Pressure Regulators as Valves for Saving Compressed Air and their Influence on System Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvořák, Lukáš; Fojtášek, Kamil

2015-05-01

Pressure regulators in the field of pneumatic mechanisms can be used as valves for saving compressed air. For example it can be used to reduce the pressure when the piston rod is retracting unloaded and thus it is possible to save some energy. However the problem is that saving valve can significantly affect the dynamics of the pneumatic system. The lower pressure in the piston rod chamber causes extension of time for retraction of the piston rod. This article compare the air consumption experimentally determined and calculated, measured curves of pressure in cylinder chambers and piston speed when saving valve is set up differently.

Cost-savings for biosimilars in the United States: a theoretical framework and budget impact case study application using filgrastim.

PubMed

Grewal, Simrun; Ramsey, Scott; Balu, Sanjeev; Carlson, Josh J

2018-05-18

Biosimilars can directly reduce the cost of treating patients for whom a reference biologic is indicated by offering a highly similar, lower priced alternative. We examine factors related to biosimilar regulatory approval, uptake, pricing, and financing and the potential impact on drug expenditures in the U.S. We developed a framework to illustrate how key factors including regulatory policies, provider and patient perception, pricing, and payer policies impact biosimilar cost-savings. Further, we developed a budget impact cost model to estimate savings from filgrastim biosimilars under various scenarios. The model uses publicly available data on disease incidence, treatment patterns, market share, and drug prices to estimate the cost-savings over a 5-year time horizon. We estimate five-year cost savings of $256 million, of which 18% ($47 million) are from reduced patient out-of-pocket costs, 34% ($86 million) are savings to commercial payers, and 48% ($123 million) are savings for Medicare. Additional scenarios demonstrate the impact of uncertain factors, including price, uptake, and financing policies. A variety or interrelated factors influence the development, uptake, and cost-savings for Biosimilars use in the U.S. The filgrastim case is a useful example that illustrates these factors and the potential magnitude of costs savings.

Reducing the length of postnatal hospital stay: implications for cost and quality of care.

PubMed

Bowers, John; Cheyne, Helen

2016-01-15

UK health services are under pressure to make cost savings while maintaining quality of care. Typically reducing the length of time patients stay in hospital and increasing bed occupancy are advocated to achieve service efficiency. Around 800,000 women give birth in the UK each year making maternity care a high volume, high cost service. Although average length of stay on the postnatal ward has fallen substantially over the years there is pressure to make still further reductions. This paper explores and discusses the possible cost savings of further reductions in length of stay, the consequences for postnatal services in the community, and the impact on quality of care. We draw on a range of pre-existing data sources including, national level routinely collected data, workforce planning data and data from national surveys of women's experience. Simulation and a financial model were used to estimate excess demand, work intensity and bed occupancy to explore the quantitative, organisational consequences of reducing the length of stay. These data are discussed in relation to findings of national surveys to draw inferences about potential impacts on cost and quality of care. Reducing the length of time women spend in hospital after birth implies that staff and bed numbers can be reduced. However, the cost savings may be reduced if quality and access to services are maintained. Admission and discharge procedures are relatively fixed and involve high cost, trained staff time. Furthermore, it is important to retain a sufficient bed contingency capacity to ensure a reasonable level of service. If quality of care is maintained, staffing and bed capacity cannot be simply reduced proportionately: reducing average length of stay on a typical postnatal ward by six hours or 17% would reduce costs by just 8%. This might still be a significant saving over a high volume service however, earlier discharge results in more women and babies with significant care needs at home. Quality and safety of care would also require corresponding increases in community based postnatal care. Simply reducing staffing in proportion to the length of stay increases the workload for each staff member resulting in poorer quality of care and increased staff stress. Many policy debates, such as that about the length of postnatal hospital-stay, demand consideration of multiple dimensions. This paper demonstrates how diverse data sources and techniques can be integrated to provide a more holistic analysis. Our study suggests that while earlier discharge from the postnatal ward may achievable, it may not generate all of the anticipated cost savings. Some useful savings may be realised but if staff and bed capacity are simply reduced in proportion to the length of stay, care quality may be compromised.

Saving billions of dollars--and physicians' time--by streamlining billing practices.

PubMed

Blanchfield, Bonnie B; Heffernan, James L; Osgood, Bradford; Sheehan, Rosemary R; Meyer, Gregg S

2010-06-01

The U.S. system of billing third parties for health care services is complex, expensive, and inefficient. Physicians end up using nearly 12 percent of their net patient service revenue to cover the costs of excessive administrative complexity. A single transparent set of payment rules for multiple payers, a single claim form, and standard rules of submission, among other innovations, would reduce the burden on the billing offices of physician organizations. On a national scale, our hypothetical modeling of these changes would translate into $7 billion of savings annually for physician and clinical services. Four hours of professional time per physician and five hours of practice support staff time could be saved each week.

E3 Value Stream Mapping How-to Guide

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Presentations and PDFs on value stream mapping for various sectors, which can reveal substantial opportunities to reduce costs, enhance production flow, save time, reduce inventory, and improve environmental performance.

Prospects for reducing the processing cost of lithium ion batteries

DOE PAGES

Wood III, David L.; Li, Jianlin; Daniel, Claus

2014-11-06

A detailed processing cost breakdown is given for lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes, which focuses on: elimination of toxic, costly N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) dispersion chemistry; doubling the thicknesses of the anode and cathode to raise energy density; and, reduction of the anode electrolyte wetting and SEI-layer formation time. These processing cost reduction technologies generically adaptable to any anode or cathode cell chemistry and are being implemented at ORNL. This paper shows step by step how these cost savings can be realized in existing or new LIB manufacturing plants using a baseline case of thin (power) electrodes produced with NMP processing and amore » standard 10-14-day wetting and formation process. In particular, it is shown that aqueous electrode processing can cut the electrode processing cost and energy consumption by an order of magnitude. Doubling the thickness of the electrodes allows for using half of the inactive current collectors and separators, contributing even further to the processing cost savings. Finally wetting and SEI-layer formation cost savings are discussed in the context of a protocol with significantly reduced time. These three benefits collectively offer the possibility of reducing LIB pack cost from $502.8 kWh-1-usable to $370.3 kWh-1-usable, a savings of $132.5/kWh (or 26.4%).« less

VA Telemedicine: An Analysis of Cost and Time Savings.

PubMed

Russo, Jack E; McCool, Ryan R; Davies, Louise

2016-03-01

The Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system provides beneficiary travel reimbursement ("travel pay") to qualifying patients for traveling to appointments. Travel pay is a large expense for the VA and hence the U.S. Government, projected to cost nearly $1 billion in 2015. Telemedicine in the VA system has the potential to save money by reducing patient travel and thus the amount of travel pay disbursed. In this study, we quantify this savings and also report trends in VA telemedicine volumes over time. All telemedicine visits based at the VA Hospital in White River Junction, VT between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed (5,695 visits). Travel distance and time saved as a result of telemedicine were calculated. Clinical volume in the mental health department, which has had the longest participation in telemedicine, was analyzed. Telemedicine resulted in an average travel savings of 145 miles and 142 min per visit. This led to an average travel payment savings of $18,555 per year. Telemedicine volume grew significantly over the study period such that by the final year the travel pay savings had increased to $63,804, or about 3.5% of the total travel pay disbursement for that year. The number of mental health telemedicine visits rose over the study period but remained small relative to the number of face-to-face visits. A higher proportion of telemedicine visits involved new patients. Telemedicine at the VA saves travel distance and time, although the reduction in travel payments remains modest at current telemedicine volumes.

Telemedicine can make healthcare greener.

PubMed

Yellowlees, Peter M; Chorba, Kathy; Burke Parish, Michelle; Wynn-Jones, Hannah; Nafiz, Najia

2010-03-01

The American healthcare industry is generally lacking environmentally sustainable practices. The environmental impact of healthcare practices in the country has been largely disregarded due to ambivalence, ignorance, and fears of additional costs and regulations. The current practices continue to pollute the environment by requiring large amounts of travel and paperwork by both the patient and the clinician. Telemedicine and health information technology help save time, energy, raw materials (such as paper and plastic), and fuel, thereby lowering the carbon footprint of the health industry. By implementing green practices, for instance, by engaging in carbon credit programs, the health industry could benefit financially as well as reduce its negative impact on the health of our planet. Companies that reduce their carbon emissions by implementing energy-saving practices can sell their carbon credits to companies that emit more carbon than permissible by their legally binding commitment. These carbon profits can then be used for healthcare research or to provide healthcare to the underserved. Alternatively, the savings could be used for green purchasing and to implement other carbon-reducing activities. This report reviews the numerous possible options for the American health industry to become greener and lower its carbon footprint while at the same time becoming more time- and cost efficient.

Reducing admissions with patient group directions.

PubMed

Wat, Dennis; Glossage, Elaine; Hampson, Onnor; Sibley, Sarah

In times of financial restrictions and reform impediments, health services need to invest in resources that provide value for money and reduce hospital admissions. Improving disease management in the community is a primary target for those trying to reduce costs. The second most common cause of emergency admissions to hospital is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and it has been suggested that more effective treatments and better management of the condition would likely result in an estimated 5% fewer admissions to hospital, saving around pound 15.5m each year. This article discusses how savings could be made by improving care provided in the community.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Municipality with a Mission: Georgia Fleet

Science.gov Websites

different alternative fuels, based on mission needs, with the goal of saving money, reducing its combined. The vehicles have logged more than 90,000 problem-free miles and are projected to save the options before investing any time and money in new fuels and technologies. He directed Curtis to the

Optimizing Aircraft Trajectories with Multiple Cruise Altitudes in the Presence of Winds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ng, Hok K.; Sridhar, Banavar; Grabbe, Shon

2014-01-01

This study develops a trajectory optimization algorithm for approximately minimizing aircraft travel time and fuel burn by combining a method for computing minimum-time routes in winds on multiple horizontal planes, and an aircraft fuel burn model for generating fuel-optimal vertical profiles. It is applied to assess the potential benefits of flying user-preferred routes for commercial cargo flights operating between Anchorage, Alaska and major airports in Asia and the contiguous United States. Flying wind optimal trajectories with a fuel-optimal vertical profile reduces average fuel burn of international flights cruising at a single altitude by 1-3 percent. The potential fuel savings of performing en-route step climbs are not significant for many shorter domestic cargo flights that have only one step climb. Wind-optimal trajectories reduce fuel burn and travel time relative to the flight plan route by up to 3 percent for the domestic cargo flights. However, for trans-oceanic traffic, the fuel burn savings could be as much as 10 percent. The actual savings in operations will vary from the simulation results due to differences in the aircraft models and user defined cost indices. In general, the savings are proportional to trip length, and depend on the en-route wind conditions and aircraft types.

Reducing airflow energy use in multiple zone vav systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tukur, Ahmed Gidado

Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems are the most popular HVAC systems in commercial buildings. VAV systems are designed to deliver airflows at design conditions which only occur for a few hours in a year. Minimizing energy use in VAV systems requires reducing the amount of airflow delivered through the system at part load conditions. Air Handling Unit (AHU) fans are the major drivers of airflow in VAV systems and installing a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is the most common method of regulating airflow in VAV systems. A VFD drive does not necessarily save energy without use of an appropriate control strategy. Static pressure reset (SPR) is considered to be the most energy efficient control strategy for AHU fans with VFDs installed. The implementation of SPR however has many challenges; for example, rogue zones--zones which have faulty sensors or failed controls and actuators, system dynamics like hunting and system diversity. By investigating the parameters associated with the implementation of SPR in VAV systems, a new, improved, more stable SPR algorithm was developed and validated. This approach was further improved using Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD) to eliminate rogue zones. Additionally, a CO2-Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) based minimum airflow control was used to further reduce ventilation airflow and save more energy from SPR. Energy savings ranging from 25% to 51% were recorded in actual buildings with the new SPR algorithm. Finally, a methodology that utilizes historical VAV data was developed to estimate the potential savings that could be realized using SPR. The approach employed first determines an effective system loss coefficient as a function of mean damper position using the historical duct static pressure, VAV damper positions and airflows. Additionally, the historical data is used to identify the maximum mean duct damper position realizable as a result of insuring a sufficient number of VAVs are fully open at any time. Savings are estimated by shifting the damper distribution mean at each time to this maximum value and reducing the static pressure to achieve the same overall system airflow rate. The methodology was tested on three different buildings with varying system characteristics. Savings estimates correlated well to the savings actually realized from SPR. This result has significant implications for energy service providers, who could use the predictions to guarantee savings from SPR.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Idle Reduction Benefits and Considerations

Science.gov Websites

money, protects public health and the environment, and increases U.S. energy security. Reducing idle time can also reduce engine wear and associated maintenance costs. Saving Fuel and Money A photo of an

Reducing power usage on demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corbett, G.; Dewhurst, A.

2016-10-01

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) datacentre provides large- scale High Performance Computing facilities for the scientific community. It currently consumes approximately 1.5MW and this has risen by 25% in the past two years. STFC has been investigating leveraging preemption in the Tier 1 batch farm to save power. HEP experiments are increasing using jobs that can be killed to take advantage of opportunistic CPU resources or novel cost models such as Amazon's spot pricing. Additionally, schemes from energy providers are available that offer financial incentives to reduce power consumption at peak times. Under normal operating conditions, 3% of the batch farm capacity is wasted due to draining machines. By using preempt-able jobs, nodes can be rapidly made available to run multicore jobs without this wasted resource. The use of preempt-able jobs has been extended so that at peak times machines can be hibernated quickly to save energy. This paper describes the implementation of the above and demonstrates that STFC could in future take advantage of such energy saving schemes.

The health and economic benefits of reducing intimate partner violence: an Australian example.

PubMed

Cadilhac, Dominique A; Sheppard, Lauren; Cumming, Toby B; Thayabaranathan, Tharshanah; Pearce, Dora C; Carter, Rob; Magnus, Anne

2015-07-09

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has important impacts on the health of women in society. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of IPV in the 2008 Australian female adult population. Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 5 percentage point absolute feasible reduction target in the prevalence of IPV from current Australian levels (27%). IPV is not measured in national surveys. Levels of psychological distress were used as a proxy for exposure to IPV since psychological conditions represent three-quarters of the disease burden from IPV. Lifetime cohort health benefits for females were estimated as fewer incident cases of violence-related disease and injury; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Opportunity cost savings were estimated for the health sector, paid and unpaid production and leisure from reduced incidence of IPV-related disease and deaths. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of females with moderate psychological distress (lifetime IPV exposure) against high or very high distress (current IPV exposure), and valued using the friction cost approach (FCA). The impact of improved health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modelled from time use survey data. Potential costs associated with interventions to reduce IPV were not considered. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariable sensitivity analyses were undertaken. A 5 percentage point absolute reduction in the lifetime prevalence of IPV in the 2008 Australian female population was estimated to produce 6000 fewer incident cases of disease/injury, 74 fewer deaths, 5000 fewer DALYs lost and provide gains of 926,000 working days, 371,000 days of home-based production and 428,000 leisure days. Overall, AUD371 million in opportunity cost savings could be achievable. The greatest economic savings would be home-based production (AUD147 million), followed by leisure time (AUD98 million), workforce production (AUD94 million) and reduced health sector costs (AUD38 million). This study contributes new knowledge about the economic impact of IPV in females. The findings provide evidence of large potential opportunity cost savings from reducing the prevalence of IPV and reinforce the need to reduce IPV in Australia, and elsewhere.

Rightsizing HVAC Systems to Reduce Capital Costs and Save Energy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sebesta, James

2010-01-01

Nearly every institution is faced with the situation of having to reduce the cost of a construction project from time to time through a process generally referred to as "value engineering." Just the mention of those words, however, gives rise to all types of connotations, thoughts, and memories (usually negative) for those in the…

The Pasinetti-Solow Growth Model with Optimal Saving Behaviour: A Local Bifurcation Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Commendatore, P.; Palmisani, C.

We present a discrete time version of the Pasinetti-Solow economic growth model. Workers and capitalists are assumed to save on the basis of rational choices. Workers face a finite time horizon and base their consumption choices on a life-cycle motive, whereas capitalists behave like an infinitely-lived dynasty. The accumulation of both capitalists' and workers' wealth through time is reduced to a two-dimensional map whose local asymptotic stability properties are studied. Various types of bifurcation emerge (flip, Neimark-Sacker, saddle-node and transcritical): a precondition for chaotic dynamics.

Simulation of tree shade impacts on residential energy use for space conditioning in Sacramento

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simpson, J. R.; McPherson, E. G.

Tree shade reduces summer air conditioning demand and increases winter heating load by intercepting solar energy that would otherwise heat the shaded structure. We evaluate the magnitude of these effects here for 254 residential properties participating in a utility sponsored tree planting program in Sacramento, California. Tree and building characteristics and typical weather data are used to model hourly shading and energy used for space conditioning for each building for a period of one year. There were an average of 3.1 program trees per property which reduced annual and peak (8 h average from 1 to 9 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time) cooling energy use 153 kWh (7.1%) and 0.08 kW (2.3%) per tree, respectively. Annual heating load increased 0.85 GJ (0.80 MBtu, 1.9%) per tree. Changes in cooling load were smaller, but percentage changes larger, for newer buildings. Averaged over all homes, annual cooling savings of 15.25 per tree were reduced by a heating penalty of 5.25 per tree, for net savings of 10.00 per tree from shade. We estimate an annual cooling penalty of 2.80 per tree and heating savings of 6.80 per tree from reduced wind speed, for a net savings of 4.00 per tree, and total annual savings of 14.00 per tree (43.00 per property). Results are found to be consistent with previous simulations and the limited measurements available.

Daylight saving time can decrease the frequency of wildlife–vehicle collisions

PubMed Central

Ellis, William A.; FitzGibbon, Sean I.; Barth, Benjamin J.; Niehaus, Amanda C.; David, Gwendolyn K.; Taylor, Brendan D.; Matsushige, Helena; Melzer, Alistair; Bercovitch, Fred B.; Carrick, Frank; Jones, Darryl N.; Dexter, Cathryn; Gillett, Amber; Predavec, Martin; Lunney, Dan

2016-01-01

Daylight saving time (DST) could reduce collisions with wildlife by changing the timing of commuter traffic relative to the behaviour of nocturnal animals. To test this idea, we tracked wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in southeast Queensland, where koalas have declined by 80% in the last 20 years, and compared their movements with traffic patterns along roads where they are often killed. Using a simple model, we found that DST could decrease collisions with koalas by 8% on weekdays and 11% at weekends, simply by shifting the timing of traffic relative to darkness. Wildlife conservation and road safety should become part of the debate on DST. PMID:27881767

Long-term impact of a chronic disease management program on hospital utilization and cost in an Australian population with heart disease or diabetes.

PubMed

Hamar, G Brent; Rula, Elizabeth Y; Coberley, Carter; Pope, James E; Larkin, Shaun

2015-04-22

To evaluate the longitudinal value of a chronic disease management program, My Health Guardian (MHG), in reducing hospital utilization and costs over 4 years. The MHG program provides individualized support via telephonic nurse outreach and online tools for self-management, behavior change and well-being. In follow up to an initial 18-month analysis of MHG, the current study evaluated program impact over 4 years. A matched-cohort analysis retrospectively compared MHG participants with heart disease or diabetes (treatment, N = 4,948) to non-participants (comparison, N = 28,520) on utilization rates (hospital admission, readmission, total bed days) and hospital claims cost savings. Outcomes were evaluated using regression analyses, controlling for remaining demographic, disease, and pre-program admissions or cost differences between the study groups. Over the 4 year period, program participation resulted in significant reductions in hospital admissions (-11.4%, P < 0.0001), readmissions (-36.7%, P < 0.0001), and bed days (-17.2%, P < 0.0001). The effect size increased over time for admissions and bed days. The relative odds of any admission and readmission over the 4 years were 27% and 45% lower, respectively, in the treatment group. Cumulative program savings from reduced hospital claims was $3,549 over 4-years; savings values for each program year were significant and increased with time (P = 0.003 to P < 0.0001). Savings calculations did not adjust for pooled costs (and savings) in Australia's risk equalization system for private insurers. Results confirm and extend prior program outcomes and support the longitudinal value of the MHG program in reducing hospital utilization and costs for individuals with heart disease or diabetes and demonstrate the increasing program effect with continued participation over time.

Extended operating times are more efficient, save money and maintain a high staff and patient satisfaction.

PubMed

Herron, Jonathan Blair Thomas; French, Rachel; Gilliam, Andrew Douglas

2018-01-01

Current public sector austerity measures necessitate efficiency savings throughout the NHS. Performance targets have resulted in activity being performed in the private sector, waiting list initiative lists and requests for staff to work overtime. This has resulted in staff fatigue and additional agency costs. Adoption of extended operating theatre times (0800-1800 hours) may improve productivity and efficiency, with potentially significant financial savings; however, implementation may adversely affect staff morale and patient compliance. A pilot period of four months of extended operating times (4.5 hour sessions) was completed and included all theatre surgical specialties. Outcome measures included: the number of cases completed, late starts, early finishes, cancelled operations, theatre overruns, preoperative assessment and 18-week targets. The outcomes were then compared to pre-existing normal working day operating lists (0900-1700). Theatre staff, patient and surgical trainee satisfaction with the system were also considered by use of an anonymous questionnaire. The study showed that in-session utilisation time was unchanged by extended operating hours 88.7% (vs 89.2%). The service was rated as 'good' or 'excellent' by 87.5% of patients. Over £345,000 was saved by reducing premium payments. Savings of £225,000 were made by reducing privately outsourced operation and a further £63,000 by reviewing staff hours. Day case procedures increased from 2.8 to 3.2 cases/day with extended operating. There was no significant increase in late starts (5.1% vs 6.8%) or cancellation rates (0.75% vs 1.02%). Theatre over-runs reduced from 5% to 3.4%. The 18 weeks target for surgery was achieved in 93.7% of cases (vs 88.3%). The number of elective procedures increased from 4.1 to 4.89 cases/day. Only 13.33% of trainees (n = 33) surveyed felt that extended operating had a negative impact on training. The study concludes that extended operating increased productivity from 2.8 patients per session to 3.2 patients per session with potential savings of just over £2.4 million per financial year. Extrapolating this to the other 155 trusts in England could be a potential saving of £372 million per year. Staff, trainee and patient satisfaction was unaffected. An improved 18 weeks target position was achieved with a significant reduction in private sector work. However, some staff had difficulty with arranging childcare and taking public transport and this may prevent full implementation.

Community Savings Groups, Financial Security, and HIV Risk Among Female Sex Workers in Iringa, Tanzania.

PubMed

Mantsios, Andrea; Galai, Noya; Mbwambo, Jessie; Likindikoki, Samuel; Shembilu, Catherine; Mwampashi, Ard; Beckham, S W; Leddy, Anna; Davis, Wendy; Sherman, Susan; Kennedy, Caitlin; Kerrigan, Deanna

2018-02-24

This study assessed the association between community savings group participation and consistent condom use (CCU) among female sex workers (FSW) in Iringa, Tanzania. Using cross-sectional data from a survey of venue-based FSW (n = 496), logistic regression was used to examine the associations between financial indicators including community savings group participation and CCU. Over one-third (35%) of the women participated in a savings group. Multivariable regression results indicated that participating in a savings group was significantly associated with nearly two times greater odds of CCU with new clients in the last 30 days (aOR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.10-2.86). Exploratory mediation analysis indicated that the relationship between savings group participation and CCU was partially mediated by financial security, as measured by monthly income. Findings indicate that community savings groups may play an important role in reducing sexual risk behaviors of FSW and hold promise as part of comprehensive, community-led HIV prevention strategies among FSW.

Cutting medical transcription costs.

PubMed

Forsman, John A

2003-07-01

Home-based, production-based medical transcription represents a substantial cost-saving opportunity. Fewer employees are required. Office space is not needed. Outsourcing costs are eliminated. Turnaround time is reduced.

Ambient air conditions and variation in urban trail use.

PubMed

Holmes, Ann M; Lindsey, Greg; Qiu, Chenchen

2009-11-01

This study examines the effect of air quality and administrative policies on use of urban trails in Indianapolis, IN. Attention is focused on two policy variables: (1) issuance of air pollution advisories and (2) the adoption of Daylight Savings Time. Results suggest that while trail use varies with air quality, current public advisories regarding air pollution may be of limited effectiveness in reducing trail users' exposures to hazardous pollutants. In contrast, the adoption of Daylight Savings Time was associated with a statistically significant increase in traffic levels.

Costs and savings associated with implementation of a police crisis intervention team.

PubMed

El-Mallakh, Peggy L; Kiran, Kranti; El-Mallakh, Rif S

2014-06-01

Police crisis intervention teams (CIT) have demonstrated their effectiveness in reducing injury to law enforcement personnel and citizens and the criminalization of mental illness; however, their financial effect has not been fully investigated. The objective of the study was to determine the total costs or total savings associated with implementing a CIT program in a medium-size city. The costs and savings associated with the implementation of a CIT program were analyzed in a medium-size city, Louisville, Kentucky, 9 years after the program's initiation. Costs associated with officer training, increased emergency psychiatry visits, and hospital admissions resulting from CIT activity were compared with the savings associated with diverted hospitalizations and reduced legal bookings. Based on an average of 2400 CIT calls annually, the overall costs associated with CIT per year were $2,430,128 ($146,079 for officer training, $1,768,536 for hospitalizations of patients brought in by CIT officers, $508,690 for emergency psychiatry evaluations, and $6823 for arrests). The annual savings of the CIT were $3,455,025 ($1,148,400 in deferred hospitalizations, $2,296,800 in reduced inpatient referrals from jail, and $9825 in avoided bookings and jail time). The balance is $1,024,897 in annual cost savings. The net financial effect of a CIT program is of modest benefit; however, much of this analysis was based on estimates and average length of stay. Furthermore, the costs and savings associated with officer or citizen injuries were not included because there was inadequate information about their prevalence and costs. Finally, this analysis does not take into account the nonmonetary gains of a CIT program.

Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast model to support health policy decision making.

PubMed

Rémuzat, Cécile; Urbinati, Duccio; Kornfeld, Åsa; Vataire, Anne-Lise; Cetinsoy, Laurent; Aballéa, Samuel; Mzoughi, Olfa; Toumi, Mondher

2014-01-01

With constant incentives for healthcare payers to contain their pharmaceutical budgets, modelling policy decision impact became critical. The objective of this project was to test the impact of various policy decisions on pharmaceutical budget (developed for the European Commission for the project 'European Union (EU) Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast' - http://ec.europa.eu/health/healthcare/key_documents/index_en.htm). A model was built to assess policy scenarios' impact on the pharmaceutical budgets of seven member states of the EU, namely France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The following scenarios were tested: expanding the UK policies to EU, changing time to market access, modifying generic price and penetration, shifting the distribution chain of biosimilars (retail/hospital). Applying the UK policy resulted in dramatic savings for Germany (10 times the base case forecast) and substantial additional savings for France and Portugal (2 and 4 times the base case forecast, respectively). Delaying time to market was found be to a very powerful tool to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure. Applying the EU transparency directive (6-month process for pricing and reimbursement) increased pharmaceutical expenditure for all countries (from 1.1 to 4 times the base case forecast), except in Germany (additional savings). Decreasing the price of generics and boosting the penetration rate, as well as shifting distribution of biosimilars through hospital chain were also key methods to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure. Change in the level of reimbursement rate to 100% in all countries led to an important increase in the pharmaceutical budget. Forecasting pharmaceutical expenditure is a critical exercise to inform policy decision makers. The most important leverages identified by the model on pharmaceutical budget were driven by generic and biosimilar prices, penetration rate, and distribution. Reducing, even slightly, the prices of generics had a major impact on savings. However, very aggressive pricing of generic and biosimilar products might make this market unattractive and can be counterproductive. Worth noting, delaying time to access innovative products was also identified as an effective leverage to increase savings but might not be a desirable policy for breakthrough products. Increasing patient financial contributions, either directly or indirectly via their private insurances, is a more likely scenario rather than expanding the national pharmaceutical expenditure coverage.

Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast model to support health policy decision making

PubMed Central

Rémuzat, Cécile; Urbinati, Duccio; Kornfeld, Åsa; Vataire, Anne-Lise; Cetinsoy, Laurent; Aballéa, Samuel; Mzoughi, Olfa; Toumi, Mondher

2014-01-01

Background and objective With constant incentives for healthcare payers to contain their pharmaceutical budgets, modelling policy decision impact became critical. The objective of this project was to test the impact of various policy decisions on pharmaceutical budget (developed for the European Commission for the project ‘European Union (EU) Pharmaceutical expenditure forecast’ – http://ec.europa.eu/health/healthcare/key_documents/index_en.htm). Methods A model was built to assess policy scenarios’ impact on the pharmaceutical budgets of seven member states of the EU, namely France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The following scenarios were tested: expanding the UK policies to EU, changing time to market access, modifying generic price and penetration, shifting the distribution chain of biosimilars (retail/hospital). Results Applying the UK policy resulted in dramatic savings for Germany (10 times the base case forecast) and substantial additional savings for France and Portugal (2 and 4 times the base case forecast, respectively). Delaying time to market was found be to a very powerful tool to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure. Applying the EU transparency directive (6-month process for pricing and reimbursement) increased pharmaceutical expenditure for all countries (from 1.1 to 4 times the base case forecast), except in Germany (additional savings). Decreasing the price of generics and boosting the penetration rate, as well as shifting distribution of biosimilars through hospital chain were also key methods to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure. Change in the level of reimbursement rate to 100% in all countries led to an important increase in the pharmaceutical budget. Conclusions Forecasting pharmaceutical expenditure is a critical exercise to inform policy decision makers. The most important leverages identified by the model on pharmaceutical budget were driven by generic and biosimilar prices, penetration rate, and distribution. Reducing, even slightly, the prices of generics had a major impact on savings. However, very aggressive pricing of generic and biosimilar products might make this market unattractive and can be counterproductive. Worth noting, delaying time to access innovative products was also identified as an effective leverage to increase savings but might not be a desirable policy for breakthrough products. Increasing patient financial contributions, either directly or indirectly via their private insurances, is a more likely scenario rather than expanding the national pharmaceutical expenditure coverage. PMID:27226830

Innovating the Standard Procurement System Through Electronic Commerce Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-12-01

commerce are emerging almost daily as businesses continue to realize the overwhelming ability of agent applications to reduce costs and improve ...processed using the SPS. The result may reduce cycle time, assist contracting professionals, improve the acquisition process, save money and aid...of innovation processes, and it offers enormous potential for helping organizations achieve major improvements in terms of process cost , time

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

Sullivan, W.N.

This report summarizes measured performance of residential geothermal heat pumps (GHP`s) that were installed in family housing units at Ft. Hood, Texas and at Selfridge Air National Guard base in Michigan. These units were built as part of a joint Department of Defense/Department of Energy program to evaluate the energy savings potential of GHP`s installed at military facilities. At the Ft. Hood site, the GHP performance was compared to conventional forced air electric air conditioning and natural gas heating. At Selfridge, the homes under test were originally equipped with electric baseboard heat and no air conditioning. Installation of the GHPmore » systems at both sites was straightforward but more problems and costs were incurred at Selfridge because of the need to install ductwork in the homes. The GHP`s at both sites produced impressive energy savings. These savings approached 40% for most of the homes tested. The low cost of energy on these bases relative to the incremental cost of the GHP conversions precludes rapid payback of the GHP`s from energy savings alone. Estimates based on simple payback (no inflation and no interest on capital) indicated payback times from 15 to 20 years at both sites. These payback times may be reduced by considering the additional savings possible due to reduced maintenance costs. Results are summarized in terms of 15 minute, hourly, monthly, and annual performance parameters. The results indicate that all the systems were working properly but several design shortcomings were identified. Recommendations are made for improvements in future installations at both sites.« less

Estimating health benefits and cost-savings for achieving the Healthy People 2020 objective of reducing invasive colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Hung, Mei-Chuan; Ekwueme, Donatus U; White, Arica; Rim, Sun Hee; King, Jessica B; Wang, Jung-Der; Chang, Su-Hsin

2018-01-01

This study aims to quantify the aggregate potential life-years (LYs) saved and healthcare cost-savings if the Healthy People 2020 objective were met to reduce invasive colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence by 15%. We identified patients (n=886,380) diagnosed with invasive CRC between 2001 and 2011 from a nationally representative cancer dataset. We stratified these patients by sex, race/ethnicity, and age. Using these data and data from the 2001-2011 U.S. life tables, we estimated a survival function for each CRC group and the corresponding reference group and computed per-person LYs saved. We estimated per-person annual healthcare cost-savings using the 2008-2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We calculated aggregate LYs saved and cost-savings by multiplying the reduced number of CRC patients by the per-person LYs saved and lifetime healthcare cost-savings, respectively. We estimated an aggregate of 84,569 and 64,924 LYs saved for men and women, respectively, accounting for healthcare cost-savings of $329.3 and $294.2 million (in 2013$), respectively. Per person, we estimated 6.3 potential LYs saved related to those who developed CRC for both men and women, and healthcare cost-savings of $24,000 for men and $28,000 for women. Non-Hispanic whites and those aged 60-64 had the highest aggregate potential LYs saved and cost-savings. Achieving the HP2020 objective of reducing invasive CRC incidence by 15% by year 2020 would potentially save nearly 150,000 life-years and $624 million on healthcare costs. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Economic impact of longer battery life of cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators in Sweden.

PubMed

Gadler, Fredrik; Ding, Yao; Verin, Nathalie; Bergius, Martin; Miller, Jeffrey D; Lenhart, Gregory M; Russell, Mason W

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to quantify the impact that longer battery life of cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) devices has on reducing the number of device replacements and associated costs of these replacements from a Swedish health care system perspective. An economic model based on real-world published data was developed to estimate cost savings and avoided device replacements for CRT-Ds with longer battery life compared with devices with industry-standard battery life expectancy. Base-case comparisons were performed among CRT-Ds of three manufacturers - Boston Scientific Corporation, St. Jude Medical, and Medtronic - over a 6-year time horizon, as per the available clinical data. As a sensitivity analysis, we evaluated CRT-Ds as well as single-chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD-VR) and dual-chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD-DR) devices over a longer 10-year period. All costs were in 2015 Swedish Krona (SEK) discounted at 3% per annum. Base-case analysis results show that up to 603 replacements and up to SEK 60.4 million cumulative-associated costs could be avoided over 6 years by using devices with extended battery life. The pattern of savings over time suggests that savings are modest initially but increase rapidly beginning in the third year of follow-up with each year's cumulative savings two to three times the previous year. Evaluating CRT-D, ICD-VR, and ICD-DR devices together over a longer 10-year period, the sensitivity analysis showed 2,820 fewer replacement procedures and associated cost savings of SEK 249.3 million for all defibrillators with extended battery life. Extended battery life is likely to reduce device replacements and associated complications and costs, which may result in important cost savings and a more efficient use of health care resources as well as a better quality of life for heart failure patients in Sweden.

Potential for the Use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts to Reduce Energy Consumption and Provide Energy and Cost Savings in Non-Building Applications

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

Williams, Charles; Green, Andrew S.; Dahle, Douglas

2013-08-01

The findings of this study indicate that potential exists in non-building applications to save energy and costs. This potential could save billions of federal dollars, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, increase energy independence and security, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Government has nearly twenty years of experience with achieving similar energy cost reductions, and letting the energy costs savings pay for themselves, by applying energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) inits buildings. Currently, the application of ESPCs is limited by statute to federal buildings. This study indicates that ESPCs can be a compatible and effective contracting tool for achievingmore » savings in non-building applications.« less

Daylight saving time can decrease the frequency of wildlife-vehicle collisions.

PubMed

Ellis, William A; FitzGibbon, Sean I; Barth, Benjamin J; Niehaus, Amanda C; David, Gwendolyn K; Taylor, Brendan D; Matsushige, Helena; Melzer, Alistair; Bercovitch, Fred B; Carrick, Frank; Jones, Darryl N; Dexter, Cathryn; Gillett, Amber; Predavec, Martin; Lunney, Dan; Wilson, Robbie S

2016-11-01

Daylight saving time (DST) could reduce collisions with wildlife by changing the timing of commuter traffic relative to the behaviour of nocturnal animals. To test this idea, we tracked wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in southeast Queensland, where koalas have declined by 80% in the last 20 years, and compared their movements with traffic patterns along roads where they are often killed. Using a simple model, we found that DST could decrease collisions with koalas by 8% on weekdays and 11% at weekends, simply by shifting the timing of traffic relative to darkness. Wildlife conservation and road safety should become part of the debate on DST. © 2016 The Author(s).

Direct and indirect costs and potential cost savings of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding among obese patients with diabetes.

PubMed

Finkelstein, Eric A; Allaire, Benjamin T; DiBonaventura, Marco DaCosta; Burgess, Somali M

2011-09-01

To estimate the time to breakeven and 5-year net costs for laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding among obese patients with diabetes taking direct and indirect costs into account. Indirect cost savings were generated by quantifying the cross-sectional relationship between medical expenditures and absenteeism and between medical expenditures and presenteeism (reduced on-the-job productivity) and simulating indirect cost savings based on these multipliers and reductions in direct medical costs available in the literature. Time to breakeven was estimated to be nine quarters with and without the inclusion of indirect costs. After 5 years, net savings increase from $26570 (±$9000) to $34160 (±$10 380) when indirect costs are included. This study presented a novel approach for incorporating indirect costs into cost-benefit analyses. Application to gastric banding revealed that inclusion of indirect costs improves the financial outlook for the procedure. (C)2011The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Clinical impact and value of workstation single sign-on.

PubMed

Gellert, George A; Crouch, John F; Gibson, Lynn A; Conklin, George S; Webster, S Luke; Gillean, John A

2017-05-01

CHRISTUS Health began implementation of computer workstation single sign-on (SSO) in 2015. SSO technology utilizes a badge reader placed at each workstation where clinicians swipe or "tap" their identification badges. To assess the impact of SSO implementation in reducing clinician time logging in to various clinical software programs, and in financial savings from migrating to a thin client that enabled replacement of traditional hard drive computer workstations. Following implementation of SSO, a total of 65,202 logins were sampled systematically during a 7day period among 2256 active clinical end users for time saved in 6 facilities when compared to pre-implementation. Dollar values were assigned to the time saved by 3 groups of clinical end users: physicians, nurses and ancillary service providers. The reduction of total clinician login time over the 7day period showed a net gain of 168.3h per week of clinician time - 28.1h (2.3 shifts) per facility per week. Annualized, 1461.2h of mixed physician and nursing time is liberated per facility per annum (121.8 shifts of 12h per year). The annual dollar cost savings of this reduction of time expended logging in is $92,146 per hospital per annum and $1,658,745 per annum in the first phase implementation of 18 hospitals. Computer hardware equipment savings due to desktop virtualization increases annual savings to $2,333,745. Qualitative value contributions to clinician satisfaction, reduction in staff turnover, facilitation of adoption of EHR applications, and other benefits of SSO are discussed. SSO had a positive impact on clinician efficiency and productivity in the 6 hospitals evaluated, and is an effective and cost-effective method to liberate clinician time from repetitive and time consuming logins to clinical software applications. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Life cycle implications of urban green infrastructure.

PubMed

Spatari, Sabrina; Yu, Ziwen; Montalto, Franco A

2011-01-01

Low Impact Development (LID) is part of a new paradigm in urban water management that aims to decentralize water storage and movement functions within urban watersheds. LID strategies can restore ecosystem functions and reduce runoff loadings to municipal water pollution control facilities (WPCF). This research examines the avoided energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of select LID strategies using life cycle assessment (LCA) and a stochastic urban watershed model. We estimate annual energy savings and avoided GHG emissions of 7.3 GJ and 0.4 metric tons, respectively, for a LID strategy implemented in a neighborhood in New York City. Annual savings are small compared to the energy and GHG intensity of the LID materials, resulting in slow environmental payback times. This preliminary analysis suggests that if implemented throughout an urban watershed, LID strategies may have important energy cost savings to WPCF, and can make progress towards reducing their carbon footprint. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An energy-aware routing protocol for query-based applications in wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Ahvar, Ehsan; Ahvar, Shohreh; Lee, Gyu Myoung; Crespi, Noel

2014-01-01

Wireless sensor network (WSN) typically has energy consumption restriction. Designing energy-aware routing protocol can significantly reduce energy consumption in WSNs. Energy-aware routing protocols can be classified into two categories, energy savers and energy balancers. Energy saving protocols are used to minimize the overall energy consumed by a WSN, while energy balancing protocols attempt to efficiently distribute the consumption of energy throughout the network. In general terms, energy saving protocols are not necessarily good at balancing energy consumption and energy balancing protocols are not always good at reducing energy consumption. In this paper, we propose an energy-aware routing protocol (ERP) for query-based applications in WSNs, which offers a good trade-off between traditional energy balancing and energy saving objectives and supports a soft real time packet delivery. This is achieved by means of fuzzy sets and learning automata techniques along with zonal broadcasting to decrease total energy consumption.

An Energy-Aware Routing Protocol for Query-Based Applications in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Crespi, Noel

2014-01-01

Wireless sensor network (WSN) typically has energy consumption restriction. Designing energy-aware routing protocol can significantly reduce energy consumption in WSNs. Energy-aware routing protocols can be classified into two categories, energy savers and energy balancers. Energy saving protocols are used to minimize the overall energy consumed by a WSN, while energy balancing protocols attempt to efficiently distribute the consumption of energy throughout the network. In general terms, energy saving protocols are not necessarily good at balancing energy consumption and energy balancing protocols are not always good at reducing energy consumption. In this paper, we propose an energy-aware routing protocol (ERP) for query-based applications in WSNs, which offers a good trade-off between traditional energy balancing and energy saving objectives and supports a soft real time packet delivery. This is achieved by means of fuzzy sets and learning automata techniques along with zonal broadcasting to decrease total energy consumption. PMID:24696640

Panel Discussion: Using Shielded Sprayers to Control Weeds in Nursery Beds

Treesearch

Dwight H. Stallard

2005-01-01

Shielded sprayers have proven to be more effective than mechanical-type machines at controlling weeds in hardwood crops. Hand weeding times are reduced significantly, lowering costs and saving time for nursery personnel to do other jobs.Individual papers from this publication

AIRSLUG: A fortran program for the computation of type curves to estimate transmissivity and storativity from prematurely terminated air-pressurized slug tests

USGS Publications Warehouse

Greene, E.A.; Shapiro, A.M.

1998-01-01

The Fortran code AIRSLUG can be used to generate the type curves needed to analyze the recovery data from prematurely terminated air-pressurized slug tests. These type curves, when used with a graphical software package, enable the engineer or scientist to analyze field tests to estimate transmissivity and storativity. Prematurely terminating the slug test can significantly reduce the overall time needed to conduct the test, especially at low-permeability sites, thus saving time and money.The Fortran code AIRSLUG can be used to generate the type curves needed to analyze the recovery data from prematurely terminated air-pressurized slug tests. These type curves, when used with a graphical software package, enable the engineer or scientist to analyze field tests to estimate transmissivity and storativity. Prematurely terminating the slug test can significantly reduce the overall time needed to conduct the test, especially at low-permeability sites, thus saving time and money.

Implementing Six Sigma in The Netherlands.

PubMed

van den Heuvel, Jaap; Does, Ronald J M M; Bogers, Ad J J C; Berg, Marc

2006-07-01

Six Sigma, a process-focused strategy and methodology for business improvement, can be used to improve care processes, eliminate waste, reduce costs, and enhance patient satisfaction. Six Sigma was introduced in 2001 at the 384-bed Red Cross Hospital (Beverwijk). During the Green Belt training, every participant was required to participate in at least one Six Sigma project. The hospital's total savings in 2004 amounted to 1.4 million dollars, for an average savings of 67,000 dollars for each of the completed 21 projects. In one project, the team designed a new admission process for the operating rooms, resulting in an average starting time nine minutes earlier. This relatively minor improvement made it possible to operate on an additional 400 patients a year and to achieve a net savings of >273,000 dollars. A second project reduced the number of patients receiving intravenous (IV) antibiotics by switching to oral administration, yielding annual savings, based on medication costs alone, of >75,000 dollars. A third project reduced the length of stay in the delivery room from 11.9 to 3.4 hours, yielding an annual savings of 68,000 dollars. The "Ultimate Cure?": Six Sigma, which entails involvement of health care workers; use of improvement tools (from industry); creation of trained project teams to tackle complex, often cross-departmental processes; data analyses; and investment in quality improvement may prove the "ultimate cure" to the current cost, quality, and safety issues that challenge health care.

Hidden Efficiencies: Making Completion of the Pediatric Vaccine Schedule More Efficient for Physicians

PubMed Central

Ciarametaro, Mike; Bradshaw, Steven E.; Guiglotto, Jillian; Hahn, Beth; Meier, Genevieve

2015-01-01

Abstract The objective of this work is to demonstrate the potential time and labor savings that may result from increased use of combination vaccinations. The study (GSK study identifier: HO-12-4735) was a model developed to evaluate the efficiency of the pediatric vaccine schedule, using time and motion studies. The model considered vaccination time and the associated labor costs, but vaccination acquisition costs were not considered. We also did not consider any efficacy or safety differences between formulations. The model inputs were supported by a targeted literature review. The reference year for the model was 2012. The most efficient vaccination program using currently available vaccines was predicted to reduce costs through a combination of fewer injections (62%) and less time per vaccination (38%). The most versus the least efficient vaccine program was predicted to result in a 47% reduction in vaccination time and a 42% reduction in labor and supply costs. The estimated administration cost saving with the most versus the least efficient program was estimated to be nearly US $45 million. If hypothetical 6- or 7-valent vaccines are developed using the already most efficient schedule by adding additional antigens (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and Haemophilus influenzae type b) to the most efficient 5-valent vaccine, the savings are predicted to be even greater. Combination vaccinations reduce the time burden of the childhood immunization schedule and could create the potential to improve vaccination uptake and compliance as a result of fewer required injections. PMID:25634165

Investigation on the Practicality of Developing Reduced Thermal Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lombardi, Giancarlo; Yang, Kan

2015-01-01

Throughout the spacecraft design and development process, detailed instrument thermal models are created to simulate their on-orbit behavior and to ensure that they do not exceed any thermal limits. These detailed models, while generating highly accurate predictions, can sometimes lead to long simulation run times, especially when integrated with a spacecraft observatory model. Therefore, reduced models containing less detail are typically produced in tandem with the detailed models so that results may be more readily available, albeit less accurate. In the current study, both reduced and detailed instrument models are integrated with their associated spacecraft bus models to examine the impact of instrument model reduction on run time and accuracy. Preexisting instrument bus thermal model pairs from several projects were used to determine trends between detailed and reduced thermal models; namely, the Mirror Optical Bench (MOB) on the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS) spacecraft, Advanced Topography Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) on the Ice, Cloud, and Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2), and the Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS) on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). Hot and cold cases were run for each model to capture the behavior of the models at both thermal extremes. It was found that, though decreasing the number of nodes from a detailed to reduced model brought about a reduction in the run-time, a large time savings was not observed, nor was it a linear relationship between the percentage of nodes reduced and time saved. However, significant losses in accuracy were observed with greater model reduction. It was found that while reduced models are useful in decreasing run time, there exists a threshold of reduction where, once exceeded, the loss in accuracy outweighs the benefit from reduced model runtime.

Disposable laparoscopic surgical instruments and the economic effects of repackaging.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Hiroyuki; Kikuchi, Iwaho; Kitade, Mari; Kumakiri, Jun; Kinoshita, Katsuyuki; Takehiro, Yuka; Tanimura, Emiko

2005-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the economic effects of repackaging disposable laparoscopic surgical instruments. We repacked a total of 28 disposable instruments for gynecologic laparoscopic surgery into one package. The time of preparation of surgical instruments, the amount of medical waste, and other economic effects were compared before and after the repackaging of disposable instruments. The time required for the preparation of surgical instruments was shortened by 22 minutes per operation, and medical waste decreased by 400 g, by repackaging the instruments, resulting in an estimated direct economic saving of $10,000 per year. Indirect economic effects might include savings due to a reduced inventory of surgical instruments and simplified cost-accounting for each operation. It is likely that preparation for surgery can be significantly improved and the cost reduced by repackaging the laparoscopic surgical instruments.

Spacelab Mission Implementation Cost Assessment (SMICA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guynes, B. V.

1984-01-01

A total savings of approximately 20 percent is attainable if: (1) mission management and ground processing schedules are compressed; (2) the equipping, staffing, and operating of the Payload Operations Control Center is revised, and (3) methods of working with experiment developers are changed. The development of a new mission implementation technique, which includes mission definition, experiment development, and mission integration/operations, is examined. The Payload Operations Control Center is to relocate and utilize new computer equipment to produce cost savings. Methods of reducing costs by minimizing the Spacelab and payload processing time during pre- and post-mission operation at KSC are analyzed. The changes required to reduce costs in the analytical integration process are studied. The influence of time, requirements accountability, and risk on costs is discussed. Recommendation for cost reductions developed by the Spacelab Mission Implementation Cost Assessment study are listed.

Reconciling quality and cost: A case study in interventional radiology.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Domröse, Sascha; Mahnken, Andreas

2015-10-01

To provide a method to calculate delay cost and examine the relationship between quality and total cost. The total cost including capacity, supply and delay cost for running an interventional radiology suite was calculated. The capacity cost, consisting of labour, lease and overhead costs, was derived based on expenses per unit time. The supply cost was calculated according to actual procedural material use. The delay cost and marginal delay cost derived from queueing models was calculated based on waiting times of inpatients for their procedures. Quality improvement increased patient safety and maintained the outcome. The average daily delay costs were reduced from 1275 € to 294 €, and marginal delay costs from approximately 2000 € to 500 €, respectively. The one-time annual cost saved from the transfer of surgical to radiological procedures was approximately 130,500 €. The yearly delay cost saved was approximately 150,000 €. With increased revenue of 10,000 € in project phase 2, the yearly total cost saved was approximately 290,000 €. Optimal daily capacity of 4.2 procedures was determined. An approach for calculating delay cost toward optimal capacity allocation was presented. An overall quality improvement was achieved at reduced costs. • Improving quality in terms of safety, outcome, efficiency and timeliness reduces cost. • Mismatch of demand and capacity is detrimental to quality and cost. • Full system utilization with random demand results in long waiting periods and increased cost.

Advertising energy saving programs: The potential environmental cost of emphasizing monetary savings.

PubMed

Schwartz, Daniel; Bruine de Bruin, Wändi; Fischhoff, Baruch; Lave, Lester

2015-06-01

Many consumers have monetary or environmental motivations for saving energy. Indeed, saving energy produces both monetary benefits, by reducing energy bills, and environmental benefits, by reducing carbon footprints. We examined how consumers' willingness and reasons to enroll in energy-savings programs are affected by whether advertisements emphasize monetary benefits, environmental benefits, or both. From a normative perspective, having 2 noteworthy kinds of benefit should not decrease a program's attractiveness. In contrast, psychological research suggests that adding external incentives to an intrinsically motivating task may backfire. To date, however, it remains unclear whether this is the case when both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are inherent to the task, as with energy savings, and whether removing explicit mention of extrinsic motivation will reduce its importance. We found that emphasizing a program's monetary benefits reduced participants' willingness to enroll. In addition, participants' explanations about enrollment revealed less attention to environmental concerns when programs emphasized monetary savings, even when environmental savings were also emphasized. We found equal attention to monetary motivations in all conditions, revealing an asymmetric attention to monetary and environmental motives. These results also provide practical guidance regarding the positioning of energy-saving programs: emphasize intrinsic benefits; the extrinsic ones may speak for themselves. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Time-varying value of electric energy efficiency

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

Mims, Natalie A.; Eckman, Tom; Goldman, Charles

Electric energy efficiency resources save energy and may reduce peak demand. Historically, quantification of energy efficiency benefits has largely focused on the economic value of energy savings during the first year and lifetime of the installed measures. Due in part to the lack of publicly available research on end-use load shapes (i.e., the hourly or seasonal timing of electricity savings) and energy savings shapes, consideration of the impact of energy efficiency on peak demand reduction (i.e., capacity savings) has been more limited. End-use load research and the hourly valuation of efficiency savings are used for a variety of electricity planningmore » functions, including load forecasting, demand-side management and evaluation, capacity and demand response planning, long-term resource planning, renewable energy integration, assessing potential grid modernization investments, establishing rates and pricing, and customer service. This study reviews existing literature on the time-varying value of energy efficiency savings, provides examples in four geographically diverse locations of how consideration of the time-varying value of efficiency savings impacts the calculation of power system benefits, and identifies future research needs to enhance the consideration of the time-varying value of energy efficiency in cost-effectiveness screening analysis. Findings from this study include: -The time-varying value of individual energy efficiency measures varies across the locations studied because of the physical and operational characteristics of the individual utility system (e.g., summer or winter peaking, load factor, reserve margin) as well as the time periods during which savings from measures occur. -Across the four locations studied, some of the largest capacity benefits from energy efficiency are derived from the deferral of transmission and distribution system infrastructure upgrades. However, the deferred cost of such upgrades also exhibited the greatest range in value of all the components of avoided costs across the locations studied. -Of the five energy efficiency measures studied, those targeting residential air conditioning in summer-peaking electric systems have the most significant added value when the total time-varying value is considered. -The increased use of rooftop solar systems, storage, and demand response, and the addition of electric vehicles and other major new electricity-consuming end uses are anticipated to significantly alter the load shape of many utility systems in the future. Data used to estimate the impact of energy efficiency measures on electric system peak demands will need to be updated periodically to accurately reflect the value of savings as system load shapes change. -Publicly available components of electric system costs avoided through energy efficiency are not uniform across states and utilities. Inclusion or exclusion of these components and differences in their value affect estimates of the time-varying value of energy efficiency. -Publicly available data on end-use load and energy savings shapes are limited, are concentrated regionally, and should be expanded.« less

Determinants of success in Shared Savings Programs: An analysis of ACO and market characteristics.

PubMed

Ouayogodé, Mariétou H; Colla, Carrie H; Lewis, Valerie A

2017-03-01

Medicare's Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs introduced shared savings to traditional Medicare, which allow providers who reduce health care costs for their patients to retain a percentage of the savings they generate. To examine ACO and market factors associated with superior financial performance in Medicare ACO programs. We obtained financial performance data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); we derived market-level characteristics from Medicare claims; and we collected ACO characteristics from the National Survey of ACOs for 215 ACOs. We examined the association between ACO financial performance and ACO provider composition, leadership structure, beneficiary characteristics, risk bearing experience, quality and process improvement capabilities, physician performance management, market competition, CMS-assigned financial benchmark, and ACO contract start date. We examined two outcomes from Medicare ACOs' first performance year: savings per Medicare beneficiary and earning shared savings payments (a dichotomous variable). When modeling the ACO ability to save and earn shared savings payments, we estimated positive regression coefficients for a greater proportion of primary care providers in the ACO, more practicing physicians on the governing board, physician leadership, active engagement in reducing hospital re-admissions, a greater proportion of disabled Medicare beneficiaries assigned to the ACO, financial incentives offered to physicians, a larger financial benchmark, and greater ACO market penetration. No characteristic of organizational structure was significantly associated with both outcomes of savings per beneficiary and likelihood of achieving shared savings. ACO prior experience with risk-bearing contracts was positively correlated with savings and significantly increased the likelihood of receiving shared savings payments. In the first year, performance is quite heterogeneous, yet organizational structure does not consistently predict performance. Organizations with large financial benchmarks at baseline have greater opportunities to achieve savings. Findings on prior risk bearing suggest that ACOs learn over time under risk-bearing contracts. Given the lack of predictive power for organizational characteristics, CMS should continue to encourage diversity in organizational structures for ACO participants, and provide alternative funding and risk bearing mechanisms to continue to allow a diverse group of organizations to participate. III. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determinants of Success in Shared Savings Programs: An Analysis of ACO and Market Characteristics

PubMed Central

Colla, Carrie H.; Lewis, Valerie A.

2016-01-01

Background Medicare’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs introduced shared savings to traditional Medicare, which allow providers who reduce health care costs for their patients to retain a percentage of the savings they generate. Objective To examine ACO and market factors associated with superior financial performance in Medicare ACO programs. Methods We obtained financial performance data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); we derived market-level characteristics from Medicare claims; and we collected ACO characteristics from the National Survey of ACOs for 215 ACOs. We examined the association between ACO financial performance and ACO provider composition, leadership structure, beneficiary characteristics, risk bearing experience, quality and process improvement capabilities, physician performance management, market competition, CMS-assigned financial benchmark, and ACO contract start date. We examined two outcomes from Medicare ACOs’ first performance year: savings per Medicare beneficiary and earning shared savings payments (a dichotomous variable). Results When modeling the ACO ability to save and earn shared savings payments, we estimated positive regression coefficients for a greater proportion of primary care providers in the ACO, more practicing physicians on the governing board, physician leadership, active engagement in reducing hospital re-admissions, a greater proportion of disabled Medicare beneficiaries assigned to the ACO, financial incentives offered to physicians, a larger financial benchmark, and greater ACO market penetration. No characteristic of organizational structure was significantly associated with both outcomes of savings per beneficiary and likelihood of achieving shared savings. ACO prior experience with risk-bearing contracts was positively correlated with savings and significantly increased the likelihood of receiving shared savings payments. Conclusions In the first year performance is quite heterogeneous, yet organizational structure does not consistently predict performance. Organizations with large financial benchmarks at baseline have greater opportunities to achieve savings. Findings on prior risk bearing suggest that ACOs learn over time under risk-bearing contracts. Implications Given the lack of predictive power for organizational characteristics, CMS should continue to encourage diversity in organizational structures for ACO participants, and provide alternative funding and risk bearing mechanisms to continue to allow a diverse group of organizations to participate. Level of evidence III PMID:27687917

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

Perrin, Tess E.; Davis, Robert G.; Wilkerson, Andrea M.

