and March 31, 2011 (index event); healthcare costs were calculated from the National Health Service perspective using 2011-2012 cost data. Data from 8028 patients were analyzed. Resource use and costs were statistically significantly higher in the year following fracture (mean total [standard deviation (SD)] cost £7359 [£14,937]) compared with the year before fracture (mean total [SD] cost £3122 [£9435]; p < 0.001), and were similar to the total amount of the index hospitalization (mean total [SD] cost £8330 [£2627]). Multivariate regression analysis (using an estimated generalized linear model) showed that older age, male gender, higher comorbidity, osteoporosis, discharge to another institution compared with home, and pre-index hospitalization and outpatient visits were associated with increased post-index hospitalization healthcare costs (all p < 0.05). Although we did not capture all pre- and post-index costs and healthcare utilization, this study provides important insights regarding the characteristics of patients with hip fracture, and information that will be useful in burden-of-illness and economic analyses.

Technical and economic assessment of span-distributed loading cargo aircraft concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitlow, D. H.; Whitner, P. C.

1976-01-01

A preliminary design study of the performance and economics resulting from the application of the distributed load concept to large freighter aircraft was made. The study was limited to configurations having the payload entirely contained in unswept wings of constant chord with conventional tail surfaces supported from the wing by twin booms. A parametric study based on current technology showed that increases in chord had a similar effect on the economics as increases in span. Increases in both span and chord or airplane size had the largest and most favorable effect. At 600,000 lbs payload a configuration was selected and refined to incorporate advanced technology that could be in production by 1990 and compared with a reference conventional airplane having similar technology.

Nutrition economics - characterising the economic and health impact of nutrition.

PubMed

Lenoir-Wijnkoop, I; Dapoigny, M; Dubois, D; van Ganse, E; Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, I; Hutton, J; Jones, P; Mittendorf, T; Poley, M J; Salminen, S; Nuijten, M J C

2011-01-01

There is a new merging of health economics and nutrition disciplines to assess the impact of diet on health and disease prevention and to characterise the health and economic aspects of specific changes in nutritional behaviour and nutrition recommendations. A rationale exists for developing the field of nutrition economics which could offer a better understanding of both nutrition, in the context of having a significant influence on health outcomes, and economics, in order to estimate the absolute and relative monetary impact of health measures. For this purpose, an expert meeting assessed questions aimed at clarifying the scope and identifying the key issues that should be taken into consideration in developing nutrition economics as a discipline that could potentially address important questions. We propose a first multidisciplinary outline for understanding the principles and particular characteristics of this emerging field. We summarise here the concepts and the observations of workshop participants and propose a basic setting for nutrition economics and health outcomes research as a novel discipline to support nutrition, health economics and health policy development in an evidence and health-benefit-based manner.

Cervical degenerative disease: systematic review of economic analyses.

PubMed

Alvin, Matthew D; Qureshi, Sheeraz; Klineberg, Eric; Riew, K Daniel; Fischer, Dena J; Norvell, Daniel C; Mroz, Thomas E

2014-10-15

Systematic review. To perform an evidence-based synthesis of the literature assessing the cost-effectiveness of surgery for patients with symptomatic cervical degenerative disc disease (DDD). Cervical DDD is a common cause of clinical syndromes such as neck pain, cervical radiculopathy, and myelopathy. The appropriate surgical intervention(s) for a given problem is controversial, especially with regard to quality-of-life outcomes, complications, and costs. Although there have been many studies comparing outcomes and complications, relatively few have compared costs and, more importantly, cost-effectiveness of the interventions. We conducted a systematic search in PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Collaboration Library, the Cost-Effectiveness Analysis registry database, and the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database for full economic evaluations published through January 16, 2014. Identification of full economic evaluations that were explicitly designed to evaluate and synthesize the costs and consequences of surgical procedures or surgical intervention with nonsurgical management in patients with cervical DDD were considered for inclusion, based on 4 key questions. Five studies were included, each specific to 1 or more of our focus questions. Two studies suggested that cervical disc replacement may be more cost-effective compared with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Two studies comparing anterior with posterior surgical procedures for cervical spondylotic myelopathy suggested that anterior surgery was more cost-effective than posterior surgery. One study suggested that posterior cervical foraminotomy had a greater net economic benefit than anterior cervical discectomy and fusion in a military population with unilateral cervical radiculopathy. No studies assessed the cost-effectiveness of surgical intervention compared with nonoperative treatment of cervical myelopathy or radiculopathy, although it is acknowledged that existing studies

Socio-economic inequality in multiple health complaints among adolescents: international comparative study in 37 countries.

PubMed

Holstein, Bjørn E; Currie, Candace; Boyce, Will; Damsgaard, Mogens T; Gobina, Inese; Kökönyei, Gyöngyi; Hetland, Jørn; de Looze, Margaretha; Richter, Matthias; Due, Pernille

2009-09-01

To use comparable data from many countries to examine 1) socio-economic inequality in multiple health complaints among adolescents, 2) whether the countries' absolute wealth and economic inequality was associated with symptom load among adolescents, and 3) whether the countries' absolute wealth and economic inequality explained part of the individual level socio-economic variation in health complaints. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) international study from 2005/06 provided data on 204,534 11-, 13- and 15-year old students from nationally random samples of schools in 37 countries in Europe and North America. The outcome measure was prevalence of at least two daily health complaints, measured by the HBSC Symptom Check List. We included three independent variables at the individual level (sex, age group, family affluence measured by the Family Affluence Scale FAS) and two macro level measures on the country's economic situation: wealth measured by Gross National Product (GNP) and distribution of income measured by the Gini coefficient. There was a significant socio-economic variation in health complaints in 31 of the 37 countries. The overall OR (95 % CI) for 2+ daily health complaints for all countries was 1.31 (1.27-1.36) in the medium versus high FAS group and 2.07 (2.00-2.14) in the low versus high FAS group. This socio-economic gradient in health complaints attenuated somewhat in the multilevel models which included macro level data. There was no association between GNP and health complaints. The OR for high symptom load was 1.35 (1.08-1.69) per 10 % increase in Gini coefficient. The socio-economic gradient in health complaints at the individual level was somewhat attenuated in the multilevel models which included macro level data. There was a significant association between low FAS and high level of health complaints in 30 of 37 countries. Health complaints increased significantly by increasing income inequality in the country.

Current impact of gene technology on healthcare. A map of economic assessments.

PubMed

Rogowski, Wolf

2007-02-01

It has been claimed that gene technology will induce revolutionary changes in healthcare. This paper investigates how and to what extent these changes have been economically assessed. A generic framework was developed to distinguish between methodologically similar evaluations of healthcare technology. Methodological issues and the current state of economic evidence concerning human DNA technology were extracted from publications within these groups of evaluations. Economic evaluations of "healthcare consisting of gene technology" were identified primarily for in vitro diagnostics for hereditary disease and others for pharmacogenetics and molecular pathology. "Healthcare enabled by gene technology" is far more encompassing and includes, e.g., biotechnology drugs for which various health economic evaluations can be found. Yet here, the impact of gene technology intertwines with the impact of other technologies and is therefore hardly susceptible to evaluation. The fields of evaluation may be classified best according to the two dimensions "purpose" and "stage of development". Current evaluations cover screening, diagnostic and treatment technologies in investigational, new and established stages. Apart from prenatal screening, healthcare consisting of gene technology was cost saving only for genotype tests replacing continuous phenotype tests and for one pharmacogenetic test. Conclusive evidence of favourable cost-effectiveness ratios is available only for few conditions. Hypotheses about the impact of gene technology on healthcare must be explicit about the definition of "genetic" medicine. A general statement regarding healthcare enabled by gene technology is not possible. Based on current evidence, an era of healthcare consisting of gene technology built on widespread predictive testing is not desirable from a health economic viewpoint.

Low-carbon energy policy and ambient air pollution in Shanghai, China: a health-based economic assessment.

PubMed

Chen, Changhong; Chen, Bingheng; Wang, Bingyan; Huang, Cheng; Zhao, Jing; Dai, Yi; Kan, Haidong

2007-02-01

Energy and related health issues are of growing concern worldwide today. To investigate the potential public health and economic impact of ambient air pollution under various low-carbon energy scenarios in Shanghai, we estimated the exposure level of Shanghai residents to air pollution under various planned scenarios, and assessed the public health impact using concentration-response functions derived from available epidemiologic studies. We then estimated the corresponding economic values of the health effects based on unit values for each health outcome. Our results show that ambient air pollution in relation to low-carbon energy scenarios could have a significant impact on the future health status of Shanghai residents, both in physical and monetary terms. Compared with the base case scenario, implementation of various low-carbon energy scenarios could prevent 2804-8249 and 9870-23,100 PM10-related avoidable deaths (mid-value) in 2010 and 2020, respectively. It could also decrease incidence of several relevant diseases. The corresponding economic benefits could reach 507.31-1492.33 and 2642.45-6192.11 million U.S. dollars (mid-value) in 2010 and 2020, respectively. These findings illustrate that a low-carbon energy policy will not only decrease the emission of greenhouse gases, but also play an active role in the reduction of air pollutant emissions, improvement of air quality, and promotion of public health. Our estimates can provide useful information to local decision-makers for further cost-benefit analysis.

Do health economic evaluations using observational data provide reliable assessment of treatment effects?

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Economic evaluation in modern health care systems is seen as a transparent scientific framework that can be used to advance progress towards improvements in population health at the best possible value. Despite the perceived superiority that trial-based studies have in terms of internal validity, economic evaluations often employ observational data. In this review, the interface between econometrics and economic evaluation is explored, with emphasis placed on highlighting methodological issues relating to the evaluation of cost-effectiveness within a bivariate framework. Studies that satisfied the eligibility criteria exemplified the use of matching, regression analysis, propensity scores, instrumental variables, as well as difference-in-differences approaches. All studies were reviewed and critically appraised using a structured template. The findings suggest that although state-of-the-art econometric methods have the potential to provide evidence on the causal effects of clinical and policy interventions, their application in economic evaluation is subject to a number of limitations. These range from no credible assessment of key assumptions and scarce evidence regarding the relative performance of different methods, to lack of reporting of important study elements, such as a summary outcome measure and its associated sampling uncertainty. Further research is required to better understand the ways in which observational data should be analysed in the context of the economic evaluation framework. PMID:24229445

An economic assessment of embryo diagnostics (Dx) - the costs of introducing non-invasive embryo diagnostics into IVF standard treatment practices.

PubMed

Fugel, Hans-Joerg; Connolly, Mark; Nuijten, Mark

2014-10-09

New techniques in assessing oocytes and embryo quality are currently explored to improve pregnancy and delivery rates per embryo transfer. While a better understanding of embryo quality could help optimize the existing "in vitro fertilization" (IVF) therapy schemes, it is essential to address the economic viability of such technologies in the healthcare setting. An Embryo-Dx economic model was constructed to assess the cost-effectiveness of 3 different IVF strategies from a payer's perspective; it compares Embryo-Dx with single embryo transfer (SET) to elective single embryo transfer (eSET) and to double embryo transfer (DET) treatment practices. The introduction of a new non-invasive embryo technology (Embryo-Dx) associated with a cost up to €460 is cost-effective compared to eSET and DET based on the cost per live birth. The model assumed that Embryo-Dx will improve ongoing pregnancy rate/realize an absolute improvement in live births of 9% in this case. This study shows that improved embryo diagnosis combined with SET may have the potential to reduce the cost per live birth per couple treated in IVF treatment practices. The results of this study are likely more sensitive to changes in the ongoing pregnancy rate and consequently the live birth rate than the diagnosis costs. The introduction of a validated Embryo-Dx technology will further support a move towards increased eSET procedures in IVF clinical practice and vice versa.

Comparative Effectiveness and Economic Evaluations of Open Versus Minimally Invasive Posterior or Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Goldstein, Christina L; Phillips, Frank M; Rampersaud, Y Raja

2016-04-01

Systematic review of randomized and nonrandomized comparative studies. To summarize the literature examining comparative effectiveness and economic evaluation of minimally invasive versus open transforaminal/posterior lumbar interbody fusion (T/PLIF). Minimally invasive approaches to lumbar fusion have been proposed as an alternative to open surgery to decrease patient morbidity and improve clinical and patient-reported outcomes, with the possibility of secondary cost-savings. The comparative clinical and economic effectiveness of minimally invasive versus open T/PLIF remains largely undetermined. A systematic review of Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane from database inception to September 2015 inclusive was performed. Reference lists were manually searched. Studies comparing MIS to open T/PLIF for degenerative lumbar conditions, including at least 10 patients in each arm and reporting at least one clinical, perioperative, radiographic, adverse event, or economic outcome, were included. Between database inception and October 2015, 45 studies meeting inclusion criteria were identified with 3472 subjects undergoing MIS fusion and 5925 having an open procedure. There were no significant differences in operative time between the two groups, whereas patients undergoing MIS fusion consistently demonstrated less blood loss (16.1-88.7%) and shorter hospital stays (15.0-64.0% shorter). There was no difference in variably reported VAS, ODI, SF-36, SF-12, or EQ-5D scores between the two techniques at intermediate to long-term follow-up (12-60 months). Complication rates and fusion rates were also equivalent between the two groups. Economic studies demonstrate cost-savings in favor of MIS fusion ranging from 2.5 to 49.3%. Limited quality comparative observational cohort and randomized controlled studies of MIS versus open T/PLIF consistently demonstrate improved perioperative outcomes including operative time, estimated blood loss, and length of stay with no

Carbon felt and carbon fiber - A techno-economic assessment of felt electrodes for redox flow battery applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minke, Christine; Kunz, Ulrich; Turek, Thomas

2017-02-01

Carbon felt electrodes belong to the key components of redox flow batteries. The purpose of this techno-economic assessment is to uncover the production costs of PAN- and rayon-based carbon felt electrodes. Raw material costs, energy demand and the impact of processability of fiber and felt are considered. This innovative, interdisciplinary approach combines deep insights into technical, ecologic and economic aspects of carbon felt and carbon fiber production. Main results of the calculation model are mass balances, cumulative energy demands (CED) and the production costs of conventional and biogenic carbon felts supplemented by market assessments considering textile and carbon fibers.

Socio-Economic Wellbeing in Australian Mining Towns: A Comparative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tonts, Matthew; Plummer, Paul; Lawrie, Misty

2012-01-01

Understanding the links between resource dependence and socio-economic wellbeing has long been a subject of interest amongst social scientists in North America. By contrast, relatively few Australian studies exist on this topic. This is despite the significant role of resource industries in shaping Australia's economic and social geography. Where…

Macro-economic assessment of flood risk in Italy under current and future climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrera, Lorenzo; Koks, Elco; Mysiak, Jaroslav; Aerts, Jeroen; Standardi, Gabriele

2014-05-01

This paper explores an integrated methodology for assessing direct and indirect costs of fluvial flooding to estimate current and future fluvial flood risk in Italy. Our methodology combines a Geographic Information System spatial approach, with a general economic equilibrium approach using a downscaled modified version of a Computable General Equilibrium model at NUTS2 scale. Given the level of uncertainty in the behavior of disaster-affected economies, the simulation considers a wide range of business recovery periods. We calculate expected annual losses for each NUTS2 region, and exceedence probability curves to determine probable maximum losses. Given a certain acceptable level of risk, we describe the conditions of flood protection and business recovery periods under which losses are contained within this limit. Because of the difference between direct costs, which are an overestimation of stock losses, and indirect costs, which represent the macro-economic effects, our results have different policy meanings. While the former is relevant for post-disaster recovery, the latter is more relevant for public policy issues, particularly for cost-benefit analysis and resilience assessment.

Fuel cells for automotive powertrains-A techno-economic assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mock, Peter; Schmid, Stephan A.

With the objective of identifying the hurdles currently preventing a widespread application of fuel cell technology in passenger cars an assessment of technical and economic parameters is carried out. Patent and publication analysis is used to assess current status of fuel cell technology regarding its position on technology life cycle. S-curve methodology leads to the conclusion that further scientific activity is to be expected but for today's low-temperature PEM fuel cell technology might level by 2015. Technical analysis identifies power density and platinum loading as parameters for which further improvements are necessary in order to satisfy future customer needs. A detailed cost evaluation suggests that in future for high production volumes (approx. 1 million vehicles cumulative) significantly lower costs for fuel cell stacks (12-40 kW -1) and systems (35-83 kW -1) will be viable. Reducing costs to such a level will have to be the main focus for upcoming research activities in order to make fuel cell driven road vehicles a competitive alternative.

Mixed waste paper to ethanol fuel. A technology, market, and economic assessment for Washington

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-01-01

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the use of mixed waste paper for the production of ethanol fuels and to review the available conversion technologies, and assess developmental status, current and future cost of production and economics, and the market potential. This report is based on the results of literature reviews, telephone conversations, and interviews. Mixed waste paper samples from residential and commercial recycling programs and pulp mill sludge provided by Weyerhauser were analyzed to determine the potential ethanol yields. The markets for ethanol fuel and the economics of converting paper into ethanol were investigated.

Economic Assessment of Zoonoses Surveillance in a 'One Health' Context: A Conceptual Framework.

PubMed

Babo Martins, S; Rushton, J; Stärk, K D C

2016-08-01

Collaboration between animal and public health sectors has been highlighted as a means to improve the management of zoonotic threats. This includes surveillance systems for zoonoses, where enhanced cross-sectoral integration and sharing of information are seen as key to improved public health outcomes. Yet, there is a lack of evidence on the economic returns of such collaboration, particularly in the development and implementation of surveillance programmes. The economic assessment of surveillance in this context needs to be underpinned by the understanding of the links between zoonotic disease surveillance in animal populations and the wider public health disease mitigation process and how these relations impact on the costs and benefits of the surveillance activities. This study presents a conceptual framework of these links as a basis for the economic assessment of cross-sectoral zoonoses surveillance with the aim of supporting the prioritization of resource allocation to surveillance. In the proposed framework, monetary, non-monetary and intermediate or intangible cost components and benefit streams of three conceptually distinct stages of zoonotic disease mitigation are identified. In each stage, as the final disease mitigation objective varies so does the use of surveillance information generated in the animal populations for public health decision-making. Consequently, the associated cost components and benefit streams also change. Building on the proposed framework and taking into account these links, practical steps for its application are presented and future challenges are discussed. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Economic Evaluation and Transferability of Physical Activity Programmes in Primary Prevention: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Wolfenstetter, Silke B.; Wenig, Christina M.

2010-01-01

This systematic review aims to assess the characteristics of, and the clinical and economic evidence provided by, economic evaluations of primary preventive physical exercise interventions, and to analyse their transferability to Germany using recommended checklists. Fifteen economic evaluations from seven different countries met eligibility criteria, with seven of the fifteen providing high economic evidence in the special country context. Most of the identified studies conclude that the investigated intervention provide good value for money compared with alternatives. However, this review shows a high variability of the costing methods between the studies, which limits comparability, generalisability and transferability of the results. PMID:20617050

The role of decision analytic modeling in the health economic assessment of spinal intervention.

PubMed

Edwards, Natalie C; Skelly, Andrea C; Ziewacz, John E; Cahill, Kevin; McGirt, Matthew J

2014-10-15

Narrative review. To review the common tenets, strengths, and weaknesses of decision modeling for health economic assessment and to review the use of decision modeling in the spine literature to date. For the majority of spinal interventions, well-designed prospective, randomized, pragmatic cost-effectiveness studies that address the specific decision-in-need are lacking. Decision analytic modeling allows for the estimation of cost-effectiveness based on data available to date. Given the rising demands for proven value in spine care, the use of decision analytic modeling is rapidly increasing by clinicians and policy makers. This narrative review discusses the general components of decision analytic models, how decision analytic models are populated and the trade-offs entailed, makes recommendations for how users of spine intervention decision models might go about appraising the models, and presents an overview of published spine economic models. A proper, integrated, clinical, and economic critical appraisal is necessary in the evaluation of the strength of evidence provided by a modeling evaluation. As is the case with clinical research, all options for collecting health economic or value data are not without their limitations and flaws. There is substantial heterogeneity across the 20 spine intervention health economic modeling studies summarized with respect to study design, models used, reporting, and general quality. There is sparse evidence for populating spine intervention models. Results mostly showed that interventions were cost-effective based on $100,000/quality-adjusted life-year threshold. Spine care providers, as partners with their health economic colleagues, have unique clinical expertise and perspectives that are critical to interpret the strengths and weaknesses of health economic models. Health economic models must be critically appraised for both clinical validity and economic quality before altering health care policy, payment strategies, or

A Comparative Analysis of Economic Cost of Podoconiosis and Leprosy on Affected Households in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.

PubMed

Tembei, Ayok M; Kengne-Ouaffo, Jonas A; Ngoh, Elvis A; John, Bonekeh; Nji, Theobald M; Deribe, Kebede; Enyong, Peter; Nkuo-Akenji, Theresa; Davey, Gail; Wanji, Samuel

2018-04-01

Leprosy and podoconiosis (podo) are neglected tropical diseases that cause severe disfigurement and disability, and may lead to catastrophic health expenditure and hinder economic development of affected persons and households. This study compared economic costs of both diseases on affected households with unaffected neighboring households in the Northwest Region (N.W.R.) of Cameroon. A matched comparative cross-sectional design was used enrolling 170 households (43 podo case households, 41 podo control households, 43 leprosy case households, and 43 leprosy control households) from three health districts in the N.W.R. Direct treatment costs for podo averaged 142 United State dollar (USD), compared with zero for leprosy ( P < 0.001). This was also reflected in the proportion of annual household income consumed (0.4 versus 0.0, respectively, P < 0.001). Both diseases caused considerable reductions in working days (leprosy 115 versus podo 135 days. P for comparison < 0.001). The average household income was considerably lower in podo-affected households than unaffected households (410 versus 913 USD, P = 0.01), whereas income of leprosy-affected households was comparable to unaffected households (329 versus 399 USD, P = 0.23). Both leprosy and podo cause financial burdens on affected households, but those on podo-affected families are much greater. These burdens occur through direct treatment costs and reduced ability to work. Improved access to public health interventions for podo including prevention, morbidity management and disability prevention are likely to result in economic returns to affected families. In Cameroon, one approach to this would be through subsidized health insurance for these economically vulnerable households.

The 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis, Human Genetic Diversity, and Comparative Economic Development

PubMed Central

Ashraf, Quamrul; Galor, Oded

2013-01-01

This research argues that deep-rooted factors, determined tens of thousands of years ago, had a significant effect on the course of economic development from the dawn of human civilization to the contemporary era. It advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that, in the course of the exodus of Homo sapiens out of Africa, variation in migratory distance from the cradle of humankind to various settlements across the globe affected genetic diversity and has had a long-lasting effect on the pattern of comparative economic development that is not captured by geographical, institutional, and cultural factors. In particular, the level of genetic diversity within a society is found to have a hump-shaped effect on development outcomes in both the pre-colonial and the modern era, reflecting the trade-off between the beneficial and the detrimental effects of diversity on productivity. While the intermediate level of genetic diversity prevalent among Asian and European populations has been conducive for development, the high degree of diversity among African populations and the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development of these regions. PMID:25506083

Climate change mitigation: comparative assessment of Malaysian and ASEAN scenarios.

PubMed

Rasiah, Rajah; Ahmed, Adeel; Al-Amin, Abul Quasem; Chenayah, Santha

2017-01-01

This paper analyses empirically the optimal climate change mitigation policy of Malaysia with the business as usual scenario of ASEAN to compare their environmental and economic consequences over the period 2010-2110. A downscaling empirical dynamic model is constructed using a dual multidisciplinary framework combining economic, earth science, and ecological variables to analyse the long-run consequences. The model takes account of climatic variables, including carbon cycle, carbon emission, climatic damage, carbon control, carbon concentration, and temperature. The results indicate that without optimal climate policy and action, the cumulative cost of climate damage for Malaysia and ASEAN as a whole over the period 2010-2110 would be MYR40.1 trillion and MYR151.0 trillion, respectively. Under the optimal policy, the cumulative cost of climatic damage for Malaysia would fall to MYR5.3 trillion over the 100 years. Also, the additional economic output of Malaysia will rise from MYR2.1 billion in 2010 to MYR3.6 billion in 2050 and MYR5.5 billion in 2110 under the optimal climate change mitigation scenario. The additional economic output for ASEAN would fall from MYR8.1 billion in 2010 to MYR3.2 billion in 2050 before rising again slightly to MYR4.7 billion in 2110 in the business as usual ASEAN scenario.