This GATEWAY project evaluated four field installations to better understand the long-term performance of a number of LED products, which can hopefully stimulate improvements in designing, manufacturing, specifying, procuring, and installing LED products. Field studies provide the opportunity to discover and investigate issues that cannot be simulated or uncovered in a laboratory, but the installed performance over time of commercially available LED products has not been well documented. Improving long-term performance can provide both direct energy savings by reducing the need to over-light to account for light loss and indirect energy savings through better market penetration due to SSL’s competitivemore » advantages over less-efficient light source technologies. The projects evaluated for this report illustrate that SSL use is often motivated by advantages other than energy savings, including maintenance savings, easier integration with control systems, and improved lighting quality.« less

State-of-the-art of the Space Shuttle External Tank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ronquillo, L.

The designation, structure and environment of the External Tank (ET) of the Space Shuttle as well as plans for increasing the facilities and tooling to meet the required production rate capability of 40 or more ETs per year in 1992 are described. Special attention is given to the weight reduction of ET, since 1.0 lb of weight saved on the empty structure translates into about 0.9 lb of additional payload. To determine the potentiality of the weight reduction, structural tests were conducted. It was found that the tank could function properly with interior support structures reduced, and selected stringers eliminated. It is reported that an alternate sprayable polyisocyanurate foam capable of replacing a foam insulation over ablator bilayer thermoprotective composite on the aft-dome of the tank was developed: a commercially available material was modified to adhere to the -423 F aluminum substrate in the 2000 F engine-plume radiant-heat environment. It is mentioned that the weight savings program which started in Oct. 1975 saved 6000 lb by Jan. 1979. To reduce weld testing time and gain 100 times the accuracy, an electromechanical check system was developed. Problems of using robots are discussed.

The research of automatic speed control algorithm based on Green CBTC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Ying; Xiong, Hui; Wang, Xiaoliang; Wu, Youyou; Zhang, Chuanqi

2017-06-01

Automatic speed control algorithm is one of the core technologies of train operation control system. It’s a typical multi-objective optimization control algorithm, which achieve the train speed control for timing, comfort, energy-saving and precise parking. At present, the train speed automatic control technology is widely used in metro and inter-city railways. It has been found that the automatic speed control technology can effectively reduce the driver’s intensity, and improve the operation quality. However, the current used algorithm is poor at energy-saving, even not as good as manual driving. In order to solve the problem of energy-saving, this paper proposes an automatic speed control algorithm based on Green CBTC system. Based on the Green CBTC system, the algorithm can adjust the operation status of the train to improve the efficient using rate of regenerative braking feedback energy while ensuring the timing, comfort and precise parking targets. Due to the reason, the energy-using of Green CBTC system is lower than traditional CBTC system. The simulation results show that the algorithm based on Green CBTC system can effectively reduce the energy-using due to the improvement of the using rate of regenerative braking feedback energy.

Improving OR Efficiency.

PubMed

Vassell, Patricia

2016-08-01

The high-cost/high-revenue environment of the OR requires special attention from managers to scrutinize and reduce costs. In the OR, nonlabor cost savings (ie, no staff member will be laid off or reclassified to realize cost savings) can typically be identified most readily. Operational costs in the OR are affected by start times, turnover times, cancellation rates, and adequate supplies, equipment, and staffing. Inefficiency in the OR can increase costs and lead to dissatisfied patients, physicians, and staff members. This article describes concepts that contribute to efficiency in the OR and illustrates the importance of staff member engagement in achieving desired outcomes. Copyright © 2016 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dynamic Weather Routes: A Weather Avoidance Concept for Trajectory-Based Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNally, B. David; Love, John

2011-01-01

The integration of convective weather modeling with trajectory automation for conflict detection, trial planning, direct routing, and auto resolution has uncovered a concept that could help controllers, dispatchers, and pilots identify improved weather routes that result in significant savings in flying time and fuel burn. Trajectory automation continuously and automatically monitors aircraft in flight to find those that could potentially benefit from improved weather reroutes. Controllers, dispatchers, and pilots then evaluate reroute options to assess their suitability given current weather and traffic. In today's operations aircraft fly convective weather avoidance routes that were implemented often hours before aircraft approach the weather and automation does not exist to automatically monitor traffic to find improved weather routes that open up due to changing weather conditions. The automation concept runs in real-time and employs two keysteps. First, a direct routing algorithm automatically identifies flights with large dog legs in their routes and therefore potentially large savings in flying time. These are common - and usually necessary - during convective weather operations and analysis of Fort Worth Center traffic shows many aircraft with short cuts that indicate savings on the order of 10 flying minutes. The second and most critical step is to apply trajectory automation with weather modeling to determine what savings could be achieved by modifying the direct route such that it avoids weather and traffic and is acceptable to controllers and flight crews. Initial analysis of Fort Worth Center traffic suggests a savings of roughly 50% of the direct route savings could be achievable.The core concept is to apply trajectory automation with convective weather modeling in real time to identify a reroute that is free of weather and traffic conflicts and indicates enough time and fuel savings to be considered. The concept is interoperable with today's integrated FMS/datalink. Auxiliary(lat/long) waypoints define a minimum delay reroute between current position and a downstream capture fix beyond the weather. These auxiliary waypoints can be uplinked to equipped aircraft and auto-loaded into the FMS. Alternatively, for unequipped aircraft, auxiliary waypoints can be replaced by nearby named fixes, but this could reduce potential savings. The presentation includes an overview of the automation approach and focuses on several cases in terms of potential savings, reroute complexity, best auxiliary waypoint solution vs. named fix solution, and other metrics.

The costs and benefits of reducing racial-ethnic disparities in mental health care.

PubMed

Cook, Benjamin Lê; Liu, Zimin; Lessios, Anna Sophia; Loder, Stephen; McGuire, Thomas

2015-04-01

Previous studies have found that timely mental health treatment can result in savings in both mental health and general medical care expenditures. This study examined whether reducing racial-ethnic disparities in mental health care offsets costs of care. Data were from a subsample of 6,206 individuals with probable mental illness from the 2004-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). First, disparities in mental health treatment were analyzed. Second, two-year panel data were used to determine the offset of year 1 mental health outpatient and pharmacy treatment on year 2 mental and general medical expenditures. Third, savings were estimated by combining results from steps 1 and 2. Compared with whites, blacks and Latinos with year 1 outpatient mental health care spent less on inpatient and emergency general medical care in year 2. Latinos receiving mental health care in year 1 spent less than others on inpatient general medical care in year 2. Latinos taking psychotropic drugs in year 1 showed reductions in inpatient general medical care. Reducing racial-ethnic disparities in mental health care and in psychotropic drug use led to savings in acute medical care expenditures. Savings in acute care expenditures resulting from eliminating disparities in racial-ethnic mental health care access were greater than costs in some but not all areas of acute mental health and general medical care. For blacks and Latinos, the potential savings from eliminating disparities in inpatient general medical expenditures are substantial (as much as $1 billion nationwide), suggesting that financial and equity considerations can be aligned when planning disparity reduction programs.

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

Steffen, Jason H.; Hotchkiss, Jon

We report the results of an experimental comparison of different airplane boarding methods. This test was conducted in a mock 757 fuselage, located on a Southern California soundstage, with 12 rows of six seats and a single aisle. Five methods were tested using 72 passengers of various ages. We found a significant reduction in the boarding times of optimized methods over traditional methods. These improved methods, if properly implemented, could result in a significant savings to airline companies. The process of boarding an airplane is of interest to a variety of groups. The public is interested both as a curiosity,more » as it is something that they may regularly experience, and as a consumer, as their experiences good or bad can affect their loyalties. Airline companies and their employees also have a stake in an efficient boarding procedure as time saved in the boarding process may result is monetary savings, in the quality of interactions with passengers, and in the application of human resources to the general process of preparing an airplane for departure. A recent study (Nyquist and McFadden, 2008) indicates that the average cost to an airline company for each minute of time spent at the terminal is roughly $30. Thus, each minute saved in the turn-around time of a flight has the potential to generate over $16,000,000 in annual savings (assuming an average of 1500 flights per day). While the boarding process may not be the primary source of delay in returning an airplane to the skies, reducing the boarding time may effectively eliminate passenger boarding as a contributor in any meaningful measure. Consequently, subsequent efforts to streamline the other necessary tasks, such as refueling and maintenance, would be rewarded with a material reduction in time at the gate for each flight.« less

Experimental test of airplane boarding methods

DOE PAGES

Steffen, Jason H.; Hotchkiss, Jon

2011-10-26

We report the results of an experimental comparison of different airplane boarding methods. This test was conducted in a mock 757 fuselage, located on a Southern California soundstage, with 12 rows of six seats and a single aisle. Five methods were tested using 72 passengers of various ages. We found a significant reduction in the boarding times of optimized methods over traditional methods. These improved methods, if properly implemented, could result in a significant savings to airline companies. The process of boarding an airplane is of interest to a variety of groups. The public is interested both as a curiosity,more » as it is something that they may regularly experience, and as a consumer, as their experiences good or bad can affect their loyalties. Airline companies and their employees also have a stake in an efficient boarding procedure as time saved in the boarding process may result is monetary savings, in the quality of interactions with passengers, and in the application of human resources to the general process of preparing an airplane for departure. A recent study (Nyquist and McFadden, 2008) indicates that the average cost to an airline company for each minute of time spent at the terminal is roughly $30. Thus, each minute saved in the turn-around time of a flight has the potential to generate over $16,000,000 in annual savings (assuming an average of 1500 flights per day). While the boarding process may not be the primary source of delay in returning an airplane to the skies, reducing the boarding time may effectively eliminate passenger boarding as a contributor in any meaningful measure. Consequently, subsequent efforts to streamline the other necessary tasks, such as refueling and maintenance, would be rewarded with a material reduction in time at the gate for each flight.« less

A Documentation System to Save Time and Ensure Proper Application of the Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES®)

PubMed Central

Hey, Christiane; Pluschinski, Petra; Stanschus, Soenke; Euler, Harald A.; Sader, Robert A.; Langmore, Susan; Neumann, Katrin

2011-01-01

A properly performed fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES®) is comprehensive and time-consuming. Editing times of FEES protocols and attempts for efficiency maximization are unknown. Here, the protocol editing times of completed FEES examinations were determined. The present study reports the time savings and quality gains of a newly developed documentation system tailored to the FEES standard of Langmore. Four independent examiners analyzed twelve videos of FEES procedures, six without and six with the documentation system. Effectiveness of the documentation system was evaluated according to the times for total evaluation, interpretation, documentation, report writing, and for report completeness. The documentation system reduced editing times and increased report completeness with large effect sizes. Averaged total evaluation time decreased from 42 to 27 min, report completeness increased from 55 to 80%. The use of the documentation system facilitates and improves the assessment of the swallowing process. PMID:20938202

Epicenter location by analysis for interictal spikes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hand, C.

2001-01-01

The MEG recording is a quick and painless process that requires no surgery. This approach has the potential to save time, reduce patient discomfort, and eliminates a painful and potentially dangerous surgical step in the treatment procedure.

Data-driven reinforcement learning–based real-time energy management system for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

DOE PAGES

Qi, Xuewei; Wu, Guoyuan; Boriboonsomsin, Kanok; ...

2016-01-01

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) show great promise in reducing transportation-related fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Designing an efficient energy management system (EMS) for PHEVs to achieve better fuel economy has been an active research topic for decades. Most of the advanced systems rely either on a priori knowledge of future driving conditions to achieve the optimal but not real-time solution (e.g., using a dynamic programming strategy) or on only current driving situations to achieve a real-time but nonoptimal solution (e.g., rule-based strategy). This paper proposes a reinforcement learning–based real-time EMS for PHEVs to address the trade-off betweenmore » real-time performance and optimal energy savings. The proposed model can optimize the power-split control in real time while learning the optimal decisions from historical driving cycles. Here, a case study on a real-world commute trip shows that about a 12% fuel saving can be achieved without considering charging opportunities; further, an 8% fuel saving can be achieved when charging opportunities are considered, compared with the standard binary mode control strategy.« less

Data-driven reinforcement learning–based real-time energy management system for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

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

Qi, Xuewei; Wu, Guoyuan; Boriboonsomsin, Kanok

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) show great promise in reducing transportation-related fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Designing an efficient energy management system (EMS) for PHEVs to achieve better fuel economy has been an active research topic for decades. Most of the advanced systems rely either on a priori knowledge of future driving conditions to achieve the optimal but not real-time solution (e.g., using a dynamic programming strategy) or on only current driving situations to achieve a real-time but nonoptimal solution (e.g., rule-based strategy). This paper proposes a reinforcement learning–based real-time EMS for PHEVs to address the trade-off betweenmore » real-time performance and optimal energy savings. The proposed model can optimize the power-split control in real time while learning the optimal decisions from historical driving cycles. Here, a case study on a real-world commute trip shows that about a 12% fuel saving can be achieved without considering charging opportunities; further, an 8% fuel saving can be achieved when charging opportunities are considered, compared with the standard binary mode control strategy.« less

Logging while fishing technique results in substantial savings

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

Tollefsen, E.; Everett, M.

1996-12-01

During wireline logging operations, tools occasionally become stuck in the borehole and require fishing. A typical fishing job can take anywhere from 1{1/2}--4 days. In the Gulf of Mexico, a fishing job can easily cost between $100,000 and $500,000. These costs result from nonproductive time during the fishing trip, associated wiper trip and relogging the well. Logging while fishing (LWF) technology is a patented system capable of retrieving a stuck fish and completing the logging run during the same pipe descent. Completing logging operations using LWF method saves time and money. The technique also provides well information where data maymore » not otherwise have been obtained. Other benefits include reduced fishing time and an increased level of safety.« less

Affordable Hybrid Heat Pump Clothes Dryer

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

TeGrotenhuis, Ward E.; Butterfield, Andrew; Caldwell, Dustin D.

This project was successful in demonstrating the feasibility of a step change in residential clothes dryer energy efficiency by demonstrating heat pump technology capable of 50% energy savings over conventional standard-size electric dryers with comparable drying times. A prototype system was designed from off-the-shelf components that can meet the project’s efficiency goals and are affordable. An experimental prototype system was built based on the design that reached 50% energy savings. Improvements have been identified that will reduce drying times of over 60 minutes to reach the goal of 40 minutes. Nevertheless, the prototype represents a step change in efficiency overmore » heat pump dryers recently introduced to the U.S. market, with 30% improvement in energy efficiency at comparable drying times.« less

Design and Implementation of Green Construction Scheme for a High-rise Residential Building Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yong; Huang, You Zhen

2018-06-01

This paper mainly studies the green construction scheme of a high-rise residential building project. From "four sections one environmental protection", saving material, water saving, energy saving, economical use of land and environmental protection conduct analysis and research. Adopting scientific, advanced, reasonable and economical construction technology measures, implementing green construction method. Promoting energy-saving technologies in buildings, ensuring the sustainable use of resources, Maximum savings of resources and energy, increase energy efficiency, to reduce pollution, reducing the adverse environmental impact of construction activities, ensure construction safety, build sustainable buildings.

A statistical analysis of the energy policy act of 2005, its changes to the daylight saving program, and impact on residential energy consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, Patrick L.

Government programs designed to decrease resource consumption, improve productivity and capitalize on extended daylight hours in the summer have been developed and implemented throughout the world for nearly three hundred years. In 2005, The United States government adopted an extended daylight savings program that increases the number of weeks where the country observes Daylight Saving Time (DST) from 31 to 35 weeks. The program took effect in March 2007. Arguments in support of DST programs highlight the portion of electricity consumption attributed to residential lighting in the evening hours. Adjusting clocks forward by one hour in summer months is believed to reduce electricity consumption due to lighting and therefore significantly reduce residential energy consumption during the period of DST. This paper evaluates the efficacy of the changes to DST resulting from the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The study focuses on changes to household electricity consumption during the extended four weeks of DST. Arizona, one of two states that continue to opt out of DST serves as the study's control for a comparison with neighboring states, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. Results from the regression analysis of a Difference in Difference model indicate that contrary to evaluations by Congress and the Department of Energy, the four week period of Extended Daylight Saving Time does not produce a significant decrease in per capita electricity consumption in Southwestern states.

Traffic-aware energy saving scheme with modularization supporting in TWDM-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Yu; Sun, Peng; Liu, Chuanbo; Guan, Jianjun

2017-01-01

Time and wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (TWDM-PON) is considered to be a primary solution for next-generation passive optical network stage 2 (NG-PON2). Due to the feature of multi-wavelength transmission of TWDM-PON, some of the transmitters/receivers at the optical line terminal (OLT) could be shut down to reduce the energy consumption. Therefore, a novel scheme called traffic-aware energy saving scheme with modularization supporting is proposed. Through establishing the modular energy consumption model of OLT, the wavelength transmitters/receivers at OLT could be switched on or shut down adaptively depending on sensing the status of network traffic load, thus the energy consumption of OLT will be effectively reduced. Furthermore, exploring the technology of optical network unit (ONU) modularization, each module of ONU could be switched to sleep or active mode independently in order to reduce the energy consumption of ONU. Simultaneously, the polling sequence of ONU could be changed dynamically via sensing the packet arrival time. In order to guarantee the delay performance of network traffic, the sub-cycle division strategy is designed to transmit the real-time traffic preferentially. Finally, simulation results verify that the proposed scheme is able to reduce the energy consumption of the network while maintaining the traffic delay performance.

Energy Extra: Energy Savings vs. Comfort - and the Effect of Humidity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CEFP Journal, 1979

1979-01-01

Proper humidity will, in a large number of cases, save money for the user. This saving could show up directly because of reduced infiltration and lower thermostat settings. It could show up indirectly in reduced costs for maintenance and preservation and in increased productivity and decreased absenteeism. (Author)

77 FR 67285 - Debris Removal: Eligibility of Force Account Labor Straight-Time Costs Under the Public...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-09

... Act authorized a Public Assistance Pilot Program intended to reduce the costs to the Federal... salaries and benefits of the employees of Public Assistance applicants who perform disaster-related debris... procedure of the Public Assistance Pilot Program also resulted in cost and time savings. Funding straight...

[Measures to reduce lighting-related energy use and costs at hospital nursing stations].

PubMed

Su, Chiu-Ching; Chen, Chen-Hui; Chen, Shu-Hwa; Ping, Tsui-Chu

2011-06-01

Hospitals have long been expected to deliver medical services in an environment that is comfortable and bright. This expectation keeps hospital energy demand stubbornly high and energy costs spiraling due to escalating utility fees. Hospitals must identify appropriate strategies to control electricity usage in order to control operating costs effectively. This paper proposes several electricity saving measures that both support government policies aimed at reducing global warming and help reduce energy consumption at the authors' hospital. The authors held educational seminars, established a website teaching energy saving methods, maximized facility and equipment use effectiveness (e.g., adjusting lamp placements, power switch and computer saving modes), posted signs promoting electricity saving, and established a regularized energy saving review mechanism. After implementation, average nursing staff energy saving knowledge had risen from 71.8% to 100% and total nursing station electricity costs fell from NT$16,456 to NT$10,208 per month, representing an effective monthly savings of 37.9% (NT$6,248). This project demonstrated the ability of a program designed to slightly modify nursing staff behavior to achieve effective and meaningful results in reducing overall electricity use.

Implementation of testing equipment for asphalt materials.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-05-01

Three new automated methods for related asphalt testing were evaluated under this study in an effort to save time and reduce variability in testing. The Therymolyne SSDetect, Instrotek CoreLok and Instrotek CoreDry devices were evaluated throughout t...

Implementation of Testing Equipment for Asphalt Materials

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-05-01

Three new automated methods for related asphalt testing were evaluated under this study in an effort to save time and reduce variability in testing. The Therymolyne SSDetect, Instrotek CoreLok and Instrotek CoreDry devices were evaluated throughout t...

Clinical and economic impact of infliximab one-hour infusion protocol in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: A multicenter study

PubMed Central

Viola, Anna; Costantino, Giuseppe; Privitera, Antonino Carlo; Bossa, Fabrizio; Lauria, Angelo; Grossi, Laurino; Principi, Maria Beatrice; Della Valle, Nicola; Cappello, Maria

2017-01-01

AIM To assess the impact of short infliximab (IFX) infusion on hospital resource utilization and costs. METHODS All inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) patients who received IFX 1 h infusion from March 2007 to September 2014 in eight centers from Southern Italy were included in the analysis. Demographic, clinical and infusion related data were collected. The potential benefits related to the short infusion protocol were assessed both in terms of time saving and increased infusion unit capacity. In addition, indirect patient-related cost savings were evaluated. RESULTS One hundred and twenty-five patients were recruited (64 with ulcerative colitis and 61 with Crohn’s disease). Median duration of disease was of 53 mo and mean age of pts at diagnosis was of 34 years (SD: ± 13). Adverse infusion reactions were reported in less than 4% both before and after short infusion. The total number of infusions across the selected centers was of 2501 (30.5% short infusions). In the analyzed cohort, 1143 h were saved (762 in the infusion and 381 in observation phases) through the rapid IFX infusion protocol. This time saving (-15% compared to the standard protocol in infusion phase) represents, from the hospital perspective, an opportunity to optimize infusion unit capacity by allocating the saved time in alternative cost-effective treatments. This is the case of opportunity cost that represents the value of forgone benefit which could be obtained from a resource in its next-best alternative use. Hence, an extra hour of infusion in the case of standard 2-h IFX represents a loss in opportunity to provide other cost effective services. The analysis showed that the short infusion increased the infusion units capacity up to 50% on days when the IFX infusions were scheduled (infusion phase). Furthermore, the analysis showed that the short IFX infusion protocol leads to time savings also in the post-infusion phase (observation) leading to a time saving of 10% on average among the analyzed centers. Finally, the short infusion protocol has been demonstrated to lead to indirect cost savings of €138/patient (average -€17.300 on the whole cohort). CONCLUSION A short IFX infusion protocol can be considered time and cost saving in comparison to the standard infusion protocol both from the hospital’s perspective, as it contributes to increase infusion units capacity, and the patients’ perspective, as it reduces indirect costs and the impact of treatment on everyday life and work productivity. PMID:28533923

Urban Telemedicine: The Applicability of Teleburns in the Rehabilitative Phase.

PubMed

Liu, Yuk Ming; Mathews, Katie; Vardanian, Andrew; Bozkurt, Taylan; Schneider, Jeffrey C; Hefner, Jaye; Schulz, John T; Fagan, Shawn P; Goverman, Jeremy

Telemedicine has been successfully used in many areas of medicine, including triage and evaluation of the acute burn patient. The utility of telemedicine during the rehabilitative phase of burn care has yet to be evaluated; therefore, we expanded our telemedicine program to link our burn center with a rehabilitation facility. The goal of this project was to demonstrate cost-effective improvements in the transition and quality of care. A retrospective review was performed on all patients enrolled in our telemedicine/rehabilitation program between March 2013 and March 2014. Data collected included total number of encounters, visits, type of visit, physician time, and readmissions. Transportation costs were based on local ambulance rates between the two facilities. The impact of telemedicine was evaluated with respect to the time saved for the physician, burn center, and burn clinic, as well as rehabilitative days saved. A patient satisfaction survey was also administered. A total of 29 patients participated in 73 virtual visits through the telemedicine project. Virtual visits included new consults, preoperative evaluations, and postoperative follow-ups. A total of 146 ambulance transports were averted during the study period, totaling $101,110. Virtual visits saved 6.8 outpatient burn clinic days, or 73 clinic appointments of 30-min duration. The ability to perform more outpatient surgery resulted in 80 inpatient bed days saved at the burn hospital. The rehabilitation hospital saved an average of 2 to 3 patient days secondary to unnecessary travel. Satisfaction surveys demonstrated patient satisfaction with the encounters, primarily related to time saved. The decrease in travel time for the patient from the rehabilitation hospital to outpatient burn clinic improved adherence to the rehabilitation care plan and resulted in increased throughput at the rehabilitation facility. Videoconferencing between a burn center and rehabilitation hospital streamlined patient care and reduced health care costs, while maintaining quality of care and patient satisfaction. This program has improved inpatient burn rehabilitation by maximizing time spent in therapy and avoiding unnecessary patient travel to offsite appointments.

Energy-Efficient Scheduling for Hybrid Tasks in Control Devices for the Internet of Things

PubMed Central

Gao, Zhigang; Wu, Yifan; Dai, Guojun; Xia, Haixia

2012-01-01

In control devices for the Internet of Things (IoT), energy is one of the critical restriction factors. Dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) has been proved to be an effective method for reducing the energy consumption of processors. This paper proposes an energy-efficient scheduling algorithm for IoT control devices with hard real-time control tasks (HRCTs) and soft real-time tasks (SRTs). The main contribution of this paper includes two parts. First, it builds the Hybrid tasks with multi-subtasks of different function Weight (HoW) task model for IoT control devices. HoW describes the structure of HRCTs and SRTs, and their properties, e.g., deadlines, execution time, preemption properties, and energy-saving goals, etc. Second, it presents the Hybrid Tasks' Dynamic Voltage Scaling (HTDVS) algorithm. HTDVS first sets the slowdown factors of subtasks while meeting the different real-time requirements of HRCTs and SRTs, and then dynamically reclaims, reserves, and reuses the slack time of the subtasks to meet their ideal energy-saving goals. Experimental results show HTDVS can reduce energy consumption about 10%–80% while meeting the real-time requirements of HRCTs, HRCTs help to reduce the deadline miss ratio (DMR) of systems, and HTDVS has comparable performance with the greedy algorithm and is more favorable to keep the subtasks' ideal speeds. PMID:23112659

Energy Saving Melting and Revert Reduction (E-SMARRT): Precision Casting of Steel

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

Dr. Von L. Richards

2011-09-30

This project addresses improvements in metal casting processes by reducing scrap and reducing the cost of production, due to scrap reduction from investment casting and yield improvement offered by lost foam casting as compared to no-bake or green sand molding. The objectives for the investment casting portion of the subtask are to improve knowledge of fracture toughness of mold shells and the sources of strength limiting flaws and to understand the effects of wax reclamation procedures on wax properties. Applying 'clean steel' approaches to pouring technology and cleanliness in investment casting of steel are anticipated to improve incoming materials inspectionmore » procedures as they affect the microstructure and toughness of the shell. This project focused on two areas of study in the production of steel castings to reduce scrap and save energy: (1) Reducing the amount of shell cracking in investment cast steel production; (2) Investigate the potential of lost foam steel casting The basic findings regarding investment casting shell cracking were: (1) In the case of post pouring cracking, this could be related to phase changes in silica upon cooling and could be delayed by pouring arrangement strategies that maintained the shell surface at temperature for longer time. Employing this delay resulted in less adherent oxidation of castings since the casting was cooler at the time o fair exposure. (2) A model for heat transfer through water saturated shell materials under steam pressure was developed. (3) Initial modeling result of autoclave de-waxing indicated the higher pressure and temperature in the autoclave would impose a steeper temperature gradient on the wax pattern, causing some melt flow prior to bulk expansion and decreasing the stress on the green shell. Basic findings regarding lost foam casting of steel at atmospheric pressure: (1) EPS foam generally decomposes by the collapse mode in steel casting. (2) There is an accumulation of carbon pick-up at the end of the casting opposite the gate. (3) It is recommended that lost foam castings in steel be gated for a quiescent fill in an empty cavity mold to prevent foam occlusion defects from the collapse mode. The energy benefit is primarily in yield savings and lower casting weight per function due to elimination of draft and parting lines for the larger lost foam castings. For the smaller investment casting, scrap losses due to shell cracking will be reduced. Both of these effects will reduce the metal melted per good ton of castings. There will also be less machine stock required per casting which is a yield savings and a small additional energy savings in machining. Downstream savings will come from heavy truck and railroad applications. Application of these processes to heavy truck castings will lighten the heavy truck fleet by about ten pounds per truck. Using ten years to achieve full penetration of the truck fleet at linear rate this will result in a fuel savings of 131 trillion BTU over ten years.« less

NASA Glenn Research Center Experience Using DOE Midwest Region Super ESPC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zala, Laszlo F.

2000-01-01

The energy crisis of 1973 prompted the Federal Government and private industry to look into alternative methods to save energy. At the same time the constant reduction of operations and maintenance funds during the last 5 years forced Glenn Research Center (GRC) to look for alternative funding sources to meet the mandate to reduce energy consumption. The Super Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) was chosen as a viable source of facility improvement funding that can create larger project scope and help replace aging, inefficient equipment. This paper describes Glenn's participation in the Department of Energy (DOE) Super ESPC program. This program provided Glenn cost savings in the performance of energy audits, preparation of documents, evaluation of proposals, and selection of energy service company (ESCO).