Investigating and comparing energy and macronutrient intake in female aerobic athletes in two different socio-economic regions

PubMed Central

Darvishi, Leila; Rabbani, Zahra; Goodarzy, Sima; Askari, Gholamreza; Shiranian, Afshin; Salehi, Mohammad; Borzooe, Azam; Ghiasvand, Reza

2012-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess nutritional intakes of female aerobic athletes in two different socio-economic classes in city of Isfahan. Materials and Methods: The participants of this analytical study were 99 female aerobic athletes aged between 15 and 50 years old who were randomly sampled (50 females in low economic region and 49 females in high economic region). The demographic details were collected by a questionnaire, and anthropometric indexes including height, weight, and waste circumference were measured using a tape measure and a scale. They filled out the 24-hour food recall questionnaire for two consecutive days in order to obtain their nutritional information. To analyze the data, Nutritionist 4 and SPSS18 software were used. Results: The means of energy intake in high and low regions were 1479.19 ± 561.86 and 1300.68 ± 498.354 kcal, respectively. There was no significant difference in terms of energy intake between these two groups (P = 0.98). The means of protein intake in low and high socio-economic classes were 17.41 ± 5.85 and 54.48 ± 6.62, respectively, and no significant differences were observed between these two regions (P = 0/606). The means of carbohydrate intake were 61.85 ± 9.76 and 54.48 ± 6.62 in the low and high socio-economic classes with a significant difference between them (P < 0.001). The mean of carbohydrate intake in the low socio-economic class was considerably higher than that in the high socio-economic class. The means of fat intake were 23.88 ± 8.24% and 30.07 ± 6.68% in the low and high socio-economic classes, respectively, and the means of fat intake in the high socio-economic region was significantly higher than that in the low socio-economic region (P < 0/001). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that the intakes of fat and carbohydrate were significantly different in the two different socio-economic regions in city of Isfahan. This difference could be attributed to different

Comparing Two Forms of Dynamic Assessment and Traditional Assessment of Preschool Phonological Awareness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kantor, Patricia Thatcher; Wagner, Richard K.; Torgesen, Joseph K.; Rashotte, Carol A.

2011-01-01

The goal of the current study was to compare two forms of dynamic assessment and standard assessment of preschool children's phonological awareness. The first form of dynamic assessment was a form of scaffolding in which item formats were modified in response to an error so as to make the task easier or more explicit. The second form of dynamic…

EMERGY ANALYSIS AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS A COMPARATIVE STUDY

EPA Science Inventory

Our mission at USEPA is to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment. We aim to base our environmental regulations and policies on sound scientific and, where appropriate, economic analyses. Although EPA has conducted analysis of the impact of regulations on ...

Overview of methods in economic analyses of behavioral interventions to promote oral health

PubMed Central

O’Connell, Joan M.; Griffin, Susan

2016-01-01

Background Broad adoption of interventions that prove effective in randomized clinical trials or comparative effectiveness research may depend to a great extent on their costs and cost-effectiveness (CE). Many studies of behavioral health interventions for oral health promotion and disease prevention lack robust economic assessments of costs and CE. Objective To describe methodologies employed to assess intervention costs, potential savings, net costs, CE, and the financial sustainability of behavioral health interventions to promote oral health. Methods We provide an overview of terminology and strategies for conducting economic evaluations of behavioral interventions to improve oral health based on the recommendations of the Panel of Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. To illustrate these approaches, we summarize methodologies and findings from a limited number of published studies. The strategies include methods for assessing intervention costs, potential savings, net costs, CE, and financial sustainability from various perspectives (e.g., health-care provider, health system, health payer, employer, society). Statistical methods for estimating short-term and long-term economic outcomes and for examining the sensitivity of economic outcomes to cost parameters are described. Discussion Through the use of established protocols for evaluating costs and savings, it is possible to assess and compare intervention costs, net costs, CE, and financial sustainability. The addition of economic outcomes to outcomes reflecting effectiveness, appropriateness, acceptability, and organizational sustainability strengthens evaluations of oral health interventions and increases the potential that those found to be successful in research settings will be disseminated more broadly. PMID:21656966

Overview of methods in economic analyses of behavioral interventions to promote oral health.

PubMed

O'Connell, Joan M; Griffin, Susan

2011-01-01

Broad adoption of interventions that prove effective in randomized clinical trials or comparative effectiveness research may depend to a great extent on their costs and cost-effectiveness (CE). Many studies of behavioral health interventions for oral health promotion and disease prevention lack robust economic assessments of costs and CE. To describe methodologies employed to assess intervention costs, potential savings, net costs, CE, and the financial sustainability of behavioral health interventions to promote oral health. We provide an overview of terminology and strategies for conducting economic evaluations of behavioral interventions to improve oral health based on the recommendations of the Panel of Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. To illustrate these approaches, we summarize methodologies and findings from a limited number of published studies. The strategies include methods for assessing intervention costs, potential savings, net costs, CE, and financial sustainability from various perspectives (e.g., health-care provider, health system, health payer, employer, society). Statistical methods for estimating short-term and long-term economic outcomes and for examining the sensitivity of economic outcomes to cost parameters are described. Through the use of established protocols for evaluating costs and savings, it is possible to assess and compare intervention costs, net costs, CE, and financial sustainability. The addition of economic outcomes to outcomes reflecting effectiveness, appropriateness, acceptability, and organizational sustainability strengthens evaluations of oral health interventions and increases the potential that those found to be successful in research settings will be disseminated more broadly.

Assessing the Economic and Environmental Impacts Associated with Current Street Lighting Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

AFIT/GEM/ENV/10-M01 Abstract Rising global energy demand and natural disasters continuously threaten energy supplies and prices. As a result , the...light bulbs. The study used the Process-Sum and Economic Input-Output Life-cycle Assessment (EIO- LCA ) methods. The results of the study found that... results for this phase of the analysis. Summary This chapter has detailed the methodology used in this study. Using both LCCA and EIO- LCA allowed for

Payloads development for European land mobile satellites: A technical and economical assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perrotta, G.; Rispoli, F.; Sassorossi, T.; Spazio, Selenia

1990-01-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) has defined two payloads for Mobile Communication; one payload is for pre-operational use, the European Land Mobile System (EMS), and one payload is for promoting the development of technologies for future mobile communication systems, the L-band Land Mobile Payload (LLM). A summary of the two payloads and a description of their capabilities is provided. Additionally, an economic assessment of the potential mobile communication market in Europe is provided.

Payloads development for European land mobile satellites: A technical and economical assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perrotta, G.; Rispoli, F.; Sassorossi, T.; Spazio, Selenia

The European Space Agency (ESA) has defined two payloads for Mobile Communication; one payload is for pre-operational use, the European Land Mobile System (EMS), and one payload is for promoting the development of technologies for future mobile communication systems, the L-band Land Mobile Payload (LLM). A summary of the two payloads and a description of their capabilities is provided. Additionally, an economic assessment of the potential mobile communication market in Europe is provided.

Physically-based Assessment of Tropical Cyclone Damage and Economic Losses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, N.

2012-12-01

Estimating damage and economic losses caused by tropical cyclones (TC) is a topic of considerable research interest in many scientific fields, including meteorology, structural and coastal engineering, and actuarial sciences. One approach is based on the empirical relationship between TC characteristics and loss data. Another is to model the physical mechanism of TC-induced damage. In this talk we discuss about the physically-based approach to predict TC damage and losses due to extreme wind and storm surge. We first present an integrated vulnerability model, which, for the first time, explicitly models the essential mechanisms causing wind damage to residential areas during storm passage, including windborne-debris impact and the pressure-debris interaction that may lead, in a chain reaction, to structural failures (Lin and Vanmarcke 2010; Lin et al. 2010a). This model can be used to predict the economic losses in a residential neighborhood (with hundreds of buildings) during a specific TC (Yau et al. 2011) or applied jointly with a TC risk model (e.g., Emanuel et al 2008) to estimate the expected losses over long time periods. Then we present a TC storm surge risk model that has been applied to New York City (Lin et al. 2010b; Lin et al. 2012; Aerts et al. 2012), Miami-Dade County, Florida (Klima et al. 2011), Galveston, Texas (Lickley, 2012), and other coastal areas around the world (e.g., Tampa, Florida; Persian Gulf; Darwin, Australia; Shanghai, China). These physically-based models are applicable to various coastal areas and have the capability to account for the change of the climate and coastal exposure over time. We also point out that, although made computationally efficient for risk assessment, these models are not suitable for regional or global analysis, which has been a focus of the empirically-based economic analysis (e.g., Hsiang and Narita 2012). A future research direction is to simplify the physically-based models, possibly through

Are All Assessments Equal? The Comparability of Demands of College-Based Assessments in a Vocationally Related Qualification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crisp, Victoria; Novakovic, Nadezda

2009-01-01

The consistency of assessment demands is important to validity. This research investigated the comparability of the demands of college-assessed units within a vocationally related qualification, drawing on methodological approaches that have previously been used to compare assessments. Assessment materials from five colleges were obtained. After…

Immersion frying for the thermal drying of sewage sludge: an economic assessment.

PubMed

Peregrina, Carlos; Rudolph, Victor; Lecomte, Didier; Arlabosse, Patricia

2008-01-01

This paper presents an economic study of a novel thermal fry-drying technology which transforms sewage sludge and recycled cooking oil (RCO) into a solid fuel. The process is shown to have significant potential advantage in terms of capital costs (by factors of several times) and comparable operating costs. Three potential variants of the process have been simulated and costed in terms of both capital and operating requirements for a commercial scale of operation. The differences are in the energy recovery systems, which include a simple condensation of the evaporated water and two different heat pump configurations. Simple condensation provides the simplest process, but the energy efficiency gain of an open heat pump offset this, making it economically somewhat more attractive. In terms of operating costs, current sludge dryers are dominated by maintenance and energy requirements, while for fry-drying these are comparatively small. Fry-drying running costs are dominated by provision of makeup waste oil. Cost reduction could focus on cheaper waste oil, e.g. from grease trap waste.

A Comparative Analysis of Economic Cost of Podoconiosis and Leprosy on Affected Households in the Northwest Region of Cameroon

PubMed Central

Tembei, Ayok M.; Kengne-Ouaffo, Jonas A.; Ngoh, Elvis A.; John, Bonekeh; Nji, Theobald M.; Deribe, Kebede; Enyong, Peter; Nkuo-Akenji, Theresa; Davey, Gail; Wanji, Samuel

2018-01-01

Abstract. Leprosy and podoconiosis (podo) are neglected tropical diseases that cause severe disfigurement and disability, and may lead to catastrophic health expenditure and hinder economic development of affected persons and households. This study compared economic costs of both diseases on affected households with unaffected neighboring households in the Northwest Region (N.W.R.) of Cameroon. A matched comparative cross-sectional design was used enrolling 170 households (43 podo case households, 41 podo control households, 43 leprosy case households, and 43 leprosy control households) from three health districts in the N.W.R. Direct treatment costs for podo averaged 142 United State dollar (USD), compared with zero for leprosy (P < 0.001). This was also reflected in the proportion of annual household income consumed (0.4 versus 0.0, respectively, P < 0.001). Both diseases caused considerable reductions in working days (leprosy 115 versus podo 135 days. P for comparison < 0.001). The average household income was considerably lower in podo-affected households than unaffected households (410 versus 913 USD, P = 0.01), whereas income of leprosy-affected households was comparable to unaffected households (329 versus 399 USD, P = 0.23). Both leprosy and podo cause financial burdens on affected households, but those on podo-affected families are much greater. These burdens occur through direct treatment costs and reduced ability to work. Improved access to public health interventions for podo including prevention, morbidity management and disability prevention are likely to result in economic returns to affected families. In Cameroon, one approach to this would be through subsidized health insurance for these economically vulnerable households. PMID:29460727

Comparative risk assessments for the city of Pointe-à-Pitre (French West Indies): earthquakes and storm surge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reveillere, A. R.; Bertil, D. B.; Douglas, J. D.; Grisanti, L. G.; Lecacheux, S. L.; Monfort, D. M.; Modaressi, H. M.; Müller, H. M.; Rohmer, J. R.; Sedan, O. S.

2012-04-01

In France, risk assessments for natural hazards are usually carried out separately and decision makers lack comprehensive information. Moreover, since the cause of the hazard (e.g. meteorological, geological) and the physical phenomenon that causes damage (e.g. inundation, ground shaking) may be fundamentally different, the quantitative comparison of single risk assessments that were not conducted in a compatible framework is not straightforward. Comprehensive comparative risk assessments exist in a few other countries. For instance, the Risk Map Germany project has developed and applied a methodology for quantitatively comparing the risk of relevant natural hazards at various scales (city, state) in Germany. The present on-going work applies a similar methodology to the Pointe-à-Pitre urban area, which represents more than half of the population of Guadeloupe, an overseas region in the French West Indies. Relevant hazards as well as hazard intensity levels differ from continental Europe, which will lead to different conclusions. French West Indies are prone to a large number of hazards, among which hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes dominate. Hurricanes cause damage through three phenomena: wind, heavy rainfall and storm surge, the latter having had a preeminent role during the largest historical event in 1928. Seismic risk is characterized by many induced phenomena, among which earthquake shocks dominate. This study proposes a comparison of earthquake and cyclonic storm surge risks. Losses corresponding to hazard intensities having the same probability of occurrence are calculated. They are quantified in a common loss unit, chosen to be the direct economic losses. Intangible or indirect losses are not considered. The methodology therefore relies on (i) a probabilistic hazard assessment, (ii) a loss ratio estimation for the exposed elements and (iii) an economic estimation of these assets. Storm surge hazard assessment is based on the selection of

The Economic Returns to Early Childhood Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karoly, Lynn A.

2016-01-01

One way to assess the value of preschool education programs is to compare their upfront costs with the economic benefits they produce, measured by such outcomes as less need for special education services, improved high school graduation rates, higher earnings and less criminal activity in adulthood, and so on. What do such benefit-cost analyses…

Socio-economic exposure to natural disasters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marin, Giovanni, E-mail: giovanni.marin@uniurb.it; IRCrES - CNR, Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth, Via Corti 12, 20133 - Milano; SEEDS, Ferrara

Even though the correct assessment of risks is a key aspect of the risk management analysis, we argue that limited effort has been devoted in the assessment of comprehensive measures of economic exposure at very low scale. For this reason, we aim at providing a series of suitable methodologies to provide a complete and detailed list of the exposure of economic activities to natural disasters. We use Input-Output models to provide information about several socio-economic variables, such as population density, employment density, firms' turnover and capital stock, that can be seen as direct and indirect socio-economic exposure to natural disasters.more » We then provide an application to the Italian context. These measures can be easily incorporated into risk assessment models to provide a clear picture of the disaster risk for local areas. - Highlights: • Ex ante assessment of economic exposure to disasters at very low geographical scale • Assessment of the cost of natural disasters in ex-post perspective • IO model and spatial autocorrelation to get information on socio-economic variables • Indicators supporting risk assessment and risk management models.« less

The comparative risk assessment framework and tools (CRAFT)

Treesearch

Southern Research Station USDA Forest Service

2010-01-01

To help address these challenges, the USDA Forest Service’s Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC) and the University of North Carolina Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) designed a planning framework, called the Comparative Risk Assessment Framework and Tools (CRAFT). CRAFT is...

Critical appraisal of published economic evaluations of home care for the elderly.

PubMed

Ramos, Maria Lucia Teixeira; Ferraz, Marcos Bosi; Sesso, Ricardo

2004-01-01

The goal of the study was to appraise the economic evaluations published between 1980 and 2004 of "home care" for the elderly, focusing on the methodological aspects. MEDLINE was searched to identify and assess economic evaluations (defined as an analysis comparing two or more strategies, involving the assessment of both costs and consequences) related to "home care" exclusively for the elderly (65 years or more) and to critically appraise the methodology using five accepted principles used worldwide for conducting economic evaluations. Twenty-four economic evaluations of "home care" for the elderly were identified and the articles were assessed. All five principles were satisfactorily addressed in two studies (8.3%), four principles in four studies (16.7%), three principles in five studies (20.8%), two principles in eight studies (33.3%) and only one principle in five studies (20.8%). A disparity in the methodology of writing economic evaluations compromises the comparisons among outcomes and lately jeopardizes decisions on the choice of the most appropriate healthcare interventions. The methodological principles represent important guidelines but the discussion of the context of the economic evaluation and the special characteristics of some services and populations should be considered for the appropriate use of economic evaluations.

Economic and Environmental Assessment of Seed and Rhizome Propagated Miscanthus in the UK.

PubMed

Hastings, Astley; Mos, Michal; Yesufu, Jalil A; McCalmont, Jon; Schwarz, Kai; Shafei, Reza; Ashman, Chris; Nunn, Chris; Schuele, Heinrich; Cosentino, Salvatore; Scalici, Giovanni; Scordia, Danilo; Wagner, Moritz; Clifton-Brown, John

2017-01-01

Growth in planted areas of Miscanthus for biomass in Europe has stagnated since 2010 due to technical challenges, economic barriers and environmental concerns. These limitations need to be overcome before biomass production from Miscanthus can expand to several million hectares. In this paper, we consider the economic and environmental effects of introducing seed based hybrids as an alternative to clonal M. x giganteus ( Mxg ). The impact of seed based propagation and novel agronomy was compared with current Mxg cultivation and used in 10 commercially relevant, field scale experiments planted between 2012 and 2014 in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ukraine. Economic and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions costs were quantified for the following production chain: propagation, establishment, harvest, transportation, storage, and fuel preparation (excluding soil carbon changes). The production and utilization efficiency of seed and rhizome propagation were compared. Results show that new hybrid seed propagation significantly reduces establishment cost to below £900 ha -1 . Calculated GHG emission costs for the seeds established via plugs, though relatively small, was higher than rhizomes because fossil fuels were assumed to heat glasshouses for raising seedling plugs (5.3 and 1.5 kg CO 2 eq. C Mg [dry matter (DM)] -1 ), respectively. Plastic mulch film reduced establishment time, improving crop economics. The breakeven yield was calculated to be 6 Mg DM ha -1 y -1 , which is about half average United Kingdom yield for Mxg ; with newer seeded hybrids reaching 16 Mg DM ha -1 in second year United Kingdom trials. These combined improvements will significantly increase crop profitability. The trade-offs between costs of production for the preparation of different feedstock formats show that bales are the best option for direct firing with the lowest transport costs (£0.04 Mg -1 km -1 ) and easy on-farm storage. However, if pelleted fuel is required then chip harvesting is

Economic and Environmental Assessment of Seed and Rhizome Propagated Miscanthus in the UK

PubMed Central

Hastings, Astley; Mos, Michal; Yesufu, Jalil A.; McCalmont, Jon; Schwarz, Kai; Shafei, Reza; Ashman, Chris; Nunn, Chris; Schuele, Heinrich; Cosentino, Salvatore; Scalici, Giovanni; Scordia, Danilo; Wagner, Moritz; Clifton-Brown, John

2017-01-01

Growth in planted areas of Miscanthus for biomass in Europe has stagnated since 2010 due to technical challenges, economic barriers and environmental concerns. These limitations need to be overcome before biomass production from Miscanthus can expand to several million hectares. In this paper, we consider the economic and environmental effects of introducing seed based hybrids as an alternative to clonal M. x giganteus (Mxg). The impact of seed based propagation and novel agronomy was compared with current Mxg cultivation and used in 10 commercially relevant, field scale experiments planted between 2012 and 2014 in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ukraine. Economic and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions costs were quantified for the following production chain: propagation, establishment, harvest, transportation, storage, and fuel preparation (excluding soil carbon changes). The production and utilization efficiency of seed and rhizome propagation were compared. Results show that new hybrid seed propagation significantly reduces establishment cost to below £900 ha-1. Calculated GHG emission costs for the seeds established via plugs, though relatively small, was higher than rhizomes because fossil fuels were assumed to heat glasshouses for raising seedling plugs (5.3 and 1.5 kg CO2 eq. C Mg [dry matter (DM)]-1), respectively. Plastic mulch film reduced establishment time, improving crop economics. The breakeven yield was calculated to be 6 Mg DM ha-1 y-1, which is about half average United Kingdom yield for Mxg; with newer seeded hybrids reaching 16 Mg DM ha-1 in second year United Kingdom trials. These combined improvements will significantly increase crop profitability. The trade-offs between costs of production for the preparation of different feedstock formats show that bales are the best option for direct firing with the lowest transport costs (£0.04 Mg-1 km-1) and easy on-farm storage. However, if pelleted fuel is required then chip harvesting is more economic

Quantitative relations between corruption and economic factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Jia; Ivanov, Plamen Ch.; Podobnik, Boris; Stanley, H. Eugene

2007-03-01

We report quantitative relations between corruption level and economic factors, such as country wealth and foreign investment per capita, which are characterized by a power law spanning multiple scales of wealth and investment per capita. These relations hold for diverse countries, and also remain stable over different time periods. We also observe a negative correlation between level of corruption and long-term economic growth. We find similar results for two independent indices of corruption, suggesting that the relation between corruption and wealth does not depend on the specific measure of corruption. The functional relations we report have implications when assessing the relative level of corruption for two countries with comparable wealth, and for quantifying the impact of corruption on economic growth and foreign investment.

[Comparative evaluation of clinical and economic efficiency of paliperidone in various dosage forms used in patients with schizophrenia].

PubMed

D'yakov, I N; Zyryanov, S K

To evaluate clinical and economic efficacy of schizophrenia treatment with three forms of paliperidone (peroral form, intramuscular injections once a month and once in three month). Pharmacoeconomic analysis based on the results of earlier foreign randomized clinical studies on paliperidone in treatment of schizophrenia was carried out. Indirect comparison of different medication forms of paliperidone compared to placebo was performed. The analysis of costs was based on a Markov model built for the study. Two categories of costs: costs of pharmacological treatment with paliperidone and costs of disease exacerbation due to the violation of treatment regimen were considered. To assess pharmacoeconomic efficacy of paliperidone, a cost-benefit analysis with calculation of cost utility ratio (CUR) and incremental cost utility ratio (ICUR) was used. In view of the influence on the budget, all forms of paliperidone have similar pharmacoeconomic efficacy with the advantage of prolonged release injectable (depot) forms that increase patient's adherence to treatment. As a result, CUR of injectable forms was lower compared to that of the peroral form by 11,1 and 46,3% of month and 3-month forms, respectively. ICUR for paliperidone used once in 3 month (trevicta) was more effective compared to paliperidone used monthly (xeplion). It has been concluded that paliperidone for prolonged release injections used once in 3 month is most pharmacoeconomically effective.

Occupational therapy compared with social work assessment for older people. An economic evaluation alongside the CAMELOT randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Flood, Chris; Mugford, Miranda; Stewart, Sandra; Harvey, Ian; Poland, Fiona; Lloyd-Smith, Walter

2005-01-01

To compare costs and outcome of occupational therapy-led assessment with social worker-led assessment of older people, in terms of their independence and quality of life. Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomised controlled trial. The analysis took viewpoints of health services and patients. The primary outcome measure for cost-effectiveness was dependency using the Community Dependency Index (CDI). Secondary outcomes included utility scores based on the EuroQoL (EQ-5D). Resource use was measured for each patient, from clinical records and from patient carer interviews at 8 months. Unit costs of health and social care resources were derived from local sources and national datasets. Cost-effectiveness was analysed using cost-effectiveness acceptability curves. There were no differences between the two arms of the trial in terms of cost-effectiveness. There is an apparent increase in mean cost per case for the occupational therapy arm but this is not statistically significant (mean difference in cost per case 542 pounds, 95% CI 434-1,519 pounds). Mean total costs of care per participant were 4,379 pounds and 3,837 pounds for the occupational therapy and social work arms, respectively. At best the intervention would improve outcomes at a cost of 14,000 pounds per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The probability of such an outcome was <50%. From a policy perspective, the lack of difference in clinical and cost-effectiveness means that either a social work or an occupational therapy service is successful in making care assessments that enable an older person to remain in their own home.

Research on Novel Algorithms for Smart Grid Reliability Assessment and Economic Dispatch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Wenjin

In this dissertation, several studies of electric power system reliability and economy assessment methods are presented. To be more precise, several algorithms in evaluating power system reliability and economy are studied. Furthermore, two novel algorithms are applied to this field and their simulation results are compared with conventional results. As the electrical power system develops towards extra high voltage, remote distance, large capacity and regional networking, the application of a number of new technique equipments and the electric market system have be gradually established, and the results caused by power cut has become more and more serious. The electrical power system needs the highest possible reliability due to its complication and security. In this dissertation the Boolean logic Driven Markov Process (BDMP) method is studied and applied to evaluate power system reliability. This approach has several benefits. It allows complex dynamic models to be defined, while maintaining its easy readability as conventional methods. This method has been applied to evaluate IEEE reliability test system. The simulation results obtained are close to IEEE experimental data which means that it could be used for future study of the system reliability. Besides reliability, modern power system is expected to be more economic. This dissertation presents a novel evolutionary algorithm named as quantum evolutionary membrane algorithm (QEPS), which combines the concept and theory of quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm and membrane computation, to solve the economic dispatch problem in renewable power system with on land and offshore wind farms. The case derived from real data is used for simulation tests. Another conventional evolutionary algorithm is also used to solve the same problem for comparison. The experimental results show that the proposed method is quick and accurate to obtain the optimal solution which is the minimum cost for electricity supplied by wind

Thermo-economic comparative analysis of gas turbine GT10 integrated with air and steam bottoming cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czaja, Daniel; Chmielnak, Tadeusz; Lepszy, Sebastian

2014-12-01

A thermodynamic and economic analysis of a GT10 gas turbine integrated with the air bottoming cycle is presented. The results are compared to commercially available combined cycle power plants based on the same gas turbine. The systems under analysis have a better chance of competing with steam bottoming cycle configurations in a small range of the power output capacity. The aim of the calculations is to determine the final cost of electricity generated by the gas turbine air bottoming cycle based on a 25 MW GT10 gas turbine with the exhaust gas mass flow rate of about 80 kg/s. The article shows the results of thermodynamic optimization of the selection of the technological structure of gas turbine air bottoming cycle and of a comparative economic analysis. Quantities are determined that have a decisive impact on the considered units profitability and competitiveness compared to the popular technology based on the steam bottoming cycle. The ultimate quantity that can be compared in the calculations is the cost of 1 MWh of electricity. It should be noted that the systems analyzed herein are power plants where electricity is the only generated product. The performed calculations do not take account of any other (potential) revenues from the sale of energy origin certificates. Keywords: Gas turbine air bottoming cycle, Air bottoming cycle, Gas turbine, GT10

Economic assessments of small-scale drinking-water interventions in pursuit of MDG target 7C.