Building America Case Study: Simple Retrofit High-Efficiency Natural Gas Water Heater Field Test, Minneapolis, Minnesota

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

High performance water heaters are typically more time consuming and costly to install in retrofit applications, making high performance water heaters difficult to justify economically. However, recent advancements in high performance water heaters have targeted the retrofit market, simplifying installations and reducing costs. Four high efficiency natural gas water heaters designed specifically for retrofit applications were installed in single-family homes along with detailed monitoring systems to characterize their savings potential, their installed efficiencies, and their ability to meet household demands. The water heaters tested for this project were designed to improve the cost-effectiveness and increase market penetration of high efficiencymore » water heaters in the residential retrofit market. The retrofit high efficiency water heaters achieved their goal of reducing costs, maintaining savings potential and installed efficiency of other high efficiency water heaters, and meeting the necessary capacity in order to improve cost-effectiveness. However, the improvements were not sufficient to achieve simple paybacks of less than ten years for the incremental cost compared to a minimum efficiency heater. Significant changes would be necessary to reduce the simple payback to six years or less. Annual energy savings in the range of $200 would also reduce paybacks to less than six years. These energy savings would require either significantly higher fuel costs (greater than $1.50 per therm) or very high usage (around 120 gallons per day). For current incremental costs, the water heater efficiency would need to be similar to that of a heat pump water heater to deliver a six year payback.« less

Simple Retrofit High-Efficiency Natural Gas Water Heater Field Test

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

Schoenbauer, Ben

High-performance water heaters are typically more time consuming and costly to install in retrofit applications, making high performance water heaters difficult to justify economically. However, recent advancements in high performance water heaters have targeted the retrofit market, simplifying installations and reducing costs. Four high efficiency natural gas water heaters designed specifically for retrofit applications were installed in single-family homes along with detailed monitoring systems to characterize their savings potential, their installed efficiencies, and their ability to meet household demands. The water heaters tested for this project were designed to improve the cost-effectiveness and increase market penetration of high efficiency watermore » heaters in the residential retrofit market. The retrofit high efficiency water heaters achieved their goal of reducing costs, maintaining savings potential and installed efficiency of other high efficiency water heaters, and meeting the necessary capacity in order to improve cost-effectiveness. However, the improvements were not sufficient to achieve simple paybacks of less than ten years for the incremental cost compared to a minimum efficiency heater. Significant changes would be necessary to reduce the simple payback to six years or less. Annual energy savings in the range of $200 would also reduce paybacks to less than six years. These energy savings would require either significantly higher fuel costs (greater than $1.50 per therm) or very high usage (around 120 gallons per day). For current incremental costs, the water heater efficiency would need to be similar to that of a heat pump water heater to deliver a six year payback.« less

Simple Retrofit High-Efficiency Natural Gas Water Heater Field Test

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

Schoenbauer, Ben

High performance water heaters are typically more time consuming and costly to install in retrofit applications, making high performance water heaters difficult to justify economically. However, recent advancements in high performance water heaters have targeted the retrofit market, simplifying installations and reducing costs. Four high efficiency natural gas water heaters designed specifically for retrofit applications were installed in single-family homes along with detailed monitoring systems to characterize their savings potential, their installed efficiencies, and their ability to meet household demands. The water heaters tested for this project were designed to improve the cost-effectiveness and increase market penetration of high efficiencymore » water heaters in the residential retrofit market. The retrofit high efficiency water heaters achieved their goal of reducing costs, maintaining savings potential and installed efficiency of other high efficiency water heaters, and meeting the necessary capacity in order to improve cost-effectiveness. However, the improvements were not sufficient to achieve simple paybacks of less than ten years for the incremental cost compared to a minimum efficiency heater. Significant changes would be necessary to reduce the simple payback to six years or less. Annual energy savings in the range of $200 would also reduce paybacks to less than six years. These energy savings would require either significantly higher fuel costs (greater than $1.50 per therm) or very high usage (around 120 gallons per day). For current incremental costs, the water heater efficiency would need to be similar to that of a heat pump water heater to deliver a six year payback.« less

'Leaner' lighting's dramatic impact.

PubMed

Kearney, Steve

2012-04-01

Steve Kearney, business manager for Newey & Eyre - Energy Saving 24/7, a team of 'energy experts' established early last year within one of the UK's leading distributors of electrical supplies, discusses the technologies and simple measures now available to reduce emissions and cut wastage generated by lighting in healthcare facilities, at a time when the NHS, especially, is under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint.

Shopping for Dollars? Try This List!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiGeronimo, Joseph

1991-01-01

A California school superintendent presents clever savings tips, including boosting average daily attendance, sparing new hires, bird dogging insurance interest, disposing of surplus school property, recruiting students attending nonpublic schools, creating more classroom space, contracting for part-time help, reducing vandalism, marketing staff…

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Baltimore-Based Bakery Launches Fleet of

Science.gov Websites

propane would reduce maintenance costs and save us money on fuel compared to diesel and gasoline," Bakery knew that wasting time, money, and fuel was not in the company's best interest. That's why their

Are virtual planning and guided surgery for head and neck reconstruction economically viable?

PubMed

Zweifel, Daniel Fritz; Simon, Christian; Hoarau, Remy; Pasche, Philippe; Broome, Martin

2015-01-01

Virtual planning and guided surgery with or without prebent or milled plates are becoming more and more common for mandibular reconstruction with fibular free flaps (FFFs). Although this excellent surgical option is being used more widely, the question of the additional cost of planning and cutting-guide production has to be discussed. In capped payment systems such additional costs have to be offset by other savings if there are no special provisions for extra funding. Our study was designed to determine whether using virtual planning and guided surgery resulted in time saved during surgery and whether this time gain resulted in self-funding of such planning through the time saved. All consecutive cases of FFF surgery were evaluated during a 2-year period. Institutional data were used to determine the price of 1 minute of operative time. The time for fibula molding, plate adaptation, and insetting was recorded. During the defined period, we performed 20 mandibular reconstructions using FFFs, 9 with virtual planning and guided surgery and 11 freehand cases. One minute of operative time was calculated to cost US $47.50. Multiplying this number by the time saved, we found that the additional cost of virtual planning was reduced from US $5,098 to US $1,231.50 with a prebent plate and from US $6,980 to US $3,113.50 for a milled plate. Even in capped health care systems, virtual planning and guided surgery including prebent or milled plates are financially viable. Copyright © 2015 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Limitations of Reliability for Long-Endurance Human Spaceflight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owens, Andrew C.; de Weck, Olivier L.

2016-01-01

Long-endurance human spaceflight - such as missions to Mars or its moons - will present a never-before-seen maintenance logistics challenge. Crews will be in space for longer and be farther way from Earth than ever before. Resupply and abort options will be heavily constrained, and will have timescales much longer than current and past experience. Spare parts and/or redundant systems will have to be included to reduce risk. However, the high cost of transportation means that this risk reduction must be achieved while also minimizing mass. The concept of increasing system and component reliability is commonly discussed as a means to reduce risk and mass by reducing the probability that components will fail during a mission. While increased reliability can reduce maintenance logistics mass requirements, the rate of mass reduction decreases over time. In addition, reliability growth requires increased test time and cost. This paper assesses trends in test time requirements, cost, and maintenance logistics mass savings as a function of increase in Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) for some or all of the components in a system. In general, reliability growth results in superlinear growth in test time requirements, exponential growth in cost, and sublinear benefits (in terms of logistics mass saved). These trends indicate that it is unlikely that reliability growth alone will be a cost-effective approach to maintenance logistics mass reduction and risk mitigation for long-endurance missions. This paper discusses these trends as well as other options to reduce logistics mass such as direct reduction of part mass, commonality, or In-Space Manufacturing (ISM). Overall, it is likely that some combination of all available options - including reliability growth - will be required to reduce mass and mitigate risk for future deep space missions.

Chapter 17: Residential Behavior Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

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

Kurnik, Charles W.; Stewart, James; Todd, Annika

Residential behavior-based (BB) programs use strategies grounded in the behavioral and social sciences to influence household energy use. These may include providing households with real-time or delayed feedback about their energy use; supplying energy efficiency education and tips; rewarding households for reducing their energy use; comparing households to their peers; and establishing games, tournaments, and competitions. BB programs often target multiple energy end uses and encourage energy savings, demand savings, or both. Savings from BB programs are usually a small percentage of energy use, typically less than 5 percent. Utilities will continue to implement residential BB programs as large-scale, randomizedmore » control trials (RCTs); however, some are now experimenting with alternative program designs that are smaller scale; involve new communication channels such as the web, social media, and text messaging; or that employ novel strategies for encouraging behavior change (for example, Facebook competitions). These programs will create new evaluation challenges and may require different evaluation methods than those currently employed to verify any savings they generate. Quasi-experimental methods, however, require stronger assumptions to yield valid savings estimates and may not measure savings with the same degree of validity and accuracy as randomized experiments.« less

Price-Minimizing Behaviors in a Cohort of Smokers before and after a Cigarette Tax Increase.

PubMed

Betzner, Anne; Boyle, Raymond G; St Claire, Ann W

2016-06-17

Cigarette tax increases result in a reduced demand for cigarettes and increased efforts by smokers to reduce their cost of smoking. Less is known about how smokers think about their expenditures for cigarettes and the possible mechanisms that underlie price-minimizing behaviors. In-depth longitudinal interviews were conducted with Minnesota smokers to explore the factors that influence smokers' decisions one month prior to a $1.75 cigarette tax increase and again one and three months after the increase. A total of 42 were sampled with 35 completed interviews at all three time points, resulting in 106 interviews across all participants at all time points. A qualitative descriptive approach examined smoking and buying habits, as well as reasons behind these decisions. A hierarchy of ways to save money on cigarettes included saving the most money by changing to roll your own pipe tobacco, changing to a cheaper brand, cutting down or quitting, changing to cigarillos, and buying online. Using coupons, shopping around, buying by the carton, changing the style of cigarette, and stocking up prior to the tax increase were described as less effective. Five factors emerged as impacting smokers' efforts to save money on cigarettes after the tax: brand loyalty, frugality, addiction, stress, and acclimation.

Price-Minimizing Behaviors in a Cohort of Smokers before and after a Cigarette Tax Increase

PubMed Central

Betzner, Anne; Boyle, Raymond G.; St. Claire, Ann W.

2016-01-01

Cigarette tax increases result in a reduced demand for cigarettes and increased efforts by smokers to reduce their cost of smoking. Less is known about how smokers think about their expenditures for cigarettes and the possible mechanisms that underlie price-minimizing behaviors. In-depth longitudinal interviews were conducted with Minnesota smokers to explore the factors that influence smokers’ decisions one month prior to a $1.75 cigarette tax increase and again one and three months after the increase. A total of 42 were sampled with 35 completed interviews at all three time points, resulting in 106 interviews across all participants at all time points. A qualitative descriptive approach examined smoking and buying habits, as well as reasons behind these decisions. A hierarchy of ways to save money on cigarettes included saving the most money by changing to roll your own pipe tobacco, changing to a cheaper brand, cutting down or quitting, changing to cigarillos, and buying online. Using coupons, shopping around, buying by the carton, changing the style of cigarette, and stocking up prior to the tax increase were described as less effective. Five factors emerged as impacting smokers’ efforts to save money on cigarettes after the tax: brand loyalty, frugality, addiction, stress, and acclimation. PMID:27322301

Productivity Savings from Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Control Strategies

PubMed Central

Bradley, Cathy J.; Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Iris; Yabroff, K. Robin; Dahman, Bassam; Mariotto, Angela; Feuer, Eric J.; Brown, Martin L.

2011-01-01

Background Lost productivity represents a considerable portion of the total economic burden of colorectal cancer (CRC), but cost-effectiveness studies of CRC prevention and control have not included these costs and therefore underestimate potential savings from CRC prevention and control. Purpose To use microsimulation modeling study to estimate and project productivity costs of CRC and to model the savings from four approaches to reducing CRC incidence and mortality: risk factor reduction, improved screening, improved treatment, and a simultaneous approach where all three strategies are implemented. Methods A model was developed to project productivity losses from CRC using the U.S. population with CRC incidence and mortality projected through the year 2020. Outcome measures were CRC mortality, morbidity, and productivity savings. Results With 2005 levels in risk factors, screening, and treatment, 48,748 CRC deaths occurred in 2010, amounting to $21 billion of lost productivity. Using prevention and treatment strategies simultaneously, 3586 deaths could have been avoided in 2010, leading to a savings of $1.4 billion. Cumulatively, by 2020, simultaneous strategies that reduce risk factors and increase screening and treatment could result in 101,353 deaths avoided and $33.9 billion in savings in reduced productivity loss. Improved screening rates alone led to nearly $14.7 billion in savings between 2005 and 2020, followed by risk factor reduction ($12.4 billion) and improved treatment ($8.4 billion). Conclusions The savings in productivity loss from strategies to reduce CRC incidence and mortality are substantial, providing evidence that CRC prevention and control strategies are likely to be cost-saving. PMID:21767717

Productivity savings from colorectal cancer prevention and control strategies.

PubMed

Bradley, Cathy J; Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Iris; Yabroff, K Robin; Dahman, Bassam; Mariotto, Angela; Feuer, Eric J; Brown, Martin L

2011-08-01

Lost productivity represents a considerable portion of the total economic burden of colorectal cancer (CRC), but cost-effectiveness studies of CRC prevention and control have not included these costs and therefore underestimate potential savings from CRC prevention and control. To use microsimulation modeling study to estimate and project productivity costs of CRC and to model the savings from four approaches to reducing CRC incidence and mortality: risk factor reduction, improved screening, improved treatment, and a simultaneous approach where all three strategies are implemented. A model was developed to project productivity losses from CRC using the U.S. population with CRC incidence and mortality projected through the year 2020. Outcome measures were CRC mortality, morbidity, and productivity savings. With 2005 levels in risk factors, screening, and treatment, 48,748 CRC deaths occurred in 2010, amounting to $21 billion of lost productivity. Using prevention and treatment strategies simultaneously, 3586 deaths could have been avoided in 2010, leading to a savings of $1.4 billion. Cumulatively, by 2020, simultaneous strategies that reduce risk factors and increase screening and treatment could result in 101,353 deaths avoided and $33.9 billion in savings in reduced productivity loss. Improved screening rates alone led to nearly $14.7 billion in savings between 2005 and 2020, followed by risk factor reduction ($12.4 billion) and improved treatment ($8.4 billion). The savings in productivity loss from strategies to reduce CRC incidence and mortality are substantial, providing evidence that CRC prevention and control strategies are likely to be cost-saving. Copyright © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. All rights reserved.

Six sigma in action. Case studies in quality put theory into practice.

PubMed

Scalise, Dagmara

2003-05-01

Case studies of four hospitals show how Six Sigma can be used for everything from reducing ED hold time to cutting down on medical errors. Our examples pinpoint the costs of implementation and the savings and other benefits derived.

Impact of Personal Attitudes on Propensity to Use Autonomous Vehicles for Intercity Travel.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-01-01

The autonomous vehicles are about to become a reality. The researchers estimate the benefits from each autonomous vehicle to be between $2000 and $4500 per vehicles. The : societal benefits include higher travel time savings, reduced congestion, fuel...

Exploring Northwest China's agricultural water-saving strategy: analysis of water use efficiency based on an SE-DEA model conducted in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.

PubMed

Mu, L; Fang, L; Wang, H; Chen, L; Yang, Y; Qu, X J; Wang, C Y; Yuan, Y; Wang, S B; Wang, Y N

Worldwide, water scarcity threatens delivery of water to urban centers. Increasing water use efficiency (WUE) is often recommended to reduce water demand, especially in water-scarce areas. In this paper, agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) is examined using the super-efficient data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach in Xi'an in Northwest China at a temporal and spatial level. The grey systems analysis technique was then adopted to identify the factors that influenced the efficiency differentials under the shortage of water resources. From the perspective of temporal scales, the AWUE increased year by year during 2004-2012, and the highest (2.05) was obtained in 2009. Additionally, the AWUE was the best in the urban area at the spatial scale. Moreover, the key influencing factors of the AWUE are the financial situations and agricultural water-saving technology. Finally, we identified several knowledge gaps and proposed water-saving strategies for increasing AWUE and reducing its water demand by: (1) improving irrigation practices (timing and amounts) based on compatible water-saving techniques; (2) maximizing regional WUE by managing water resources and allocation at regional scales as well as enhancing coordination among Chinese water governance institutes.

Cone penetrometer testing and discrete-depth ground water sampling techniques: A cost-effective method of site characterization in a multiple-aquifer setting

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

Zemo, D.A.; Pierce, Y.G.; Gallinatti, J.D.

Cone penetrometer testing (CPT), combined with discrete-depth ground water sampling methods, can significantly reduce the time and expense required to characterize large sites that have multiple aquifers. Results from the screening site characterization can then be used to design and install a cost-effective monitoring well network. At a site in northern California, it was necessary to characterize the stratigraphy and the distribution of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To expedite characterization, a five-week field screening program was implemented that consisted of a shallow ground water survey, CPT soundings and pore-pressure measurements, and discrete-depth ground water sampling. Based on continuous lithologic informationmore » provided by the CPT soundings, four predominantly coarse-grained, water yielding stratigraphic packages were identified. Seventy-nine discrete-depth ground water samples were collected using either shallow ground water survey techniques, the BAT Enviroprobe, or the QED HydroPunch I, depending on subsurface conditions. Using results from these efforts, a 20-well monitoring network was designed and installed to monitor critical points within each stratigraphic package. Good correlation was found for hydraulic head and chemical results between discrete-depth screening data and monitoring well data. Understanding the vertical VOC distribution and concentrations produced substantial time and cost savings by minimizing the number of permanent monitoring wells and reducing the number of costly conductor casings that had to be installed. Additionally, significant long-term cost savings will result from reduced sampling costs, because fewer wells comprise the monitoring network. The authors estimate these savings to be 50% for site characterization costs, 65% for site characterization time, and 60% for long-term monitoring costs.« less

The personal and national costs of lost labour force participation due to arthritis: an economic study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The costs of arthritis to the individuals and the state are considerable. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of the base population of Health&WealthMOD, a microsimulation model of 45 to 64 year old Australians built on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers and STINMOD, an income and savings microsimulation model. Results Individuals aged 45 to 64 years who had retired early due to arthritis had a median value of AU$260 in total weekly income whereas those who were employed full time were likely to average more than five times this. The large national aggregate impact of early retirement due to arthritis includes AU$9.4 billion in lost GDP, attributable to arthritis through its impact on labour force participation. When looking at the ongoing impact of being out of the labour force those who retired from the labour force early due to arthritis were estimated to have a median value of total savings by the time they are 65 of as little as $300 (for males aged 45–54). This is far lower than the median value of savings for those males aged 45–54 who remained in the labour force full time, who would have an estimated $339 100 of savings at age 65. Conclusions The costs of arthritis to the individuals and the state are considerable. The impacts on the state include loss of productivity from reduced workforce participation, lost income taxation revenue, and increased government support payments – in addition to direct health care costs. Individuals bear the economic costs of lost income and the reduction of their savings over the long term. PMID:23452565

Hospital steam sterilizer usage: could we switch off to save electricity and water?

PubMed

McGain, Forbes; Moore, Graham; Black, Jim

2016-07-01

Steam sterilization in hospitals is an energy and water intensive process. Our aim was to identify opportunities to improve electricity and water use. The objectives were to find: the time sterilizers spent active, idle and off; the variability in sterilizer use with the time of day and day of the week; and opportunities to switch off sterilizers instead of idling when no loads were waiting, and the resultant electricity and water savings. Analyses of routine data for one year of the activity of the four steam sterilizers in one hospital in Melbourne, Australia. We examined active sterilizer cycles, routine sterilizer switch-offs, and when sterilizers were active, idle and off. Several switch-off strategies were examined to identify electricity and water savings: switch off idle sterilizers when no loads are waiting and switch off one sterilizer after 10:00 h and a second sterilizer after midnight on all days. Sterilizers were active for 13,430 (38%) sterilizer-hours, off for 4822 (14%) sterilizer-hours, and idle for 16,788 (48%) sterilizer-hours. All four sterilizers were simultaneously active 9% of the time, and two or more sterilizers were idle for 69% of the time. A sterilizer was idle for two hours or less 13% of the time and idle for more than 2 h 87% of the time. A strategy to switch off idle sterilizers would reduce electricity use by 66 MWh and water use by 1004 kl per year, saving 26% electricity use and 13% of water use, resulting in financial savings of AUD$13,867 (UK£6,517) and a reduction in 79 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. An alternative switch-off strategy of one sterilizer from 10:00 h onwards and a second from midnight would have saved 30 MWh and 456 kl of water. The methodology used of how hospital sterilizer use could be improved could be applied to all hospitals and more broadly to other equipment used in hospitals. © The Author(s) 2016.

High Efficiency, High Performance Clothes Dryer

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

Peter Pescatore; Phil Carbone

This program covered the development of two separate products; an electric heat pump clothes dryer and a modulating gas dryer. These development efforts were independent of one another and are presented in this report in two separate volumes. Volume 1 details the Heat Pump Dryer Development while Volume 2 details the Modulating Gas Dryer Development. In both product development efforts, the intent was to develop high efficiency, high performance designs that would be attractive to US consumers. Working with Whirlpool Corporation as our commercial partner, TIAX applied this approach of satisfying consumer needs throughout the Product Development Process for bothmore » dryer designs. Heat pump clothes dryers have been in existence for years, especially in Europe, but have not been able to penetrate the market. This has been especially true in the US market where no volume production heat pump dryers are available. The issue has typically been around two key areas: cost and performance. Cost is a given in that a heat pump clothes dryer has numerous additional components associated with it. While heat pump dryers have been able to achieve significant energy savings compared to standard electric resistance dryers (over 50% in some cases), designs to date have been hampered by excessively long dry times, a major market driver in the US. The development work done on the heat pump dryer over the course of this program led to a demonstration dryer that delivered the following performance characteristics: (1) 40-50% energy savings on large loads with 35 F lower fabric temperatures and similar dry times; (2) 10-30 F reduction in fabric temperature for delicate loads with up to 50% energy savings and 30-40% time savings; (3) Improved fabric temperature uniformity; and (4) Robust performance across a range of vent restrictions. For the gas dryer development, the concept developed was one of modulating the gas flow to the dryer throughout the dry cycle. Through heat modulation in a gas dryer, significant time and energy savings, combined with dramatically reduced fabric temperatures, was achieved in a cost-effective manner. The key design factor lay in developing a system that matches the heat input to the dryer with the fabrics ability to absorb it. The development work done on the modulating gas dryer over the course of this program led to a demonstration dryer that delivered the following performance characteristics: (1) Up to 25% reduction in energy consumption for small and medium loads; (2) Up to 35% time savings for large loads with 10-15% energy reduction and no adverse effect on cloth temperatures; (3) Reduced fabric temperatures, dry times and 18% energy reduction for delicate loads; and, (4) Robust performance across a range of vent restrictions.« less

Honey Creek Watershed Project. Tillage Documentation Results - 1980.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-01-01

planting to harvest, economic data and soil erosion information are reported. This publication Is a compilation of data and information gathered...farm operation rather than less. Reduced tillage and no-till farming especially can improve water qua- lity by reducing soil loss through erosion...control. Soil retained in your fields means that expensive fertilizers, particularly phosphorus, and herbi- cides stay in place, too. Time and fuel savings

Developing the Librarians' Role in Supporting Grant Applications and Reducing Waste in Research: Outcomes from a Literature Review and Survey in the NIHR Research Design Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edmunds Otter, Mary L.; Wright, Judy M.; King, Natalie V.

2017-01-01

Librarians and information specialists' involvement during the development of grant applications for external funding can save researchers' time, provide specialist support, and contribute to reducing avoidable waste in research. This article presents a survey of information specialists working for the National Institute for Health Research's…

Design and implementation of a simple acousto optic dual control circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Biqing; Li, Zhao

2017-04-01

This page proposed a simple light control circuit which designed by using power supply circuit, sonic circuits, electric circuit and delay circuit four parts. The main chip for CD4011, have inside of the four and to complete the sonic or circuit, electric, delay logic circuit. During the day, no matter how much a pedestrian voice, is ever shine light bulb. Dark night, circuit in a body to make the microphone as long as testing noise, and will automatically be bright for pedestrians lighting, several minutes after the automatic and put out, effective energy saving. Applicable scope and the working principle of the circuit principle diagram and given device parameters selection, power saving effect is obvious, at the same time greatly reduce the maintenance quantity, saving money, use effect is good.

Multiple Drug Cost Containment Policies in Michigan’s Medicaid Program Saved Money Overall, Although Some Increased Costs

PubMed Central

Kibicho, Jennifer; Pinkerton, Steven D.

2014-01-01

Michigan’s Medicaid program implemented four policies (preferred lists, joint and multi-state purchasing arrangements, and maximum allowable cost) in 2002–2004 for its dual-eligible Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries, taking antihypertensives and antihyperlipidemics prescriptions. We used interrupted time series analysis to evaluate the impact of each individual policy while holding the effect of all other policies constant. Preferred lists increased preferred and generic market share, and reduced daily cost. In contrast, maximum allowable cost increased daily cost, and is the only policy that did not generate cost savings. The joint and multi-state arrangements did not impact daily cost. Despite policy tradeoffs, the cumulative effect was a 10% decrease in daily cost and an annualized cost savings of $46,195. PMID:22492899

Computer simulated building energy consumption for verification of energy conservation measures in network facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plankey, B.

1981-01-01

A computer program called ECPVER (Energy Consumption Program - Verification) was developed to simulate all energy loads for any number of buildings. The program computes simulated daily, monthly, and yearly energy consumption which can be compared with actual meter readings for the same time period. Such comparison can lead to validation of the model under a variety of conditions, which allows it to be used to predict future energy saving due to energy conservation measures. Predicted energy saving can then be compared with actual saving to verify the effectiveness of those energy conservation changes. This verification procedure is planned to be an important advancement in the Deep Space Network Energy Project, which seeks to reduce energy cost and consumption at all DSN Deep Space Stations.

Review of the Application of Green Building and Energy Saving Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, Zhineng

2017-12-01

The use of energy-saving technologies in green buildings should run through the entire process of building design, construction and use, enabling green energy-saving technologies to maximize their effectiveness in construction. Realize the sustainable development of green building, reduce energy consumption, reduce people’s interference with the natural environment, suitable for people living in “green” building.

The influence of multiple goals on driving behavior: the case of safety, time saving, and fuel saving.

PubMed

Dogan, Ebru; Steg, Linda; Delhomme, Patricia

2011-09-01

Due to the innate complexity of the task drivers have to manage multiple goals while driving and the importance of certain goals may vary over time leading to priority being given to different goals depending on the circumstances. This study aimed to investigate drivers' behavioral regulation while managing multiple goals during driving. To do so participants drove on urban and rural roads in a driving simulator while trying to manage fuel saving and time saving goals, besides the safety goals that are always present during driving. A between-subjects design was used with one group of drivers managing two goals (safety and fuel saving) and another group managing three goals (safety, fuel saving, and time saving) while driving. Participants were provided continuous feedback on the fuel saving goal via a meter on the dashboard. The results indicate that even when a fuel saving or time saving goal is salient, safety goals are still given highest priority when interactions with other road users take place and when interacting with a traffic light. Additionally, performance on the fuel saving goal diminished for the group that had to manage fuel saving and time saving together. The theoretical implications for a goal hierarchy in driving tasks and practical implications for eco-driving are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying Adoption Rates and Energy Savings Over Time for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies

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

Hanes, Rebecca; Carpenter Petri, Alberta C; Riddle, Matt

Energy-efficient manufacturing technologies can reduce energy consumption and lower operating costs for an individual manufacturing facility, but increased process complexity and the resulting risk of disruption means that manufacturers may be reluctant to adopt such technologies. In order to quantify potential energy savings at scales larger than a single facility, it is necessary to account for how quickly and how widely the technology will be adopted by manufacturers. This work develops a methodology for estimating energy-efficient manufacturing technology adoption rates using quantitative, objectively measurable technology characteristics, including energetic, economic and technical criteria. Twelve technology characteristics are considered, and each characteristicmore » is assigned an importance weight that reflects its impact on the overall technology adoption rate. Technology characteristic data and importance weights are used to calculate the adoption score, a number between 0 and 1 that represents how quickly the technology is likely to be adopted. The adoption score is then used to estimate parameters for the Bass diffusion curve, which quantifies the change in the number of new technology adopters in a population over time. Finally, energy savings at the sector level are calculated over time by multiplying the number of new technology adopters at each time step with the technology's facility-level energy savings. The proposed methodology will be applied to five state-of-the-art energy-efficient technologies in the carbon fiber composites sector, with technology data obtained from the Department of Energy's 2016 bandwidth study. Because the importance weights used in estimating the Bass curve parameters are subjective, a sensitivity analysis will be performed on the weights to obtain a range of parameters for each technology. The potential energy savings for each technology and the rate at which each technology is adopted in the sector are quantified and used to identify the technologies which offer the greatest cumulative sector-level energy savings over a period of 20 years. Preliminary analysis indicates that relatively simple technologies, such as efficient furnaces, will be adopted more quickly and result in greater cumulative energy savings compared to more complex technologies that require process retrofitting, such as advanced control systems.« less

Health IT-assisted population-based preventive cancer screening: a cost analysis.

PubMed

Levy, Douglas E; Munshi, Vidit N; Ashburner, Jeffrey M; Zai, Adrian H; Grant, Richard W; Atlas, Steven J

2015-12-01

Novel health information technology (IT)-based strategies harnessing patient registry data seek to improve care at a population level. We analyzed costs from a randomized trial of 2 health IT strategies to improve cancer screening compared with usual care from the perspective of a primary care network. Monte Carlo simulations were used to compare costs across management strategies. We assessed the cost of the software, materials, and personnel for baseline usual care (BUC) compared with augmented usual care (AUC [ie, automated patient outreach]) and augmented usual care with physician input (AUCPI [ie, outreach mediated by physicians' knowledge of their patient panels]) over 1 year. AUC and AUCPI each reduced the time physicians spent on cancer screening by 6.5 minutes per half-day clinical session compared with BUC without changing cancer screening rates. Assuming the value of this time accrues to the network, total costs of cancer screening efforts over the study year were $3.83 million for AUC, $3.88 million for AUCPI, and $4.10 million for BUC. AUC was cost-saving relative to BUC in 87.1% of simulations. AUCPI was cost-saving relative to BUC in 82.5% of simulations. Ongoing per patient costs were lower for both AUC ($35.63) and AUCPI ($35.58) relative to BUC ($39.51). Over the course of the study year, the value of reduced physician time devoted to preventive cancer screening outweighed the costs of the interventions. Primary care networks considering similar interventions will need to capture adequate physician time savings to offset the costs of expanding IT infrastructure.

Impact of Extended Daylight Saving Time on National Energy Consumption Report to Congress

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

Belzer, D. B.; Hadley, S. W.; Chin, S-M.

2008-10-01

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. No. 109-58; EPAct 2005) amended the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (Pub. L. No. 89-387) to increase the portion of the year that is subject to Daylight Saving Time. (15 U.S.C. 260a note) EPAct 2005 extended the duration of Daylight Saving Time in the spring by changing its start date from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March, and in the fall by changing its end date from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November. (15 U.S.C. 260a note) EPAct 2005 also called formore » the Department of Energy to evaluate the impact of Extended Daylight Saving Time on energy consumption in the United States and to submit a report to Congress. (15 U.S.C. 260a note) This report presents the results of impacts of Extended Daylight Saving Time on the national energy consumption in the United States. The key findings are: (1) The total electricity savings of Extended Daylight Saving Time were about 1.3 Tera Watt-hour (TWh). This corresponds to 0.5 percent per each day of Extended Daylight Saving Time, or 0.03 percent of electricity consumption over the year. In reference, the total 2007 electricity consumption in the United States was 3,900 TWh. (2) In terms of national primary energy consumption, the electricity savings translate to a reduction of 17 Trillion Btu (TBtu) over the spring and fall Extended Daylight Saving Time periods, or roughly 0.02 percent of total U.S. energy consumption during 2007 of 101,000 TBtu. (3) During Extended Daylight Saving Time, electricity savings generally occurred over a three- to five-hour period in the evening with small increases in usage during the early-morning hours. On a daily percentage basis, electricity savings were slightly greater during the March (spring) extension of Extended Daylight Saving Time than the November (fall) extension. On a regional basis, some southern portions of the United States exhibited slightly smaller impacts of Extended Daylight Saving Time on energy savings compared to the northern regions, a result possibly due to a small, offsetting increase in household air conditioning usage. (4) Changes in national traffic volume and motor gasoline consumption for passenger vehicles in 2007 were determined to be statistically insignificant and therefore, could not be attributed to Extended Daylight Saving Time.« less

Creative Financing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esteves, Richard M.

1984-01-01

This article analyzes cooperative programs that reduce the risks of financing energy conservation equipment. Savings guarantees, cash flow leasing, shared savings, and cooperative savings programs are described and sources of further information noted. (MJL)

Is E-Learning Necessary for University Students? A Case from Iran

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Omidian, Faranak; Keyvanifard, Fatemeh

2012-01-01

Today many claim that e-learning can result in considerable time and cost-savings, such as traveling, work time and etc. This study was conducted to investigate these questions: should e-learning be used to reduce travel related stress? should e-learning be offered fully online to reach students living in remote areas? should e-learning be adopted…

A Spreadsheet Model That Estimates the Impact of Reduced Distribution Time on Inventory Investment Savings: What is a Day Taken Out of the Pipeline Worth in Inventory?

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

fall-2006/lecture-notes/lect11.pdf Chang, C.-T. (2005). A Linearization Approach for Inventory Models with Variable Lead Time. International Journal of Production Economics , 263...Demand and Lead Time are Stochastic. International Journal of Production Economics , 595-605. Hayya, J. C., Harrison, T. P., & He, X. (2011). The Impact

Impact of the Removal of the Monthly Liver Function Test Requirement for Ambrisentan

PubMed Central

Durst, Louise A.; Carlsen, John; Kuchinski, Megan; Harner, Lauren; Neves, Daniel; Harris, Stephanie J.; Traiger, Glenna L.

2012-01-01

Background The management of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) requires extensive coordination between patients, their support system, third-party payers, and healthcare professionals. For patients with PAH who are receiving endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs), such cross-stakeholder coordination was needed to ensure compliance with a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirement for monthly liver function tests (LFTs). In March 2011, the FDA removed this requirement for ambrisentan (Letairis) in conjunction with a change to the product label. Objective This study sought to explore the impact of the ambrisentan label change on payers, providers who treat PAH, and specialty pharmacies. Methods This study, conducted in June and July 2011, involved telephone interviews with 5 medical/pharmacy directors in commercial health plans (representing 78,345,000 covered lives collectively); written surveys and telephone interviews with 6 nurses managing patients with PAH; and written surveys and telephone interviews with 4 staff members from specialty pharmacies to determine direct and indirect cost-savings associated with the removal of the monthly LFT requirement for ambrisentan. Qualitative telephone interviews with payer decision makers informed the cost-savings for payers. Direct cost-savings were calculated from the responses of the nurses managing PAH regarding the prescribing trends of their practices and the frequency of LFTs. Indirect cost-savings were calculated using time-savings data collected from the PAH-managing nurses and the specialty pharmacy staff, as well as from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics data regarding national wage averages for the respective staff. Results: Payers reported that REMS requirements did not play a large role in their plan's coverage or management of ERAs; although direct cost-savings resulting from the label change were an estimated $28 per patient per month, this amount is relatively small compared with the overall cost of PAH treatment for payers. The impact of the ambrisentan label change was more significant for providers and specialty pharmacies. The label change resulted in a significant, average 69% reduction in the frequency of LFTs for patients using ambrisentan. The average monthly time-savings realized by providers as a result of the label change was 12 minutes per patient receiving ambrisentan, and the average monthly direct and indirect cost-savings totaled $10.75 and $29.75, respectively, per patient taking ambrisentan. Telephone interviews with specialty pharmacies indicated that the average monthly time-savings for the 4 specialty pharmacies surveyed was 14 minutes per patient using ambrisentan, representing an 86.7% decrease in the amount of time specialty pharmacies spent on LFT-related administrative tasks for patients using ambrisentan. Conclusion Findings from this study indicate that the ambrisentan label change significantly reduced the number of LFTs for patients with PAH, resulting in time-savings or cost-savings for payers, providers, and specialty pharmacies. PMID:24991314

Using Cool Roofs to Reduce Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Urban Heat-island Effects: Findings from an India Experiment

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

Akbari, Hashem; Xu, Tengfang; Taha, Haider

Cool roofs, cool pavements, and urban vegetation reduce energy use in buildings, lower local air pollutant concentrations, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from urban areas. This report summarizes the results of a detailed monitoring project in India and related simulations of meteorology and air quality in three developing countries. The field results quantified direct energy savings from installation of cool roofs on individual commercial buildings. The measured annual energy savings potential from roof-whitening of previously black roofs ranged from 20-22 kWh/m2 of roof area, corresponding to an air-conditioning energy use reduction of 14-26% in commercial buildings. The study estimated thatmore » typical annual savings of 13-14 kWh/m2 of roof area could be achieved by applying white coating to uncoated concrete roofs on commercial buildings in the Metropolitan Hyderabad region, corresponding to cooling energy savings of 10-19%. With the assumption of an annual increase of 100,000 square meters of new roof construction for the next 10 years in the Metropolitan Hyderabad region, the annual cooling energy savings due to whitening concrete roof would be 13-14 GWh of electricity in year ten alone, with cumulative 10-year cooling energy savings of 73-79 GWh for the region. The estimated savings for the entire country would be at least 10 times the savings in Hyderabad, i.e., more than 730-790 GWh. We estimated that annual direct CO2 reduction associated with reduced energy use would be 11-12 kg CO2/m2 of flat concrete roof area whitened, and the cumulative 10-year CO2 reduction would be approximately 0.60-0.65 million tons in India. With the price of electricity estimated at seven Rupees per kWh, the annual electricity savings on air-conditioning would be approximately 93-101 Rupees per m2 of roof. This would translate into annual national savings of approximately one billion Rupees in year ten, and cumulative 10-year savings of over five billion Rupees for cooling energy in India. Meteorological simulations in this study indicated that a reduction of 2C in air temperature in the Hyderabad area would be likely if a combination of increased surface albedo and vegetative cover are used as urban heat-island control strategies. In addition, air-temperature reductions on the order of 2.5-3.5C could be achieved if moderate and aggressive heat-island mitigation measures are adopted, respectively. A large-scale deployment of mitigation measures can bring additional indirect benefit to the urban area. For example, cooling outside air can improve the efficiency of cooling systems, reduce smog and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and indirectly reduce pollution from power plants - all improving environmental health quality. This study has demonstrated the effectiveness of cool-roof technology as one of the urban heat-island control strategies for the Indian industrial and scientific communities and has provided an estimate of the national energy savings potential of cool roofs in India. These outcomes can be used for developing cool-roof building standards and related policies in India. Additional field studies, built upon the successes and lessons learned from this project, may be helpful to further confirm the scale of potential energy savings from the application of cooler roofs in various regions of India. In the future, a more rigorous meteorological simulation using urbanized (meso-urban) meteorological models should be conducted, which may produce a more accurate estimate of the air-temperature reductions for the entire urban area.« less

Bats on a Budget: Torpor-Assisted Migration Saves Time and Energy

PubMed Central

McGuire, Liam P.; Jonasson, Kristin A.; Guglielmo, Christopher G.

2014-01-01

Bats and birds must balance time and energy budgets during migration. Migrating bats face similar physiological challenges to birds, but nocturnality creates special challenges for bats, such as a conflict between travelling and refueling, which many birds avoid by feeding in daylight and flying at night. As endothermic animals, bats and birds alike must expend substantial amounts of energy to maintain high body temperatures. For migratory birds refueling at stopovers, remaining euthermic during inactive periods reduces the net refuelling rate, thereby prolonging stopover duration and delaying subsequent movement. We hypothesized that bats could mitigate similar ambient-temperature dependent costs by using a torpor-assisted migration strategy. We studied silver-haired bats Lasionycteris noctivagans during autumn migration using a combination of respirometry and temperature-sensitive radiotelemetry to estimate energy costs incurred under ambient temperature conditions, and the energy that bats saved by using torpor during daytime roosting periods. All bats, regardless of sex, age, or body condition used torpor at stopover and saved up to 91% of the energy they would have expended to remain euthermic. Furthermore, bats modulated use of torpor depending on ambient temperature. By adjusting the time spent torpid, bats achieved a rate of energy expenditure independent of the ambient temperature encountered at stopover. By lowering body temperature during inactive periods, fuel stores are spared, reducing the need for refuelling. Optimal migration models consider trade-offs between time and energy. Heterothermy provides a physiological strategy that allows bats to conserve energy without paying a time penalty as they migrate. Although uncommon, some avian lineages are known to use heterothermy, and current theoretical models of migration may not be appropriate for these groups. We propose that thermoregulatory strategies should be an important consideration of future migration studies of both bats and birds. PMID:25551615

Sharing simulation-based training courses between institutions: opportunities and challenges.

PubMed

Laack, Torrey A; Lones, Ellen A; Schumacher, Donna R; Todd, Frances M; Cook, David A

2017-01-01

Sharing simulation-based training (SBT) courses between institutions could reduce time to develop new content but also presents challenges. We evaluate the process of sharing SBT courses across institutions in a mixed method study estimating the time required and identifying barriers and potential solutions. Two US academic medical institutions explored instructor experiences with the process of sharing four courses (two at each site) using personal interviews and a written survey and estimated the time needed to develop new content vs implement existing SBT courses. The project team spent approximately 618 h creating a collaboration infrastructure to support course sharing. Sharing two SBT courses was estimated to save 391 h compared with developing two new courses. In the qualitative analysis, participants noted the primary benefit of course sharing was time savings. Barriers included difficulty finding information and understanding overall course flow. Suggestions for improvement included establishing a standardized template, clearly identifying the target audience, providing a course overview, communicating with someone familiar with the original SBT course, employing an intuitive file-sharing platform, and considering local culture, context, and needs. Sharing SBT courses between institutions is feasible but not without challenges. An initial investment in a sharing infrastructure may facilitate downstream time savings compared with developing content de novo.

A high performance load balance strategy for real-time multicore systems.

PubMed

Cho, Keng-Mao; Tsai, Chun-Wei; Chiu, Yi-Shiuan; Yang, Chu-Sing

2014-01-01

Finding ways to distribute workloads to each processor core and efficiently reduce power consumption is of vital importance, especially for real-time systems. In this paper, a novel scheduling algorithm is proposed for real-time multicore systems to balance the computation loads and save power. The developed algorithm simultaneously considers multiple criteria, a novel factor, and task deadline, and is called power and deadline-aware multicore scheduling (PDAMS). Experiment results show that the proposed algorithm can greatly reduce energy consumption by up to 54.2% and the deadline times missed, as compared to the other scheduling algorithms outlined in this paper.

A High Performance Load Balance Strategy for Real-Time Multicore Systems

PubMed Central

Cho, Keng-Mao; Tsai, Chun-Wei; Chiu, Yi-Shiuan; Yang, Chu-Sing

2014-01-01

Finding ways to distribute workloads to each processor core and efficiently reduce power consumption is of vital importance, especially for real-time systems. In this paper, a novel scheduling algorithm is proposed for real-time multicore systems to balance the computation loads and save power. The developed algorithm simultaneously considers multiple criteria, a novel factor, and task deadline, and is called power and deadline-aware multicore scheduling (PDAMS). Experiment results show that the proposed algorithm can greatly reduce energy consumption by up to 54.2% and the deadline times missed, as compared to the other scheduling algorithms outlined in this paper. PMID:24955382

Sokaogon Chippewa Community Emission-Free and Treaty Resource Protection Clean Energy Initiative

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

Quade, Ron

Final Report for DOE project DE-IE0000036 The Sokaogon Chippewa Community received a tribal clean energy initiative grant and installed a community wide solar system estimated to produce 606 kw of carbon free clean energy on seventeen (17) tribal buildings and three (3) residential homes significantly reducing the tribes’ energy bills over the life of the system, potentially saving the tribe up to $2.7 million in energy savings over a thirty (30) year time span. Fifteen (15) solar installations utilized aluminum roof-top mounting systems while two (2) installations utilized a ground mount aluminum racking system.

32 CFR 552.34 - Policies relative to new acquisition.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... in an urban area, reduced travel time for employees or business representatives, nominal savings in... RESERVATIONS AND NATIONAL CEMETERIES REGULATIONS AFFECTING MILITARY RESERVATIONS Acquisition of Real Estate and... essential mission. No request to acquire real estate by transfer from Navy or Air Force or from another...

The Best of Both Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Jack; Feldman, Joe; French, Dan

2016-01-01

Relying on teachers' assessments for the information currently provided by standardized test scores would save instructional time, better capture the true abilities of diverse students, and reduce the problem of teaching to the test. A California high school is implementing standards-based reporting, ensuring that teacher-issued grades function as…

ESCOs: Helping Schools Save Money and Energy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

School Planning & Management, 2000

2000-01-01

Discusses the use of energy savings performance contracts to help reduce costs and improve school infrastructure and the educational environment. Further discussed are how indoor air quality reduces health, productivity, and costs; and examples are provided of how other schools have achieved better school environments and reduced energy costs. (GR)

Energy Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology (E-SMARRT): Development of Surface Engineered Coating Systems for Aluminum Pressure Die Casting Dies: Towards a 'Smart' Die Coating

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

Dr. John J. Moore; Dr. Jianliang Lin,

2012-07-31

The main objective of this research program was to design and develop an optimal coating system that extends die life by minimizing premature die failure. In high-pressure aluminum die-casting, the die, core pins and inserts must withstand severe processing conditions. Many of the dies and tools in the industry are being coated to improve wear-resistance and decrease down-time for maintenance. However, thermal fatigue in metal itself can still be a major problem, especially since it often leads to catastrophic failure (i.e. die breakage) as opposed to a wear-based failure (parts begin to go out of tolerance). Tooling costs remain themore » largest portion of production costs for many of these parts, so the ability prevent catastrophic failures would be transformative for the manufacturing industry.The technology offers energy savings through reduced energy use in the die casting process from several factors, including increased life of the tools and dies, reuse of the dies and die components, reduction/elimination of lubricants, and reduced machine down time, and reduction of Al solder sticking on the die. The use of the optimized die coating system will also reduce environmental wastes and scrap parts. Current (2012) annual energy saving estimates, based on initial dissemination to the casting industry in 2010 and market penetration of 80% by 2020, is 3.1 trillion BTU's/year. The average annual estimate of CO2 reduction per year through 2020 is 0.63 Million Metric Tons of Carbon Equivalent (MM TCE).« less

Physician Education on Controllable Costs Significantly Reduces Cost of Laparoscopic Hysterectomy.

PubMed

Croft, Katherine; Mattingly, Patricia J; Bosse, Patrick; Naumann, R Wendel

2017-01-01

To determine whether educating surgeons about their controllable instrumentation costs by providing cost data on total laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) would reduce the cost of this procedure. Prospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification III). Academic-affiliated community hospital. Patients who underwent LH between April 2014 and March 2015 with surgeons who performed at least 10 LHs during that time period, along with a second group who underwent LH with the same cohort of surgeons between July 2015 and September 2015. The cost of LH was calculated for all surgeons who performed more than 10 LHs between April 2014 and March 2015. Itemized cost data were collected. The individual costs, as well as a summary of the data, were shared with all of the physicians to highlight areas of potential cost savings. The costs were then measured for 3 months after the educational intervention (July-September 2015) to gauge the impact of physician cost education. Thirteen surgeons met the criteria for inclusion in this analysis. Together, they performed 271 hysterectomies, with an average instrumentation cost of $1539.47 ± $294.16 and an average operating room time of 178 ± 26 minutes. Bipolar instrument choice represented 37% of the baseline costs, followed by 10% for trocar, 9% for cuff closure, and 8% for uterine manipulator. This same group of surgeons performed a total of 69 hysterectomies in the 3-month follow-up period of July-September 2015, with an average instrumentation cost of $1282.62 ± $235.03 and an average operating room time of 163 ± 50 minutes. There was statistically significant cost reduction of $256.85 ± $190.69 (p = .022), with no significant change in operating room time. Bipolar instrument cost decreased significantly, by $130.02 ± $125.02 (p = .021), representing 51% of the total cost savings. Trocar, cuff closure, and uterine manipulator costs were not significant sources of cost savings on average, but did represent sources of cost savings for some surgeons individually. Given adequate education about the products available for use in their institution, surgeons make informed decisions regarding the choice of instrumentation, allowing them to directly impact the cost of total LH, resulting in cost savings. Copyright © 2016 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Potential unintended pregnancies averted and cost savings associated with a revised Medicaid sterilization policy.

PubMed

Borrero, Sonya; Zite, Nikki; Potter, Joseph E; Trussell, James; Smith, Kenneth

2013-12-01

Medicaid sterilization policy, which includes a mandatory 30-day waiting period between consent and the sterilization procedure, poses significant logistical barriers for many women who desire publicly funded sterilization. Our goal was to estimate the number of unintended pregnancies and the associated costs resulting from unfulfilled sterilization requests due to Medicaid policy barriers. We constructed a cost-effectiveness model from the health care payer perspective to determine the incremental cost over a 1-year time horizon of the current Medicaid sterilization policy compared to a hypothetical, revised policy in which women who desire a postpartum sterilization would face significantly reduced barriers. Probability estimates for potential outcomes in the model were based on published sources; costs of Medicaid-funded sterilizations and Medicaid-covered births were based on data from the Medicaid Statistical Information System and The Guttmacher Institute, respectively. With the implementation of a revised Medicaid sterilization policy, we estimated that the number of fulfilled sterilization requests would increase by 45%, from 53.3% of all women having their sterilization requests fulfilled to 77.5%. Annually, this increase could potentially lead to over 29,000 unintended pregnancies averted and $215 million saved. A revised Medicaid sterilization policy could potentially honor women's reproductive decisions, reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and save a significant amount of public funds. Compared to the current federal Medicaid sterilization policy, a hypothetical, revised policy that reduces logistical barriers for women who desire publicly funded, postpartum sterilization could potentially avert over 29,000 unintended pregnancies annually and therefore lead to cost savings of $215 million each year. © 2013.

Potential travel cost saving in urban public-transport networks using smartphone guidance.

PubMed

Song, Cuiying; Guan, Wei; Ma, Jihui

2018-01-01

Public transport (PT) is a key element in most major cities around the world. With the development of smartphones, available journey planning information is becoming an integral part of the PT system. Each traveler has specific preferences when undertaking a trip, and these preferences can also be reflected on the smartphone. This paper considers transit assignment in urban public-transport networks in which the passengers receive smartphone-based information containing elements that might influence the travel decisions in relation to line loads, as well as passenger benefits, and the paper discusses the transition from the current widespread choosing approach to a personalized decision-making approach based on smartphone information. The approach associated with smartphone guidance that considers passengers' preference on travel time, waiting time and transfer is proposed in the process of obtaining his/her preferred route from the potential travel routes generated by the Deep First Search (DFS) method. Two other approaches, based on the scenarios reflecting reality, include passengers with access to no real time information, and passengers that only have access to the arrival time at the platform are used as comparisons. For illustration, the same network proposed by Spiess and Florian is utilized on the experiments in an agent-based model. Two experiments are conducted respectively according to whether each passenger's choosing method is consistent. As expected, the results in the first experiment showed that the travel for consistent passengers with smartphone guidance was clearly shorter and that it can reduce travel time exceeding 15% and weighted cost exceeding 20%, and the average saved time approximated 3.88 minutes per passenger. The second experiment presented that travel cost, as well as cost savings, gradually decreased by employing smartphone guidance, and the maximum cost savings accounted for 14.2% of the total weighted cost.

[Handling modern imaging procedures in a high-tech operating room].

PubMed

Hüfner, T; Citak, M; Imrecke, J; Krettek, C; Stübig, T

2012-03-01

Operating rooms are the central unit in the hospital network in trauma centers. In this area, high costs but also high revenues are generated. Modern operating theater concepts as an integrated model have been offered by different companies since the early 2000s. Our hypothesis is that integrative concepts for operating rooms, in addition to improved operating room ergonomics, have the potential for measurable time and cost savings. In our clinic, an integrated operating room concept (I-Suite, Stryker, Duisburg) was implemented after analysis of the problems. In addition to the ceiling-mounted arrangement, the system includes an endoscopy unit, a navigation system, and a voice control system. In the first 6 months (9/2005 to 2/2006), 112 procedures were performed in the integrated operating room: 34 total knee arthroplasties, 12 endoscopic spine surgeries, and 66 inpatient arthroscopic procedures (28 shoulder and 38 knee reconstructions). The analysis showed a daily saving of 22-45 min, corresponding to 15-30% of the daily changeover times, calculated to account for potential savings in the internal cost allocation of 225-450 EUR. A commercial operating room concept was evaluated in a pilot phase in terms of hard data, including time and cost factors. Besides the described effects further savings might be achieved through the effective use of voice control and the benefit of the sterile handle on the navigation camera, since waiting times for an additional nurse are minimized. The time of the procedure of intraoperative imaging is also reduced due to the ceiling-mounted concept, as the C-arm can be moved freely in the operating theater without hindering cables. By these measures and ensuing improved efficiency, the initial high costs for the implementation of the system may be cushioned over time.

The Displacement Effect of Public Pensions on the Accumulation of Financial Assets

PubMed Central

HURD, MICHAEL; MICHAUD, PIERRE-CARL; ROHWEDDER, SUSANN

2013-01-01

The generosity of public pensions may depress private savings and provide incentives to retire early. While there is plenty of evidence supporting the latter effect, there remains considerable controversy whether public pensions crowd out private savings. This paper uses international micro-datasets collected over recent years to investigate whether public pensions displace private savings. The identification strategy relies not only on cross-country differences in generosity but also on differences in the progressivity or non-linearity of pension formulas across countries. We estimate that an extra dollar of pension wealth depresses accumulated financial assets around the time of retirement by 22 cents. An extra ten thousand dollars in public pension wealth reduces the average retirement age by roughly one month which implies an elasticity of retirement years with respect to pension wealth of −0.15. PMID:23606775

Energy Saving in DC Electric Railways by Battery Substation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugimoto, Takeshi

New rolling vehicles used in dc electric railways are of the regenerative type. At less busy time a part of regenerative power is not used for powering vehicles, and canceled by changed air brake. Recently, significant attention has been paid to the development of secondary batteries for hybrid and electric motorcars. The use of this battery enables reduction in electric power consumption. Because we can charge excess regenerative power and use for powering vehicles after. Before the fact we compared the actual and simulated effective coefficient of regenerative energy, we confirmed the suitability of the simulation model. In this simulation, we studied the energy-saving effect of the battery substations and determined the battery capacity at which maximum power saving is achieved. We found that the power consumption could be reduced remarkably by using a 15-20kWh battery substation.

Celebrating Success: EPA Region 3 Greener Cleanup and Sustainable Reuse Award Winner: Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Facility Superfund Site

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Greener Cleanup practices were implemented as part of a successful Time-Critical Removal Action (TCRA) completed at the APG Former NIKE Missile Site which has resulted in a reduced environmental footprint, accelerated site closure, and a cost savings.

Providing Increased Transit Capacity During Peak Periods : Examination of Two Techniques

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-02-01

It is shown that reduction of bus route lengths increases the number of round trips per bus possible in a given time period. For bus routes accessed mainly by auto, it is shown that significant savings in energy due to reduced auto miles travelled ar...

Feasibility of incorporating crash risk in developing congestion mitigation measures for interstate highways : a case study of the Hampton Roads area.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-01-01

A relationship between traffic flow variables and crash characteristics can greatly help the traffic engineer in the field to arrive at appropriate congestion mitigation measures that not only alleviate congestion and save time but also reduce the pr...

Radio-Frequency Identification: Asset Control at Your Fingertips

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scholes, Marcus

2009-01-01

Times are tough for everyone, including public school districts. During the past decade, school districts have faced the dual challenges of tightening budgets and increasing fiscal responsibility and oversight. Many school districts have found a way to manage their assets, reduce staff requirements, increase accountability, and save money on…

Environmental Data Flow Six Sigma Process Improvement Savings Overview

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

Paige, Karen S

An overview of the Environmental Data Flow Six Sigma improvement project covers LANL’s environmental data processing following receipt from the analytical laboratories. The Six Sigma project identified thirty-three process improvements, many of which focused on cutting costs or reducing the time it took to deliver data to clients.

Give It a Shot! Toolkit for Nurses and Other Immunization Champions Working with Secondary Schools. 2nd Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyer-Chu, Lynda; Wooley, Susan F.

2008-01-01

Adolescent immunization saves lives--but promoting immunization takes time and thought, and today's nurses and other health advocates are faced with a host of ever-expanding responsibilities in a time of reduced budgets and staff. This toolkit is thus structured as an easy and reliable resource. This 2nd edition contains: (1) a 64-page manual;…

Intelligent traffic lights based on MATLAB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Ying

2018-04-01

In this paper, I describes the traffic lights system and it has some. Through analysis, I used MATLAB technology, transformed the camera photographs into digital signals. Than divided the road vehicle is into three methods: very congestion, congestion, a little congestion. Through the MCU programming, solved the different roads have different delay time, and Used this method, saving time and resources, so as to reduce road congestion.

Automating the business office.

PubMed

Wright, M A

1996-10-01

To measure the success of automating the business office with electronic billing and document management systems, the hospital's original goals were reviewed: Had the number of FTEs been maintained or reduced: Yes--claims volume is up 58% over 6 years with a 22% reduction in FTEs (see Exhibit 3). Was the cost of maintaining the paper filing system reduced? Yes--and the cost saving from the hospital's document imaging system will allow a 4.4 year payback. Is better customer service being provided? Yes--online access to patient demographic and financial information has improved response time. Having met all its goals, North Kansas City Hospital considers the installation of both systems to have been complete success. The facility expects to continue expansion of the document management system into accounts payable, payroll, home health, and other document-intensive areas to achieve further cost savings in the future.

Nonprice incentives and energy conservation

PubMed Central

Asensio, Omar I.; Delmas, Magali A.

2015-01-01

In the electricity sector, energy conservation through technological and behavioral change is estimated to have a savings potential of 123 million metric tons of carbon per year, which represents 20% of US household direct emissions in the United States. In this article, we investigate the effectiveness of nonprice information strategies to motivate conservation behavior. We introduce environment and health-based messaging as a behavioral strategy to reduce energy use in the home and promote energy conservation. In a randomized controlled trial with real-time appliance-level energy metering, we find that environment and health-based information strategies, which communicate the environmental and public health externalities of electricity production, such as pounds of pollutants, childhood asthma, and cancer, outperform monetary savings information to drive behavioral change in the home. Environment and health-based information treatments motivated 8% energy savings versus control and were particularly effective on families with children, who achieved up to 19% energy savings. Our results are based on a panel of 3.4 million hourly appliance-level kilowatt–hour observations for 118 residences over 8 mo. We discuss the relative impacts of both cost-savings information and environmental health messaging strategies with residential consumers. PMID:25583494

Nonprice incentives and energy conservation.