PubMed

Cameron, John; Jagals, Paul; Hunter, Paul R; Pedley, Steve; Pond, Katherine

2011-12-01

This paper uses an applied rural case study of a safer water intervention in South Africa to illustrate how three levels of economic assessment can be used to understand the impact of the intervention on people's well-being. It is set in the context of Millennium Development Goal 7 which sets a target (7C) for safe drinking-water provision and the challenges of reaching people in remote rural areas with relatively small-scale schemes. The assessment moves from cost efficiency to cost effectiveness to a full social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) with an associated sensitivity test. In addition to demonstrating techniques of analysis, the paper brings out many of the challenges in understanding how safer drinking-water impacts on people's livelihoods. The SCBA shows the case study intervention is justified economically, though the sensitivity test suggests 'downside' vulnerability. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nutrition economics – characterising the economic and health impact of nutrition

PubMed Central

Lenoir-Wijnkoop, I.; Dapoigny, M.; Dubois, D.; van Ganse, E.; Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, I.; Hutton, J.; Jones, P.; Mittendorf, T.; Poley, M. J.; Salminen, S.; Nuijten, M. J. C.

2011-01-01

There is a new merging of health economics and nutrition disciplines to assess the impact of diet on health and disease prevention and to characterise the health and economic aspects of specific changes in nutritional behaviour and nutrition recommendations. A rationale exists for developing the field of nutrition economics which could offer a better understanding of both nutrition, in the context of having a significant influence on health outcomes, and economics, in order to estimate the absolute and relative monetary impact of health measures. For this purpose, an expert meeting assessed questions aimed at clarifying the scope and identifying the key issues that should be taken into consideration in developing nutrition economics as a discipline that could potentially address important questions. We propose a first multidisciplinary outline for understanding the principles and particular characteristics of this emerging field. We summarise here the concepts and the observations of workshop participants and propose a basic setting for nutrition economics and health outcomes research as a novel discipline to support nutrition, health economics and health policy development in an evidence and health-benefit-based manner. PMID:20797310

A Method For Assessing Economic Thresholds of Hardwood Competition

Treesearch

Steven A. Knowe

2002-01-01

A procedure was developed for computing economic thresholds for hardwood competition in pine plantations. The economic threshold represents the break-even level of competition above which hardwood control is a financially attractive treatment. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the relative importance of biological and economic factors in determining...

Economic transition and health transition: comparing China and Russia.

PubMed

Liu, Y; Rao, K; Fei, J

1998-05-01

Drawing on experiences from China and Russia (the world's two largest transitional economies), this paper empirically examines the impact of economic reforms on health status. While China's overall health status continued to improve after the economic reform, Russia experienced a serious deterioration in its population health. The observed differences in health performance between China and Russia can be explained by the different impacts of economic reforms on three major socioeconomic determinants of health. Depending on whether or not the reform improves physical environment (as reflected in income level and nutritional status), social environment (including social stability and security system), and health care, we would observe either a positive or a negative net effect on health. Despite remarkable differences in overall health development, China and Russia share some common problems. Mental and social health problems such as suicides and alcohol poisoning have been on the rise in both countries. These problems were much more serious in Russia, where political and social instability was more pronounced, associated with Russia's relatively radical reform process. With their economies moving toward a free market system, health sectors in China and Russia are undergoing marketization, which has had serious detrimental effect on the public health services.

10th Anniversary Focus: From mainstream 'environmental economics' to 'sustainability economics'. On the need for new thinking.

PubMed

Söderbaum, Peter

2008-12-01

Traditional ideas of science as being separate and separable from ideology and politics have to be reconsidered. Each interpretation of sustainable development is not only scientific but at the same time ideological. For this reason our ideas about good science should also be related to normal imperatives of democracy. Mainstream neoclassical economics is specific in scientific and ideological terms. This paradigm is useful for some purposes and has played a role as a mental map in guiding us towards economic growth and other ideas about progress in society and the economy. Sustainable development, however, represents an ideological turn in our ideas about progress and it is no longer clear that neoclassical theory will be enough. Alternative perspectives in economics are being developed as part of a pluralistic strategy and the monopoly position of neoclassical economists at university departments of economics is thereby challenged. A 'political economic person' is suggested as alternative (complement) to Economic Man assumptions and a 'political economic organization' to be compared with the neoclassical profit maximizing firm. Alternative ways of understanding markets and international trade, efficiency, decision-making, monitoring and assessment are also needed. It is argued that such an alternative mental map is useful for actors who take the challenge of sustainable development seriously.

Is the Learning Community of Economics and Accounting Effective? Empirical Assessment of Class Achievements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stumph, Carolyn Fabian; Kim, Myeong Hwan; Han, Yongseung; Minke, Susan

2017-01-01

Learning communities are increasingly used at colleges and universities, as one of the goals of a learning community is to increase interaction among students and teach them how to apply knowledge. The goal of this research is to assess the learning community of the economics and accounting students in their class performance measured by class…

COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF BASELINE GASOLINE AND OXYFUELS

EPA Science Inventory

Despite the ubiquity of gasoline for several decades and more recent modifications in fuel formulations to achieve “cleaner” gasoline, a quantitative comparative assessment of the health risks related to these fuels remains to be performed. Under authority of Clean Air Act secti...

Integrating uncertainties to the combined environmental and economic assessment of algal biorefineries: A Monte Carlo approach.

PubMed

Pérez-López, Paula; Montazeri, Mahdokht; Feijoo, Gumersindo; Moreira, María Teresa; Eckelman, Matthew J

2018-06-01

The economic and environmental performance of microalgal processes has been widely analyzed in recent years. However, few studies propose an integrated process-based approach to evaluate economic and environmental indicators simultaneously. Biodiesel is usually the single product and the effect of environmental benefits of co-products obtained in the process is rarely discussed. In addition, there is wide variation of the results due to inherent variability of some parameters as well as different assumptions in the models and limited knowledge about the processes. In this study, two standardized models were combined to provide an integrated simulation tool allowing the simultaneous estimation of economic and environmental indicators from a unique set of input parameters. First, a harmonized scenario was assessed to validate the joint environmental and techno-economic model. The findings were consistent with previous assessments. In a second stage, a Monte Carlo simulation was applied to evaluate the influence of variable and uncertain parameters in the model output, as well as the correlations between the different outputs. The simulation showed a high probability of achieving favorable environmental performance for the evaluated categories and a minimum selling price ranging from $11gal -1 to $106gal -1 . Greenhouse gas emissions and minimum selling price were found to have the strongest positive linear relationship, whereas eutrophication showed weak correlations with the other indicators (namely greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative energy demand and minimum selling price). Process parameters (especially biomass productivity and lipid content) were the main source of variation, whereas uncertainties linked to the characterization methods and economic parameters had limited effect on the results. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Assessment of the Economic Potential of Offshore Wind in the United States from 2015 to 2030

DOE Data Explorer

Beiter, Philipp; Musial, Walter; Kilcher, Levi; Maness, Michael; Smith, Aaron

2017-05-24

Output data from an NREL report entitled "An Assessment of the Economic Potential of Offshore Wind in the United States from 2015 to 2030" (NREL/TP-6A20-67675), which analyzes the spatial variation of levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and levelized avoided cost of energy (LACE) to understand the economic potential of fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind technologies across more than 7,000 U.S. coastal sites between 2015 and 2030.

An environmental, economic, and social assessment of improving cattle finishing weight or average daily gain within U.S. beef production.

PubMed

White, R R; Capper, J L

2013-12-01

The objective of this study was to assess environmental impact, economic viability, and social acceptability of 3 beef production systems with differing levels of efficiency. A deterministic model of U.S. beef production was used to predict the number of animals required to produce 1 × 10(9) kg HCW beef. Three production treatments were compared, 1 representing average U.S. production (control), 1 with a 15% increase in ADG, and 1 with a 15% increase in finishing weight (FW). For each treatment, various socioeconomic scenarios were compared to account for uncertainty in producer and consumer behavior. Environmental impact metrics included feed consumption, land use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe), and N and P excretion. Feed cost, animal purchase cost, animal sales revenue, and income over costs (IOVC) were used as metrics of economic viability. Willingness to pay (WTP) was used to identify improvements or reductions in social acceptability. When ADG improved, feedstuff consumption, land use, and water use decreased by 6.4%, 3.2%, and 12.3%, respectively, compared with the control. Carbon footprint decreased 11.7% and N and P excretion were reduced by 4% and 13.8%, respectively. When FW improved, decreases were seen in feedstuff consumption (12.1%), water use (9.2%). and land use (15.5%); total GHGe decreased 14.7%; and N and P excretion decreased by 10.1% and 17.2%, compared with the control. Changes in IOVC were dependent on socioeconomic scenario. When the ADG scenario was compared with the control, changes in sector profitability ranged from 51 to 117% (cow-calf), -38 to 157% (stocker), and 37 to 134% (feedlot). When improved FW was compared, changes in cow-calf profit ranged from 67% to 143%, stocker profit ranged from -41% to 155% and feedlot profit ranged from 37% to 136%. When WTP was based on marketing beef being more efficiently produced, WTP improved by 10%; thus, social acceptability increased. When marketing was based on production

Economic assessment of using a mobile Micromill® for processing small-diameter ponderosa pine.

Treesearch

Dennis R. Becker; Evan E. Hjerpe; Eini C. Lowell

2004-01-01

An economic assessment of an SLP5000 Diesel Micromill® was conducted to determine the maintenance and operation costs and the logistics of a mobile sawmill used to process small-diameter ponderosa pine. The Micromill® was first introduced in 1997 and has since received considerable attention. In 2003, the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station...

Economic and environmental assessment of propionic acid production by fermentation using different renewable raw materials.

PubMed

Tufvesson, Pär; Ekman, Anna; Sardari, Roya R R; Engdahl, Kristina; Tufvesson, Linda

2013-12-01

Production of propionic acid by fermentation of glycerol as a renewable resource has been suggested as a means for developing an environmentally-friendly route for this commodity chemical. However, in order to quantify the environmental benefits, life cycle assessment of the production, including raw materials, fermentation, upstream and downstream processing is required. The economic viability of the process also needs to be analysed to make sure that any environmental savings can be realised. In this study an environmental and economic assessment from cradle-to-gate has been conducted. The study highlights the need for a highly efficient bioprocess in terms of product titre (more than 100g/L and productivity more than 2g/(L · h)) in order to be sustainable. The importance of the raw materials and energy production for operating the process to minimize emissions of greenhouse gases is also shown. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental and economic analyses of waste disposal options for traditional markets in Indonesia.

PubMed

Aye, Lu; Widjaya, E R

2006-01-01

Waste from traditional markets in Indonesia is the second largest stream of municipal solid waste after household waste. It has a higher organic fraction and may have greater potential to be managed on a business scale compared to household wastes. The attributed reason is that in general the wastes generated from traditional markets are more uniform, more concentrated and less hazardous than waste from other sources. This paper presents the results of environmental and economic assessments to compare the options available for traditional market waste disposal in Indonesia. The options compared were composting in labour intensive plants, composting in a centralised plant that utilised a simple wheel loader, centralised biogas production and landfill for electricity production. The current open dumping practice was included as the baseline case. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used for environmental analysis. All options compared have lower environmental impacts than the current practice of open dumping. The biogas production option has the lowest environmental impacts. A cost-benefit analysis, which considered greenhouse gas savings, was used for the economic assessment. It was found that composting at a centralised plant is the most economically feasible option under the present Indonesian conditions. The approach reported in this study could be applied for 'a pre-feasibility first cut comparison' that includes environmental aspects in a decision-making framework for developing countries even though European emission factors were used.

An initial comparative assessment of orbital and terrestrial central power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caputo, R.

1977-01-01

Orbital solar power plants, which beam power to earth by microwave, are compared with ground-based solar and conventional baseload power plants. Candidate systems were identified for three types of plants and the selected plant designs were then compared on the basis of economic and social costs. The representative types of plant selected for the comparison are: light water nuclear reactor; turbines using low BTU gas from coal; central receiver with steam turbo-electric conversion and thermal storage; silicon photovoltaic power plant without tracking and including solar concentration and redox battery storage; and silicon photovoltaics.

The Associate Program in Ethnobiology, Socio-Economic Value Assessment and Community Based Conservation.

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-10-01

impact on the improvement of health and resource development in both countries. 3. Socio-Economic Value Assessment Studies 3.1. Overview The...biodiversity in a sustainable manner. The ICBG is currently supporting two students in phytochemistry, one student in in vivo cancer screen studies and...funds only for the purposes outlined in its charter viz: conservation, drug development and socioeconomic well being of rural communities. The FIRD-TM

A comparative view of the new journal: Assessment.

PubMed

Blashfield, R K; Archer, G

2001-09-01

The reference sections from all articles in the 1997 volumes of Assessment, Journal of Personality Assessment, and Psychological Assessment were entered into a database and analyzed. An article published in Assessment averaged almost 31 references. An article published in Journal of Personality Assessment contained an average of 33 references. Psychological Assessment averaged 38 references per article. The median age of the references in the three journals was 8 years with an interquartile range of 4 to 14 years. The Journal of Personality Assessment had the largest number of citations in this database of 5,316 references. Each of these received a relatively large number of their citations from articles published in the same journal (self-citations). Randomly selected articles from the 1997 volume of Assessment received fewer citations in the Social Science Citation Index than a similar set of articles from the other two journals. However, the data on Assessment, when compared with data available on other new scientific publications, suggests that Assessment is doing as well as other fledgling journals.

Cost and economic burden of illness over 15 years in Nepal: A comparative analysis.

PubMed

Swe, Khin Thet; Rahman, Md Mizanur; Rahman, Md Shafiur; Saito, Eiko; Abe, Sarah K; Gilmour, Stuart; Shibuya, Kenji

2018-01-01

With an increasing burden of non-communicable disease in Nepal and limited progress towards universal health coverage, country- and disease-specific estimates of financial hardship related to healthcare costs need to be evaluated to protect the population effectively from healthcare-related financial burden. To estimate the cost and economic burden of illness and to assess the inequality in the financial burden due to catastrophic health expenditure from 1995 to 2010 in Nepal. This study used nationally representative Nepal Living Standards Surveys conducted in 1995 and 2010. A Bayesian two-stage hurdle model was used to estimate average cost of illness and Bayesian logistic regression models were used to estimate the disease-specific incidence of catastrophic health payment and impoverishment. The concentration curve and index were estimated by disease category to examine inequality in healthcare-related financial hardship. Inflation-adjusted mean out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for chronic illness and injury increased by 4.6% and 7.3%, respectively, while the cost of recent acute illness declined by 1.5% between 1995 and 2010. Injury showed the highest incidence of catastrophic expenditure (30.7% in 1995 and 22.4% in 2010) followed by chronic illness (12.0% in 1995 and 9.6% in 2010) and recent acute illness (21.1% in 1995 and 7.8% in 2010). Asthma, diabetes, heart conditions, malaria, jaundice and parasitic illnesses showed increased catastrophic health expenditure over time. Impoverishment due to injury declined most (by 12% change in average annual rate) followed by recent acute illness (9.7%) and chronic illness (9.6%) in 15 years. Inequality analysis indicated that poorer populations with recent acute illness suffered more catastrophic health expenditure in both sample years, while wealthier households with injury and chronic illnesses suffered more catastrophic health expenditure in 2010. To minimize the economic burden of illness, several approaches need to be

Technological Change in Assessing Economics: A Cautionary Welcome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennelly, Brendan; Considine, John; Flannery, Darragh

2009-01-01

The use of computer-based automated assignment systems in economics has expanded significantly in recent years. The most widely used system is Aplia which was developed by Paul Romer in 2000. Aplia is a computer application designed to replace traditional paper-based assignments in economics. The main features of Aplia are: (1) interactive content…

Economic evaluation of health promotion interventions for older people: do applied economic studies meet the methodological challenges?

PubMed

Huter, Kai; Dubas-Jakóbczyk, Katarzyna; Kocot, Ewa; Kissimova-Skarbek, Katarzyna; Rothgang, Heinz

2018-01-01

In the light of demographic developments health promotion interventions for older people are gaining importance. In addition to methodological challenges arising from the economic evaluation of health promotion interventions in general, there are specific methodological problems for the particular target group of older people. There are especially four main methodological challenges that are discussed in the literature. They concern measurement and valuation of informal caregiving, accounting for productivity costs, effects of unrelated cost in added life years and the inclusion of 'beyond-health' benefits. This paper focuses on the question whether and to what extent specific methodological requirements are actually met in applied health economic evaluations. Following a systematic review of pertinent health economic evaluations, the included studies are analysed on the basis of four assessment criteria that are derived from methodological debates on the economic evaluation of health promotion interventions in general and economic evaluations targeting older people in particular. Of the 37 studies included in the systematic review, only very few include cost and outcome categories discussed as being of specific relevance to the assessment of health promotion interventions for older people. The few studies that consider these aspects use very heterogeneous methods, thus there is no common methodological standard. There is a strong need for the development of guidelines to achieve better comparability and to include cost categories and outcomes that are relevant for older people. Disregarding these methodological obstacles could implicitly lead to discrimination against the elderly in terms of health promotion and disease prevention and, hence, an age-based rationing of public health care.

Complementary approaches to the assessment of personality disorder. The Personality Assessment Schedule and Adult Personality Functioning Assessment compared.

PubMed

Hill, J; Fudge, H; Harrington, R; Pickles, A; Rutter, M

2000-05-01

Current concepts and measures of personality disorder are in many respects unsatisfactory. To establish agreement between two contrasting measures of personality disorder, and to compare subject-informant agreement on each. To examine the extent to which trait abnormality can be separated from interpersonal and social role dysfunction. Fifty-six subjects and their closest informants were interviewed and rated independently. Personality functioning was assessed using a modified Personality Assessment Schedule (M-PAS), and the Adult Personality Functioning Assessment (APFA). Subject-informant agreement on the M-PAS was moderately good, and agreement between the M-PAS and the APFA, across and within subjects and informants, was comparable to that for the M-PAS. This was equally the case when M-PAS trait plus impairment scores and trait abnormality scores were used. The M-PAS and the APFA are probably assessing similar constructs. Trait abnormalities occur predominantly in an interpersonal context and could be assessed within that context.

A program-level management system for the life cycle environmental and economic assessment of complex building projects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Chan-Joong; Kim, Jimin; Hong, Taehoon

Climate change has become one of the most significant environmental issues, of which about 40% come from the building sector. In particular, complex building projects with various functions have increased, which should be managed from a program-level perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a program-level management system for the life-cycle environmental and economic assessment of complex building projects. The developed system consists of three parts: (i) input part: database server and input data; (ii) analysis part: life cycle assessment and life cycle cost; and (iii) result part: microscopic analysis and macroscopic analysis. To analyze the applicability of the developedmore » system, this study selected ‘U’ University, a complex building project consisting of research facility and residential facility. Through value engineering with experts, a total of 137 design alternatives were established. Based on these alternatives, the macroscopic analysis results were as follows: (i) at the program-level, the life-cycle environmental and economic cost in ‘U’ University were reduced by 6.22% and 2.11%, respectively; (ii) at the project-level, the life-cycle environmental and economic cost in research facility were reduced 6.01% and 1.87%, respectively; and those in residential facility, 12.01% and 3.83%, respective; and (iii) for the mechanical work at the work-type-level, the initial cost was increased 2.9%; but the operation and maintenance phase was reduced by 20.0%. As a result, the developed system can allow the facility managers to establish the operation and maintenance strategies for the environmental and economic aspects from a program-level perspective. - Highlights: • A program-level management system for complex building projects was developed. • Life-cycle environmental and economic assessment can be conducted using the system. • The design alternatives can be analyzed from the microscopic perspective. • The system can be used

An economic assessment of STOL aircraft potential including terminal area environmental considerations, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solomon, H. L.; Sokolsky, S.

1974-01-01

The results of an economic and environmental study of short haul airline systems using short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft are presented. The STOL system characteristics were optimized for maximum patronage at a specified return on investment, while maintaining noise impact compatibility with the terminal area. Supporting studies of aircraft air pollution and hub airport congestion relief were also performed. The STOL concept specified for this study was an Augmentor Wing turbofan aircraft having a field length capability of 2,000 ft. and an effective perceived noise level of 95 EPNdB at 500 ft. sideline distance. An economic and environmental assessment of the defined STOL system and a summary of the methodology, STOL system characteristics and arena characteristics are provided.

Evaluating Comparability in the Scoring of Performance Assessments for Accountability Purposes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyons, Susan; Evans, Carla

2017-01-01

This brief summarizes "Comparability in Balanced Assessment Systems for State Accountability," published in "Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice" (Evans & Lyons 2017). The study evaluated comparability claims in local scoring of performance assessments across districts participating in New Hampshire's Performance…

A methodological framework for assessing agreement between cost-effectiveness outcomes estimated using alternative sources of data on treatment costs and effects for trial-based economic evaluations.

PubMed

Achana, Felix; Petrou, Stavros; Khan, Kamran; Gaye, Amadou; Modi, Neena

2018-01-01

A new methodological framework for assessing agreement between cost-effectiveness endpoints generated using alternative sources of data on treatment costs and effects for trial-based economic evaluations is proposed. The framework can be used to validate cost-effectiveness endpoints generated from routine data sources when comparable data is available directly from trial case report forms or from another source. We illustrate application of the framework using data from a recent trial-based economic evaluation of the probiotic Bifidobacterium breve strain BBG administered to babies less than 31 weeks of gestation. Cost-effectiveness endpoints are compared using two sources of information; trial case report forms and data extracted from the National Neonatal Research Database (NNRD), a clinical database created through collaborative efforts of UK neonatal services. Focusing on mean incremental net benefits at £30,000 per episode of sepsis averted, the study revealed no evidence of discrepancy between the data sources (two-sided p values >0.4), low probability estimates of miscoverage (ranging from 0.039 to 0.060) and concordance correlation coefficients greater than 0.86. We conclude that the NNRD could potentially serve as a reliable source of data for future trial-based economic evaluations of neonatal interventions. We also discuss the potential implications of increasing opportunity to utilize routinely available data for the conduct of trial-based economic evaluations.

Economic assessment and optimal operation of CSP systems with TES in California electricity markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dowling, Alexander W.; Dyreson, Ana; Miller, Franklin; Zavala, Victor M.

2017-06-01

The economics and performance of concentrated power (CSP) systems with thermal energy storage (TES) inherently depend on operating policies and the surrounding weather conditions and electricity markets. We present an integrated economic assessment framework to quantify the maximum possible revenues from simultaneous energy and ancillary services sales by CSP systems. The framework includes both discrete start-up/shutdown restrictions and detailed physical models. Analysis of coinci-dental historical market and meteorological data reveals provision of ancillary services increases market revenue 18% to 37% relative to energy-only participation. Surprisingly, only 53% to 62% of these revenues are available through sole participation in the day-ahead market, indicating significant opportunities at faster timescales. Motivated by water-usage concerns and permitting requirements, we also describe a new nighttime radiative-enhanced dry-cooling system with cold-side storage that consumes no water and offers higher effciencies than traditional air-cooled designs. Operation of this new system is complicated by the cold-side storage and inherent coupling between the cooling system and power plant, further motivating integrated economic analysis.

A reference case for economic evaluations in osteoarthritis: an expert consensus article from the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO).