PubMed

Asensio, Omar I; Delmas, Magali A

2015-02-10

In the electricity sector, energy conservation through technological and behavioral change is estimated to have a savings potential of 123 million metric tons of carbon per year, which represents 20% of US household direct emissions in the United States. In this article, we investigate the effectiveness of nonprice information strategies to motivate conservation behavior. We introduce environment and health-based messaging as a behavioral strategy to reduce energy use in the home and promote energy conservation. In a randomized controlled trial with real-time appliance-level energy metering, we find that environment and health-based information strategies, which communicate the environmental and public health externalities of electricity production, such as pounds of pollutants, childhood asthma, and cancer, outperform monetary savings information to drive behavioral change in the home. Environment and health-based information treatments motivated 8% energy savings versus control and were particularly effective on families with children, who achieved up to 19% energy savings. Our results are based on a panel of 3.4 million hourly appliance-level kilowatt-hour observations for 118 residences over 8 mo. We discuss the relative impacts of both cost-savings information and environmental health messaging strategies with residential consumers.

Economic Analysis of the Reduction of Blood Transfusions during Surgical Procedures While Continuous Hemoglobin Monitoring Is Used

PubMed Central

Ribed-Sánchez, Borja; Varea-Díaz, Sara; Corbacho-Fabregat, Carlos; Pérez-Oteyza, Jaime; Belda-Iniesta, Cristóbal

2018-01-01

Background: Two million transfusions are performed in Spain every year. These come at a high economic price for the health system, increasing the morbidity and mortality rates. The way of obtaining the hemoglobin concentration value is via invasive and intermittent methods, the results of which take time to obtain. The drawbacks of this method mean that some transfusions are unnecessary. New continuous noninvasive hemoglobin measurement technology can save unnecessary transfusions. Methods: A prospective study was carried out with a historical control of two homogeneous groups. The control group used the traditional hemoglobin measurement methodology. The experimental group used the new continuous hemoglobin measurement technology. The difference was analyzed by comparing the transfused units of the groups. The economic savings was calculated by multiplying the cost of a transfusion by the difference in units, taking into account measurement costs. Results: The percentage of patients needing a transfusion decreased by 7.4%, and the number of transfused units per patient by 12.56%. Economic savings per patient were €20.59. At the national level, savings were estimated to be 13,500 transfusions (€1.736 million). Conclusions: Constant monitoring of the hemoglobin level significantly reduces the need for blood transfusions. By using this new measurement technology, health care facilities can significantly reduce costs and improve care quality. PMID:29702617

Rice Performance and Water Use Efficiency under Plastic Mulching with Drip Irrigation

PubMed Central

He, Haibing; Ma, Fuyu; Yang, Ru; Chen, Lin; Jia, Biao; Cui, Jing; Fan, Hua; Wang, Xin; Li, Li

2013-01-01

Plastic mulching with drip irrigation is a new water-saving rice cultivation technology, but little is known on its productivity and water-saving capacity. This study aimed to assess the production potential, performance, and water use efficiency (WUE) of rice under plastic mulching with drip irrigation. Field experiments were conducted over 2 years with two rice cultivars under different cultivation systems: conventional flooding (CF), non-flooded irrigation incorporating plastic mulching with furrow irrigation (FIM), non-mulching with furrow irrigation (FIN), and plastic mulching with drip irrigation (DI). Compared with the CF treatment, grain yields were reduced by 31.76–52.19% under the DI treatment, by 57.16–61.02% under the FIM treatment, by 74.40–75.73% under the FIN treatment, which were mainly from source limitation, especially a low dry matter accumulation during post-anthesis, in non-flooded irrigation. WUE was the highest in the DI treatment, being 1.52–2.12 times higher than with the CF treatment, 1.35–1.89 times higher than with the FIM treatment, and 2.37–3.78 times higher than with the FIN treatment. The yield contribution from tillers (YCFTs) was 50.65–62.47% for the CF treatment and 12.07–20.62% for the non-flooded irrigation treatments. These low YCFTs values were attributed to the poor performance in tiller panicles rather than the total tiller number. Under non-flooded irrigation, root length was significantly reduced with more roots distributed in deep soil layers compared with the CF treatment; the DI treatment had more roots in the topsoil layer than the FIM and FIN treatments. The experiment demonstrates that the DI treatment has greater water saving capacity and lower yield and economic benefit gaps than the FIM and FIN treatments compared with the CF treatment, and would therefore be a better water-saving technology in areas of water scarcity. PMID:24340087

24 CFR 242.43 - Application of cost savings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Application of cost savings. 242.43... MORTGAGE INSURANCE FOR HOSPITALS Endorsement for Insurance § 242.43 Application of cost savings. At the sole discretion of HUD, any cost savings shall be used to: (a) Reduce the principal amount of the...

Pipelining Architecture of Indexing Using Agglomerative Clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goyal, Deepika; Goyal, Deepti; Gupta, Parul

2010-11-01

The World Wide Web is an interlinked collection of billions of documents. Ironically the huge size of this collection has become an obstacle for information retrieval. To access the information from Internet, search engine is used. Search engine retrieve the pages from indexer. This paper introduce a novel pipelining technique for structuring the core index-building system that substantially reduces the index construction time and also clustering algorithm that aims at partitioning the set of documents into ordered clusters so that the documents within the same cluster are similar and are being assigned the closer document identifiers. After assigning to the clusters it creates the hierarchy of index so that searching is efficient. It will make the super cluster then mega cluster by itself. The pipeline architecture will create the index in such a way that it will be efficient in space and time saving manner. It will direct the search from higher level to lower level of index or higher level of clusters to lower level of cluster so that the user gets the possible match result in time saving manner. As one cluster is making by taking only two clusters so it search is limited to two clusters for lower level of index and so on. So it is efficient in time saving manner.

Reducing Operating Costs and Energy Consumption at Water Utilities

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Due to their unique combination of high energy usage and potential for significant savings, utilities are turning to energy-efficient technologies to help save money. Learn about cost and energy saving technologies from this brochure.

Economic Feasibility of Staffing the Intensive Care Unit with a Communication Facilitator.

PubMed

Khandelwal, Nita; Benkeser, David; Coe, Norma B; Engelberg, Ruth A; Curtis, J Randall

2016-12-01

In the intensive care unit (ICU), complex decision making by clinicians and families requires good communication to ensure that care is consistent with the patients' values and goals. To assess the economic feasibility of staffing ICUs with a communication facilitator. Data were from a randomized trial of an "ICU communication facilitator" linked to hospital financial records; eligible patients (n = 135) were admitted to the ICU at a single hospital with predicted mortality ≥30% and a surrogate decision maker. Adjusted regression analyses assessed differences in ICU total and direct variable costs between intervention and control patients. A bootstrap-based simulation assessed the cost efficiency of a facilitator while varying the full-time equivalent of the facilitator and the ICU mortality risk. Total ICU costs (mean 22.8k; 95% CI, -42.0k to -3.6k; P = 0.02) and average daily ICU costs (mean, -0.38k; 95% CI, -0.65k to -0.11k; P = 0.006)] were reduced significantly with the intervention. Despite more contacts, families of survivors spent less time per encounter with facilitators than did families of decedents (mean, 25 [SD, 11] min vs. 36 [SD, 14] min). Simulation demonstrated maximal weekly savings with a 1.0 full-time equivalent facilitator and a predicted ICU mortality of 15% (total weekly ICU cost savings, $58.4k [95% CI, $57.7k-59.2k]; weekly direct variable savings, $5.7k [95% CI, $5.5k-5.8k]) after incorporating facilitator costs. Adding a full-time trained communication facilitator in the ICU may improve the quality of care while simultaneously reducing short-term (direct variable) and long-term (total) health care costs. This intervention is likely to be more cost effective in a lower-mortality population.

Decision-tree model for health economic comparison of two long-acting somatostatin receptor ligand devices in France, Germany, and the UK.

PubMed

Marty, Rémi; Roze, Stéphane; Kurth, Hannah

2012-01-01

Long-acting somatostatin receptor ligands (SRL) with product-specific formulation and means of administration are injected periodically in patients with acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors. A simple decision-tree model aimed at comparing cost savings with ready-to-use Somatuline Autogel(®) (lanreotide) and Sandostatin LAR(®) (octreotide) for the UK, France, and Germany. The drivers of cost savings studied were the reduction of time to administer as well as a reduced baseline risk of clogging during product administration reported for Somatuline Autogel(®). The decision-tree model assumed two settings for SRL administration, ie, by either hospital-based or community-based nurses. In the case of clogging, the first dose was assumed to be lost and a second injection performed. Successful injection depended on the probability of clogging. Direct medical costs were included. A set of scenarios were run, varying the cost drivers, such as the baseline risk of clogging, SRL administration time, and percentage of patients injected during a hospital stay. Costs per successful injection were less for Somatuline Autogel(®)/Depot, ranging from Euros (EUR) 13-45, EUR 52-108, and EUR 127-151, respectively, for France, Germany, and the UK. The prices for both long-acting SRL were the same in France, and cost savings came to 100% from differences other than drug prices. For Germany and the UK, the proportion of savings due to less clogging and shorter administration time was estimated to be around 32% and 20%, respectively. Based on low and high country-specific patient cohort size estimations of individuals eligible for SRL treatment among the patient population with acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors, annual savings were estimated to be up to EUR 2,000,000 for France, EUR 6,000,000 for Germany, and EUR 7,000,000 for the UK. This model suggests that increasing usage of the Somatuline device for injection of SRL might lead to substantial savings for health care providers across Europe.

Clustering-based energy-saving algorithm in ultra-dense network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Junwei; Zhou, Pengguang; Teng, Deyang; Zhang, Renchi; Xu, Hao

2017-06-01

In Ultra-dense Networks (UDN), dense deployment of low power small base stations will cause serious small cells interference and a large amount of energy consumption. The purpose of this paper is to explore the method of reducing small cells interference and energy saving system in UDN, and we innovatively propose a sleep-waking-active (SWA) scheme. The scheme decreases the user outage causing by failure to detect users’ service requests, shortens the opening time of active base stations directly switching to sleep mode; we further proposes a Vertex Surrounding Clustering(VSC) algorithm, which first colours the small cells with the most strongest interference and next extends to the adjacent small cells. VSC algorithm can use the least colour to stain the small cell, reduce the number of iterations and promote the efficiency of colouring. The simulation results show that SWA scheme can effectively improve the system Energy Efficiency (EE), the VSC algorithm can reduce the small cells interference and optimize the users’ Spectrum Efficiency (SE) and throughput.

Innovation in Building Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Thomas & Betts Corporation's Flat Conductor Cables, or FCC, were developed of necessity as aircraft and spacecraft became increasingly complex. In order to reduce size and weight of components, the use of thin flat wire instead of relatively thick and protrusive round cable, provided a dramatic reduction of the space occupied by the many miles of power distribution lines in an aerospace vehicle. Commercially, FCC offers cost savings in simplified building construction, reduced installation time and ease of alteration.

Lead-time reduction utilizing lean tools applied to healthcare: the inpatient pharmacy at a local hospital.

PubMed

Al-Araidah, Omar; Momani, Amer; Khasawneh, Mohammad; Momani, Mohammed

2010-01-01

The healthcare arena, much like the manufacturing industry, benefits from many aspects of the Toyota lean principles. Lean thinking contributes to reducing or eliminating nonvalue-added time, money, and energy in healthcare. In this paper, we apply selected principles of lean management aiming at reducing the wasted time associated with drug dispensing at an inpatient pharmacy at a local hospital. Thorough investigation of the drug dispensing process revealed unnecessary complexities that contribute to delays in delivering medications to patients. We utilize DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) and 5S (Sort, Set-in-order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain) principles to identify and reduce wastes that contribute to increasing the lead-time in healthcare operations at the pharmacy understudy. The results obtained from the study revealed potential savings of > 45% in the drug dispensing cycle time.

Does the transition into daylight saving time really cause partial sleep deprivation?

PubMed

Toth Quintilham, Manoel Carlos; Adamowicz, Taísa; Pereira, Erico Felden; Pedrazzoli, Mario; Louzada, Fernando Mazzilli

2014-01-01

To identify possible changes in the sleep patterns according to chronotype in undergraduate students during the daylight saving time (DST) transition. A total of 378 students answered the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) to determine their chronotype and kept a diary about sleep-wake schedules 1 week before and after the DST transition. Oral mucosal cell samples were collected for genetic analysis. After the DST transition, intermediate types (I-types) delayed bedtime and increased their time in bed and all groups delayed their wake-up time. All groups presented a shorter phase angle between sunset and the bedtime after the DST transition. On the other hand, only E-types showed a tendency to reduce the phase angle between sunrise and wake-up time, while I-types and M-types kept the same phase angles between sunrise and wake-up time after the DST transition. The polymorphisms in the human genes CLOCK and PER3 were not associated with individual differences in sleep patterns, nor were they associated with an adjustment to the DST transition. Under the new set of social times determined by DST, the adjustment was only partial. I-types delayed bedtime and all groups delayed their wake-up times after the beginning of DST. Consequently, the time in bed after the DST transition was not reduced; Morning (M-types) and Evening-types (E-types) kept the same time in bed and I-types showed an increase on it.

Reducing EnergyPlus Run Time For Code Compliance Tools

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

Athalye, Rahul A.; Gowri, Krishnan; Schultz, Robert W.

2014-09-12

Integration of the EnergyPlus ™ simulation engine into performance-based code compliance software raises a concern about simulation run time, which impacts timely feedback of compliance results to the user. EnergyPlus annual simulations for proposed and code baseline building models, and mechanical equipment sizing result in simulation run times beyond acceptable limits. This paper presents a study that compares the results of a shortened simulation time period using 4 weeks of hourly weather data (one per quarter), to an annual simulation using full 52 weeks of hourly weather data. Three representative building types based on DOE Prototype Building Models and threemore » climate zones were used for determining the validity of using a shortened simulation run period. Further sensitivity analysis and run time comparisons were made to evaluate the robustness and run time savings of using this approach. The results of this analysis show that the shortened simulation run period provides compliance index calculations within 1% of those predicted using annual simulation results, and typically saves about 75% of simulation run time.« less

Minimum savings requirements in shared savings provider payment.

PubMed

Pope, Gregory C; Kautter, John

2012-11-01

Payer (insurer) sharing of savings is a way of motivating providers of medical services to reduce cost growth. A Medicare shared savings program is established for accountable care organizations in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, savings created by providers cannot be distinguished from the normal (random) variation in medical claims costs, setting up a classic principal-agent problem. To lessen the likelihood of paying undeserved bonuses, payers may pay bonuses only if observed savings exceed minimum levels. We study the trade-off between two types of errors in setting minimum savings requirements: paying bonuses when providers do not create savings and not paying bonuses when providers create savings. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Do kidney transplantations save money? A study using a before-after design and multiple register-based data from Sweden.

PubMed

Jarl, Johan; Desatnik, Peter; Peetz Hansson, Ulrika; Prütz, Karl Göran; Gerdtham, Ulf-G

2018-04-01

The health care costs of kidney transplantation and dialysis are generally unknown. This study estimates the Swedish health care costs of kidney transplantation and dialysis over 10 years from a health care perspective. A before-after design was used, in which the patients served as their own controls. Health care costs the year before transplantation were assumed to continue in the absence of a transplant and the cost savings was therefore calculated as the difference between the expected costs and the actual costs during the 10-year follow-up period. Factors associated with the size of the cost savings were studied using ordinary least-squares regression. Altogether 66-79% of the expected health care costs over 10 years were avoided through kidney transplantation, resulting in a cost savings of €380 000 (2012 price-year) per patient. Savings were the highest for successful transplantations, but on average the treatment was cost-saving also for patients who returned to dialysis. No gender or age differences could be found, with the exception of a higher cost of transplantation for children and a generally higher cost for younger compared with older patients on dialysis. A negative association was also found between age at the time of transplantation and the size of the cost savings for the younger part of the sample. Kidney transplantations have led to substantial cost savings for the Swedish health care system. An increase in donated kidneys has the potential to further reduce the cost of renal replacement therapy.

Applications of data compression techniques in modal analysis for on-orbit system identification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlin, Robert A.; Saggio, Frank; Garcia, Ephrahim

1992-01-01

Data compression techniques have been investigated for use with modal analysis applications. A redundancy-reduction algorithm was used to compress frequency response functions (FRFs) in order to reduce the amount of disk space necessary to store the data and/or save time in processing it. Tests were performed for both single- and multiple-degree-of-freedom (SDOF and MDOF, respectively) systems, with varying amounts of noise. Analysis was done on both the compressed and uncompressed FRFs using an SDOF Nyquist curve fit as well as the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm. Significant savings were realized with minimal errors incurred by the compression process.

Off-line data reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutowski, Marek W.

1992-12-01

Presented is a novel, heuristic algorithm, based on fuzzy set theory, allowing for significant off-line data reduction. Given the equidistant data, the algorithm discards some points while retaining others with their original values. The fraction of original data points retained is typically {1}/{6} of the initial value. The reduced data set preserves all the essential features of the input curve. It is possible to reconstruct the original information to high degree of precision by means of natural cubic splines, rational cubic splines or even linear interpolation. Main fields of application should be non-linear data fitting (substantial savings in CPU time) and graphics (storage space savings).

Can disease management reduce health care costs by improving quality?

PubMed

Fireman, Bruce; Bartlett, Joan; Selby, Joe

2004-01-01

Disease management (DM) promises to achieve cost savings by improving the quality of care for chronic diseases. During the past decade the Permanente Medical Group in Northern California has implemented extensive DM programs. Examining quality indicators, utilization, and costs for 1996-2002 for adults with four conditions, we find evidence of substantial quality improvement but not cost savings. The causal pathway--from improved care to reduced morbidity to cost savings--has not produced sufficient savings to offset the rising costs of improved care. We conclude that the rationale for DM programs, like the rationale for any medical treatments, should rest on their effectiveness and value.

Preoperative computed tomography angiography for planning DIEP flap breast reconstruction reduces operative time and overall complications

PubMed Central

Rozen, Warren Matthew; Chowdhry, Muhammad; Band, Bassam; Ramakrishnan, Venkat V.; Griffiths, Matthew

2016-01-01

Background The approach and operative techniques associated with breast reconstruction have steadily been refined since its inception, with abdominal perforator-based flaps becoming the gold standard reconstructive option for women undergoing breast cancer surgery. The current study comprises a cohort of 632 patients, in whom specific operative times are recorded by a blinded observer, and aims to address the potential benefits seen with the use of computer tomography (CT) scanning preoperatively on operative outcomes, complications and surgical times. Methods A prospectively recorded, retrospective review was undertaken of patients undergoing autologous breast reconstruction with a DIEP flap at the St Andrews Centre over a 4-year period from 2010 to 2014. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) scanning of patients began in September 2012 and thus 2 time periods were compared: 2 years prior to the use of CTA scans and 2 years afterwards. For all patients, key variables were collected including patient demographics, operative times, flap harvest time, pedicle length, surgeon experience and complications. Results In group 1, comprising patients within the period prior to CTA scans, 265 patients underwent 312 flaps; whilst in group 2, the immediately following 2 years, 275 patients had 320 flaps. The use of preoperative CTA scans demonstrated a significant reduction in flap harvest time of 13 minutes (P<0.013). This significant time saving was seen in all flap modifications: unilateral, bilateral and bipedicled DIEP flaps. The greatest time saving was seen in bipedicle flaps, with a 35-minute time saving. The return to theatre rate significantly dropped from 11.2% to 6.9% following the use of CTA scans, but there was no difference in the total failure rate. Conclusions The study has demonstrated both a benefit to flap harvest time as well as overall operative times when using preoperative CTA. The use of CTA was associated with a significant reduction in complications requiring a return to theatre in the immediate postoperative period. Modern scanners and techniques can reduce the level of ionising radiation, facilitating patients being able to benefit from the advantages that this preoperative planning can convey. PMID:27047777

Congress and the Marine Corps: An Enduring Partnership

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-22

them have free time from the time they go to bed. Things like that. They just impose all kinds of restrictions. . . . So we were in a sense, fighting...eye toward saving money and reducing abuse. Ac- cording to Wilson, “The Congress was fully prepared to take over Marine Corps training, which I...tion, and recruits were given 1 hour of free time each evening. For quality-control purposes, Headquarters assigned 84 additional officers, 42 at each

Deceleration-stats save much time during phototrophic culture optimization.

PubMed

Hoekema, Sebastiaan; Rinzema, Arjen; Tramper, Johannes; Wijffels, René H; Janssen, Marcel

2014-04-01

In case of phototrophic cultures, photobioreactor costs contribute significantly to the total operating costs. Therefore one of the most important parameters to be determined is the maximum biomass production rate, if biomass or a biomass associated product is the desired product. This is traditionally determined in time consuming series of chemostat cultivations. The goal of this work is to assess the experimental time that can be saved by applying the deceleration stat (D-stat) technique to assess the maximum biomass production rate of a phototrophic cultivation system, instead of a series of chemostat cultures. A mathematical model developed by Geider and co-workers was adapted in order to describe the rate of photosynthesis as a function of the local light intensity. This is essential for the accurate description of biomass productivity in phototrophic cultures. The presented simulations demonstrate that D-stat experiments executed in the absence of pseudo steady-state (i.e., the arbitrary situation that the observed specific growth rate deviates <5% from the dilution rate) can still be used to accurately determine the maximum biomass productivity of the system. Moreover, this approach saves up to 94% of the time required to perform a series of chemostat experiments that has the same accuracy. In case more information on the properties of the system is required, the reduction in experimental time is reduced but still significant. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Mixed Integer Linear Program for Solving a Multiple Route Taxi Scheduling Problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montoya, Justin Vincent; Wood, Zachary Paul; Rathinam, Sivakumar; Malik, Waqar Ahmad

2010-01-01

Aircraft movements on taxiways at busy airports often create bottlenecks. This paper introduces a mixed integer linear program to solve a Multiple Route Aircraft Taxi Scheduling Problem. The outputs of the model are in the form of optimal taxi schedules, which include routing decisions for taxiing aircraft. The model extends an existing single route formulation to include routing decisions. An efficient comparison framework compares the multi-route formulation and the single route formulation. The multi-route model is exercised for east side airport surface traffic at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to determine if any arrival taxi time savings can be achieved by allowing arrivals to have two taxi routes: a route that crosses an active departure runway and a perimeter route that avoids the crossing. Results indicate that the multi-route formulation yields reduced arrival taxi times over the single route formulation only when a perimeter taxiway is used. In conditions where the departure aircraft are given an optimal and fixed takeoff sequence, accumulative arrival taxi time savings in the multi-route formulation can be as high as 3.6 hours more than the single route formulation. If the departure sequence is not optimal, the multi-route formulation results in less taxi time savings made over the single route formulation, but the average arrival taxi time is significantly decreased.

Facilitating energy savings with programmable thermostats: evaluation and guidelines for the thermostat user interface.

PubMed

Peffer, Therese; Perry, Daniel; Pritoni, Marco; Aragon, Cecilia; Meier, Alan

2013-01-01

Thermostats control heating and cooling in homes - representing a major part of domestic energy use - yet, poor ergonomics of these devices has thwarted efforts to reduce energy consumption. Theoretically, programmable thermostats can reduce energy by 5-15%, but in practice little to no savings compared to manual thermostats are found. Several studies have found that programmable thermostats are not installed properly, are generally misunderstood and have poor usability. After conducting a usability study of programmable thermostats, we reviewed several guidelines from ergonomics, general device usability, computer-human interfaces and building control sources. We analysed the characteristics of thermostats that enabled or hindered successfully completing tasks and in a timely manner. Subjects had higher success rates with thermostat displays with positive examples of guidelines, such as visibility of possible actions, consistency and standards, and feedback. We suggested other guidelines that seemed missing, such as navigation cues, clear hierarchy and simple decision paths. Our evaluation of a usability test of five residential programmable thermostats led to the development of a comprehensive set of specific guidelines for thermostat design including visibility of possible actions, consistency, standards, simple decision paths and clear hierarchy. Improving the usability of thermostats may facilitate energy savings.

Steels with controlled hardenability for induction hardening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shepelyakovskii, K. Z.

1980-07-01

Steels of the CH and LH type developed in the Soviet Union permit the use of a new method of induction hardening — bulk-surface hardening — and efficient utilization of the high-strength conditions (σb = 230-250 kgf/mm2). These steels make it possible to improve the structural strength, operating characteristics, service life, and reliability of critical heavily loaded machine parts. At the same time, CH steels make it possible to reduce by a factor of 2-3 the quantity of alloying elements, reduce the electrical energy for heat treatment, and completely exclude the cost of quenching oil for heat treatment in automatic equipment with high labor productivity, while retaining good working conditions. All this leads to substantial savings in production and operation. For example, when transmission gears (cylindrical and conical) are manufactured from LH steels the annual savings amount to more than 700,000 rubles at two automobile plants. Machine parts of CH steels — half axles and bearings in railway cars —have saved respectively six and four million rubles annually. The introduction of controlled-hardenability steels for induction hardening is a necessary condition for technological progress in machine construction and metallurgy.

Increasing Efficiency at the NTF by Optimizing Model AoA Positioning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crawford, Bradley L.; Spells, Courtney

2006-01-01

The National Transonic Facility (NTF) at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is a national resource for aeronautical research and development. The government, military and private industries rely on the capability of this facility for realistic flight data. Reducing the operation costs and keeping the NTF affordable is essential for aeronautics research. The NTF is undertaking an effort to reduce the time between data points during a pitch polar. This reduction is being driven by the operating costs of a cryogenic facility. If the time per data point can be reduced, a substantial cost savings can be realized from a reduction in liquid nitrogen (LN2) consumption. It is known that angle-of-attack (AoA) positioning is the longest lead-time item between points. In January 2005 a test was conducted at the NTF to determine the cause of the long lead-time so that an effort could be made to improve efficiency. The AoA signal at the NTF originates from onboard instrumentation then travels through a number of different systems including the signal conditioner, digital voltmeter, and the data system where the AoA angle is calculated. It is then fed into a closed loop control system that sets the model position. Each process along this path adds to the time per data point affecting the efficiency of the data taking process. Due to the nature of the closed loop feed back AoA control and the signal path, it takes approximately 18 seconds to take one pitch pause point with a typical AoA increment. Options are being investigated to reduce the time delay between points by modifying the signal path. These options include: reduced signal filtering, using analog channels instead of a digital volt meter (DVM), re-routing the signal directly to the AoA control computer and implementing new control algorithms. Each of these has potential to reduce the positioning time and together the savings could be significant. These timesaving efforts are essential but must be weighed against possible loss of data quality. For example, a reduction in filtering can introduce noise into the signal and using analog channels could result in some loss of accuracy. Data quality assessments need to be performed concurrently with timesaving techniques since data quality parameters are essential in maintaining facility integrity. This paper will highlight time saving efforts being undertaken or studied at the NTF. It will outline the instrumentation and computer systems involved in setting of the model pitch attitude then suggest changes to the process and discuss how these system changes would effect the time between data points. It also discusses the issue of data quality and how the potential efficiency changes in the system could affect it. Lastly, it will discuss the possibility of using an open loop control system and give some pros and cons of this method.

Plugging into Energy Savings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrigan, Merrilee

1999-01-01

The nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy has been helping schools reduce energy consumption through a combination of retrofits, classroom instruction, and behavior. Lists eight small steps to big energy savings, among them: involve the whole school, stop leaks, turn off computers, and recycle. (MLF)

Exceptional cost effectiveness of the Solarcrete construction system with hybrid solar for McCormick's piano showroom

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

Levy, M.T.

1980-01-01

A new building was designed to house Northeast Indiana's largest keyboard instrument showroom, offices, and warehouse. The 7653 SF building faces 8/sup 0/ east of south in a climate of 41/sup 0/ NL, 6717 DD, and 49% of possible sunshine during the heating season. The energy system may be described as hybrid using an integration of passive direct gain, water thermal storage with earth contact, evaporative cooling, and water source heat pump. The thermal envelope of the building employs the Solarcrete method devised to render improved thermal performance and reduce labor time, skill, and effort resulting in both initial andmore » life-cycle savings. The initial cost savings on the building including the tax credit of $11,076 was 33% or $79,076 LESS than a conventional building. The owners have realized 84% energy savings on the annual usage for the first year of operation.« less

Automating payroll, billing, and medical records. Using technology to do more with less.

PubMed

Vetter, E

1995-08-01

As home care agencies grow, so does the need to streamline the paperwork involved in running an agency. One agency found a way to reduce its payroll, billing, and medical records paperwork by implementing an automated, image-based data collection system that saves time, money, and paper.