PubMed

Hiligsmann, Mickaël; Cooper, Cyrus; Guillemin, Francis; Hochberg, Marc C; Tugwell, Peter; Arden, Nigel; Berenbaum, Francis; Boers, Maarten; Boonen, Annelies; Branco, Jaime C; Maria-Luisa, Brandi; Bruyère, Olivier; Gasparik, Andrea; Kanis, John A; Kvien, Tore K; Martel-Pelletier, Johanne; Pelletier, Jean-Pierre; Pinedo-Villanueva, Rafael; Pinto, Daniel; Reiter-Niesert, Susanne; Rizzoli, René; Rovati, Lucio C; Severens, Johan L; Silverman, Stuart; Reginster, Jean-Yves

2014-12-01

General recommendations for a reference case for economic studies in rheumatic diseases were published in 2002 in an initiative to improve the comparability of cost-effectiveness studies in the field. Since then, economic evaluations in osteoarthritis (OA) continue to show considerable heterogeneity in methodological approach. To develop a reference case specific for economic studies in OA, including the standard optimal care, with which to judge new pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions. Four subgroups of an ESCEO expert working group on economic assessments (13 experts representing diverse aspects of clinical research and/or economic evaluations) were charged with producing lists of recommendations that would potentially improve the comparability of economic analyses in OA: outcome measures, comparators, costs and methodology. These proposals were discussed and refined during a face-to-face meeting in 2013. They are presented here in the format of the recommendations of the recently published Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement, so that an initiative on economic analysis methodology might be consolidated with an initiative on reporting standards. Overall, three distinct reference cases are proposed, one for each hand, knee and hip OA; with diagnostic variations in the first two, giving rise to different treatment options: interphalangeal or thumb-based disease for hand OA and the presence or absence of joint malalignment for knee OA. A set of management strategies is proposed, which should be further evaluated to help establish a consensus on the "standard optimal care" in each proposed reference case. The recommendations on outcome measures, cost itemisation and methodological approaches are also provided. The ESCEO group proposes a set of disease-specific recommendations on the conduct and reporting of economic evaluations in OA that could help the standardisation and comparability of studies that evaluate

The spatial and temporal `cost' of volcanic eruptions: assessing economic impact, business inoperability, and spatial distribution of risk in the Auckland region, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDonald, Garry W.; Smith, Nicola J.; Kim, Joon-hwan; Cronin, Shane J.; Proctor, Jon N.

2017-07-01

Volcanic risk assessment has historically concentrated on quantifying the frequency, magnitude, and potential diversity of physical processes of eruptions and their consequent impacts on life and property. A realistic socio-economic assessment of volcanic impact must however take into account dynamic properties of businesses and extend beyond only measuring direct infrastructure/property loss. The inoperability input-output model, heralded as one of the 10 most important accomplishments in risk analysis over the last 30 years (Kujawaski Syst Eng. 9:281-295, 2006), has become prominent over the last decade in the economic impact assessment of business disruptions. We develop a dynamic inoperability input-output model to assess the economic impacts of a hypothetical volcanic event occurring at each of 7270 unique spatial locations throughout the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand. This field of at least 53 volcanoes underlies the country's largest urban area, the Auckland region, which is home to 1.4 million people and responsible for 35.3% (NZ201481.2 billion) of the nation's GDP (Statistics New Zealand 2015). We apply volcanic event characteristics for a small-medium-scale volcanic eruption scenario and assess the economic impacts of an `average' eruption in the Auckland region. Economic losses are quantified both with, and without, business mitigation and intervention responses in place. We combine this information with a recent spatial hazard probability map (Bebbington and Cronin Bull Volcanol. 73(1):55-72, 2011) to produce novel spatial economic activity `at risk' maps. Our approach demonstrates how business inoperability losses sit alongside potential life and property damage assessment in enhancing our understanding of volcanic risk mitigation.

Economic and financial viability of small-scale dairy systems in central Mexico: economic scenario 2010-2018.

PubMed

Posadas-Domínguez, R R; Callejas-Juárez, N; Arriaga-Jordán, C M; Martínez-Castañeda, F E

2016-12-01

A simulation Monte Carlo model was used to assess the economic and financial viability of 130 small-scale dairy farms in central Mexico, through a Representative Small-Scale Dairy Farm. Net yields were calculated for a 9-year planning horizon by means of simulated values for the distribution of input and product prices taking 2010 as base year and considering four scenarios which were compared against the scenario of actual production. The other scenarios were (1) total hiring in of needed labour; (2) external purchase of 100 % of inputs and (3) withdrawal of subsidies to production. A stochastic modelling approach was followed to determine the scenario with the highest economic and financial viability. Results show a viable economic and financial situation for the real production scenario, as well as the scenarios for total hiring of labour and of withdrawal of subsidies, but the scenario when 100 % of feed inputs for the herd are bought-in was not viable.

Conducting systematic reviews of economic evaluations.

PubMed

Gomersall, Judith Streak; Jadotte, Yuri Tertilus; Xue, Yifan; Lockwood, Suzi; Riddle, Dru; Preda, Alin

2015-09-01

In 2012, a working group was established to review and enhance the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidance for conducting systematic review of evidence from economic evaluations addressing a question(s) about health intervention cost-effectiveness. The objective is to present the outcomes of the working group. The group conducted three activities to inform the new guidance: review of literature on the utility/futility of systematic reviews of economic evaluations and consideration of its implications for updating the existing methodology; assessment of the critical appraisal tool in the existing guidance against criteria that promotes validity in economic evaluation research and two other commonly used tools; and a workshop. The debate in the literature on the limitations/value of systematic review of economic evidence cautions that systematic reviews of economic evaluation evidence are unlikely to generate one size fits all answers to questions about the cost-effectiveness of interventions and their comparators. Informed by this finding, the working group adjusted the framing of the objectives definition in the existing JBI methodology. The shift is away from defining the objective as to determine one cost-effectiveness measure toward summarizing study estimates of cost-effectiveness and informed by consideration of the included study characteristics (patient, setting, intervention component, etc.), identifying conditions conducive to lowering costs and maximizing health benefits. The existing critical appraisal tool was included in the new guidance. The new guidance includes the recommendation that a tool designed specifically for the purpose of appraising model-based studies be used together with the generic appraisal tool for economic evaluations assessment to evaluate model-based evaluations. The guidance produced by the group offers reviewers guidance for each step of the systematic review process, which are the same steps followed in JBI reviews of other

A Behavioral Economic Approach to Assessing Demand for Marijuana

PubMed Central

Collins, R. Lorraine; Vincent, Paula C.; Yu, Jihnhee; Liu, Liu; Epstein, Leonard H.

2014-01-01

In the U.S., marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. Its prevalence is growing, particularly among young adults. Behavioral economic indices of the relative reinforcing efficacy (RRE) of substances have been used to examine the appeal of licit (e.g., alcohol) and illicit (e.g., heroin) drugs. The present study is the first to use an experimental, simulated purchasing task to examine the RRE of marijuana. Young-adult (M age = 21.64 years) recreational marijuana users (N = 59) completed a computerized marijuana purchasing task designed to generate demand curves and the related RRE indices (e.g., intensity of demand - purchases at lowest price; Omax - max. spent on marijuana; Pmax - price at which marijuana expenditure is max). Participants “purchased” high-grade marijuana across 16 escalating prices that ranged from $0/free to $160/joint. They also provided 2-weeks of real-time, ecological momentary assessment reports on their marijuana use. The purchasing task generated multiple RRE indices. Consistent with research on other substances, the demand for marijuana was inelastic at lower prices but became elastic at higher prices, suggesting that increases in the price of marijuana could lessen its use. In regression analyses, the intensity of demand, Omax and Pmax, and elasticity each accounted for significant variance in real-time marijuana use. These results provide support for the validity of a simulated marijuana purchasing task to examine its reinforcing efficacy. This study highlights the value of applying a behavioral economic framework to young-adult marijuana use and has implications for prevention, treatment, and policies to regulate marijuana use. PMID:24467370

Comparing an Economic Model of News Selection with One Based on Professional Norms in Local Television Newscasts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McManus, John

A study compared two models (economic and journalistic) of news selection in an attempt to explain what becomes news. The news gathering and news decisionmaking processes of three western United States network-affiliated television stations, one each in a small, medium, and large market, were observed during 12 "typical" days.…

Economic assessment of an emerging disease: the case of Schmallenberg virus in France.

PubMed

Waret-Szkuta, A; Alarcon, P; Hasler, B; Rushton, J; Corbière, F; Raboisson, D

2017-04-01

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) was first detected in 2011 in Germany and then in France in 2012. This study simulates the production of different ruminant systems in France and estimates, through partial budget analyses, the economic cost of SBV at the farm level, under two disease scenarios (a high-impact and low-impact scenario). A partial budget is used to evaluate the financial effect of incremental changes, and includes only resources or production that will be changed. In the high-impact scenario, the estimated impact of SBV ranged from €23 to €43 per cow per year and €19 to €37 per ewe per year. In the low-impact scenario, it was approximately half (for cows) or one-third (for ewes) of this amount. These financial impacts represent 0.6% to 63% of the gross margin, depending on the chosen scenario and the livestock system being considered. The impacts of SBV come mainly from: the extra costs from purchasing and raising replacement heifers and losses in milk production (dairy cows); the losses in calf or lamb production (beef systems and meat sheep); and the losses in milk production and from unsold replacement lambs (dairy sheep). The use of integrated production and economic models enabled the authors to estimate the cost of SBV and to tackle the problem of scarce data, which is a difficulty for most emerging diseases, by their very nature. It also allowed the authors to develop an accurate disease impact assessment for several production systems, over a short time span. Extrapolating from this economic assessment to predict the scenario in coming years depends on the immunity period of the disease and the length of the production cycles.

Moving forward socio-economically focused models of deforestation.

PubMed

Dezécache, Camille; Salles, Jean-Michel; Vieilledent, Ghislain; Hérault, Bruno

2017-09-01

Whilst high-resolution spatial variables contribute to a good fit of spatially explicit deforestation models, socio-economic processes are often beyond the scope of these models. Such a low level of interest in the socio-economic dimension of deforestation limits the relevancy of these models for decision-making and may be the cause of their failure to accurately predict observed deforestation trends in the medium term. This study aims to propose a flexible methodology for taking into account multiple drivers of deforestation in tropical forested areas, where the intensity of deforestation is explicitly predicted based on socio-economic variables. By coupling a model of deforestation location based on spatial environmental variables with several sub-models of deforestation intensity based on socio-economic variables, we were able to create a map of predicted deforestation over the period 2001-2014 in French Guiana. This map was compared to a reference map for accuracy assessment, not only at the pixel scale but also over cells ranging from 1 to approximately 600 sq. km. Highly significant relationships were explicitly established between deforestation intensity and several socio-economic variables: population growth, the amount of agricultural subsidies, gold and wood production. Such a precise characterization of socio-economic processes allows to avoid overestimation biases in high deforestation areas, suggesting a better integration of socio-economic processes in the models. Whilst considering deforestation as a purely geographical process contributes to the creation of conservative models unable to effectively assess changes in the socio-economic and political contexts influencing deforestation trends, this explicit characterization of the socio-economic dimension of deforestation is critical for the creation of deforestation scenarios in REDD+ projects. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An Assessment of the Regional and National Socio-Economic Impacts of the 2007 Rift Valley Fever Outbreak in Kenya

PubMed Central

Rich, Karl M.; Wanyoike, Francis

2010-01-01

Although Rift Valley fever (RVF) has significant impacts on human health and livestock production, it can also induce significant (and often overlooked) economic losses among various stakeholders in the marketing chain. This work assesses and quantifies the multi-dimensional socio-economic impacts of the 2007 RVF outbreak in Kenya based on a rapid assessment of livestock value chains in the northeast part of the country and a national macroeconomic analysis. Although study results show negative impacts among producers in terms of food insecurity and reductions in income, we also found significant losses among other downstream actors in the value chain, including livestock traders, slaughterhouses, casual laborers, and butchers, as well as other, non-agricultural sectors. The study highlights the need for greater sensitivity and analyses that address the multitude of economic losses resulting from an animal disease to better inform policy and decision making during animal health emergencies. PMID:20682906

An assessment of the regional and national socio-economic impacts of the 2007 Rift Valley fever outbreak in Kenya.

PubMed

Rich, Karl M; Wanyoike, Francis

2010-08-01

Although Rift Valley fever (RVF) has significant impacts on human health and livestock production, it can also induce significant (and often overlooked) economic losses among various stakeholders in the marketing chain. This work assesses and quantifies the multi-dimensional socio-economic impacts of the 2007 RVF outbreak in Kenya based on a rapid assessment of livestock value chains in the northeast part of the country and a national macroeconomic analysis. Although study results show negative impacts among producers in terms of food insecurity and reductions in income, we also found significant losses among other downstream actors in the value chain, including livestock traders, slaughterhouses, casual laborers, and butchers, as well as other, non-agricultural sectors. The study highlights the need for greater sensitivity and analyses that address the multitude of economic losses resulting from an animal disease to better inform policy and decision making during animal health emergencies.

The Opinions of Economics Majors before and after Learning Economics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hammock, Michael R.; Routon, P. Wesley; Walker, Jay K.

2016-01-01

Using longitudinal data on undergraduates from 463 American colleges and universities from 1994-99, the authors examine how majoring in economics affects student opinions on 13 social, political, and economic issues. Economics majors were found to begin and end their college tenure with differing opinions on several issues when compared to other…

Economics of Agroforestry

Treesearch

D. Evan Mercer; Frederick W. Cubbage; Gregory E. Frey

2014-01-01

This chapter provides principles, literature and a case study about the economics of agroforestry. We examine necessary conditions for achieving efficiency in agroforestry system design and economic analysis tools for assessing efficiency and adoptability of agroforestry. The tools presented here (capital budgeting, linear progranuning, production frontier analysis...

Health economics of hysterectomy.

PubMed

Garry, Ray

2005-06-01

Health resources are finite, and it is increasingly necessary to practise medicine within defined budgets. Hysterectomy is recognized as one of the most frequently performed of all major surgical operations and is of great economic as well as medical and social importance. A full assessment of the value of an intervention requires consideration of both economic and clinical outcomes. New alternative therapies to uterine excision have been introduced, and new ways of performing hysterectomy have been developed. Cost-effectiveness analysis enables each of these approaches to be meaningfully compared. Using such analytic techniques, hysterectomy can be shown to be an effective and cost-effective intervention across a variety of indications. The vaginal route is the most cost-effective approach. There seems to be no obvious advantage in conserving or retaining the cervix, but there is as yet no evidence about the cost-effectiveness of concomitant oophorectomy.

Effects of Problem Based Economics on High School Economics Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finkelstein, Neal; Hanson, Thomas

2011-01-01

The primary purpose of this study is to assess student-level impacts of a problem-based instructional approach to high school economics. The curriculum approach examined here was designed to increase class participation and content knowledge for high school students who are learning economics. This study tests the effectiveness of Problem Based…

Application of a life cycle assessment to compare environmental performance in coal mine tailings management.

PubMed

Adiansyah, Joni Safaat; Haque, Nawshad; Rosano, Michele; Biswas, Wahidul

2017-09-01

This study compares coal mine tailings management strategies using life cycle assessment (LCA) and land-use area metrics methods. Hybrid methods (the Australian indicator set and the ReCiPe method) were used to assess the environmental impacts of tailings management strategies. Several strategies were considered: belt filter press (OPT 1), tailings paste (OPT 2), thickened tailings (OPT 3), and variations of OPT 1 using combinations of technology improvement and renewable energy sources (OPT 1A-D). Electrical energy was found to contribute more than 90% of the environmental impacts. The magnitude of land-use impacts associated with OPT 3 (thickened tailings) were 2.3 and 1.55 times higher than OPT 1 (tailings cake) and OPT 2 (tailings paste) respectively, while OPT 1B (tailings belt filter press with technology improvement and solar energy) and 1D (tailings belt press filter with technology improvement and wind energy) had the lowest ratio of environmental impact to land-use. Further analysis of an economic cost model and reuse opportunities is required to aid decision making on sustainable tailings management and industrial symbiosis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tests of Behavioral-Economic Assessments of Relative Reinforcer Efficacy: Economic Substitutes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madden, Gregory J.; Smethells, John R.; Ewan, Eric E.; Hursh, Steven R.

2007-01-01

This experiment was conducted to test predictions of two behavioral-economic approaches to quantifying relative reinforcer efficacy. According to the first of these approaches, characteristics of averaged normalized demand curves may be used to predict progressive-ratio breakpoints and peak responding. The second approach, the demand analysis,…

INTEGRATING ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS IN WATERSHEDS: A CONCEPTUAL APPROACH AND THREE CASE STUDIES

EPA Science Inventory

This document reports on a program of research to investigate the integration of ecological risk assessment (ERA) and economics, with an emphasis on the watershed as the scale for analysis. In 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated watershed ERA (W-ERA) in five...

A Behavioral Economic Reward Index Predicts Drinking Resolutions: Moderation Re-visited and Compared with Other Outcomes

PubMed Central

Tucker, Jalie A.; Roth, David L.; Vignolo, Mary J.; Westfall, Andrew O.

2014-01-01

Data were pooled from three studies of recently resolved community-dwelling problem drinkers to determine whether a behavioral economic index of the value of rewards available over different time horizons distinguished among moderation (n = 30), abstinent (n = 95), and unresolved (n = 77) outcomes. Moderation over 1-2 year prospective follow-up intervals was hypothesized to involve longer term behavior regulation processes compared to abstinence or relapse and to be predicted by more balanced pre-resolution monetary allocations between short- and longer-term objectives (i.e., drinking and saving for the future). Standardized odds ratios (OR) based on changes in standard deviation units from a multinomial logistic regression indicated that increases on this “Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure” index predicted higher rates of both abstinence (OR = 1.93, p = .004) and relapse (OR = 2.89, p < .0001) compared to moderation outcomes. The index had incremental utility in predicting moderation in complex models that included other established predictors. The study adds to evidence supporting a behavioral economic analysis of drinking resolutions and shows that a systematic analysis of pre-resolution spending patterns aids in predicting moderation. PMID:19309182

Techno-economic assessment of novel vanadium redox flow batteries with large-area cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minke, Christine; Kunz, Ulrich; Turek, Thomas

2017-09-01

The vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is a promising electrochemical storage system for stationary megawatt-class applications. The currently limited cell area determined by the bipolar plate (BPP) could be enlarged significantly with a novel extruded large-area plate. For the first time a techno-economic assessment of VRFB in a power range of 1 MW-20 MW and energy capacities of up to 160 MWh is presented on the basis of the production cost model of large-area BPP. The economic model is based on the configuration of a 250 kW stack and the overall system including stacks, power electronics, electrolyte and auxiliaries. Final results include a simple function for the calculation of system costs within the above described scope. In addition, the impact of cost reduction potentials for key components (membrane, electrode, BPP, vanadium electrolyte) on stack and system costs is quantified and validated.

Technical and economic assessment of processes for the production of butanol and acetone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

This report represents a preliminary technical and economic evaluation of a process which produces mixed solvents (butaol/acetone/ethanol) via fermentation of sugars derived from renewable biomass resources. The objective is to assess the technology of producing butanol/acetone from biomass, and select a viable process capable of serving as a base case model for technical and economic analysis. It is anticipated that the base case process developed herein can then be used as the basis for subsequent studies concerning biomass conversion processes capable of producing a wide range of chemicals. The general criteria utilized in determining the design basis for the process are profit potential and non-renewable energy displacement potential. The feedstock chosen, aspen wood, was selected from a number of potential renewable biomass resources as the most readily available in the United States and for its relatively large potential for producing reducing sugars.

[Decision modeling for economic evaluation of health technologies].

PubMed

de Soárez, Patrícia Coelho; Soares, Marta Oliveira; Novaes, Hillegonda Maria Dutilh

2014-10-01

Most economic evaluations that participate in decision-making processes for incorporation and financing of technologies of health systems use decision models to assess the costs and benefits of the compared strategies. Despite the large number of economic evaluations conducted in Brazil, there is a pressing need to conduct an in-depth methodological study of the types of decision models and their applicability in our setting. The objective of this literature review is to contribute to the knowledge and use of decision models in the national context of economic evaluations of health technologies. This article presents general definitions about models and concerns with their use; it describes the main models: decision trees, Markov chains, micro-simulation, simulation of discrete and dynamic events; it discusses the elements involved in the choice of model; and exemplifies the models addressed in national economic evaluation studies of diagnostic and therapeutic preventive technologies and health programs.

Empathy promotes altruistic behavior in economic interactions

PubMed Central

Klimecki, Olga M.; Mayer, Sarah V.; Jusyte, Aiste; Scheeff , Jonathan; Schönenberg, Michael

2016-01-01

What are the determinants of altruism? While economists assume that altruism is mainly driven by fairness norms, social psychologists consider empathy to be a key motivator for altruistic behavior. To unite these two theories, we conducted an experiment in which we compared behavior in a standard economic game that assesses altruism (the so-called Dictator Game) with a Dictator Game in which participants’ behavioral choices were preceded either by an empathy induction or by a control condition without empathy induction. The results of this within-subject manipulation show that the empathy induction substantially increased altruistic behavior. Moreover, the increase in experienced empathy predicted over 40% of the increase in sharing behavior. These data extend standard economic theories that altruism is based on fairness considerations, by showing that empathic feelings can be a key motivator for altruistic behavior in economic interactions. PMID:27578563

Cost effectiveness of pediatric pneumococcal conjugate vaccines: a comparative assessment of decision-making tools.

PubMed

Chaiyakunapruk, Nathorn; Somkrua, Ratchadaporn; Hutubessy, Raymond; Henao, Ana Maria; Hombach, Joachim; Melegaro, Alessia; Edmunds, John W; Beutels, Philippe

2011-05-12

Several decision support tools have been developed to aid policymaking regarding the adoption of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into national pediatric immunization programs. The lack of critical appraisal of these tools makes it difficult for decision makers to understand and choose between them. With the aim to guide policymakers on their optimal use, we compared publicly available decision-making tools in relation to their methods, influential parameters and results. The World Health Organization (WHO) requested access to several publicly available cost-effectiveness (CE) tools for PCV from both public and private provenance. All tools were critically assessed according to the WHO's guide for economic evaluations of immunization programs. Key attributes and characteristics were compared and a series of sensitivity analyses was performed to determine the main drivers of the results. The results were compared based on a standardized set of input parameters and assumptions. Three cost-effectiveness modeling tools were provided, including two cohort-based (Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) ProVac Initiative TriVac, and PneumoADIP) and one population-based model (GlaxoSmithKline's SUPREMES). They all compared the introduction of PCV into national pediatric immunization program with no PCV use. The models were different in terms of model attributes, structure, and data requirement, but captured a similar range of diseases. Herd effects were estimated using different approaches in each model. The main driving parameters were vaccine efficacy against pneumococcal pneumonia, vaccine price, vaccine coverage, serotype coverage and disease burden. With a standardized set of input parameters developed for cohort modeling, TriVac and PneumoADIP produced similar incremental costs and health outcomes, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Vaccine cost (dose price and number of doses), vaccine efficacy and epidemiology of critical endpoint (for example

Environmental and economic analyses of waste disposal options for traditional markets in Indonesia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aye, Lu; Widjaya, E.R.

2006-07-01

Waste from traditional markets in Indonesia is the second largest stream of municipal solid waste after household waste. It has a higher organic fraction and may have greater potential to be managed on a business scale compared to household wastes. The attributed reason is that in general the wastes generated from traditional markets are more uniform, more concentrated and less hazardous than waste from other sources. This paper presents the results of environmental and economic assessments to compare the options available for traditional market waste disposal in Indonesia. The options compared were composting in labour intensive plants, composting in amore » centralised plant that utilised a simple wheel loader, centralised biogas production and landfill for electricity production. The current open dumping practice was included as the baseline case. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used for environmental analysis. All options compared have lower environmental impacts than the current practice of open dumping. The biogas production option has the lowest environmental impacts. A cost-benefit analysis, which considered greenhouse gas savings, was used for the economic assessment. It was found that composting at a centralised plant is the most economically feasible option under the present Indonesian conditions. The approach reported in this study could be applied for 'a pre-feasibility first cut comparison' that includes environmental aspects in a decision-making framework for developing countries even though European emission factors were used.« less

[Health Technology Assessment to evaluate the economic advantage of offering of low-protein diet to pre-dialysis patients in Campania (Italy)].

PubMed

Liguori, Giorgio; Belfiore, Patrizia; Cianciaruso, Bruno; Cirillo, Massimo; Creazzola, Simona; D'Ausilio, Anna; De Santo, Natale Gaspare; La Bella, Gaetana; Parlato, Antonino; Scaletti, Alessandro; Zamparelli, Bruno

2012-01-01

A low-protein diet is well known to slow the progression of chronic renal failure, delay initiation of dialysis, while achieving significant economic benefits. In the context of a Health Technology Assessment (HTA), a budget impact analysis model was implemented to evaluate the economic advantage of offering of low-protein diet to nephropathic patients in Campania (Italy). The implemented model takes into account only the direct costs to the national healthcare system. In particular, costs related to supplying low-protein foods are compared to dialysis costs avoided, in a scenario that evaluates different indices of Numbers Needed to Treat and compliance to treatment. Results indicate that when compliance to treatment is at least 50% and NNT is £ 50, supplying a low-protein diet to all kidney disease patients in the pre-dialysis phase, namely with an estimated Glomerular filtration rate > 45, in Campania (which in the year 2009 were equal to 25,000 subjects), is economically advantageous. In this perspective, the authors argue that distribution of low-protein foods by local pharmacies could be an appropriate choice as it would allow the products to be offered at a discounted price and create a favorable setting for increasing adherence to treatment.

Comparative assessment of various lipid extraction protocols and optimization of transesterification process for microalgal biodiesel production.

PubMed

Mandal, Shovon; Patnaik, Reeza; Singh, Amit Kumar; Mallick, Nirupama

2013-01-01

Biodiesel, using microalgae as feedstocks, is being explored as the most potent form of alternative diesel fuel for sustainable economic development. A comparative assessment of various protocols for microalgal lipid extraction was carried out using five green algae, six blue-green algae and two diatom species treated with different single and binary solvents both at room temperature and using a soxhlet. Lipid recovery was maximum with chloroform-methanol in the soxhlet extractor. Pretreatments ofbiomass, such as sonication, homogenization, bead-beating, lyophilization, autoclaving, microwave treatment and osmotic shock did not register any significant rise in lipid recovery. As lipid recovery using chloroform-methanol at room temperature demonstrated a marginally lower value than that obtained under the soxhlet extractor, on economical point of view, the former is recommended for microalgal total lipid extraction. Transesterification process enhances the quality of biodiesel. Experiments were designed to determine the effects of catalyst type and quantity, methanol to oil ratio, reaction temperature and time on the transesterification process using response surface methodology. Fatty acid methyl ester yield reached up to 91% with methanol:HCl:oil molar ratio of 82:4:1 at 65 degrees C for 6.4h reaction time. The biodiesel yield relative to the weight of the oil was found to be 69%.

[The actual incidence of the population in the RF subject: assessment of economic effect (losses)].

PubMed

Ushakov, A A; Saldan, I P; Goleva, O I; Karpova, T N

2013-01-01

In the paper there is presented an analysis and evaluation of the economic losses associated with the actual incidence of the population of the Altai Region on disease classes "Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances" (T36-T50) and "Toxic effect of substances, mainly non-medical purpose" (T51-T65), including the assessment of the underproduced product in economy of the region in monetary terms, assessment changes in cash flows on the budgets of the Russian Federation (tax receipts). The time period of analysis on disease classes is 5 years (2007-2011).

Proposal for the Development of a Standardized Protocol for Assessing the Economic Costs of HIV Prevention Interventions

PubMed Central

Pinkerton, Steven D.; Pearson, Cynthia R.; Eachus, Susan R.; Berg, Karina M.; Grimes, Richard M.

2008-01-01

Summary Maximizing our economic investment in HIV prevention requires balancing the costs of candidate interventions against their effects and selecting the most cost-effective interventions for implementation. However, many HIV prevention intervention trials do not collect cost information, and those that do use a variety of cost data collection methods and analysis techniques. Standardized cost data collection procedures, instrumentation, and analysis techniques are needed to facilitate the task of assessing intervention costs and to ensure comparability across intervention trials. This article describes the basic elements of a standardized cost data collection and analysis protocol and outlines a computer-based approach to implementing this protocol. Ultimately, the development of such a protocol would require contributions and “buy-in” from a diverse range of stakeholders, including HIV prevention researchers, cost-effectiveness analysts, community collaborators, public health decision makers, and funding agencies. PMID:18301128

Introduction to economic assessment - part 2.

PubMed

McMahon, Ann; Sin, Chih Hoong

2014-07-01

This is the second in a series of four continuing professional development articles that explain some of the principles of economic assessment (EA) and describe how they may be applied in practice by front line practitioners leading service innovations. It introduces a methodology, with associated tools and templates, that has been used by practising nurses to conduct EAs. Our purpose is to equip readers with the knowledge to develop a technically competent, pragmatic EA that will contribute towards evidence-informed decision making and assure the best use of limited resources. If you have not already read the first article in this series ( McMahon and Sin 2013), we strongly advise you to do so as each article purposefully draws and builds on those that have gone before. The time out exercises in the first article required you to access source material located on the RCN website and identify a service innovation in your workplace. The time out exercises in this article draw in these same sources. We begin this article by recapping on the points covered in the first article before exploring the implications of the principles of EA and how to apply them in practice. In this article, we refer to and draw on a companion article published in this edition of Nursing Management ( pages 38-41) that sets out the most commonly cited approaches to EA in health and social care. We aim to enable readers, along with those they seek to influence, to make an informed decision as to what may be an appropriate EA approach in any specific context.

The Role of Higher Education in Economic Growth: A Comparative Analysis of the Republic of South Korea and the Republic of India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaulee, Uttam

2016-01-01

We may examine the relationship between higher education and economic growth by comparing the Republic of Korea to the Republic of India. How do political educational decisions impact economic growth? Although both countries began with relatively underdeveloped economies at the time of their independence in the late 1940s, these two countries took…

Pressure ulcer risk assessment and prevention: a systematic comparative effectiveness review.

PubMed

Chou, Roger; Dana, Tracy; Bougatsos, Christina; Blazina, Ian; Starmer, Amy J; Reitel, Katie; Buckley, David I

2013-07-02

Pressure ulcers are associated with substantial health burdens but may be preventable. To review the clinical utility of pressure ulcer risk assessment instruments and the comparative effectiveness of preventive interventions in persons at higher risk. MEDLINE (1946 through November 2012), CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, grant databases, clinical trial registries, and reference lists. Randomized trials and observational studies on effects of using risk assessment on clinical outcomes and randomized trials of preventive interventions on clinical outcomes. Multiple investigators abstracted and checked study details and quality using predefined criteria. One good-quality trial found no evidence that use of a pressure ulcer risk assessment instrument, with or without a protocolized intervention strategy based on assessed risk, reduces risk for incident pressure ulcers compared with less standardized risk assessment based on nurses' clinical judgment. In higher-risk populations, 1 good-quality and 4 fair-quality randomized trials found that more advanced static support surfaces were associated with lower risk for pressure ulcers compared with standard mattresses (relative risk range, 0.20 to 0.60). Evidence on the effectiveness of low-air-loss and alternating-air mattresses was limited, with some trials showing no clear differences from advanced static support surfaces. Evidence on the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation, repositioning, and skin care interventions versus usual care was limited and had methodological shortcomings, precluding strong conclusions. Only English-language articles were included, publication bias could not be formally assessed, and most studies had methodological shortcomings. More advanced static support surfaces are more effective than standard mattresses for preventing ulcers in higher-risk populations. The effectiveness of formal risk assessment instruments and associated intervention protocols compared with less standardized

Assessment of economic instruments for countries with low municipal waste management performance: An approach based on the analytic hierarchy process.

PubMed

Kling, Maximilian; Seyring, Nicole; Tzanova, Polia

2016-09-01

Economic instruments provide significant potential for countries with low municipal waste management performance in decreasing landfill rates and increasing recycling rates for municipal waste. In this research, strengths and weaknesses of landfill tax, pay-as-you-throw charging systems, deposit-refund systems and extended producer responsibility schemes are compared, focusing on conditions in countries with low waste management performance. In order to prioritise instruments for implementation in these countries, the analytic hierarchy process is applied using results of a literature review as input for the comparison. The assessment reveals that pay-as-you-throw is the most preferable instrument when utility-related criteria are regarded (wb = 0.35; analytic hierarchy process distributive mode; absolute comparison) mainly owing to its waste prevention effect, closely followed by landfill tax (wb = 0.32). Deposit-refund systems (wb = 0.17) and extended producer responsibility (wb = 0.16) rank third and fourth, with marginal differences owing to their similar nature. When cost-related criteria are additionally included in the comparison, landfill tax seems to provide the highest utility-cost ratio. Data from literature concerning cost (contrary to utility-related criteria) is currently not sufficiently available for a robust ranking according to the utility-cost ratio. In general, the analytic hierarchy process is seen as a suitable method for assessing economic instruments in waste management. Independent from the chosen analytic hierarchy process mode, results provide valuable indications for policy-makers on the application of economic instruments, as well as on their specific strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, the instruments need to be put in the country-specific context along with the results of this analytic hierarchy process application before practical decisions are made. © The Author(s) 2016.

Assessing conservation opportunity on private land: socio-economic, behavioral, and spatial dimensions.

PubMed

Raymond, Christopher M; Brown, Gregory

2011-10-01

This study presents a method for assessing conservation opportunity on private land based on landholders' socio-economic, behavioral, and farm characteristics. These characteristics include age, gender, education, level of off-farm income, farm size, proportion of remnant native vegetation on-farm, and ecological value of native vegetation on-farm. A sample of landholders who own greater than 2 ha of land in the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin region were sent a mail-based survey about their values and preferences for environmental management (N = 659, 52% response). Cross-tabulations and ANOVA statistical analysis techniques were used to compare the socio-economic attributes across three landholder classes: disengaged, moderately engaged, and highly engaged in native vegetation planting. Results indicate that highly engaged landholders were more likely to be female, formally educated, hobby farmers who managed small parcels of land and have high off-farm incomes, whereas disengaged landholders held significantly stronger farming connections (more farming experience, family have lived on the farm for more generations). Spatial analysis revealed area-specific differences in conservation opportunity and conservation priority. In some areas, properties of high ecological value were managed by highly engaged landholders, but nearby properties of high value were managed by moderately engaged or disengaged landholders. Environmental managers therefore cannot assume areas of high conservation priority will be areas of high conservation opportunity. At the regional scale, the potential for revegetation seems most promising within the moderately engaged landholder group considering the vast amount of land managed by this group in areas of high ecological value, particularly within the less represented Mallee and Coorong and Rangelands sub-regions. We suggest that incentive schemes which purchase conservation need to be targeted at disengaged landholders; mentoring

Assessment of transparency of cost estimates in economic evaluations of patient safety programmes.

PubMed

Fukuda, Haruhisa; Imanaka, Yuichi

2009-06-01

Transparency of costing is essential for decision-makers who require information on the efficiency of a health care programme, because effective decisions depend largely on applicability to their settings. The main objectives of this study were to assess published studies for transparency of cost estimates. We first developed criteria with two axes by reviewing publications dealing with economic evaluations and cost accounting studies: clarification of the scope of costing and accuracy of method evaluating costs. We then performed systematic searches of the literature for studies which estimated prevention costs and assessed the transparency and accuracy of costing based on our criteria. Forty studies met the inclusion criteria. Half of the studies reported data for both the quantity and unit price of programmes in regard to prevention costs. Although 30 studies estimated costs of adverse events, 19 of these described the scope of costing only, and just five studies used a micro-costing method. Among 30 studies that estimated 'gross cost savings' and 'net cost savings', there was a huge discrepancy in labels. Even if a cost study was conducted in accordance with existing techniques of economic evaluation which mostly paid attention to internal validity of cost estimates, without adequate explanation of the process of costing, reproducibility cannot be assured and the study may lose its value as scientific information. This study found that there is tremendous room for improvement.

Assessing the economic impacts of drought from the perspective of profit loss rate: a case study of the sugar industry in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Lin, L.; Chen, H.

2015-07-01

Natural disasters have enormous impacts on human society, especially on the development of the economy. To support decision-making in mitigation and adaption to natural disasters, assessment of economic impacts is fundamental and of great significance. Based on a review of the literature on economic impact evaluation, this paper proposes a new assessment model of the economic impacts of droughts by using the sugar industry in China as a case study, which focuses on the generation and transfer of economic impacts along a simple value chain involving only sugarcane growers and a sugar-producing company. A perspective of profit loss rate is applied to scale economic impact. By using "with and without" analysis, profit loss is defined as the difference in profits between disaster-hit and disaster-free scenarios. To calculate profit, analysis of a time series of sugar price is applied. With the support of a linear regression model, an endogenous trend in sugar price is identified and the time series of sugar price "without" disaster is obtained, using an autoregressive error model to separate impact of disasters from the internal trend in sugar price. Unlike the settings in other assessment models, representative sugar prices, which represent value level in disaster-free conditions and disaster-hit conditions, are integrated from a long time series that covers the whole period of drought. As a result, it is found that in a rigid farming contract, sugarcane growers suffer far more than the sugar company when impacted by severe drought, which may promote reflections among various economic bodies on economic equality related to the occurrence of natural disasters. Further, sensitivity analysis of the model built reveals that sugarcane purchase price has a significant influence on profit loss rate, which implies that setting a proper sugarcane purchase price would be an effective way of realizing economic equality in future practice of contract farming.

Economic and Environmental Assessment of Switchgrass Production on High-Fertility Soil and an Assessment of Anaerobic Digests as an Intermediate Market for Switchgrass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rhykerd, Robert; Bierma, Thomas; Jin, Guang

2014-03-31

This project had two parts. Part 1 was an economic and environmental assessment of switchgrass production on high-fertility soil, and included an assessment of the effects of field irrigation with treated municipal wastewater (Studies A,C, and E in Final Agreement). Part 2 was an assessment of methods to enhance anaerobic digestion of switchgrass, and included evaluation of several other potential biomass feedstocks (Studies B and D in Final Agreement). Results from Part 1 demonstrated that switchgrass does not compete economically against a corn and soybean rotation on highly productive soils. All four varieties of switchgrass lost money while corn andmore » soybeans were profitable in all four years of this study. Breakeven prices for the four switchgrass varieties were calculated using production costs. The installation of a center pivot irrigation system had minimal impact on crop production and corn and soybean production remained profitable in the year the irrigator was installed. Because of drought and delays in installing the wastewater treatment plant, the irrigation system was not used until year 4 of this study. Therefore, longer term studies evaluating multiple year studies on the impact of irrigation on switchgrass are warranted. Results from irrigating with treated municipal wastewater showed no negative impact on soil quality. Results from Part 2 demonstrated that anaerobic digestion (AD) of switchgrass could be significantly enhanced using low heat (100oC) and mild caustic pretreatment without fine-grinding. Heat for pretreatment could be available from biogas-based combined heat and power (CHP) systems. In bench-top digesters simulating municipal wastewater treatment AD, methane production of coarse-ground switchgrass increased over 20-fold with pretreatment compared to untreated switchgrass. Bench-top studies simulating dairy-based AD also found high specific methane yield, but even untreated switchgrass digested reasonably well, indicating the

Economics and the 1995 National Assessment of United States Oil and Gas Resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Attanasi, E.D.

1998-01-01

This report summarizes the economic component of the 1995 National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey for onshore and State offshore areas of the United States. Province and regional incremental cost functions for conventional undiscovered oil and gas fields, and selected unconventional oil and gas accumulations, allowing the ranking of areas by the incremental costs finding, developing, and producing these resources. Regional projections of additions to reserves from previously discovered fields to 2015 are also presented.

Assessment of sodium conductor distribution cable

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1979-06-01

The study assesses the barriers and incentives for using sodium conductor distribution cable. The assessment considers environmental, safety, energy conservation, electrical performance and economic factors. Along with all of these factors considered in the assessment, the sodium distribution cable system is compared to the present day alternative - an aluminum conductor system. (TFD)

Cost and economic burden of illness over 15 years in Nepal: A comparative analysis

PubMed Central

Rahman, Md. Mizanur; Rahman, Md. Shafiur; Saito, Eiko; Abe, Sarah K.; Gilmour, Stuart; Shibuya, Kenji

2018-01-01

Background With an increasing burden of non-communicable disease in Nepal and limited progress towards universal health coverage, country- and disease-specific estimates of financial hardship related to healthcare costs need to be evaluated to protect the population effectively from healthcare-related financial burden. Objectives To estimate the cost and economic burden of illness and to assess the inequality in the financial burden due to catastrophic health expenditure from 1995 to 2010 in Nepal. Methods This study used nationally representative Nepal Living Standards Surveys conducted in 1995 and 2010. A Bayesian two-stage hurdle model was used to estimate average cost of illness and Bayesian logistic regression models were used to estimate the disease-specific incidence of catastrophic health payment and impoverishment. The concentration curve and index were estimated by disease category to examine inequality in healthcare-related financial hardship. Findings Inflation-adjusted mean out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for chronic illness and injury increased by 4.6% and 7.3%, respectively, while the cost of recent acute illness declined by 1.5% between 1995 and 2010. Injury showed the highest incidence of catastrophic expenditure (30.7% in 1995 and 22.4% in 2010) followed by chronic illness (12.0% in 1995 and 9.6% in 2010) and recent acute illness (21.1% in 1995 and 7.8% in 2010). Asthma, diabetes, heart conditions, malaria, jaundice and parasitic illnesses showed increased catastrophic health expenditure over time. Impoverishment due to injury declined most (by 12% change in average annual rate) followed by recent acute illness (9.7%) and chronic illness (9.6%) in 15 years. Inequality analysis indicated that poorer populations with recent acute illness suffered more catastrophic health expenditure in both sample years, while wealthier households with injury and chronic illnesses suffered more catastrophic health expenditure in 2010. Conclusion To minimize the

A Comparative Economic Analysis of North-Central New Mexico. New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station Research Report 211.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carruthers, Garrey E.; Eastman, Clyde

North-Central New Mexico has many of the problems common to other rural areas. Unemployment and underemployment rates tend to be high and per capita income relatively low. This study evaluated regional economic performance over a 19-year period (1949-1968) as compared to other regions and the nation. Shift analysis (a means of examining regional…

Assessing the economic impacts of drought from the perspective of profit loss rate: a case study of the sugar industry in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Lin, L.; Chen, H.

2015-02-01

Natural disasters have enormous impacts on human society, especially on the development of the economy. To support decision making in mitigation and adaption to natural disasters, assessment of economic impacts is fundamental and of great significance. Based on a review of the literature of economic impact evaluation, this paper proposes a new assessment model of economic impact from drought by using the sugar industry in China as a case study, which focuses on the generation and transfer of economic impacts along a simple value chain involving only sugarcane growers and a sugar producing company. A perspective of profit loss rate is applied to scale economic impact with a model based on cost-and-benefit analysis. By using analysis of "with-and-without", profit loss is defined as the difference in profits between disaster-hit and disaster-free scenarios. To calculate profit, analysis on a time series of sugar price is applied. With the support of a linear regression model, an endogenous trend in sugar price is identified, and the time series of sugar price "without" disaster is obtained using an autoregressive error model to separate impact by disasters from the internal trend in sugar price. Unlike the settings in other assessment models, representative sugar prices, which represent value level in disaster-free condition and disaster-hit condition, are integrated from a long time series that covers the whole period of drought. As a result, it is found that in a rigid farming contract, sugarcane growers suffer far more than the sugar company when impacted by severe drought, which may promote the reflections on economic equality among various economic bodies at the occurrence of natural disasters.

A behavioral economic approach to assessing demand for marijuana.

PubMed

Collins, R Lorraine; Vincent, Paula C; Yu, Jihnhee; Liu, Liu; Epstein, Leonard H

2014-06-01

In the United States, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. Its prevalence is growing, particularly among young adults. Behavioral economic indices of the relative reinforcing efficacy (RRE) of substances have been used to examine the appeal of licit (e.g., alcohol) and illicit (e.g., heroin) drugs. The present study is the first to use an experimental, simulated purchasing task to examine the RRE of marijuana. Young-adult (M age = 21.64 years) recreational marijuana users (N = 59) completed a computerized marijuana purchasing task designed to generate demand curves and the related RRE indices (e.g., intensity of demand-purchases at lowest price; Omax-max. spent on marijuana; Pmax-price at which marijuana expenditure is max). Participants "purchased" high-grade marijuana across 16 escalating prices that ranged from $0/free to $160/joint. They also provided 2 weeks of real-time, ecological momentary assessment reports on their marijuana use. The purchasing task generated multiple RRE indices. Consistent with research on other substances, the demand for marijuana was inelastic at lower prices but became elastic at higher prices, suggesting that increases in the price of marijuana could lessen its use. In regression analyses, the intensity of demand, Omax, and Pmax, and elasticity each accounted for significant variance in real-time marijuana use. These results provide support for the validity of a simulated marijuana purchasing task to examine marijuana's reinforcing efficacy. This study highlights the value of applying a behavioral economic framework to young-adult marijuana use and has implications for prevention, treatment, and policies to regulate marijuana use. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Comparative Study of Child Assessment Practices in English and Korean Preschools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nah, Kwi-Ok

2014-01-01

Child assessment practices in English and Korean preschools were compared by analysing data from interviews with educators, examples of child assessment, and official documents from each country. Child assessment in England was systematically implemented and characterised by several methodological and procedural strengths, whereas assessment in…

Comparing the economic burden of ischemic stroke patients with and without atrial fibrillation: a retrospective study in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Wen, Liankui; Wu, Jingjing; Feng, Lin; Yang, Li; Qian, Feng

2017-10-01

Little is known about the economic burden for ischemic stroke (IS) patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in China. We aimed to compare the economic burden of treatment-related costs in IS patients with AF vs. without AF in China. This retrospective analysis used economic burden data from the Beijing urban health insurance database. Using a random sampling method, 10% of the patients diagnosed with IS from 1 January through 31 December 2012 were enrolled. First hospitalization was considered as the index event and hospital utilization after the index event was followed up until September 2013. Overall healthcare cost during the study period was analyzed. In 4061 patients with IS (mean ± SD age, 68.45 ± 13.95 years; AF: 992; without AF: 3069), the AF group had a higher percentage of patients with co-morbidities at baseline. Compared with the non-AF group, the AF group had significantly greater hospitalization at the index event (p < .001). Overall inpatient cost per patient during the observational period (Renminbi (RMB) 141,875.9 ± 121,071.8 vs. RMB 53,834.03 ± 63,535.72, in 2012 terms), total healthcare cost per patient (RMB 163,550.4 ± 131,103.5 vs. RMB 64,735.41 ± 67,584.95), total healthcare cost covered by health insurance, and annualized total healthcare cost per patient were higher in the AF group than in the non-AF group (p < .001). Treatment costs were significantly associated with old age, male gender, AF, and frequency of outpatient visits and hospitalization. AF increased the use of healthcare resources, treatment cost, and economic burden in patients with IS. Therefore, prevention of cardio-embolic events in patients with AF by anticoagulants may decrease the economic burden in patients with IS.

Online Assignments in Economics: A Test of Their Effectiveness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennelly, Brendan; Considine, John; Flannery, Darragh

2011-01-01

This article compares the effectiveness of online and paper-based assignments and tutorials using summative assessment results. All of the students in a large managerial economics course at National University of Ireland, Galway were asked to do six assignments online using Aplia and to do two on paper. The authors examined whether a student's…

Assessing social and economic effects of perceived risk: Workshop summary: Draft: BWIP Repository Project. [Basalt Waste Isolation Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nealey, S.M.; Liebow, E.B.

1988-03-01

The US Department of Energy sponsored a one-day workshop to discuss the complex dimensions of risk judgment formation and the assessment of social and economic effects of risk perceptions related to the permanent underground storage of highly radioactive waste from commercial nuclear power plants. Affected parties have publicly expressed concerns about potentially significant risk-related effects of this approach to waste management. A selective review of relevant literature in psychology, decision analysis, economics, sociology, and anthropology was completed, along with an examination of decision analysis techniques that might assist in developing suitable responses to public risk-related concerns. The workshop was organizedmore » as a forum in which a set of distinguished experts could exchange ideas and observations about the problems of characterizing the effects of risk judgments. Out of the exchange emerged the issues or themes of problems with probabilistic risk assessment techniques are evident; differences exist in the way experts and laypersons view risk, and this leads to higher levels of public concern than experts feel are justified; experts, risk managers, and decision-makers sometimes err in assessing risk and in dealing with the public; credibility and trust are important contributing factors in the formation of risk judgments; social and economic consequences of perceived risk should be properly anticipated; improvements can be made in informing the public about risk; the role of the public in risk assessment, risk management and decisions about risk should be reconsidered; and mitigation and compensation are central to resolving conflicts arising from divergent risk judgments. 1 tab.« less

Comparative Probabilistic Assessment of Occupational Pesticide Exposures Based on Regulatory Assessments

PubMed Central

Pouzou, Jane G.; Cullen, Alison C.; Yost, Michael G.; Kissel, John C.; Fenske, Richard A.

2018-01-01

Implementation of probabilistic analyses in exposure assessment can provide valuable insight into the risks of those at the extremes of population distributions, including more vulnerable or sensitive subgroups. Incorporation of these analyses into current regulatory methods for occupational pesticide exposure is enabled by the exposure data sets and associated data currently used in the risk assessment approach of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Monte Carlo simulations were performed on exposure measurements from the Agricultural Handler Exposure Database and the Pesticide Handler Exposure Database along with data from the Exposure Factors Handbook and other sources to calculate exposure rates for three different neurotoxic compounds (azinphos methyl, acetamiprid, emamectin benzoate) across four pesticide-handling scenarios. Probabilistic estimates of doses were compared with the no observable effect levels used in the EPA occupational risk assessments. Some percentage of workers were predicted to exceed the level of concern for all three compounds: 54% for azinphos methyl, 5% for acetamiprid, and 20% for emamectin benzoate. This finding has implications for pesticide risk assessment and offers an alternative procedure that may be more protective of those at the extremes of exposure than the current approach. PMID:29105804

Comparative Probabilistic Assessment of Occupational Pesticide Exposures Based on Regulatory Assessments.

PubMed

Pouzou, Jane G; Cullen, Alison C; Yost, Michael G; Kissel, John C; Fenske, Richard A

2017-11-06

Implementation of probabilistic analyses in exposure assessment can provide valuable insight into the risks of those at the extremes of population distributions, including more vulnerable or sensitive subgroups. Incorporation of these analyses into current regulatory methods for occupational pesticide exposure is enabled by the exposure data sets and associated data currently used in the risk assessment approach of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Monte Carlo simulations were performed on exposure measurements from the Agricultural Handler Exposure Database and the Pesticide Handler Exposure Database along with data from the Exposure Factors Handbook and other sources to calculate exposure rates for three different neurotoxic compounds (azinphos methyl, acetamiprid, emamectin benzoate) across four pesticide-handling scenarios. Probabilistic estimates of doses were compared with the no observable effect levels used in the EPA occupational risk assessments. Some percentage of workers were predicted to exceed the level of concern for all three compounds: 54% for azinphos methyl, 5% for acetamiprid, and 20% for emamectin benzoate. This finding has implications for pesticide risk assessment and offers an alternative procedure that may be more protective of those at the extremes of exposure than the current approach. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

An initial comparative assessment of orbital and terrestrial central power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caputo, R.