Operational Differences Between MEOSAR and GEO/LEOSAR Capabilities

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-01

deviendra opérationnel. DRDC CORA TM 2009-011 ix Les principales constatations faites par les auteurs du présent rapport sont énumérées dans...In theory , lives would also be saved with properly working ELTs since it reduces search time by about 45 hours. Recommendation: ELTs

SUM (Service Unit Management): An Organizational Approach To Improved Patient Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jelinek, Richard C.; And Others

To evaluate the effectiveness of Service Unit Management (SUM) in reducing costs, improving quality of care, saving professional nursing time, increasing personnel satisfaction, and setting a stage for further improvements, a national questionnaire survey identified the characteristics of SUM units, and compared the performance of a total of 55…

The role of total laboratory automation in a consolidated laboratory network.

PubMed

Seaberg, R S; Stallone, R O; Statland, B E

2000-05-01

In an effort to reduce overall laboratory costs and improve overall laboratory efficiencies at all of its network hospitals, the North Shore-Long Island Health System recently established a Consolidated Laboratory Network with a Core Laboratory at its center. We established and implemented a centralized Core Laboratory designed around the Roche/Hitachi CLAS Total Laboratory Automation system to perform the general and esoteric laboratory testing throughout the system in a timely and cost-effective fashion. All remaining STAT testing will be performed within the Rapid Response Laboratories (RRLs) at each of the system's hospitals. Results for this laboratory consolidation and implementation effort demonstrated a decrease in labor costs and improved turnaround time (TAT) at the core laboratory. Anticipated system savings are approximately $2.7 million. TATs averaged 1.3 h within the Core Laboratory and less than 30 min in the RRLs. When properly implemented, automation systems can reduce overall laboratory expenses, enhance patient services, and address the overall concerns facing the laboratory today: job satisfaction, decreased length of stay, and safety. The financial savings realized are primarily a result of labor reductions.

Faster simulation plots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fowell, Richard A.

1989-01-01

Most simulation plots are heavily oversampled. Ignoring unnecessary data points dramatically reduces plot time with imperceptible effect on quality. The technique is suited to most plot devices. The departments laser printer's speed was tripled for large simulation plots by data thinning. This reduced printer delays without the expense of a faster laser printer. Surpisingly, it saved computer time as well. All plot data are now thinned, including PostScript and terminal plots. The problem, solution, and conclusions are described. The thinning algorithm is described and performance studies are presented. To obtain FORTRAN 77 or C source listings, mail a SASE to the author.

Energy-saving framework for passive optical networks with ONU sleep/doze mode.

PubMed

Van, Dung Pham; Valcarenghi, Luca; Dias, Maluge Pubuduni Imali; Kondepu, Koteswararao; Castoldi, Piero; Wong, Elaine

2015-02-09

This paper proposes an energy-saving passive optical network framework (ESPON) that aims to incorporate optical network unit (ONU) sleep/doze mode into dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) algorithms to reduce ONU energy consumption. In the ESPON, the optical line terminal (OLT) schedules both downstream (DS) and upstream (US) transmissions in the same slot in an online and dynamic fashion whereas the ONU enters sleep mode outside the slot. The ONU sleep time is maximized based on both DS and US traffic. Moreover, during the slot, the ONU might enter doze mode when only its transmitter is idle to further improve energy efficiency. The scheduling order of data transmission, control message exchange, sleep period, and doze period defines an energy-efficient scheme under the ESPON. Three schemes are designed and evaluated in an extensive FPGA-based evaluation. Results show that whilst all the schemes significantly save ONU energy for different evaluation scenarios, the scheduling order has great impact on their performance. In addition, the ESPON allows for a scheduling order that saves ONU energy independently of the network reach.

Dynamic modeling of potentially conflicting energy reduction strategies for residential structures in semi-arid climates.

PubMed

Hester, Nathan; Li, Ke; Schramski, John R; Crittenden, John

2012-04-30

Globally, residential energy consumption continues to rise due to a variety of trends such as increasing access to modern appliances, overall population growth, and the overall increase of electricity distribution. Currently, residential energy consumption accounts for approximately one-fifth of total U.S. energy consumption. This research analyzes the effectiveness of a range of energy-saving measures for residential houses in semi-arid climates. These energy-saving measures include: structural insulated panels (SIP) for exterior wall construction, daylight control, increased window area, efficient window glass suitable for the local weather, and several combinations of these. Our model determined that energy consumption is reduced by up to 6.1% when multiple energy savings technologies are combined. In addition, pre-construction technologies (structural insulated panels (SIPs), daylight control, and increased window area) provide roughly 4 times the energy savings when compared to post-construction technologies (window blinds and efficient window glass). The model also illuminated the importance variations in local climate and building configuration; highlighting the site-specific nature of this type of energy consumption quantification for policy and building code considerations. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Research and application of an intelligent control system in central air-conditioning based on energy consumption simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Ling; Che, Wenbin

2018-05-01

For the central air-conditioning energy-saving, it is common practice to use a wide range of PTD controllers in engineering to optimize energy savings. However, the shortcomings of the PTD controller have also been magnified on this issue, such as: calculation accuracy is not enough, the calculation time is too long. Particle swarm optimization has the advantage of fast convergence. This paper is based on Particle Swarm Optimization apply in PTD controller tuning parameters in order to achieve the purpose of saving energy while ensuring comfort. The algorithm proposed in this paper can adjust the weight according to the change of population fitness, reduce the weights of particles with lower fitness and enhance the weights of particles with higher fitness in the population, and fully release the population vitality. The method in this paper is validated by the TRNSYS model based on the central air-conditioning system. The experimental results show that the room temperature fluctuation is small, the overshoot is small, the adjustment speed is fast, and the energy-saving fluctuates at 10%.

Analysis on factors affecting household customers decision in using electricity at peak time and its correlation towards saving electricity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasasa, Linus; Marbun, Parlin; Mariza, Ita

2015-09-01

The purpose of this paper is to study and analyse the factors affecting customer decisions in using electricity at peak-load hours (between 17.00 to 22.00 WIB) and their behaviors towards electricity conservation in Indonesian household. The underlying rationale is to influence a reduction in energy consumption by stimulating energy saving behaviors, thereby reducing the impact of energy use on the environment. How is the correlation between the decisions in using electricity during peak load hours with the household customer's behavior towards saving electricity? The primary data is obtained by distributing questionnaires to customers of PT. PLN Jakarta Raya and Tangerang Distribution from Household segment. The data is analysed using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) and AMOS Software. The research is finding that all factors (Personal, Social, PLN Services, Psychological, and Cultural) are positively influence customer decision in using electricity at peak load hours. There is a correlation between the decisions in using electricity during peak load hours with the household customer's behavior towards saving electricity.

Valuation of travel time savings in viewpoint of WTA.

PubMed

Shao, Chang-Qiao; Liu, Yang; Liu, Xiao-Ming

2014-01-01

In order to investigate the issues in measurement of value of travel time savings (VTTS), the willingness-to-accept (WTA) for the private car owner is studied by using surveyed data. It is convincing that trip purpose, trip length, time savings, cost savings, income, and allowance from employee have effects on the WTA. Moreover, influences of these variables are not the same for different trip purposes. For commuting trips, effects of income and allowance from employee are significant while time savings and cost savings are dominated for leisure and shopping trips. It is also found that WTA is much higher than expected which implies that there are a group of drivers who are not prone to switching to other trip modes other than passenger car.

Potential unintended pregnancies averted and cost savings associated with a revised Medicaid sterilization policy

PubMed Central

Borrero, Sonya; Zite, Nikki; Potter, Joseph E.; Trussell, James; Smith, Kenneth

2013-01-01

Objective Medicaid sterilization policy, which includes a mandatory 30-day waiting period between consent and the sterilization procedure, poses significant logistical barriers for many women who desire publicly-funded sterilization. Our goal was to estimate the number of unintended pregnancies and the associated costs resulting from unfulfilled sterilization requests due to Medicaid policy barriers. Study design We constructed a cost effectiveness model from the health care payer perspective to determine the incremental cost over a 1-year time horizon of the current Medicaid sterilization policy compared to a hypothetical, revised policy in which women who desire a post-partum sterilization would face significantly reduced barriers. Probability estimates for potential outcomes in the model were based on published sources; costs of Medicaid-funded sterilizations and Medicaid-covered births were based on data from the Medicaid Statistical Information System and The Guttmacher Institute, respectively. Results With the implementation of a revised Medicaid sterilization policy, we estimated that the number of fulfilled sterilization requests would increase by 45%, from 53.3% of all women having their sterilization requests fulfilled to 77.5%. Annually, this increase could potentially lead to over 29,000 unintended pregnancies averted and $215 million saved. Conclusion A revised Medicaid sterilization policy could potentially honor women's reproductive decisions, reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, and save a significant amount of public funds. Implication Compared to the current federal Medicaid sterilization policy, a hypothetical, revised policy that reduces logistical barriers for women who desire publicly-funded, post-partum sterilization could potentially avert over 29,000 unintended pregnancies annually and therefore lead to a cost savings of $215 million each year. PMID:24028751

Modeling the cost-effectiveness of insect rearing on artificial diets: A test with a tephritid fly used in the sterile insect technique.

PubMed

Pascacio-Villafán, Carlos; Birke, Andrea; Williams, Trevor; Aluja, Martín

2017-01-01

We modeled the cost-effectiveness of rearing Anastrepha ludens, a major fruit fly pest currently mass reared for sterilization and release in pest control programs implementing the sterile insect technique (SIT). An optimization model was generated by combining response surface models of artificial diet cost savings with models of A. ludens pupation, pupal weight, larval development time and adult emergence as a function of mixtures of yeast, a costly ingredient, with corn flour and corncob fractions in the diet. Our model revealed several yeast-reduced mixtures that could be used to prepare diets that were considerably cheaper than a standard diet used for mass rearing. Models predicted a similar production of insects (pupation and adult emergence), with statistically similar pupal weights and larval development times between yeast-reduced diets and the standard mass rearing diet formulation. Annual savings from using the modified diets could be up to 5.9% of the annual cost of yeast, corn flour and corncob fractions used in the standard diet, representing a potential saving of US $27.45 per ton of diet (US $47,496 in the case of the mean annual production of 1,730.29 tons of artificial diet in the Moscafrut mass rearing facility at Metapa, Chiapas, Mexico). Implementation of the yeast-reduced diet on an experimental scale at mass rearing facilities is still required to confirm the suitability of new mixtures of artificial diet for rearing A. ludens for use in SIT. This should include the examination of critical quality control parameters of flies such as adult flight ability, starvation resistance and male sexual competitiveness across various generations. The method used here could be useful for improving the cost-effectiveness of invertebrate or vertebrate mass rearing diets worldwide.

Modeling the cost-effectiveness of insect rearing on artificial diets: A test with a tephritid fly used in the sterile insect technique

PubMed Central

Birke, Andrea; Williams, Trevor; Aluja, Martín

2017-01-01

We modeled the cost-effectiveness of rearing Anastrepha ludens, a major fruit fly pest currently mass reared for sterilization and release in pest control programs implementing the sterile insect technique (SIT). An optimization model was generated by combining response surface models of artificial diet cost savings with models of A. ludens pupation, pupal weight, larval development time and adult emergence as a function of mixtures of yeast, a costly ingredient, with corn flour and corncob fractions in the diet. Our model revealed several yeast-reduced mixtures that could be used to prepare diets that were considerably cheaper than a standard diet used for mass rearing. Models predicted a similar production of insects (pupation and adult emergence), with statistically similar pupal weights and larval development times between yeast-reduced diets and the standard mass rearing diet formulation. Annual savings from using the modified diets could be up to 5.9% of the annual cost of yeast, corn flour and corncob fractions used in the standard diet, representing a potential saving of US $27.45 per ton of diet (US $47,496 in the case of the mean annual production of 1,730.29 tons of artificial diet in the Moscafrut mass rearing facility at Metapa, Chiapas, Mexico). Implementation of the yeast-reduced diet on an experimental scale at mass rearing facilities is still required to confirm the suitability of new mixtures of artificial diet for rearing A. ludens for use in SIT. This should include the examination of critical quality control parameters of flies such as adult flight ability, starvation resistance and male sexual competitiveness across various generations. The method used here could be useful for improving the cost-effectiveness of invertebrate or vertebrate mass rearing diets worldwide. PMID:28257496

The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wynes, Seth; Nicholas, Kimberly A.

2017-07-01

Current anthropogenic climate change is the result of greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere, which records the aggregation of billions of individual decisions. Here we consider a broad range of individual lifestyle choices and calculate their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries, based on 148 scenarios from 39 sources. We recommend four widely applicable high-impact (i.e. low emissions) actions with the potential to contribute to systemic change and substantially reduce annual personal emissions: having one fewer child (an average for developed countries of 58.6 tonnes CO2-equivalent (tCO2e) emission reductions per year), living car-free (2.4 tCO2e saved per year), avoiding airplane travel (1.6 tCO2e saved per roundtrip transatlantic flight) and eating a plant-based diet (0.8 tCO2e saved per year). These actions have much greater potential to reduce emissions than commonly promoted strategies like comprehensive recycling (four times less effective than a plant-based diet) or changing household lightbulbs (eight times less). Though adolescents poised to establish lifelong patterns are an important target group for promoting high-impact actions, we find that ten high school science textbooks from Canada largely fail to mention these actions (they account for 4% of their recommended actions), instead focusing on incremental changes with much smaller potential emissions reductions. Government resources on climate change from the EU, USA, Canada, and Australia also focus recommendations on lower-impact actions. We conclude that there are opportunities to improve existing educational and communication structures to promote the most effective emission-reduction strategies and close this mitigation gap.

A cost effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to reduce coronary heart disease in four Eastern Mediterranean countries.

PubMed

Mason, Helen; Shoaibi, Azza; Ghandour, Rula; O'Flaherty, Martin; Capewell, Simon; Khatib, Rana; Jabr, Samer; Unal, Belgin; Sözmen, Kaan; Arfa, Chokri; Aissi, Wafa; Ben Romdhane, Habiba; Fouad, Fouad; Al-Ali, Radwan; Husseini, Abdullatif

2014-01-01

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is rising in middle income countries. Population based strategies to reduce specific CHD risk factors have an important role to play in reducing overall CHD mortality. Reducing dietary salt consumption is a potentially cost-effective way to reduce CHD events. This paper presents an economic evaluation of population based salt reduction policies in Tunisia, Syria, Palestine and Turkey. Three policies to reduce dietary salt intake were evaluated: a health promotion campaign, labelling of food packaging and mandatory reformulation of salt content in processed food. These were evaluated separately and in combination. Estimates of the effectiveness of salt reduction on blood pressure were based on a literature review. The reduction in mortality was estimated using the IMPACT CHD model specific to that country. Cumulative population health effects were quantified as life years gained (LYG) over a 10 year time frame. The costs of each policy were estimated using evidence from comparable policies and expert opinion including public sector costs and costs to the food industry. Health care costs associated with CHDs were estimated using standardized unit costs. The total cost of implementing each policy was compared against the current baseline (no policy). All costs were calculated using 2010 PPP exchange rates. In all four countries most policies were cost saving compared with the baseline. The combination of all three policies (reducing salt consumption by 30%) resulted in estimated cost savings of $235,000,000 and 6455 LYG in Tunisia; $39,000,000 and 31674 LYG in Syria; $6,000,000 and 2682 LYG in Palestine and $1,3000,000,000 and 378439 LYG in Turkey. Decreasing dietary salt intake will reduce coronary heart disease deaths in the four countries. A comprehensive strategy of health education and food industry actions to label and reduce salt content would save both money and lives.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Salt Reduction Policies to Reduce Coronary Heart Disease in Four Eastern Mediterranean Countries

PubMed Central

Mason, Helen; Shoaibi, Azza; Ghandour, Rula; O'Flaherty, Martin; Capewell, Simon; Khatib, Rana; Jabr, Samer; Unal, Belgin; Sözmen, Kaan; Arfa, Chokri; Aissi, Wafa; Romdhane, Habiba Ben; Fouad, Fouad; Al-Ali, Radwan; Husseini, Abdullatif

2014-01-01

Background Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is rising in middle income countries. Population based strategies to reduce specific CHD risk factors have an important role to play in reducing overall CHD mortality. Reducing dietary salt consumption is a potentially cost-effective way to reduce CHD events. This paper presents an economic evaluation of population based salt reduction policies in Tunisia, Syria, Palestine and Turkey. Methods and Findings Three policies to reduce dietary salt intake were evaluated: a health promotion campaign, labelling of food packaging and mandatory reformulation of salt content in processed food. These were evaluated separately and in combination. Estimates of the effectiveness of salt reduction on blood pressure were based on a literature review. The reduction in mortality was estimated using the IMPACT CHD model specific to that country. Cumulative population health effects were quantified as life years gained (LYG) over a 10 year time frame. The costs of each policy were estimated using evidence from comparable policies and expert opinion including public sector costs and costs to the food industry. Health care costs associated with CHDs were estimated using standardized unit costs. The total cost of implementing each policy was compared against the current baseline (no policy). All costs were calculated using 2010 PPP exchange rates. In all four countries most policies were cost saving compared with the baseline. The combination of all three policies (reducing salt consumption by 30%) resulted in estimated cost savings of $235,000,000 and 6455 LYG in Tunisia; $39,000,000 and 31674 LYG in Syria; $6,000,000 and 2682 LYG in Palestine and $1,3000,000,000 and 378439 LYG in Turkey. Conclusion Decreasing dietary salt intake will reduce coronary heart disease deaths in the four countries. A comprehensive strategy of health education and food industry actions to label and reduce salt content would save both money and lives. PMID:24409297

17 CFR 232.13 - Date of filing; adjustment of filing date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on.... Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed... Daylight Savings Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on the same business day. (4...

17 CFR 232.13 - Date of filing; adjustment of filing date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on.... Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed... Daylight Savings Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on the same business day. (4...

17 CFR 232.13 - Date of filing; adjustment of filing date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on.... Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed... Daylight Savings Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on the same business day. (4...

17 CFR 232.13 - Date of filing; adjustment of filing date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on.... Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed... Daylight Savings Time, whichever is currently in effect, shall be deemed filed on the same business day. (4...

Standardized ultrasound templates for diagnosing appendicitis reduce annual imaging costs.

PubMed

Nordin, Andrew B; Sales, Stephen; Nielsen, Jason W; Adler, Brent; Bates, David Gregory; Kenney, Brian

2018-01-01

Ultrasound is preferred over computed tomography (CT) for diagnosing appendicitis in children to avoid undue radiation exposure. We previously reported our experience in instituting a standardized appendicitis ultrasound template, which decreased CT rates by 67.3%. In this analysis, we demonstrate the ongoing cost savings associated with using this template. Retrospective chart review for the time period preceding template implementation (June 2012-September 2012) was combined with prospective review through December 2015 for all patients in the emergency department receiving diagnostic imaging for appendicitis. The type of imaging was recorded, and imaging rates and ultrasound test statistics were calculated. Estimated annual imaging costs based on pretemplate ultrasound and CT utilization rates were compared with post-template annual costs to calculate annual and cumulative savings. In the pretemplate period, ultrasound and CT rates were 80.2% and 44.3%, respectively, resulting in a combined annual cost of $300,527.70. Similar calculations were performed for each succeeding year, accounting for changes in patient volume. Using pretemplate rates, our projected 2015 imaging cost was $371,402.86; however, our ultrasound rate had increased to 98.3%, whereas the CT rate declined to 9.6%, yielding an annual estimated cost of $224,853.00 and a savings of $146,549.86. Since implementation, annual savings have steadily increased for a cumulative cost savings of $336,683.83. Standardizing ultrasound reports for appendicitis not only reduces the use of CT scans and the associated radiation exposure but also decreases annual imaging costs despite increased numbers of imaging studies. Continued cost reduction may be possible by using diagnostic algorithms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Real-World Cost Savings Demonstrated by Switching Patients with Refractory Diabetic Macular Edema to Intravitreal Fluocinolone Acetonide (Iluvien): A Retrospective Cost Analysis Study.

PubMed

Ch'ng, Soon W; Brent, Alexander J; Empeslidis, Theodoros; Konidaris, Vasileios; Banerjee, Somnath

2018-06-01

It is hypothesized that using fluocinolone acetonide (FAc) implants such as Iluvien for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) may reduce the total number of intravitreal injections and clinic visits, resulting in an overall treatment cost reduction. The primary aim of this study is to identify the real-world cost savings achievable in a tertiary National Health Service (NHS) hospital. A retrospective cost analysis study was conducted. The inclusion criteria were patients with refractory DME who were switched to Iluvien. The average yearly costs were calculated both before and after the switch to Iluvien. All costs including medicines, investigations, clinics, and management of raised intraocular pressure (IOP) were calculated. The cost differences over the 3 years' worth of Iluvien treatment were calculated and analyzed. To ensure non-inferiority of this treatment intervention, the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) were also analyzed. Statistical analysis was conducted with a Student t test where appropriate and statistical significance is identified where p < 0.05. Fourteen eyes of 13 patients met the inclusion criteria. Switching patients to Iluvien achieved on average a saving of £2606.17 per patient (p = 0.33) over the 3 years. However, seven cases (50%) had a rise in IOP after Iluvien that warranted medical treatment and two cases (14.3%) required glaucoma surgery. Incorporating the costs of glaucoma management reduced the overall savings over 3 years to £1064.66 per patient. The BCVA and CRT analysis showed a non-inferiority relationship between Iluvien and any previous treatment. The use of Iluvien in refractory DME patients represents a cost- and time-saving procedure, while showing non-inferiority in terms of efficacy.

High-risk population health management--achieving improved patient outcomes and near-term financial results.

PubMed

Lynch, J P; Forman, S A; Graff, S; Gunby, M C

2000-07-01

A managed care organization sought to achieve efficiencies in care delivery and cost savings by anticipating and better caring for its frail and least stable members. Time sequence case study of program intervention across an entire managed care population in its first year compared with the prior baseline year. Key attributes of the intervention included predictive registries of at-risk members based on existing data, relentless focus on the high-risk group, an integrated clinical and psychosocial approach to assessments and are planning, a reengineered care management process, secured Internet applications enabling rapid implementation and broad connectivity, and population-based outcomes metrics derived from widely used measures of resource utilization and functional status. Concentrating on the highest-risk group, which averaged just 1.1% prevalence in the total membership, yielded bottom line results. When the year before program implementation (July 1997 through June 1998) was compared with the subsequent year, the total population's annualized commercial admission rate was reduced 5.3%, and seniors' was reduced 3.0%. A claims-paid analysis exclusively of the highest-risk group revealed that their efficiencies and savings overwhelmingly contributed to the membershipwide effect. This subgroup's costs dropped 35.7% from preprogram levels of $2590 per member per month (excluding pharmaceuticals). During the same time, patient-derived cross-sectional functional status rose 12.5%. A sharply focused, Internet-deployed case management strategy achieved economic and functional status results on a population basis and produced systemwide savings in its first year of implementation.

Reducing Overutilization of Testing for Clostridium difficile Infection in a Pediatric Hospital System: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

PubMed

Klatte, J Michael; Selvarangan, Rangaraj; Jackson, Mary Anne; Myers, Angela L

2016-01-01

Study objectives included addressing overuse of Clostridium difficile laboratory testing by decreasing submission rates of nondiarrheal stool specimens and specimens from children ≤12 months of age and determining resultant patient and laboratory cost savings associated with decreased testing. A multifaceted initiative was developed, and components included multiple provider education methods, computerized order entry modifications, and automatic declination from laboratory on testing stool specimens of nondiarrheal consistency and from children ≤12 months old. A run chart, demonstrating numbers of nondiarrheal plus infant stool specimens submitted over time, was developed to analyze the initiative's impact on clinicians' test-ordering practices. A p-chart was generated to evaluate the percentage of these submitted specimens tested biweekly over a 12-month period. Cost savings for patients and the laboratory were assessed at the study period's conclusion. Run chart analysis revealed an initial shift after the interventions, suggesting a temporary decrease in testing submission; however, no sustained differences in numbers of specimens submitted biweekly were observed over time. On the p-chart, the mean percentage of specimens tested before the intervention was 100%. After the intervention, the average percentage of specimens tested dropped to 53.8%. Resultant laboratory cost savings totaled nearly $3600, and patient savings on testing charges were ∼$32 000. Automatic laboratory declination of nondiarrheal stools submitted for CDI testing resulted in a sustained decrease in the number of specimens tested, resulting in significant laboratory and patient cost savings. Despite multiple educational efforts, no sustained changes in physician ordering practices were observed. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dedicated Orthogeriatric Service Saves the HSE a Million Euro.

PubMed

Shanahan, E; Henderson, C; Butler, A; Lenehan, B; Sheehy, T; Costelloe, A; Carew, S; Peters, C; O'Connor, M; Lyons, D; Ryan, J

2016-04-11

Hip fracture is common in older adults and is associated with high morbidity, mortality and significant health care costs. A pilot orthogeriatrics service was established in an acute hospital. We aimed to establish the cost effectiveness of this service. Length of hospital stay, discharge destination and rehabilitation requirements were analysed for a one year period and compared to patients who received usual care prior to the service. We calculated the costs incurred and savings produced by the orthogeriatric service. Median length of stay was reduced by 3 days (p < 0.001) saving €266,976. There was a 19% reduction in rehabilitation requirements saving €192,600. Median rehabilitation length of stay was reduced by 6.5 days saving €171,093. Reductions in long term care requirements led to savings of €10,934 per week. Costs to establish such a service amount to €171,564. The introduction of this service led to improved patient outcomes in a cost effective manner.

Wilckodontics - A Novel Synergy in Time to Save Time

PubMed Central

K., Sirisha; M., Srinivas; D., Ravindranath; Gowd, Pratap

2014-01-01

The systematic search for improvements in orthodontic therapy is shared by several dental specalities especially periodontics. Rapid orthodontic treatment procedures are now focusing on performing Alveolar Corticotomies (ACS) shortly before the application of orthodontic forces. This method has been suggested to enhance tooth movement and, consequently, reduces orthodontic treatment time as a whole. Thus, this article attempts to review the historical perspective of these therapeutic approaches, discusses the biological reasons underlying its use, mentions its main indications and contraindications and its modifications. PMID:24596806

How do People in Rural India Perceive Improved Stoves and Clean Fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand

PubMed Central

Bhojvaid, Vasundhara; Jeuland, Marc; Kar, Abhishek; Lewis, Jessica J.; Pattanayak, Subhrendu K.; Ramanathan, Nithya; Ramanathan, Veerabhadran; Rehman, Ibrahim H.

2014-01-01

Improved cook stoves (ICS) have been widely touted for their potential to deliver the triple benefits of improved household health and time savings, reduced deforestation and local environmental degradation, and reduced emissions of black carbon, a significant short-term contributor to global climate change. Yet diffusion of ICS technologies among potential users in many low-income settings, including India, remains slow, despite decades of promotion. This paper explores the variation in perceptions of and preferences for ICS in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as revealed through a series of semi-structured focus groups and interviews from 11 rural villages or hamlets. We find cautious interest in new ICS technologies, and observe that preferences for ICS are positively related to perceptions of health and time savings. Other respondent and community characteristics, e.g., gender, education, prior experience with clean stoves and institutions promoting similar technologies, and social norms as perceived through the actions of neighbours, also appear important. Though they cannot be considered representative, our results suggest that efforts to increase adoption and use of ICS in rural India will likely require a combination of supply-chain improvements and carefully designed social marketing and promotion campaigns, and possibly incentives, to reduce the up-front cost of stoves. PMID:24473110

Time-saving impact of an algorithm to identify potential surgical site infections.

PubMed

Knepper, B C; Young, H; Jenkins, T C; Price, C S

2013-10-01

To develop and validate a partially automated algorithm to identify surgical site infections (SSIs) using commonly available electronic data to reduce manual chart review. Retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing specific surgical procedures over a 4-year period from 2007 through 2010 (algorithm development cohort) or over a 3-month period from January 2011 through March 2011 (algorithm validation cohort). A single academic safety-net hospital in a major metropolitan area. Patients undergoing at least 1 included surgical procedure during the study period. Procedures were identified in the National Healthcare Safety Network; SSIs were identified by manual chart review. Commonly available electronic data, including microbiologic, laboratory, and administrative data, were identified via a clinical data warehouse. Algorithms using combinations of these electronic variables were constructed and assessed for their ability to identify SSIs and reduce chart review. The most efficient algorithm identified in the development cohort combined microbiologic data with postoperative procedure and diagnosis codes. This algorithm resulted in 100% sensitivity and 85% specificity. Time savings from the algorithm was almost 600 person-hours of chart review. The algorithm demonstrated similar sensitivity on application to the validation cohort. A partially automated algorithm to identify potential SSIs was highly sensitive and dramatically reduced the amount of manual chart review required of infection control personnel during SSI surveillance.