1977-01-01

A silicon photovoltaic orbital power system, which is constructed from an earth source of materials, is compared to likely terrestrial (fossil, nuclear, and solar) approaches to central power generation around the year 2000. A total social framework is used that considers not only the projection of commercial economics (direct or in internal costs), but also considers external impacts such as research and development investment, health impacts, resource requirements, environment effects, and other social costs.

45 CFR 287.130 - Can NEW Program activities include job market assessments, job creation and economic development...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Program Design and Operations § 287.130 Can NEW Program activities include job market assessments, job...) Communication with any training, research, or educational agencies that have produced economic development plans...-sufficiency of program participants; (6) Surveys to collect information regarding client characteristics; and...

45 CFR 287.130 - Can NEW Program activities include job market assessments, job creation and economic development...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Program Design and Operations § 287.130 Can NEW Program activities include job market assessments, job...) Communication with any training, research, or educational agencies that have produced economic development plans...-sufficiency of program participants; (6) Surveys to collect information regarding client characteristics; and...

45 CFR 287.130 - Can NEW Program activities include job market assessments, job creation and economic development...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Program Design and Operations § 287.130 Can NEW Program activities include job market assessments, job...) Communication with any training, research, or educational agencies that have produced economic development plans...-sufficiency of program participants; (6) Surveys to collect information regarding client characteristics; and...

Economic evaluations of homeopathy: a review.

PubMed

Viksveen, Petter; Dymitr, Zofia; Simoens, Steven

2014-03-01

Economic evaluations of commonly used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies such as homeopathy are needed to contribute to the evidence base on which policy makers, clinicians, health-care payers, as well as patients base their health-care decisions in an era of constrained resources. To review and assess existing economic evaluations of homeopathy. Literature search was made to retrieve relevant publications using AMED, the Cochrane Library, CRD (DARE, NHS EED, HTA), EMBASE, MEDLINE, and the journal Homeopathy (former British Homoeopathic Journal). A hand search of relevant publications was carried out. Homeopathy researchers were contacted. Identified publications were independently assessed by two authors. Fifteen relevant articles reported on 14 economic evaluations of homeopathy. Thirteen studies reported numbers of patients: a total of 3,500 patients received homeopathic treatment (median 97, interquartile range 48-268), and 10 studies reported on control group participants (median 57, IQR 40-362). Eight out of 14 studies found improvements in patients' health together with cost savings. Four studies found that improvements in homeopathy patients were at least as good as in control group patients, at comparable costs. Two studies found improvements similar to conventional treatment, but at higher costs. Studies were highly heterogeneous and had several methodological weaknesses. Although the identified evidence of the costs and potential benefits of homeopathy seemed promising, studies were highly heterogeneous and had several methodological weaknesses. It is therefore not possible to draw firm conclusions based on existing economic evaluations of homeopathy. Recommendations for future research are presented.

Integrated assessment of the health and economic benefits of long-term renewable energy development in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, H.; Xie, Y.; Zhang, Y.

2017-12-01

Context/Purpose: Power generation from renewable energy (RE) could substitute huge amount of fossil energy in the power sector and have substantial co-benefits of air quality and human health improvement. In 2016, China National Renewable Energy Center (CNREC) released China Renewable Energy Outlook, CREO2016 and CREO2017, towards 2030 and 2050, respectively, in which two scenarios are proposed, namely, a conservative "Stated Policy" scenario and a more ambitious "High RE" scenario. This study, together with CNREC, aims to quantify the health and economic benefits of developing renewable energy at the provincial level in China up to 2030 and 2050. Methods: For this purpose, we developed an integrated approach that combines a power dispatch model at CNREC, an air pollutant emission projection model using energy consumption data from the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) model, an air quality model (GEOS-Chem at Harvard), an own-developed health model, and a macro economic model (Computable General Equilibrium model). Results: All together, we attempt to quantify how developing RE could reduce the concentration of PM2.5 and ozone in 30 provinces of China, how the human health could be improved in terms of mortality, morbidity and work hour loss, and what is the economic value of the health improvement in terms of increased GDP and the value of statistical life lost. The results show that developing RE as stated in the CREO2016 could prevent chronic mortality of 286 thousand people in China in 2030 alone, the value of saved statistical life is worthy 1200 billion Yuan, equivalent to 1.2% of GDP. In addition, averagely, due to reduced mortality and improved morbidity each person could work additionally by 1.16 hours per year, this could contribute to an increase of GDP by 0.1% in 2030. The assessment up to 2050 is still underway. Interpretation: The results imply that when the external benefit of renewable energy is taken into account, RE could be

Economic Evaluation of Pharmacologic Pre- and Postconditioning With Sevoflurane Compared With Total Intravenous Anesthesia in Liver Surgery: A Cost Analysis.

PubMed

Eichler, Klaus; Urner, Martin; Twerenbold, Claudia; Kern, Sabine; Brügger, Urs; Spahn, Donat R; Beck-Schimmer, Beatrice; Ganter, Michael T

2017-03-01

Pharmacologic pre- and postconditioning with sevoflurane compared with total IV anesthesia in patients undergoing liver surgery reduced complication rates as shown in 2 recent randomized controlled trials. However, the potential health economic consequences of these different anesthesia regimens have not yet been assessed. An expostcost analysis of these 2 trials in 129 patients treated between 2006 and 2010 was performed. We analyzed direct medical costs for in-hospital stay and compared pharmacologic pre- and postconditioning with sevoflurane (intervention) with total IV anesthesia (control) from the perspective of a Swiss university hospital. Year 2015 costs, converted to US dollars, were derived from hospital cost accounting data and compared with a multivariable regression analysis adjusting for relevant covariables. Costs with negative prefix indicate savings and costs with positive prefix represent higher spending in our analysis. Treatment-related costs per patient showed a nonsignificant change by -12,697 US dollars (95% confidence interval [CI], 10,956 to -36,352; P = .29) with preconditioning and by -6139 US dollars (95% CI, 6723 to -19,000; P = .35) with postconditioning compared with the control group. Results were robust in our sensitivity analysis. For both procedures (control and intervention) together, major complications led to a significant increase in costs by 86,018 US dollars (95% CI, 13,839-158,198; P = .02) per patient compared with patients with no major complications. In this cost analysis, reduced in-hospital costs by pharmacologic conditioning with sevoflurane in patients undergoing liver surgery are suggested. This possible difference in costs compared with total IV anesthesia is the result of reduced complication rates with pharmacologic conditioning, because major complications have significant cost implications.

Technical and economic assessments commercial success for IGCC technology in China

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xiong, T.

1998-07-01

The experiences gained from several Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) demonstration plants operating in the US and Europe facilitate commercial success of this advanced coal-based power generation technology. However, commercialization of coal-based IGCC technology in the West, particularly in the US, is restricted due to the low price of natural gas. On the contrary, in China--the largest coal producer and consumer in the world--a lack of natural gas supply, strong demand for air pollution control and relatively low costs of manufacturing and construction provide tremendous opportunities for IGCC applications. The first Chinese IGCC demonstration project was initiated in 1994, andmore » other potential IGCC projects are in planning. IGCC applications in re-powering, fuel switching and multi-generation also show a great market potential in China. However, questions for IGCC development in China remain; where are realistic opportunities for IGCC projects and how can these opportunities be converted into commercial success? The answers to these questions should focus on the Chinese market needs and emphasize economic benefits, not just clean, or power. High price of imported equipment, high financing costs, and the technical risk of first-of-a-kind installation barricade IGCC development in China. This paper presents preliminary technical and economic assessments for four typical IGCC applications in the Chinese marketplace: central power station, fuel switching, re-powering, and multi-generation. The major factors affecting project economics--such as plant cost, financing, prices of fuel and electricity and operating capacity factor--are analyzed. The results indicate that well-proven technology for versatile applications, preferred financing, reduction of the plant cost, environmental superiority and appropriate project structure are the key for commercial success of IGCC in China.« less

Comparative and Predictive Multimedia Assessments Using Monte Carlo Uncertainty Analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whelan, G.

2002-05-01

Multiple-pathway frameworks (sometimes referred to as multimedia models) provide a platform for combining medium-specific environmental models and databases, such that they can be utilized in a more holistic assessment of contaminant fate and transport in the environment. These frameworks provide a relatively seamless transfer of information from one model to the next and from databases to models. Within these frameworks, multiple models are linked, resulting in models that consume information from upstream models and produce information to be consumed by downstream models. The Framework for Risk Analysis in Multimedia Environmental Systems (FRAMES) is an example, which allows users to link their models to other models and databases. FRAMES is an icon-driven, site-layout platform that is an open-architecture, object-oriented system that interacts with environmental databases; helps the user construct a Conceptual Site Model that is real-world based; allows the user to choose the most appropriate models to solve simulation requirements; solves the standard risk paradigm of release transport and fate; and exposure/risk assessments to people and ecology; and presents graphical packages for analyzing results. FRAMES is specifically designed allow users to link their own models into a system, which contains models developed by others. This paper will present the use of FRAMES to evaluate potential human health exposures using real site data and realistic assumptions from sources, through the vadose and saturated zones, to exposure and risk assessment at three real-world sites, using the Multimedia Environmental Pollutant Assessment System (MEPAS), which is a multimedia model contained within FRAMES. These real-world examples use predictive and comparative approaches coupled with a Monte Carlo analysis. A predictive analysis is where models are calibrated to monitored site data, prior to the assessment, and a comparative analysis is where models are not calibrated but

Health economic evaluations comparing insulin glargine with NPH insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes: a systematic review

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Compared to conventional human basal insulin (neutral protamine Hagedorn; NPH) the long-acting analogue insulin glargine (GLA) is associated with a number of advantages regarding metabolic control, hypoglycaemic events and convenience. However, the unit costs of GLA exceed those of NPH. This study aims to systematically review the economic evidence comparing GLA with NPH in basal-bolus treatment (intensified conventional therapy; ICT) of type 1 diabetes in order to facilitate informed decision making in clinical practice and health policy. Methods A systematic literature search was performed for the period of January 1st 2000 to December 1st 2009 via Embase, Medline, the Cochrane Library, the databases GMS (German Medical Science) and DAHTA (Deutsche Agentur für Health Technology Assessment), and the abstract books of relevant international scientific congresses. Retrieved studies were reviewed based on predefined inclusion criteria, methodological and quality aspects. In order to allow comparison between studies, currencies were converted using purchasing power parities (PPP). Results A total of 7 health economic evaluations from 4 different countries fulfilled the predefined criteria: 6 modelling studies, all of them cost-utility analyses, and one claims data analysis with a cost-minimisation design. One cost-utility analysis showed dominance of GLA over NPH. The other 5 cost-utility analyses resulted in additional costs per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained for GLA, ranging from € 3,859 to € 57,002 (incremental cost effectiveness ratio; ICER). The cost-minimisation analysis revealed lower annual diabetes-specific costs in favour of NPH from the perspective of the German Statutory Health Insurance (SHI). Conclusions The incremental cost-utility-ratios (ICER) show favourable values for GLA with considerable variation. If a willingness-to-pay threshold of £ 30,000 (National Institute of Clinical Excellence, UK) is adopted, GLA is cost

[Contextual indicators to assess social determinants of health and the Spanish economic recession].

PubMed

Cabrera-León, Andrés; Daponte Codina, Antonio; Mateo, Inmaculada; Arroyo-Borrell, Elena; Bartoll, Xavier; Bravo, María José; Domínguez-Berjón, María Felicitas; Renart, Gemma; Álvarez-Dardet, Carlos; Marí-Dell'Olmo, Marc; Bolívar Muñoz, Julia; Saez, Marc; Escribà-Agüir, Vicenta; Palència, Laia; López, María José; Saurina, Carme; Puig, Vanessa; Martín, Unai; Gotsens, Mercè; Borrell, Carme; Serra Saurina, Laura; Sordo, Luis; Bacigalupe, Amaia; Rodríguez-Sanz, Maica; Pérez, Glòria; Espelt, Albert; Ruiz, Miguel; Bernal, Mariola

To provide indicators to assess the impact on health, its social determinants and health inequalities from a social context and the recent economic recession in Spain and its autonomous regions. Based on the Spanish conceptual framework for determinants of social inequalities in health, we identified indicators sequentially from key documents, Web of Science, and organisations with official statistics. The information collected resulted in a large directory of indicators which was reviewed by an expert panel. We then selected a set of these indicators according to geographical (availability of data according to autonomous regions) and temporal (from at least 2006 to 2012) criteria. We identified 203 contextual indicators related to social determinants of health and selected 96 (47%) based on the above criteria; 16% of the identified indicators did not satisfy the geographical criteria and 35% did not satisfy the temporal criteria. At least 80% of the indicators related to dependence and healthcare services were excluded. The final selection of indicators covered all areas for social determinants of health, and 62% of these were not available on the Internet. Around 40% of the indicators were extracted from sources related to the Spanish Statistics Institute. We have provided an extensive directory of contextual indicators on social determinants of health and a database to facilitate assessment of the impact of the economic recession on health and health inequalities in Spain and its autonomous regions. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Comparability and repeatability of different methods of corneal astigmatism assessment.

PubMed

Ferreira, Tiago B; Ribeiro, Filomena J

2018-01-01

To assess the comparability and repeatability of keratometric and astigmatism values measured by four techniques: Orbscan IIz ® (Bausch and Lomb), Lenstar LS 900 ® (Haag-Streit), Cassini ® (i-Optics), and Total Cassini (anterior + posterior surface), in healthy volunteers. Fifteen healthy volunteers (30 eyes) were assessed by the four techniques. In each eye, three consecutive measures were performed by the same operator. Keratometric and astigmatism values were recorded. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess comparability and repeatability. Agreement between measurement techniques was evaluated with Bland-Altman plots. Comparability was high between all measurement techniques for minimum keratometry (K1), maximum keratometry (K2), astigmatism magnitude, and astigmatism axis, with ICC >0.900, except for astigmatism magnitude measured by Cassini compared to Lenstar (ICC =0.798) and Orbscan compared to Lenstar (ICC =0.810). However, there were some differences in the median values of K1 and K2 between measurement techniques, and the Bland-Altman plots showed a wide data spread for all variables, except for astigmatism magnitude measured by Cassini and Total Cassini. For J0 and J45, comparability was only high for J0 between Cassini and Orbscan. Repeatability was also high for all measurement techniques except for K2 (ICC =0.814) and J45 (ICC =0.621) measured by Cassini. All measurement techniques showed high comparability regarding K1, K2, and astigmatism axis. Although posterior corneal surface is known to influence these measurements, comparability was high between Cassini and Total Cassini regarding astigmatism magnitude and axis. However, the wide data spread suggests that none of these devices should be used interchangeably.

Techno-economic and life-cycle assessment of an attached growth algal biorefinery.

PubMed

Barlow, Jay; Sims, Ronald C; Quinn, Jason C

2016-11-01

This study examined the sustainability of generating renewable diesel via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass from a rotating algal biofilm reactor. Pilot-scale growth studies and laboratory-scale HTL experiments were used to validate an engineering system model. The engineering system model served as the foundation to evaluate the economic feasibility and environmental impact of the system at full scale. Techno-economic results indicate that biomass feedstock costs dominated the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP), with a base case of $104.31per gallon. Life-cycle assessment results show a base-case global warming potential (GWP) of 80gCO2-eMJ(-1) and net energy ratio (NER) of 1.65 based on a well-to-product system boundary. Optimization of the system reduces MFSP, GWP and NER to $11.90Gal(-1), -44gCO2-eMJ(-1), and 0.33, respectively. The systems-level impacts of integrating algae cultivation with wastewater treatment were found to significantly reduce environmental impact. Sensitivity analysis showed that algal productivity most significantly affected fuel selling price, emphasizing the importance of optimizing biomass productivity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENTS FOR MUNICIPAL WASTE COMBUSTORS

EPA Science Inventory

Quantitative health risk assessments have been performed for a number of proposed municipal waste combustor (MWC) facilities over the past several years. his article presents the results of a comparative analysis of a total of 21 risk assessments, focusing on seven of the most co...

Contemporary Radical Economics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Howard J.

1984-01-01

The origins of contemporary radical economics are examined. Applications of radical economics to price and value theory, labor segmentation theory, business cycles, industrial organization, government and business, imperialism and development, and comparative systems are reviewed. (Author/RM)

A comparative assessment of major international disasters: the need for exposure assessment, systematic emergency preparedness, and lifetime health care.

PubMed

Lucchini, Roberto G; Hashim, Dana; Acquilla, Sushma; Basanets, Angela; Bertazzi, Pier Alberto; Bushmanov, Andrey; Crane, Michael; Harrison, Denise J; Holden, William; Landrigan, Philip J; Luft, Benjamin J; Mocarelli, Paolo; Mazitova, Nailya; Melius, James; Moline, Jacqueline M; Mori, Koji; Prezant, David; Reibman, Joan; Reissman, Dori B; Stazharau, Alexander; Takahashi, Ken; Udasin, Iris G; Todd, Andrew C

2017-01-07

The disasters at Seveso, Three Mile Island, Bhopal, Chernobyl, the World Trade Center (WTC) and Fukushima had historic health and economic sequelae for large populations of workers, responders and community members. Comparative data from these events were collected to derive indications for future preparedness. Information from the primary sources and a literature review addressed: i) exposure assessment; ii) exposed populations; iii) health surveillance; iv) follow-up and research outputs; v) observed physical and mental health effects; vi) treatment and benefits; and vii) outreach activities. Exposure assessment was conducted in Seveso, Chernobyl and Fukushima, although none benefited from a timely or systematic strategy, yielding immediate and sequential measurements after the disaster. Identification of exposed subjects was overall underestimated. Health surveillance, treatment and follow-up research were implemented in Seveso, Chernobyl, Fukushima, and at the WTC, mostly focusing on the workers and responders, and to a lesser extent on residents. Exposure-related physical and mental health consequences were identified, indicating the need for a long-term health care of the affected populations. Fukushima has generated the largest scientific output so far, followed by the WTCHP and Chernobyl. Benefits programs and active outreach figured prominently in only the WTC Health Program. The analysis of these programs yielded the following lessons: 1) Know who was there; 2) Have public health input to the disaster response; 3) Collect health and needs data rapidly; 4) Take care of the affected; 5) Emergency preparedness; 6) Data driven, needs assessment, advocacy. Given the long-lasting health consequences of natural and man-made disasters, health surveillance and treatment programs are critical for management of health conditions, and emergency preparedness plans are needed to prevent or minimize the impact of future threats.

Tests of Behavioral-Economic Assessments of Relative Reinforcer Efficacy II: Economic Complements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madden, Gregory J.; Smethells, John R.; Ewan, Eric E.; Hursh, Steven R.

2007-01-01

This experiment was conducted to test the predictions of two behavioral-economic approaches to quantifying relative reinforcer efficacy. The normalized demand analysis suggests that characteristics of averaged normalized demand curves may be used to predict progressive-ratio breakpoints and peak responding. By contrast, the demand analysis holds…

A behavioral economic reward index predicts drinking resolutions: moderation revisited and compared with other outcomes.

PubMed

Tucker, Jalie A; Roth, David L; Vignolo, Mary J; Westfall, Andrew O

2009-04-01

Data were pooled from 3 studies of recently resolved community-dwelling problem drinkers to determine whether a behavioral economic index of the value of rewards available over different time horizons distinguished among moderation (n = 30), abstinent (n = 95), and unresolved (n = 77) outcomes. Moderation over 1- to 2-year prospective follow-up intervals was hypothesized to involve longer term behavior regulation processes than abstinence or relapse and to be predicted by more balanced preresolution monetary allocations between short-term and longer term objectives (i.e., drinking and saving for the future). Standardized odds ratios (ORs) based on changes in standard deviation units from a multinomial logistic regression indicated that increases on this "Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure" index predicted higher rates of abstinence (OR = 1.93, p = .004) and relapse (OR = 2.89, p < .0001) compared with moderation outcomes. The index had incremental utility in predicting moderation in complex models that included other established predictors. The study adds to evidence supporting a behavioral economic analysis of drinking resolutions and shows that a systematic analysis of preresolution spending patterns aids in predicting moderation.

Techno-economic and environmental assessment of biogas production from banana peel (Musa paradisiaca) in a biorefinery concept.

PubMed

Martínez-Ruano, Jimmy Anderson; Caballero-Galván, Ashley Sthefanía; Restrepo-Serna, Daissy Lorena; Cardona, Carlos Ariel

2018-04-07

Two scenarios for the biogas production using Banana Peel as raw material were evaluated. The first scenario involves the stand-alone production of biogas and the second scenario includes the biogas production together with other products under biorefinery concept. In both scenarios, the influence of the production scale on the process economy was assessed and feasibility limits were defined. For this purpose, the mass and energy balances were established using the software Aspen Plus along with kinetic models reported in the literature. The economic and environmental analysis of the process was performed considering Colombian economic conditions. As a result, it was found that different process scales showed great potential for biogas production. Thus, plants with greater capacity have a greater economic benefit than those with lower capacity. However, this benefit leads to high-energy consumption and greater environmental impact.

Housing as a socio-economic determinant of health: findings of a national needs, gaps and opportunities assessment.

PubMed

Dunn, James R; Hayes, Michael V; Hulchanski, J David; Hwang, Stephen W; Potvin, Louise

2006-01-01

In 2002-2003, a Needs, Gaps and Opportunities Assessment (NGOA) was conducted to investigate relationships between socio-economic dimensions of housing and health. Recent reviews of the literature point to a dearth of research on the socio-economic dimensions of housing and health, despite its potential for promoting health. The NGOA sought to identify research needs and gaps, and future opportunities for research in housing, socio-economic status and health. The methods used included a literature scan, a scan of research capacity, eight regional stakeholder workshops across Canada, and an open-ended e-mail survey of stakeholders. In this paper, we report the findings of the stakeholder consultations. The main finding of the NGOA was that there is a significant dearth of research on housing as a socio-economic determinant of health but enormous potential for conducting high-impact, longitudinal and quasi-experimental research in the area. Of particular interest to stakeholder participants in the NGOA were the economic aspects of housing and health; the impact of housing on health for vulnerable subgroups (e.g., Aboriginal peoples, immigrants, children, seniors); the role of socio-economically and ethnically mixed communities; and the interaction between socio-economic aspects of housing and biophysical hazards in the home. The NGOA demonstrated that there is a substantial audience eager for knowledge on housing as a socio-economic determinant of health and that such knowledge could make an immediate impact on policy decision-making and program operation. Although knowledge gaps are substantial, the NGOA clearly identifies opportunities for high-impact, longitudinal and quasi-experimental research. Recently signed federal-provincial funding agreements for housing make the findings of the NGOA timely. Moreover, the NGOA results demonstrate how research on housing as a socio-economic determinant of health could be a strategy for improving our understanding of the

Construction of Economics Achievement Test for Assessment of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osadebe, P. U.

2014-01-01

The study was carried out to construct a valid and reliable test in Economics for secondary school students. Two research questions were drawn to guide the establishment of validity and reliability for the Economics Achievement Test (EAT). It is a multiple choice objective test of five options with 100 items. A sample of 1000 students was randomly…

Post-Secondary Vocational Home Economics Instructional Materials Needs Assessment Project: State-of-the-Art and Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glosson, Linda R.; Bowers, Candice H.

A Texas project assessed postsecondary vocational home economics instructors' needs for instructional media and materials as well as the need for training in the development of curriculum materials. Relevant post-secondary programs identified were child development, food service/dietetics, fashion design/tailoring, and interior design. In…

[Economic assessment in health and environment from control of persistent organic pollutants in Colombia].

PubMed

García-Ubaque, César A; García-Ubaque, Juan C; Vaca-Bohórquez, Martha L

2015-12-01

Objective To estimate the economic benefits related to environment and health in the context of the implementation of the Stockholm Convention for the control of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the country. The estimation was conducted based on two scenarios: non-compliance with the agreement and compliance with the Convention. Gross profit was derived from the difference in present value between the health and environmental costs that are assumed in each scenario. Results Gross profit by decreasing health costs arising from the implementation of the Convention was estimated at USD $ 511 and USD $ 501 million. By introducing variables such as management costs and agreement on potential benefits for access to international markets, the benefits to the country were estimated at between USD $1 631 and USD $ 3 118 million. Discussion Despite the economic benefits generated by lower expenditure on health for the Convention implementation, the costs associated with reducing pollutant emissions generated a negative balance, compensated only by the expectation of higher revenues for international market access. We consider this initial economic assessment an important contribution, but it should be reviewed to include valuation methodologies involving other social profitability variables and different scenarios for emerging technologies, new scientific knowledge about these pollutants, changes in legislation and / or changes in trade agreement conditions, among others.

EVALUATION OF THE HTA CORE MODEL FOR NATIONAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT REPORTS: COMPARATIVE STUDY AND EXPERIENCES FROM EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

PubMed

Kõrge, Kristina; Berndt, Nadine; Hohmann, Juergen; Romano, Florence; Hiligsmann, Mickael

2017-01-01

The health technology assessment (HTA) Core Model® is a tool for defining and standardizing the elements of HTA analyses within several domains for producing structured reports. This study explored the parallels between the Core Model and a national HTA report. Experiences from various European HTA agencies were also investigated to determine the Core Model's adaptability to national reports. A comparison between a national report on Genetic Counseling, produced by the Cellule d'expertise médicale Luxembourg, and the Core Model was performed to identify parallels in terms of relevant and comparable assessment elements (AEs). Semi-structured interviews with five representatives from European HTA agencies were performed to assess their user experiences with the Core Model. The comparative study revealed that 50 percent of the total number (n = 144) of AEs in the Core Model were relevant for the national report. Of these 144 AEs from the Core Model, 34 (24 percent) were covered in the national report. Some AEs were covered only partly. The interviewees emphasized flexibility in using the Core Model and stated that the most important aspects to be evaluated include characteristics of the disease and technology, clinical effectiveness, economic aspects, and safety. In the present study, the national report covered an acceptable number of AEs of the Core Model. These results need to be interpreted with caution because only one comparison was performed. The Core Model can be used in a flexible manner, applying only those elements that are relevant from the perspective of the technology assessment and specific country context.

Efficiency of Emission Control Measures on Particulate Matter-Related Health Impacts and Economic Cost during the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Meeting in Beijing

PubMed Central

Liu, Qichen; Huang, Jing; Guo, Bin; Guo, Xinbiao

2016-01-01

Background: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting was held from 5 November to 11 November 2014 in Beijing, and comprehensive emission control measures were implemented. The efficiency of these measures on particulate matter-related health impacts and economic cost need to be evaluated. Methods: The influences of emission control measures during APEC on particulate matter were evaluated, and health economic effects were assessed. Results: Average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 during APEC were reduced by 57.0%, and 50.6% respectively, compared with pre-APEC period. However, the concentrations of particulate matter rebounded after APEC. Compared with the pre-APEC and post-APEC periods, the estimated number of deaths caused by non-accidental, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases that could be attributed to PM2.5 and PM10 during the APEC were the lowest. The economic cost associated with mortality caused by PM2.5 and PM10 during the APEC were reduced by (61.3% and 66.6%) and (50.3% and 60.8%) respectively, compared with pre-APEC and post-APEC. Conclusions: The emission control measures were effective in improving short term air quality and reducing health risks and medical expenses during 2014 APEC, but more efforts is needed for long term and continuous air quality improvement and health protection. PMID:28036006

Efficiency of Emission Control Measures on Particulate Matter-Related Health Impacts and Economic Cost during the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Meeting in Beijing.

PubMed

Liu, Qichen; Huang, Jing; Guo, Bin; Guo, Xinbiao

2016-12-28

Background : The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting was held from 5 November to 11 November 2014 in Beijing, and comprehensive emission control measures were implemented. The efficiency of these measures on particulate matter-related health impacts and economic cost need to be evaluated. Methods : The influences of emission control measures during APEC on particulate matter were evaluated, and health economic effects were assessed. Results : Average concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 during APEC were reduced by 57.0%, and 50.6% respectively, compared with pre-APEC period. However, the concentrations of particulate matter rebounded after APEC. Compared with the pre-APEC and post-APEC periods, the estimated number of deaths caused by non-accidental, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases that could be attributed to PM 2.5 and PM 10 during the APEC were the lowest. The economic cost associated with mortality caused by PM 2.5 and PM 10 during the APEC were reduced by (61.3% and 66.6%) and (50.3% and 60.8%) respectively, compared with pre-APEC and post-APEC. Conclusions : The emission control measures were effective in improving short term air quality and reducing health risks and medical expenses during 2014 APEC, but more efforts is needed for long term and continuous air quality improvement and health protection.

Comparative life cycle assessments: The case of paper and digital media

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bull, Justin G., E-mail: jgbull@gmail.com; Kozak, Robert A., E-mail: rob.kozak@ubc.ca

The consumption of the written word is changing, as media transitions from paper products to digital alternatives. We reviewed the life cycle assessment (LCA) research literature that compared the environmental footprint of digital and paper media. To validate the role of context in influencing LCA results, we assessed LCAs that did not compare paper and print, but focused on a product or component that is part of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Using a framework that identifies problems in LCA conduct, we assessed whether the comparative LCAs were accurate expressions of the environmental footprints of paper and print.more » We hypothesized that the differences between the product systems that produce paper and digital media weaken LCA's ability to compare environmental footprints. We also hypothesized that the characteristics of ICT as an industrial sector weaken LCA as an environmental assessment methodology. We found that existing comparative LCAs offered problematic comparisons of paper and digital media for two reasons — the stark material differences between ICT products and paper products, and the unique characteristics of the ICT sector. We suggested that the context of the ICT sector, best captured by the concept of “Moore's Law”, will continuously impede the ability of the LCA methodology to measure ICT products. -- Highlights: • We review the LCA research that compares paper and digital media. • We contrast the comparative LCAs with LCAs that examine only digital products. • Stark differences between paper and digital media weakens LCA findings. • Digital products in general challenge the LCA method's reliability. • Continuous innovation and global nature of digital products impedes LCA methodology.« less

Cognitive Capitalism: Economic Freedom Moderates the Effects of Intellectual and Average Classes on Economic Productivity.

PubMed

Coyle, Thomas R; Rindermann, Heiner; Hancock, Dale

2016-10-01

Cognitive ability stimulates economic productivity. However, the effects of cognitive ability may be stronger in free and open economies, where competition rewards merit and achievement. To test this hypothesis, ability levels of intellectual classes (top 5%) and average classes (country averages) were estimated using international student assessments (Programme for International Student Assessment; Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study; and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) (N = 99 countries). The ability levels were correlated with indicators of economic freedom (Fraser Institute), scientific achievement (patent rates), innovation (Global Innovation Index), competitiveness (Global Competitiveness Index), and wealth (gross domestic product). Ability levels of intellectual and average classes strongly predicted all economic criteria. In addition, economic freedom moderated the effects of cognitive ability (for both classes), with stronger effects at higher levels of freedom. Effects were particularly robust for scientific achievements when the full range of freedom was analyzed. The results support cognitive capitalism theory: cognitive ability stimulates economic productivity, and its effects are enhanced by economic freedom. © The Author(s) 2016.

Comparing Trawl and Creel Fishing for Norway Lobster (Nephrops norvegicus): Biological and Economic Considerations

PubMed Central

Leocádio, Ana Maria; Castro, Margarida

2012-01-01

This study compares the fishing activity and landings of the trawl and creel fisheries for Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus (L.)) off the Portuguese coast, and evaluates the financial viability of two vessels typical of each fleet. Crustacean trawlers are part of an industrial fleet that, besides Nephrops, targets deep water shrimps. Creels are used by a multi-gear, multi-target artisanal fleet, fishing only in areas unavailable to trawlers and, when catching Nephrops, set specifically to target this species. Trawlers have in recent years contributed with 85% of the landings in weight, but only 74% in value (2005–2009 average). Despite smaller landings, the Nephrops creel fishery provides individuals of larger size and in better condition, thereby obtaining higher unit prices. Economic viability was also higher for the creel vessel, with trawling being only viable if major costs (such as labor and fuel) are covered by the revenue from other target species (e.g., the rose shrimp). At present, Nephrops populations on the South and SW coast are subject to intense fishing and to a recovery plan. The possibility of reallocation of some of the fishing effort directed at Nephrops from trawlers to creels is discussed in terms of the conservation of the resource and economic return. PMID:22848357

Managing water scarcity in the Magdalena river basin in Colombia.An economic assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolivar Lobato, Martha Isabel; Schneider, Uwe A.

2014-05-01

Key words: global change, water scarcity, river basin In Colombia, serious water conflicts began to emerge with the economic development in the 70ies and 80ies and the term "water scarcity" became a common word in this tropical country. Despite a mean annual runoff of 1840 mm, which classifies Colombia as a water rich country, shortfalls in fresh water availability have become a frequent event in the last two decades. One reason for the manifestation of water scarcity is the long-held perception of invulnerable water abundance, which has delayed technical and political developments to use water more efficiently. The Magdalena watershed is the most important and complex area in Colombia, because of its huge anthropogenic present, economic development and increasing environmental problems. This river basin has a total area of 273,459 km2, equivalent to 24% of the territory of the country. It is home to 79% of the country's population (32.5 million of inhabitants) and approximately 85% of Gross Domestic Product of Colombia is generated in this area. Since the economic development of the 1970s and 1980s, large changes in land cover and related environmental conditions have occurred in the Magdalena basin. These changes include deforestation, agricultural land expansion, soil degradation, lower groundwater and increased water pollution. To assess the consequences of geophysical alteration and economic development, we perform an integrated analysis of water demand, water supply, land use changes and possible water management strategies. The main objective of this study is to determine how global and local changes affect the balance between water supply and demand in the Magdalena river basin in Colombia, the consequences of different water pricing schemes, and the social benefits of public or private investments into various water management infrastructures. To achieve this goal, a constrained welfare maximization model has been developed. The General Algebraic Modeling

An assessment of potential hydro-political tensions in transboundary river basins using environmental, political, and economic indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Stefano, Lucia; Petersen-Perlman, Jacob; Sproles, Eric; Eynard, James; Wolf, Aaron T.

2015-04-01

Globally 286 river basins extend across international borders, covering over 61.9 million km2 of the earth's surface and hosting a total of approximately 2.7 billion people. In these basins, transboundary water resources support an interdependent web of environmental, political, and economic systems that can enhance or destabilize a region. We present an integrated global-scale assessment of transboundary watersheds to identify regions more likely to experience hydro-political tensions over the next decade and beyond based upon environmental, political, and economic indicators. We combine NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) measurements of changes in terrestrial water storage with metrics of projected climate change impacts on water variability, the institutional capacity of countries to manage shared water resources, the development of new water infrastructure, per capita gross national income, domestic and international armed conflicts, and recent history of disputes over transboundary waters. The construction of new water-related infrastructure is on-going or planned in many basins worldwide. New water infrastructure is foreseen also in areas where instruments of international cooperation are still absent or limited in scope, e.g. in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central America, the northern part of the South American continent, and the southern Balkans as well as in different parts of Africa. Moreover, in Central and Eastern Africa, the Middle East, and Central, South and South-East Asia there is a concomitance of several political, environmental and socioeconomic factors that could exacerbate hydropolitical tensions. Our analysis integrates political, economic and environmental metrics and is part of the United Nation's Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme to provide the first global-scale assessment of its type.

ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS OF INTERVENTIONS FOR TRANSTIBIAL AMPUTEES: A SCOPING REVIEW OF COMPARATIVE STUDIES.

PubMed

Highsmith, M Jason; Kahle, Jason T; Lewandowski, Amanda; Klenow, Tyler D; Orriola, John J; Miro, Rebecca M; Hill, Owen T; Raschke, Sylvia Ursula; Orendurff, Michael S; Highsmith, James T; Sutton, Bryce S

2016-09-01

Transtibial amputation (TTA) is life-altering emotionally, functionally, and economically. The economic impact to all stakeholders is largely unknown, as is the cost-effectiveness of prosthetic intervention. This scoping report's purpose was to determine if there is sufficient evidence to conduct a formal systematic review or meta-analysis in any particular prosthetic intervention area and to determine if any evidence statements could be synthesized relative to economic evaluation of interventions provided to patients with TTA. The scoping review revealed six articles representing three topical areas of transtibial care: Care Models, Prosthetic Treatment, and Prosthetic Sockets. All six articles were cost-identification or cost-consequence design and included a total of 704 subjects. Presently, it can be concluded with moderate confidence that specific weight-bearing and total-contact sockets for transtibial amputees are functionally and economically equivalent in the short term when costs, delivery time, and all stakeholder perspectives are considered. Long-term socket outcomes are relatively unexplored. Further primary research is needed beyond this to determine cost-effectiveness for other areas of transtibial prosthetic care although clinical outcomes are somewhat established through systematic review and meta-analysis in other areas of care. Conversely, evaluation of narrative economic reports relative to transtibial care may be sufficient to warrant further analysis. Guidance from the profession may also be useful in devising a strategy for how to assure economic analyses are a routine element of future prosthetic science.

Environmental, Economic and Social Efficiencies of Irrigated Farming Systems: Using Water Footprint Indicators to Compare Farm Income and Labor Generated per Volume of Water Available in Irrigated Farming Systems in Campania, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altobelli, F.; Meybeck, A.; Gitz, V.; Dalla Marta, A.; Cimino, O.

2014-12-01

Agriculture is not only producing food and other products. It is also a major economic sector, representing, especially in developing countries, an important part of GDP; and a major employer, with often more than half of the total workforce in many low income countries. In many of these countries irrigation plays a key role to increase and stabilize income, and it is likely to increase with climate change and increased variability of rain patterns. It is also a crucial mean to increase productivity of small holdings. In many countries, where holdings are small and even in some cases decreasing it is essential to enable farmers to ensure their food security and a decent income. In some countries, including India and many African countries, the workforce is expected to grow, with an important part of it to be employed in agriculture. At the same time many of the regions where agriculture is the most important from an economical and social point of view, are experiencing increasing water scarcity. In many cases, as has been noted for instance for the Mediterranean area, water availability is the main limiting factor to agricultural development. Increasingly agriculture is also in competition for water use with other economic activities. This calls for means to assess and compare agricultural productions systems and irrigation projects not only in terms of physical production of agricultural products but also in terms of income and jobs generated by the activity. In this study, we propose a methodology based on the blue water footprint for assessing and comparing different agricultural productions and farming systems in terms of economic and social outcomes for a given volume of blue water. Examples are drawn from the Campania region of Italy and based on data extracted from the Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). This database contains, among other, data on crop production, irrigation management (irrigated surface, length of irrigation season, volumes of

Economic Assessment and Budgetary Impact of a Telemedicine Procedure and Spirometry Quality Control in the Primary Care Setting.

PubMed

Marina, Nuria; Bayón, Juan Carlos; López de Santa María, Elena; Gutiérrez, Asunción; Inchausti, Marta; Bustamante, Victor; Gáldiz, Juan B

2016-01-01

To evaluate the economic impact of a telemedicine procedure designed to improve the quality of lung function testing (LFT) in primary care in a public healthcare system, compared with the standard method. The economic impact of 9,039 LFTs performed in 51 health centers (2010-2013) using telespirometry (TS) compared to standard spirometry (SS) was studied. TS costs more per unit than SS (€47.80 vs. €39.70) (2013), but the quality of the TS procedure is superior (84% good quality, compared to 61% using the standard procedure). Total cost of TS was €431,974 (compared with €358,306€ for SS), generating an economic impact of €73,668 (2013). The increase in cost for good quality LFT performed using TS was €34,030 (2010) and €144,295 (2013), while the costs of poor quality tests fell by €15,525 (2010) and 70,627€ (2013). The cost-effectiveness analysis concludes that TS is 23% more expensive and 46% more effective. Healthcare costs consequently fall as the number of LFTs performed by TS rises. Avoiding poor quality, invalid LFTs generates savings that compensate for the increased costs of performing LFTs with TS, making it a cost-effective method. Copyright © 2014 SEPAR. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Economic Evaluation of Pharmacologic Pre- and Postconditioning With Sevoflurane Compared With Total Intravenous Anesthesia in Liver Surgery: A Cost Analysis

PubMed Central

Urner, Martin; Twerenbold, Claudia; Kern, Sabine; Brügger, Urs; Spahn, Donat R.; Beck-Schimmer, Beatrice; Ganter, Michael T.

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Pharmacologic pre- and postconditioning with sevoflurane compared with total IV anesthesia in patients undergoing liver surgery reduced complication rates as shown in 2 recent randomized controlled trials. However, the potential health economic consequences of these different anesthesia regimens have not yet been assessed. METHODS: An expostcost analysis of these 2 trials in 129 patients treated between 2006 and 2010 was performed. We analyzed direct medical costs for in-hospital stay and compared pharmacologic pre- and postconditioning with sevoflurane (intervention) with total IV anesthesia (control) from the perspective of a Swiss university hospital. Year 2015 costs, converted to US dollars, were derived from hospital cost accounting data and compared with a multivariable regression analysis adjusting for relevant covariables. Costs with negative prefix indicate savings and costs with positive prefix represent higher spending in our analysis. RESULTS: Treatment-related costs per patient showed a nonsignificant change by −12,697 US dollars (95% confidence interval [CI], 10,956 to −36,352; P = .29) with preconditioning and by −6139 US dollars (95% CI, 6723 to −19,000; P = .35) with postconditioning compared with the control group. Results were robust in our sensitivity analysis. For both procedures (control and intervention) together, major complications led to a significant increase in costs by 86,018 US dollars (95% CI, 13,839-158,198; P = .02) per patient compared with patients with no major complications. CONCLUSIONS: In this cost analysis, reduced in-hospital costs by pharmacologic conditioning with sevoflurane in patients undergoing liver surgery are suggested. This possible difference in costs compared with total IV anesthesia is the result of reduced complication rates with pharmacologic conditioning, because major complications have significant cost implications. PMID:28067701

Ophthalmology's future in the next decade: a historical and comparative perspective.

PubMed

Day, S H

1999-01-01

To gain a historical and comparative perspective about the future of ophthalmology within the profession of medicine. A literature search is made of disciplines other than medicine (history, sociology, philosophy, economics, and ethics) in order to assess factors responsible for survival and healthiness of a profession. The "learned" professions (medicine, law, and theology) are assessed. Other "professional" careers valued by society (sports and classical music) are reviewed. From the perspective of other disciplines, the future of ophthalmology is seen as vulnerable and fragile. Survival of professions, be they classically or economically defined, is linked to societal needs, a profession's unique commitment and ability to provide services to society, and the profession's maintenance of knowledge as well as skill-based services. Historical evidence has shown erosion of a profession's power consequent to capitalist influences, government influences, access of skills by less trained individuals, and elitist posturing by a profession. Comparative evidence has shown societal acceptance of an escalation of salaries for designated superstars, increasing roles and influence of managerial personnel, and trivialization of values other than economic ones. Attention to historical and comparative trends by individual ophthalmologists as well as associations representing ophthalmologists is mandatory if ophthalmology as we know it is to survive within the profession of medicine.

Ophthalmology's future in the next decade: a historical and comparative perspective.

PubMed Central

Day, S H

1999-01-01

PURPOSE: To gain a historical and comparative perspective about the future of ophthalmology within the profession of medicine. METHODS: A literature search is made of disciplines other than medicine (history, sociology, philosophy, economics, and ethics) in order to assess factors responsible for survival and healthiness of a profession. The "learned" professions (medicine, law, and theology) are assessed. Other "professional" careers valued by society (sports and classical music) are reviewed. RESULTS: From the perspective of other disciplines, the future of ophthalmology is seen as vulnerable and fragile. Survival of professions, be they classically or economically defined, is linked to societal needs, a profession's unique commitment and ability to provide services to society, and the profession's maintenance of knowledge as well as skill-based services. Historical evidence has shown erosion of a profession's power consequent to capitalist influences, government influences, access of skills by less trained individuals, and elitist posturing by a profession. Comparative evidence has shown societal acceptance of an escalation of salaries for designated superstars, increasing roles and influence of managerial personnel, and trivialization of values other than economic ones. CONCLUSION: Attention to historical and comparative trends by individual ophthalmologists as well as associations representing ophthalmologists is mandatory if ophthalmology as we know it is to survive within the profession of medicine. PMID:10703121

Social and economic profile technical guide

Treesearch

David Seesholtz; Denise Wickwar; John C. Russell

2006-01-01

A social and economic profile is a key element of a social assessment. A social and economic assessment or profile is used by line officers, planning staff social scientists, and others to inform both forest planning activities and project-level work. It is important to discover how planning and management decisions made by National Forest System staff will affect...

Comparability in Balanced Assessment Systems for State Accountability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Carla M.; Lyons, Susan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test methods that strengthen the comparability claims about annual determinations of student proficiency in English language arts, math, and science (Grades 3-12) in the New Hampshire Performance Assessment of Competency Education (NH PACE) pilot project. First, we examined the literature in order to define…

Economic evaluations of Internet interventions for mental health: a systematic review.

PubMed

Donker, T; Blankers, M; Hedman, E; Ljótsson, B; Petrie, K; Christensen, H

2015-12-01

Internet interventions are assumed to be cost-effective. However, it is unclear how strong this evidence is, and what the quality of this evidence is. A comprehensive literature search (1990-2014) in Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, NHS Economic Evaluations Database, NHS Health Technology Assessment Database, Office of Health Economics Evaluations Database, Compendex and Inspec was conducted. We included economic evaluations alongside randomized controlled trials of Internet interventions for a range of mental health symptoms compared to a control group, consisting of a psychological or pharmaceutical intervention, treatment-as-usual (TAU), wait-list or an attention control group. Of the 6587 abstracts identified, 16 papers met the inclusion criteria. Nine studies featured a societal perspective. Results demonstrated that guided Internet interventions for depression, anxiety, smoking cessation and alcohol consumption had favourable probabilities of being more cost-effective when compared to wait-list, TAU, group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBGT), attention control, telephone counselling or unguided Internet CBT. Unguided Internet interventions for suicide prevention, depression and smoking cessation demonstrated cost-effectiveness compared to TAU or attention control. In general, results from cost-utility analyses using more generic health outcomes (quality of life) were less favourable for unguided Internet interventions. Most studies adhered reasonably to economic guidelines. Results of guided Internet interventions being cost-effective are promising with most studies adhering to publication standards, but more economic evaluations are needed in order to determine cost-effectiveness of Internet interventions compared to the most cost-effective treatment currently available.

Comparative Validity of the Shedler and Westen Assessment Procedure-200

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mullins-Sweatt, Stephanie N.; Widiger, Thomas A.

2008-01-01

A predominant dimensional model of general personality structure is the five-factor model (FFM). Quite a number of alternative instruments have been developed to assess the domains of the FFM. The current study compares the validity of 2 alternative versions of the Shedler and Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200) FFM scales, 1 that was developed…

Effect of subjective economic status on psychological distress among farmers and non-farmers of rural China.

PubMed

Feng, Danjun; Ji, Linqin; Xu, Lingzhong

2015-08-01

This study aims to compare the prevalence of psychological distress between farmers and non-farmers of rural China. Further, this examines the effect of subjective economic status on psychological distress and whether this effect varies between farmers and non-farmers. The study design is a cross-sectional survey. The study was conducted in 27 villages of Dongying City in Shandong Province. Rural employed people included 1433 farmers and 584 non-farmers. Psychological distress was assessed by the Kessler 10 questionnaire, and subjective economic status was assessed by a single question. Overall, the farmers did not report significantly higher prevalence of psychological distress than non-farmers (31.13% versus 30.01%). However, the farmers aged 51-70 years did report significantly higher psychological distress than their non-farmer counterparts (33.4% versus 24.2%, P = 0.04). Second, subjective economic status had a significant (β = -0.28, P < 0.001) effect on psychological distress. Finally, subjective economic status exerted a stronger effect on psychological distress among farmers (β = 0.30, P < 0.001) than among non-farmers (β = 0.20, P < 0.001). The farmers had a comparable prevalence of psychological distress when compared with non-farmers in rural China. Subjective economic status exerted a significant effect on the psychological distress of rural employed people, and this effect was stronger for the farmers than for the non-farmers. © 2015 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

Preliminary economic assessment of the use of waste frying oils for biodiesel production in Beirut, Lebanon.

PubMed

Fawaz, Elyssa G; Salam, Darine A

2018-05-15

In this study, a method for assessing the costs of biodiesel production from waste frying oils in Beirut, Lebanon, was investigated with the aim of developing an economic evaluation of this alternative. A hundred restaurant and hotel enterprises in Beirut were surveyed for promoting them in participating in the biodiesel supply chain, and for data collection on waste frying oils generation, disposal methods and frequency, and acquisition cost. Also, waste frying oils were collected and converted into biodiesel using a one-step base catalyzed transesterification process. Physicochemical characteristics of the produced biodiesel were conforming to international standards. Data produced from laboratory scale conversion of waste frying oils to biodiesel, as well as data collected from the only biodiesel plant in Lebanon was used to determine the production cost of biodiesel. Geographic Information System was used to propose a real-time vehicle routing model to establish the logistics costs associated with waste frying oils collection. Comparing scenarios of the configuration collection network of waste frying oils, and using medium-duty commercial vehicles for collection, a logistics cost of US$/L 0.08 was optimally reached. For the calculation of the total cost of biodiesel production, the minimum, average, and maximum values for the non-fixed cost variables were considered emerging 81 scenarios for possible biodiesel costs. These were compared with information on the commercialization of diesel in Lebanon for the years 2011 through 2017. Although competitive with petroleum diesel for years 2011 to 2014, the total biodiesel cost presented less tolerance to declining diesel prices in the recent years. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the acquisition cost of waste frying oils is the key factor affecting the overall cost of biodiesel production. The results of this study validate the economic feasibility of waste frying oils' biodiesel production in the studied

Composting, anaerobic digestion and biochar production in Ghana. Environmental-economic assessment in the context of voluntary carbon markets.

PubMed

Galgani, Pietro; van der Voet, Ester; Korevaar, Gijsbert

2014-12-01

In some areas of Sub-Saharan Africa appropriate organic waste management technology could address development issues such as soil degradation, unemployment and energy scarcity, while at the same time reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. This paper investigates the role that carbon markets could have in facilitating the implementation of composting, anaerobic digestion and biochar production, in the city of Tamale, in the North of Ghana. Through a life cycle assessment of implementation scenarios for low-tech, small scale variants of the above mentioned three technologies, the potential contribution they could give to climate change mitigation was assessed. Furthermore an economic assessment was carried out to study their viability and the impact thereon of accessing carbon markets. It was found that substantial climate benefits can be achieved by avoiding landfilling of organic waste, producing electricity and substituting the use of chemical fertilizer. Biochar production could result in a net carbon sequestration. These technologies were however found not to be economically viable without external subsidies, and access to carbon markets at the considered carbon price of 7 EUR/ton of carbon would not change the situation significantly. Carbon markets could help the realization of the considered composting and anaerobic digestion systems only if the carbon price will rise above 75-84 EUR/t of carbon (respectively for anaerobic digestion and composting). Biochar production could achieve large climate benefits and, if approved as a land based climate mitigation mechanism in carbon markets, it would become economically viable at the lower carbon price of 30 EUR/t of carbon. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cheating by Economics and Business Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory International Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teixeira, Aurora A. C.; Rocha, Maria Fatima

2010-01-01

Today's economics and business students are expected to be our future business people and potentially the economic leaders and politicians of tomorrow. Thus, their beliefs and practices are liable to affect the definition of acceptable economics and business ethics. The empirical evaluation of the phenomenon of cheating in academia has almost…

Techno-Economic Assessment for Integrating Biosorption into Rare Earth Recovery Process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jiao, Yongqin; Sutherland, John; Jin, Hongyue

The current uncertainty in the global supply of rare earth elements (REEs) necessitates the development of novel extraction technologies that utilize a variety of REE source materials. Herein, we examined the techno-economic performance of integrating a biosorption approach into a large-scale process for producing salable total rare earth oxides (TREOs) from various feedstocks. An airlift bioractor is proposed to carry out a biosorption process mediated by bioengineered rare earth-adsorbing bacteria. Techno-econmic asssements were compared for three distinctive categories of REE feedstocks requiring different pre-processing steps. Key parameters identified that affect profitability include REE concentration, composition of the feedstock, and costsmore » of feedstock pretreatment and waste management. Among the 11 specific feedstocks investigated, coal ash from the Appalachian Basin was projected to be the most profitable, largely due to its high-value REE content. Its cost breakdown includes pre-processing (primarily leaching) (8077.71%), biosorption (1619.04%), and oxalic acid precipitation and TREO roasting (3.35%). Surprisingly, biosorption from the high-grade Bull Hill REE ore is less profitable due to high material cost and low production revenue. Overall, our results confirmed that the application of biosorption to low-grade feedstocks for REE recovery is economically viable.« less

Comparing Students' Enrolment and Graduate Output in Home Economics with Other Vocational Subjects in Colleges of Education in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arubayi, D. O.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare students' enrolment and graduate output in Home Economics with other Vocational subjects in the Colleges of Education in Nigeria. The target population included twenty (20) Federal Colleges and twenty-seven (27) State Colleges of Education offering eight Vocational and Technical disciplines during the…

Using Integrated Assessment Models to Estimate the Economic Damages from Temperature Related Human Health Effects in the US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilmore, E.; Calvin, K. V.; Puett, R.; Sapkota, A.; Schwarber, A.

2014-12-01

Climate change is projected to increase risks to human health. One pathway that may be particularly difficult to manage is adverse human health impacts (e.g. premature mortality and morbidity) from increases in mean temperatures and changing patterns of temperature extremes. Modeling how these health risks evolve over decadal time-scales is challenging as the severity of the impacts depends on changes in climate as well as socioeconomic conditions. Here, we show estimates of health damages as well as both direct and indirect economic damages that span climate and socioeconomic dimensions for each US state to 2050. We achieve this objective by extending the integrated assessment model (IAM), Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM-USA). First, we quantify the change in premature mortality. We identify a range of exposure-response relationships for temperature related mortality through a critical review of the literature. We then implement these relationships in the GCAM by coupling them with projections of future temperature patterns and population estimates. Second, we monetize the effect of these adverse health effects, including both direct and indirect economic costs through labor force participation and productivity along a range of possible economic pathways. Finally, we evaluate how uncertainty in the parameters and assumptions affects the range of possible estimates. We conclude that the model is sensitive to assumptions regarding exposure-response relationship and population growth. The economic damages, however, are driven by the estimates of income and GDP growth as well as the potential for adaptation measures, namely the use and effectiveness of air conditioning.

Information Uncertainty to Compare Qualitative Reasoning Security Risk Assessment Results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chavez, Gregory M; Key, Brian P; Zerkle, David K

2009-01-01

The security risk associated with malevolent acts such as those of terrorism are often void of the historical data required for a traditional PRA. Most information available to conduct security risk assessments for these malevolent acts is obtained from subject matter experts as subjective judgements. Qualitative reasoning approaches such as approximate reasoning and evidential reasoning are useful for modeling the predicted risk from information provided by subject matter experts. Absent from these approaches is a consistent means to compare the security risk assessment results. Associated with each predicted risk reasoning result is a quantifiable amount of information uncertainty which canmore » be measured and used to compare the results. This paper explores using entropy measures to quantify the information uncertainty associated with conflict and non-specificity in the predicted reasoning results. The measured quantities of conflict and non-specificity can ultimately be used to compare qualitative reasoning results which are important in triage studies and ultimately resource allocation. Straight forward extensions of previous entropy measures are presented here to quantify the non-specificity and conflict associated with security risk assessment results obtained from qualitative reasoning models.« less

Economic tools to promote transparency and comparability in the Paris Agreement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldy, Joseph; Pizer, William; Tavoni, Massimo; Reis, Lara Aleluia; Akimoto, Keigo; Blanford, Geoffrey; Carraro, Carlo; Clarke, Leon E.; Edmonds, James; Iyer, Gokul C.; McJeon, Haewon C.; Richels, Richard; Rose, Steven; Sano, Fuminori

2016-11-01

The Paris Agreement culminates a six-year transition towards an international climate policy architecture based on parties submitting national pledges every five years. An important policy task will be to assess and compare these contributions. We use four integrated assessment models to produce metrics of Paris Agreement pledges, and show differentiated effort across countries: wealthier countries pledge to undertake greater emission reductions with higher costs. The pledges fall in the lower end of the distributions of the social cost of carbon and the cost-minimizing path to limiting warming to 2 °C, suggesting insufficient global ambition in light of leaders’ climate goals. Countries’ marginal abatement costs vary by two orders of magnitude, illustrating that large efficiency gains are available through joint mitigation efforts and/or carbon price coordination. Marginal costs rise almost proportionally with income, but full policy costs reveal more complex regional patterns due to terms of trade effects.

A Comparative Study of Junior and Senior College Economics Programs in the Southeast.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sterrett, Jack; Barr, Saul Z.

1981-01-01

Discusses a 1979 survey undertaken to determine the extent to which innovations were used in college and junior college courses on the principles of economics. The sample consisted of the heads of all junior college and college university economics departments in five southeastern states. (Author/DB)

Aggregates from natural and recycled sources; economic assessments for construction applications; a materials flow study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilburn, David R.; Goonan, Thomas G.

1998-01-01

Increased amounts of recycled materials are being used to supplement natural aggregates (derived from crushed stone, sand and gravel) in road construction. An understanding of the economics and factors affecting the level of aggregates recycling is useful in estimating the potential for recycling and in assessing the total supply picture of aggregates. This investigation includes a descriptive analysis of the supply sources, technology, costs, incentives, deterrents, and market relationships associated with the production of aggregates.

Studies of Postdisaster Economic Recovery: Analysis, Synthesis, and Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

of a large-scale nuclear disaster can be viewed in the aggre- gate as attempting to answer two broad questions: 1. Do resources survive in sufficient...With respect to economic institutional issues in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster , published research has been, almost without exception, speculative...possibilities. There are at least three major themes that per- meate the literature on economic control in the event of a large-scale nuclear disaster . First

High-resolution assessment of global technical and economic hydropower potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gernaat, David E. H. J.; Bogaart, Patrick W.; Vuuren, Detlef P. van; Biemans, Hester; Niessink, Robin

2017-10-01

Hydropower is the most important renewable energy source to date, providing over 72% of all renewable electricity globally. Yet, only limited information is available on the global potential supply of hydropower and the associated costs. Here we provide a high-resolution assessment of the technical and economic potential of hydropower at a near-global scale. Using 15"×15" discharge and 3"×3" digital elevation maps, we built virtual hydropower installations at >3.8 million sites across the globe and calculated their potential using cost optimization methods. This way we identified over 60,000 suitable sites, which together represent a remaining global potential of 9.49 PWh yr-1 below US0.50 kWh-1. The largest remaining potential is found in Asia Pacific (39%), South America (25%) and Africa (24%), of which a large part can be produced at low cost (

The Economics of Comparable Worth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Killingsworth, Mark R.

This document concludes that the basic difficulty with comparable worth is that it is an ill-conceived solution to a serious problem and that alternative policies, such as equal employment opportunity legislation or application of antitrust laws, provide means of addressing employment discrimination that are both more effective and less likely to…

Comparing potential early caries assessment methods for teledentistry

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Optical caries detection has the potential to be incorporated in telehealth medicine for preventive dental screening. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare visible and near infrared detection methods for identifying early non-cavitated ex vivo occlusal demineralization. Methods Six blinded examiners were used to compare the accuracy of the following three examinations in detecting occlusal demineralization: Midwest Caries ID™ (MID), visual photographic examination (CAM) and Cross Polarization Optical Coherence Tomography (CP-OCT). For each diagnostic method, two examiners assessed the extracted tooth samples 1–2 weeks apart. Teeth were then sectioned and lesion depth was confirmed (n = 42) by a blinded histological examination using a glycol based caries indicator dye. The sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Sp), Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), and Area under the Receiver Operator Curve (AUC) were calculated. Results For detecting any demineralization versus sound pit and fissure enamel, the mean Sen/Sp found was 46.9/85.0 for MID, 80.5/52.5 for CAM, and 83.4/45.0 for CP-OCT. For detecting non-cavitated demineralization that progressed into the dentin, the mean Sen/Sp found was 17.3/88.0 for MID, 48.0/57.8 for CAM, and 44.2/72.7 for CP-OCT. AUC values were statistically significant (P < 0.05) in three out of four examiner assessments when MID and CP-OCT were used to detect any demineralization. AUC values were significant for a single CAM examination. When assessing deeper non-cavitated lesions, none of the assessment methods were able to yield AUC values that were significantly different than a random ‘coin flip’ test. When examining reliability, MID demonstrated the highest ICC score (0.83) and CP-OCT had the lowest (0.49). Conclusion Although MID and CP-OCT were useful in detecting the presence of demineralization, examiners were not able to utilize these devices to adequately assess the depth of the

Economic and Environmental Assessment of a 1 MW Grid Connected Rooftop Solar PV System for Energy Efficient Building in Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Sanjib; Hosain, Rubayet; Rahman, Toufiqur; Rabbi, Ahmead Fazle

This paper evaluates the potentiality of a 1 MW grid connected rooftop solar PV system for an Energy Efficient Building in Bangladesh, which was estimated by utilizing NASA SSE solar radiation data, PVsyst simulation software and RETScreen simulation software. Economic and environmental viability for a ten-storied building with roof area of 6,500 m2 in the Capital City of Bangladesh, Dhaka was assessed by using the RETScreen simulation software. The yearly electricity production of the proposed system was 1,581 MWh estimated by PVsyst where the technical prospective of gird-connected solar PV in Bangladesh was calculated as about 50,174 MW. The economic assessments were determined the simple payback in such a way that the generated electricity first fulfills the demand of the building, and then the rest of the energy is supplied to the grid. The result indicates that the roof top solar PV system for an Energy efficient building in Dhaka city has a favorable condition for development both in economic and environmental point of view.

Life cycle and economic assessment of source-separated MSW collection with regard to greenhouse gas emissions: a case study in China.

PubMed

Dong, Jun; Ni, Mingjiang; Chi, Yong; Zou, Daoan; Fu, Chao

2013-08-01

In China, the continuously increasing amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) has resulted in an urgent need for changing the current municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system based on mixed collection. A pilot program focusing on source-separated MSW collection was thus launched (2010) in Hangzhou, China, to lessen the related environmental loads. And greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Kyoto Protocol) are singled out in particular. This paper uses life cycle assessment modeling to evaluate the potential environmental improvement with regard to GHG emissions. The pre-existing MSWM system is assessed as baseline, while the source separation scenario is compared internally. Results show that 23 % GHG emissions can be decreased by source-separated collection compared with the base scenario. In addition, the use of composting and anaerobic digestion (AD) is suggested for further optimizing the management of food waste. 260.79, 82.21, and -86.21 thousand tonnes of GHG emissions are emitted from food waste landfill, composting, and AD, respectively, proving the emission reduction potential brought by advanced food waste treatment technologies. Realizing the fact, a modified MSWM system is proposed by taking AD as food waste substitution option, with additional 44 % GHG emissions saved than current source separation scenario. Moreover, a preliminary economic assessment is implemented. It is demonstrated that both source separation scenarios have a good cost reduction potential than mixed collection, with the proposed new system the most cost-effective one.

Economic evaluation of emergency obstetric care training: a systematic review.

PubMed

Banke-Thomas, Aduragbemi; Wilson-Jones, Megan; Madaj, Barbara; van den Broek, Nynke

2017-12-04

Training healthcare providers in Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) has been shown to be effective in improving their capacity to provide this critical care package for mothers and babies. However, little is known about the costs and cost-effectiveness of such training. Understanding costs and cost-effectiveness is essential in guaranteeing value-for-money in healthcare spending. This study systematically reviewed the available literature on cost and cost-effectiveness of EmOC trainings. Peer-reviewed and grey literature was searched for relevant papers published after 1990. Studies were included if they described an economic evaluation of EmOC training and the training cost data were available. Two reviewers independently searched, screened, and selected studies that met the inclusion criteria, with disagreements resolved by a third reviewer. Quality of studies was assessed using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards statement. For comparability, all costs in local currency were converted to International dollar (I$) equivalents using purchasing power parity conversion factors. The cost per training per participant was calculated. Narrative synthesis was used to summarise the available evidence on cost effectiveness. Fourteen studies (five full and nine partial economic evaluations) met the inclusion criteria. All five and two of the nine partial economic evaluations were of high quality. The majority of studies (13/14) were from low- and middle-income countries. Training equipment, per diems and resource person allowance were the most expensive components. Cost of training per person per day ranged from I$33 to I$90 when accommodation was required and from I$5 to I$21 when training was facility-based. Cost-effectiveness of training was assessed in 5 studies with differing measures of effectiveness (knowledge, skills, procedure cost and lives saved) making comparison difficult. Economic evaluations of EmOC training are limited. There is a

Methodology for the comparative assessment of the Satellite Power System (SPS) and alternative technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolsko, T.; Buehring, W.; Cirillo, R.; Gasper, J.; Habegger, L.; Hub, K.; Newsom, D.; Samsa, M.; Stenehjem, E.; Whitfield, R.

1980-01-01

The energy systems concerned are the satellite power system, several coal technologies, geothermal energy, fission, fusion, terrestrial solar systems, and ocean thermal energy conversion. Guidelines are suggested for the characterization of these systems, side-by-side analysis, alternative futures analysis, and integration and aggregation of data. A description of the methods for assessing the technical, economic, environmental, societal, and institutional issues surrounding the development of the selected energy technologies is presented.

Regional economic forecasting models: Suitability for use in the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

South, D.W.; McDonald, J.F.; Oakland, W.H.

1990-02-01

In preparation for the Phase 1 test runs of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Task Group B (TG-B) emissions model set, the need arose to provide regional economic data directly to the sector models in the model set and to the Argonne Regionalization Activity Module (ARAM). Candidate regional economic models were reviewed, and the Data Resources, Inc. (DRI), model was selected. This review of models, conducted during 1984--1985, is documented in this report. Even though considerable time has elapsed since then, the model descriptions and critique contained in this report are still fairly accurate and the recommendations should stillmore » be valid. There have been, however, some significant changes: (1) two of the economic consulting firms whose models were reviewed, Chase Econometrics and Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates, have merged, (2) the DRI Regional Information System (DRI/RIS) now constructs a regional measure of industrial value of shipments, which will be used as the industrial activity variable (instead of employment) in the Phase 2 scenario analyses, and (3) based on recommendations from the third-party review of the TG-B model set, price-sensitive regional equations were developed to provide inputs, not already produced by the DRI/RIS model, directly to the sector models, thus eliminating the function served by ARAM. 44 refs., 12 figs., 44 tabs.« less

Techno-economic assessment of the Mobil Two-Stage Slurry Fischer-Tropsch/ZSM-5 process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

El Sawy, A.; Gray, D.; Neuworth, M.

1984-11-01

A techno-economic assessment of the Mobil Two-Stage Slurry Fischer-Tropsch reactor system was carried out. Mobil bench-scale data were evaluated and scaled to a commercial plant design that produced specification high-octane gasoline and high-cetane diesel fuel. Comparisons were made with three reference plants - a SASOL (US) plant using dry ash Lurgi gasifiers and Synthol synthesis units, a modified SASOL plant with a British Gas Corporation slagging Lurgi gasifier (BGC/Synthol) and a BGC/slurry-phase process based on scaled data from the Koelbel Rheinpreussen-Koppers plant. A conceptual commercial version of the Mobil two-stage process shows a higher process efficiency than a SASOL (US)more » and a BGC/Synthol plant. The Mobil plant gave lower gasoline costs than obtained from the SASOL (US) and BGC/Synthol versions. Comparison with published data from a slurry-phase Fischer-Tropsch (Koelbel) unit indicated that product costs from the Mobil process were within 6% of the Koelbel values. A high-wax version of the Mobil process combined with wax hydrocracking could produce gasoline and diesel fuel at comparable cost to the lowest values achieved from prior published slurry-phase results. 27 references, 18 figures, 49 tables.« less

Analysis of health economics assessment reports for pharmaceuticals in France – understanding the underlying philosophy of CEESP assessment

PubMed Central

Toumi, Mondher; Motrunich, Anastasiia; Millier, Aurélie; Rémuzat, Cécile; Chouaid, Christos; Falissard, Bruno; Aballéa, Samuel

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Despite the guidelines for Economic and Public Health Assessment Committee (CEESP) submission having been available for nearly six years, the dossiers submitted continue to deviate from them, potentially impacting product prices. Objective: to review the reports published by CEESP, analyse deviations from the guidelines, and discuss their implications for the pricing and reimbursement process. Study design: CEESP reports published until January 2017 were reviewed, and deviations from the guidelines were extracted. The frequency of deviations was described by type of methodological concern (minor, important or major). Results: In 19 reports, we identified 243 methodological concerns, most often concerning modelling, measurement and valuation of health states and results presentation and sensitivity analyses; nearly 63% were minor, 33% were important and 4.5% were major. All reports included minor methodological concerns, and 17 (89%) included at least one important and/or major methodological concern. Global major methodological concerns completely invalidated the analysis in seven dossiers (37%). Conclusion: The CEESP submission dossiers fail to adhere to the guidelines, potentially invalidating the health economics analysis and resulting in pricing negotiations. As these negotiations tend to be unfavourable for the manufacturer, the industry should strive to improve the quality of the analyses submitted to CEESP. PMID:28804600

Economic competition in health care: a moral assessment.

PubMed

Menzel, P T

1987-02-01

Economic competition threatens equity in the delivery of health care. This essay examines four of the various ways in which it does that: the reduction of charity care, increased patient cost-sharing, "cream-skimming" of healthy subscribers, and lack of information to patients about rationed care that is not prescribed. In all four cases, society must guard against distinct inequities and injustices, but also in all four, either the particular problem is not inherent in competition or, though inherent, it is not irremediable. Competition therefore cannot be finally morally accepted or rejected as an economic structure for delivering health care without knowing what among a wide range of supplementary things our society is actually going to do with it.

Measuring Economic Attitudes in High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walstad, William B.; Soper, John C.

1983-01-01

The instrument,"Survey on Economic Attitudes", developed to assess attitudes toward economics as a subject and attitudes toward economic issues, should find many uses in research or evaluation studies. Data on reliability, validity, and norms obtained from a national sample of high school students and college professors are discussed.…

The economic impact of foot and mouth disease and its control in South-East Asia: a preliminary assessment with special reference to Thailand.

PubMed

Perry, B D; Kalpravidh, W; Coleman, P G; Horst, H S; McDermott, J J; Randolph, T F; Gleeson, L J

1999-08-01

A pilot study of the economic impact of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the countries and region of South-East Asia is described. Previous economic impact assessments are reviewed and summarised and a synthesis of these contributions is constructed. A framework for the future economic impact of the disease is then developed, incorporating analyses at the sectoral (production system), national and regional levels. Data requirements for such studies are also identified. Integrated epidemiological and economic models for impact assessment were developed and applied to the case study country of Thailand. The models were used to evaluate the economic viability of FMD control programmes in the country. Scenarios evaluated include the effect of improving vaccination coverage and thus reducing productivity losses, and the effect of eventual eradication of the disease. The results indicate that economic returns to the high expenditures incurred in FMD control could be achieved in the short term if greater international trade in pork products was made possible and export prices higher than those in the domestic market could be attained. If FMD were to be eradicated from Thailand in 2010, the eradication would be economically viable, even without exports, with a predicted benefit-cost ratio of 3.73. With additional exports, the economic justification for control becomes much stronger with a benefit-cost ratio of up to 15:1 being achieved. If eradication is not achieved until 2020, returns remain positive without exports, but at a lower rate. The authors propose that the integrated epidemiological and economic models developed be applied to other countries of the region to gain a more accurate insight into the future benefits of FMD control and eradication in the region.

Female Participation in the Occupation System: A Comparative Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiss, Jane E.; And Others

1976-01-01

Uses cross national data to examine how economic, political and educational structures affect both the participation of women in the labor force and their employment in more powerful and well rewarded positions, and assesses the relevance of comparative studies of women as a status group to national public policy considerations. (Author/JM)

[New social and economical issues in the assessment of Romanian population's health status].

PubMed

Duma, Odetta

2008-01-01

Health status is determined by a combination of biological, environmental (physical and socio-economic), behavioural/lifestyle and medical care factors. The social and economic factors include many influences over which an individual may have limited control, such as economic status or educational level. The most important measures of these factors are represented by: gross domestic product per capita, employment rate, unemployment rate, literacy rate, poverty line, and human development index. From this point of view, the following positive issues have been recorded in Romania: a low unemployment rate (6.1%) compared to European Union countries; a high literacy rate (97.3%), very close to the maximum of 100% reported by all developed countries; and a human development index of 0.805 (rank 60 in the international hierarchy), specific to a country with a high human development. Negative issues have been reported in case of the following indicators: the reported gross domestic product per capita expressed in PPP US$ was 8480, among the lowest in Europe, specific to a country with a medium income; population living with less than 2 US$ per day of 13% and living with less than 1 US$ per day 2.1%; the employment rate was 57.4%, but in female population only 51.3%, whereas in male population it was 63.9%.

Assessment of economically optimal water management and geospatial potential for large-scale water storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weerasinghe, Harshi; Schneider, Uwe A.

2010-05-01

Assessment of economically optimal water management and geospatial potential for large-scale water storage Weerasinghe, Harshi; Schneider, Uwe A Water is an essential but limited and vulnerable resource for all socio-economic development and for maintaining healthy ecosystems. Water scarcity accelerated due to population expansion, improved living standards, and rapid growth in economic activities, has profound environmental and social implications. These include severe environmental degradation, declining groundwater levels, and increasing problems of water conflicts. Water scarcity is predicted to be one of the key factors limiting development in the 21st century. Climate scientists have projected spatial and temporal changes in precipitation and changes in the probability of intense floods and droughts in the future. As scarcity of accessible and usable water increases, demand for efficient water management and adaptation strategies increases as well. Addressing water scarcity requires an intersectoral and multidisciplinary approach in managing water resources. This would in return safeguard the social welfare and the economical benefit to be at their optimal balance without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems. This paper presents a geographically explicit method to assess the potential for water storage with reservoirs and a dynamic model that identifies the dimensions and material requirements under an economically optimal water management plan. The methodology is applied to the Elbe and Nile river basins. Input data for geospatial analysis at watershed level are taken from global data repositories and include data on elevation, rainfall, soil texture, soil depth, drainage, land use and land cover; which are then downscaled to 1km spatial resolution. Runoff potential for different combinations of land use and hydraulic soil groups and for mean annual precipitation levels are derived by the SCS-CN method. Using the overlay and decision tree algorithms