How do people in rural India perceive improved stoves and clean fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

PubMed

Bhojvaid, Vasundhara; Jeuland, Marc; Kar, Abhishek; Lewis, Jessica J; Pattanayak, Subhrendu K; Ramanathan, Nithya; Ramanathan, Veerabhadran; Rehman, Ibrahim H

2014-01-27

Improved cook stoves (ICS) have been widely touted for their potential to deliver the triple benefits of improved household health and time savings, reduced deforestation and local environmental degradation, and reduced emissions of black carbon, a significant short-term contributor to global climate change. Yet diffusion of ICS technologies among potential users in many low-income settings, including India, remains slow, despite decades of promotion. This paper explores the variation in perceptions of and preferences for ICS in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as revealed through a series of semi-structured focus groups and interviews from 11 rural villages or hamlets. We find cautious interest in new ICS technologies, and observe that preferences for ICS are positively related to perceptions of health and time savings. Other respondent and community characteristics, e.g., gender, education, prior experience with clean stoves and institutions promoting similar technologies, and social norms as perceived through the actions of neighbours, also appear important. Though they cannot be considered representative, our results suggest that efforts to increase adoption and use of ICS in rural India will likely require a combination of supply-chain improvements and carefully designed social marketing and promotion campaigns, and possibly incentives, to reduce the up-front cost of stoves.

Energy-saving method for technogenic waste processing

PubMed Central

Dikhanbaev, Bayandy; Dikhanbaev, Aristan Bayandievich

2017-01-01

Dumps of a mining-metallurgical complex of post-Soviet Republics have accumulated a huge amount of technogenic waste products. Out of them, Kazakhstan alone has preserved about 20 billion tons. In the field of technogenic waste treatment, there is still no technical solution that leads it to be a profitable process. Recent global trends prompted scientists to focus on developing energy-saving and a highly efficient melting unit that can significantly reduce specific fuel consumption. This paper reports, the development of a new technological method—smelt layer of inversion phase. The introducing method is characterized by a combination of ideal stirring and ideal displacement regimes. Using the method of affine modelling, recalculation of pilot plant’s test results on industrial sample has been obtained. Experiments show that in comparison with bubbling and boiling layers of smelt, the degree of zinc recovery increases in the layer of inversion phase. That indicates the reduction of the possibility of new formation of zinc silicates and ferrites from recombined molecules of ZnO, SiO2, and Fe2O3. Calculations show that in industrial samples of the pilot plant, the consumption of natural gas has reduced approximately by two times in comparison with fuming-furnace. The specific fuel consumption has reduced by approximately four times in comparison with Waelz-kiln. PMID:29281646

No Cost – Low Cost Compressed Air System Optimization in Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dharma, A.; Budiarsa, N.; Watiniasih, N.; Antara, N. G.

2018-04-01

Energy conservation is a systematic, integrated of effort, in order to preserve energy sources and improve energy utilization efficiency. Utilization of energy in efficient manner without reducing the energy usage it must. Energy conservation efforts are applied at all stages of utilization, from utilization of energy resources to final, using efficient technology, and cultivating an energy-efficient lifestyle. The most common way is to promote energy efficiency in the industry on end use and overcome barriers to achieve such efficiency by using system energy optimization programs. The facts show that energy saving efforts in the process usually only focus on replacing tools and not an overall system improvement effort. In this research, a framework of sustainable energy reduction work in companies that have or have not implemented energy management system (EnMS) will be conducted a systematic technical approach in evaluating accurately a compressed-air system and potential optimization through observation, measurement and verification environmental conditions and processes, then processing the physical quantities of systems such as air flow, pressure and electrical power energy at any given time measured using comparative analysis methods in this industry, to provide the potential savings of energy saving is greater than the component approach, with no cost to the lowest cost (no cost - low cost). The process of evaluating energy utilization and energy saving opportunities will provide recommendations for increasing efficiency in the industry and reducing CO2 emissions and improving environmental quality.

Cost savings using a protocol approach to manage anemia in a hemodialysis unit.

PubMed

Charlesworth, Emily C; Richardson, Robert M; Battistella, Marisa

2014-01-01

National guidelines recommend using anemia management protocols to guide treatment. The objective of this study was to determine if an anemia management protocol would improve hemoglobin (Hgb) indices in hemodialysis patients and to measure whether the protocol would reduce the use and cost of darbepoetin alfa (DBO) and intravenous (IV) iron in hemodialysis patients. An anemia management protocol was created and implemented for hemodialysis patients at our institution. A retrospective observational review of the use of DBO and IV iron as well as changes in Hgb, transferrin saturation and ferritin in 174 patients was conducted 6 months before and after implementation of the anemia protocol. The number of Hgb measurements in the target range increased from 44.3 to 46.0% (p = 0.48) after protocol implementation. The mean weekly dose of DBO was reduced from 34.56 ± 31.12 to 31.11 ± 28.64 μg post-protocol implementation (p = 0.011), which translated to a cost savings of USD 41,649 over 6 months. The mean monthly IV iron dose also decreased from 139.56 ± 98.83 to 97.65 ± 79.05 mg (p < 0.005), a cost savings of USD 18,594 over the same time period. The use of an anemia management protocol resulted in the deprescribing of DBO and iron agents while increasing the number of patients in the target Hgb range, which led to significant cost savings in the treatment of anemia.

Improved System Yields $100,000 Annual Savings (Systems Analysis at Alcoa Yields Significant Savings)

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

None

1999-01-01

In another Office of Industrial Technologies Motor Challenge Success Story, Alcoa (formerly Alumax) aluminum reduced annual energy consumption by 12% and reduced both maintenance and noise levels. Order this fact sheet now to learn how your company can both increase energy efficiency and decrease pollution.

Cost Savings from Reduced Hospitalizations with Use of Home Noninvasive Ventilation for COPD.

PubMed

Coughlin, Steven; Peyerl, Fred W; Munson, Sibyl H; Ravindranath, Aditi J; Lee-Chiong, Teofilo L

2017-03-01

Although evidence suggests significant clinical benefits of home noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for management of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), economic analyses supporting the use of this technology are lacking. To evaluate the economic impact of adopting home NIV, as part of a multifaceted intervention program, for severe COPD. An economic model was developed to calculate savings associated with the use of Advanced NIV (averaged volume assured pressure support with autoexpiratory positive airway pressure; Trilogy100, Philips Respironics, Inc., Murrysville, PA) versus either no NIV or a respiratory assist device with bilevel pressure capacity in patients with severe COPD from two distinct perspectives: the hospital and the payer. The model examined hospital savings over 90 days and payer savings over 3 years. The number of patients with severe COPD eligible for home Advanced NIV was user-defined. Clinical and cost data were obtained from a quality improvement program and published reports. Scenario analyses calculated savings for hospitals and payers covering different COPD patient cohort sizes. The hospital base case (250 patients) revealed cumulative savings of $402,981 and $449,101 over 30 and 90 days, respectively, for Advanced NIV versus both comparators. For the payer base case (100,000 patients), 3-year cumulative savings with Advanced NIV were $326 million versus no NIV and $1.04 billion versus respiratory assist device. This model concluded that adoption of home Advanced NIV with averaged volume assured pressure support with autoexpiratory positive airway pressure, as part of a multifaceted intervention program, presents an opportunity for hospitals to reduce COPD readmission-related costs and for payers to reduce costs associated with managing patients with severe COPD on the basis of reduced admissions. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, a multitherapy antenatal education programme to reduce routine interventions in labour

PubMed Central

Dahlen, Hannah G; Smith, Caroline A; Finlayson, Kenneth William; Downe, Soo

2018-01-01

Objective To assess whether the multitherapy antenatal education ‘CTLB’ (Complementary Therapies for Labour and Birth) Study programme leads to net cost savings. Design Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, using analysis of outcomes and hospital funding data. Methods We take a payer perspective and use Australian Refined Diagnosis-Related Group (AR-DRG) cost data to estimate the potential savings per woman to the payer (government or private insurer). We consider scenarios in which the intervention cost is either borne by the woman or by the payer. Savings are computed as the difference in total cost between the control group and the study group. Results If the cost of the intervention is not borne by the payer, the average saving to the payer was calculated to be $A808 per woman. If the payer covers the cost of the programme, this figure reduces to $A659 since the average cost of delivering the programme was $A149 per woman. All these findings are significant at the 95% confidence level. Significantly more women in the study group experienced a normal vaginal birth, and significantly fewer women in the study group experienced a caesarean section. The main cost saving resulted from the reduced rate of caesarean section in the study group. Conclusion The CTLB antenatal education programme leads to significant savings to payers that come from reduced use of hospital resources. Depending on which perspective is considered, and who is responsible for covering the cost of the programme, the net savings vary from $A659 to $A808 per woman. Compared with the average cost of birth in the control group, we conclude that the programme could lead to a reduction in birth-related healthcare costs of approximately 9%. Trial registration number ACTRN12611001126909. PMID:29439002

Analysis of Multi-Flight Common Routes for Traffic Flow Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheth, Kapil; Clymer, Alexis; Morando, Alex; Shih, Fu-Tai

2016-01-01

This paper presents an approach for creating common weather avoidance reroutes for multiple flights and the associated benefits analysis, which is an extension of the single flight advisories generated using the Dynamic Weather Routes (DWR) concept. These multiple flight advisories are implemented in the National Airspace System (NAS) Constraint Evaluation and Notification Tool (NASCENT), a nation-wide simulation environment to generate time- and fuel-saving alternate routes for flights during severe weather events. These single flight advisories are clustered together in the same Center by considering parameters such as a common return capture fix. The clustering helps propose routes called, Multi-Flight Common Routes (MFCR), that avoid weather and other airspace constraints, and save time and fuel. It is expected that these routes would also provide lower workload for traffic managers and controllers since a common route is found for several flights, and presumably the route clearances would be easier and faster. This study was based on 30-days in 2014 and 2015 each, which had most delays attributed to convective weather. The results indicate that many opportunities exist where individual flight routes can be clustered to fly along a common route to save a significant amount of time and fuel, and potentially reducing the amount of coordination needed.

A Novel Sensor Platform Matching the Improved Version of IPMVP Option C for Measuring Energy Savings

PubMed Central

Tseng, Yen-Chieh; Lee, Da-Sheng; Lin, Cheng-Fang; Chang, Ching-Yuan

2013-01-01

It is easy to measure energy consumption with a power meter. However, energy savings cannot be directly computed by the powers measured using existing power meter technologies, since the power consumption only reflects parts of the real energy flows. The International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) was proposed by the Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO) to quantify energy savings using four different methodologies of A, B, C and D. Although energy savings can be estimated following the IPMVP, there are limitations on its practical implementation. Moreover, the data processing methods of the four IPMVP alternatives use multiple sensors (thermometer, hygrometer, Occupant information) and power meter readings to simulate all facilities, in order to determine an energy usage benchmark and the energy savings. This study proposes a simple sensor platform to measure energy savings. Using usually the Electronic Product Code (EPC) global standard, an architecture framework for an information system is constructed that integrates sensors data, power meter readings and occupancy conditions. The proposed sensor platform is used to monitor a building with a newly built vertical garden system (VGS). A VGS shields solar radiation and saves on energy that would be expended on air-conditioning. With this platform, the amount of energy saved in the whole facility is measured and reported in real-time. The data are compared with those obtained from detailed measurement and verification (M&V) processes. The discrepancy is less than 1.565%. Using measurements from the proposed sensor platform, the energy savings for the entire facility are quantified, with a resolution of ±1.2%. The VGS gives an 8.483% daily electricity saving for the building. Thus, the results show that the simple sensor platform proposed by this study is more widely applicable than the four complicated IPMVP alternatives and the VGS is an effective tool in reducing the carbon footprint of a building. PMID:23698273

Energy-saving scheme based on downstream packet scheduling in ethernet passive optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lincong; Liu, Yejun; Guo, Lei; Gong, Xiaoxue

2013-03-01

With increasing network sizes, the energy consumption of Passive Optical Networks (PONs) has grown significantly. Therefore, it is important to design effective energy-saving schemes in PONs. Generally, energy-saving schemes have focused on sleeping the low-loaded Optical Network Units (ONUs), which tends to bring large packet delays. Further, the traditional ONU sleep modes are not capable of sleeping the transmitter and receiver independently, though they are not required to transmit or receive packets. Clearly, this approach contributes to wasted energy. Thus, in this paper, we propose an Energy-Saving scheme that is based on downstream Packet Scheduling (ESPS) in Ethernet PON (EPON). First, we design both an algorithm and a rule for downstream packet scheduling at the inter- and intra-ONU levels, respectively, to reduce the downstream packet delay. After that, we propose a hybrid sleep mode that contains not only ONU deep sleep mode but also independent sleep modes for the transmitter and the receiver. This ensures that the energy consumed by the ONUs is minimal. To realize the hybrid sleep mode, a modified GATE control message is designed that involves 10 time points for sleep processes. In ESPS, the 10 time points are calculated according to the allocated bandwidths in both the upstream and the downstream. The simulation results show that ESPS outperforms traditional Upstream Centric Scheduling (UCS) scheme in terms of energy consumption and the average delay for both real-time and non-real-time packets downstream. The simulation results also show that the average energy consumption of each ONU in larger-sized networks is less than that in smaller-sized networks; hence, our ESPS is better suited for larger-sized networks.

The estimated impact of California’s urban water conservation mandate on electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spang, Edward S.; Holguin, Andrew J.; Loge, Frank J.

2018-01-01

In April 2015, the Governor of California mandated a 25% statewide reduction in water consumption (relative to 2013 levels) by urban water suppliers. The more than 400 public water agencies affected by the regulation were also required to report monthly progress towards the conservation goal to the State Water Resources Control Board. This paper uses the reported data to assess how the water utilities have responded to this mandate and to estimate the electricity savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions associated with reduced operation of urban water infrastructure systems. The results show that California succeeded in saving 524 000 million gallons (MG) of water (a 24.5% decrease relative to the 2013 baseline) over the mandate period, which translates into 1830 GWh total electricity savings, and a GHG emissions reduction of 521 000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (MT CO2e). For comparison, the total electricity savings linked to water conservation are approximately 11% greater than the savings achieved by the investor-owned electricity utilities’ efficiency programs for roughly the same time period, and the GHG savings represent the equivalent of taking about 111 000 cars off the road for a year. These indirect, large-scale electricity and GHG savings were achieved at costs that were competitive with existing programs that target electricity and GHG savings directly and independently. Finally, given the breadth of the results produced, we built a companion website, called ‘H2Open’ (https://cwee.shinyapps.io/greengov/), to this research effort that allows users to view and explore the data and results across scales, from individual water utilities to the statewide summary.

Saving Energy. Managing School Facilities, Guide 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department for Education and Employment, London (England). Architects and Building Branch.

This guide offers information on how schools can implement an energy saving action plan to reduce their energy costs. Various low-cost energy-saving measures are recommended covering heating levels and heating systems, electricity demand reduction and lighting, ventilation, hot water usage, and swimming pool energy management. Additional…

EnergySavers: Tips on Saving Money & Energy at Home (Brochure)

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

Not Available

The U.S. Department of Energy's consumer guide to saving money and energy at home and on the road. It consists of the following articles: (1) Save Money and Energy Today - Get started with things you can do now, and use the whole-house approach to ensure that your investments are wisely made to save you money and energy; (2) Your Home's Energy Use - Find out how your home uses energy, and where it's losing the most energy so you can develop a plan to save in the short and long term; (3) Air Leaks and Insulation - Seal airmore » leaks and insulate your home properly so your energy dollars don't seep through the cracks; (4) Heating and Cooling - Use efficient systems to heat and cool your home, and save money and increase comfort by properly maintaining and upgrading equipment; (5) Water Heating - Use the right water heater for your home, insulate it and lower its temperature, and use less water to avoid paying too much; (6) Windows - Enjoy light and views while saving money by installing energy-efficient windows, and use strategies to keep your current windows from losing energy; (7) Lighting - Choose today's energy-efficient lighting for some of the easiest and cheapest ways to reduce your electric bill; (8) Appliances - Use efficient appliances through-out your home, and get greater performance with lower energy bills; (9) Home Office and Electronics - Find out how much energy your electronics use, reduce their out-put when you're not using them, and choose efficient electronics to save money; (10) Renewable Energy - Use renewable energy at home such as solar and wind to save energy dollars while reducing environmental impact; (11) Transportation - Choose efficient transportation options and drive more efficiently to save at the gas pump; and (12) References - Use our reference list to learn more about energy efficiency and renewable energy.« less

Medical liability and health care reform.

PubMed

Nelson, Leonard J; Morrisey, Michael A; Becker, David J

2011-01-01

We examine the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on medical liability and the controversy over whether federal medical reform including a damages cap could make a useful contribution to health care reform. By providing guaranteed access to health care insurance at community rates, the ACA could reduce the problem of under-compensation resulting from damages caps. However, it may also exacerbate the problem of under-claiming in the malpractice system, thereby reducing incentives to invest in loss prevention activities. Shifting losses from liability insurers to health insurers could further undermine the already weak deterrent effect of the medical liability system. Republicans in Congress and physician groups both pushed for the adoption of a federal damages cap as part of health care reform. Physician support for damages caps could be explained by concerns about the insurance cycle and the consequent instability of the market. Our own study presented here suggests that there is greater insurance market stability in states with caps on non-economic damages. Republicans in Congress argued that the enactment of damages caps would reduce aggregate health care costs. The Congressional Budget Office included savings from reduced health care utilization in its estimates of cost savings that would result from the enactment of a federal damages cap. But notwithstanding recent opinions offered by the CBO, it is not clear that caps will significantly reduce health care costs or that any savings will be passed on to consumers. The ACA included funding for state level demonstration projects for promising reforms such as offer and disclosure and health courts, but at this time the benefits of these reforms are also uncertain. There is a need for further studies on these issues.

Year-Round Daylight Saving Time Study : Volume 1. Interim Report on the Operation and Effects of Daylight Saving Time

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-06-01

The analyses of the effects of Year-Round Daylight Saving Time were not conslusive because they could not be reliablyseparated from other changes occuring simultaneously including fuel availability constraints, speed limit reductions, Sunday gasoline...

Comparability of Computer Delivered versus Traditional Paper and Pencil Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strader, Douglas A.

2012-01-01

There are many advantages supporting the use of computers as an alternate mode of delivery for high stakes testing: cost savings, increased test security, flexibility in test administrations, innovations in items, and reduced scoring time. The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of computers as the mode of delivery had any…

Time for a Western Australian "Group of Three"?: A Speculative Essay

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Michael; Brown, Alistair

2015-01-01

This study analyses the theoretical cost-savings that might flow from a merger of three of Western Australia's five universities. The results of the study show that an amalgamation would not only reduce costs of operation, but also improve non-current asset use and accountability. Combination reporting also allows the key stakeholders to appraise…

Times Change, but This Ten-Year-Old School Plan Remains Fresh and Functional.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rist, Marilee C.

1989-01-01

The 1979 passive solar design for Meadow Park Elementary School (Irvine, California) was not used until 1986. Architects had incorporated workable energy-saving features that would give a sizable return on the investment. They maximized use of natural light and used solar features (clerestory windows and interior courtyards) to reduce heat…

Five Smart Ways Educators Can Save Money on Benefit Costs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCullough, Pat

2012-01-01

State and local governments today face significant financial stress from the most recent recession, which makes their need to control benefit costs even greater. Revenues declined 22% from 2008 to 2009, mostly because of reduced tax income. At the same time, state and local government spending on unemployment compensation jumped 86%. It is no…

Leading the Newly Consolidated High School: Exciting Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thurman, Lance E.; Hackmann, Donald G.

2015-01-01

In the current economic times, school personnel are regularly challenged to reduce the costs of operating the nation's school systems. School district consolidations often are proposed as a mechanism to realize fiscal savings for local communities; indeed, the number of U.S. school districts has declined dramatically over the past 70 years,…

Defense AT&L (Volume 37, Number 1, January-February 2008)

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-01

Protected vehicle onto a C-5 Galaxy aircraft. Photograph by Staff Sgt. Jason Robertson, USA In the News Defense AT&L: January-February 2008 54 “We have...saving costs and reducing the cycle time of the C20J Engine Line TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter. Letterkenny’s power-generator maintenance operations have

Economic Evaluation of a Patient-Directed Music Intervention for ICU Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilatory Support.

PubMed

Chlan, Linda L; Heiderscheit, Annette; Skaar, Debra J; Neidecker, Marjorie V

2018-05-04

Music intervention has been shown to reduce anxiety and sedative exposure among mechanically ventilated patients. Whether music intervention reduces ICU costs is not known. The aim of this study was to examine ICU costs for patients receiving a patient-directed music intervention compared with patients who received usual ICU care. A cost-effectiveness analysis from the hospital perspective was conducted to determine if patient-directed music intervention was cost-effective in improving patient-reported anxiety. Cost savings were also evaluated. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses determined the influence of input variation on the cost-effectiveness. Midwestern ICUs. Adult ICU patients from a parent clinical trial receiving mechanical ventilatory support. Patients receiving the experimental patient-directed music intervention received a MP3 player, noise-canceling headphones, and music tailored to individual preferences by a music therapist. The base case cost-effectiveness analysis estimated patient-directed music intervention reduced anxiety by 19 points on the Visual Analogue Scale-Anxiety with a reduction in cost of $2,322/patient compared with usual ICU care, resulting in patient-directed music dominance. The probabilistic cost-effectiveness analysis found that average patient-directed music intervention costs were $2,155 less than usual ICU care and projected that cost saving is achieved in 70% of 1,000 iterations. Based on break-even analyses, cost saving is achieved if the per-patient cost of patient-directed music intervention remains below $2,651, a value eight times the base case of $329. Patient-directed music intervention is cost-effective for reducing anxiety in mechanically ventilated ICU patients.

Precautionary Savings in Mexico: Evidence from the Mexican Health and Aging Study

PubMed Central

Velandia Naranjo, Durfari; van Gameren, Edwin

2016-01-01

Precautionary saving is the additional saving done by individuals to protect them financially in situations of uncertainty and reduce their vulnerability for negative shocks that may affect their consumption levels. This paper investigates the existence and extent of savings motivated by precaution in Mexico for people aged between 50 and 75, using data from the Mexican Health and Ageing Study 2003. The empirical strategy is based on a test of the direct relationship between the accumulated wealth and the uncertainty generated by the social security status, in particular the availability of health insurance, accounting also for the expectation to receive a retirement pension. The endogeneity-corrected estimates do not yield results that unequivocally support the existence of private savings as a risk protection mechanism, implying that the public protection system has an important role in reducing the vulnerability of the population studied. PMID:27698512

Cost-effectiveness of the screening and treatment of diabetic retinopathy. What are the costs of underutilization?

PubMed

Fendrick, A M; Javitt, J C; Chiang, Y P

1992-01-01

Diabetic retinal disease remains a leading cause of visual disability among those of working age. Controlled trials have demonstrated that timely diagnosis and photocoagulation treatment can reduce significantly the likelihood of visual impairment in affected diabetic patients. Using a prospective simulation model, we show that an annual screening and treatment program saves thousands of years of vision and reduces medical expenditures over the lifetime of a cohort of Swedish Type I diabetic patients.

Benchmarking Dutch and U.S. Naval Shipbuilding: Reducing U.S. Naval Shipbuilding Costs Using Collaborative PLM and 3D Imaging

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-02

Scanning Technology (3D LST) and Collaborative Product Lifecycle Management (CPLM) are two technologies that are currently being leveraged by international ... international ship construction organizations to achieve significant cost savings. 3D LST dramatically reduces the time required to scan ship surfaces as...technology does not meet the accuracy requirements, 0.030” accuracy minimum , for naval shipbuilding. The report delivered to the CSNT shows that if the

Cost savings from reduced catheter-related bloodstream infection after simulation-based education for residents in a medical intensive care unit.

PubMed

Cohen, Elaine R; Feinglass, Joe; Barsuk, Jeffrey H; Barnard, Cynthia; O'Donnell, Anna; McGaghie, William C; Wayne, Diane B

2010-04-01

Interventions to reduce preventable complications such as catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) can also decrease hospital costs. However, little is known about the cost-effectiveness of simulation-based education. The aim of this study was to estimate hospital cost savings related to a reduction in CRBSI after simulation training for residents. This was an intervention evaluation study estimating cost savings related to a simulation-based intervention in central venous catheter (CVC) insertion in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at an urban teaching hospital. After residents completed a simulation-based mastery learning program in CVC insertion, CRBSI rates declined sharply. Case-control and regression analysis methods were used to estimate savings by comparing CRBSI rates in the year before and after the intervention. Annual savings from reduced CRBSIs were compared with the annual cost of simulation training. Approximately 9.95 CRBSIs were prevented among MICU patients with CVCs in the year after the intervention. Incremental costs attributed to each CRBSI were approximately $82,000 in 2008 dollars and 14 additional hospital days (including 12 MICU days). The annual cost of the simulation-based education was approximately $112,000. Net annual savings were thus greater than $700,000, a 7 to 1 rate of return on the simulation training intervention. A simulation-based educational intervention in CVC insertion was highly cost-effective. These results suggest that investment in simulation training can produce significant medical care cost savings.

Chapter 10: Peak Demand and Time-Differentiated Energy Savings Cross-Cutting Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

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

Kurnik, Charles W; Stern, Frank; Spencer, Justin

Savings from electric energy efficiency measures and programs are often expressed in terms of annual energy and presented as kilowatt-hours per year (kWh/year). However, for a full assessment of the value of these savings, it is usually necessary to consider the measure or program's impact on peak demand as well as time-differentiated energy savings. This cross-cutting protocol describes methods for estimating the peak demand and time-differentiated energy impacts of measures implemented through energy efficiency programs.

Energy Saver: Tips on Saving Energy and Money in Your Home

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

Casey, Allison L

This guide shows you how easy it is to reduce your energy use at home and on the road. You'll find quick tips you can use to start saving today, as well as information on larger projects that will help save you money over the long term. Find even more information about saving money and energy at home by visiting our website, EnergySaver.gov.

Project Lateday : The Level of Accidents Under the Effect of Daylight Saving All Year

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-10-01

Year-round daylight saving time (YRDST) has recently been observed in the United States. The observance of double daylight saving time (DDST) is under some consideration. One of the principal expected effects of the adoption of these time systems is ...

Potential travel cost saving in urban public-transport networks using smartphone guidance

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Public transport (PT) is a key element in most major cities around the world. With the development of smartphones, available journey planning information is becoming an integral part of the PT system. Each traveler has specific preferences when undertaking a trip, and these preferences can also be reflected on the smartphone. This paper considers transit assignment in urban public-transport networks in which the passengers receive smartphone-based information containing elements that might influence the travel decisions in relation to line loads, as well as passenger benefits, and the paper discusses the transition from the current widespread choosing approach to a personalized decision-making approach based on smartphone information. The approach associated with smartphone guidance that considers passengers’ preference on travel time, waiting time and transfer is proposed in the process of obtaining his/her preferred route from the potential travel routes generated by the Deep First Search (DFS) method. Two other approaches, based on the scenarios reflecting reality, include passengers with access to no real time information, and passengers that only have access to the arrival time at the platform are used as comparisons. For illustration, the same network proposed by Spiess and Florian is utilized on the experiments in an agent-based model. Two experiments are conducted respectively according to whether each passenger’s choosing method is consistent. As expected, the results in the first experiment showed that the travel for consistent passengers with smartphone guidance was clearly shorter and that it can reduce travel time exceeding 15% and weighted cost exceeding 20%, and the average saved time approximated 3.88 minutes per passenger. The second experiment presented that travel cost, as well as cost savings, gradually decreased by employing smartphone guidance, and the maximum cost savings accounted for 14.2% of the total weighted cost. PMID:29746528

Temporal Decompostion of a Distribution System Quasi-Static Time-Series Simulation

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

Mather, Barry A; Hunsberger, Randolph J

This paper documents the first phase of an investigation into reducing runtimes of complex OpenDSS models through parallelization. As the method seems promising, future work will quantify - and further mitigate - errors arising from this process. In this initial report, we demonstrate how, through the use of temporal decomposition, the run times of a complex distribution-system-level quasi-static time series simulation can be reduced roughly proportional to the level of parallelization. Using this method, the monolithic model runtime of 51 hours was reduced to a minimum of about 90 minutes. As expected, this comes at the expense of control- andmore » voltage-errors at the time-slice boundaries. All evaluations were performed using a real distribution circuit model with the addition of 50 PV systems - representing a mock complex PV impact study. We are able to reduce induced transition errors through the addition of controls initialization, though small errors persist. The time savings with parallelization are so significant that we feel additional investigation to reduce control errors is warranted.« less

Effects of daylight savings time changes on stock market volatility.

PubMed

Berument, M Hakan; Dogan, Nukhet; Onar, Bahar

2010-04-01

The presence of daylight savings time effects on stock returns and on stock volatility was investigated using an EGARCH specification to model the conditional variance. The evidence gathered from the major United States stock markets for the period between 1967 and 2007 did not support the existence of the daylight savings time effect on stock returns or on volatility. Returns on the first business day following daylight savings time changes were not lower nor was the volatility higher, as would be expected if there were an effect.

[Cost-benefit analysis of practical occupational medicine service].

PubMed

Kentner, M

1996-02-01

Cost problems in business, industry and government service force everyone to probe into the economy of traditional patterns of work and procedures. Occupational medicine is no exception. However, there has been a lack of criteria for assessing the economic aspects of occupational medicine. We are therefore suggesting an approach. Caring for the "human capital" factor is a cornerstone of free socioeconomy. Workers should not only be suitably qualified for their job but there must be the smallest possible minimum of absenteeism. Occupational medicine can do something to positively influence the following factors: by preventing incapacity to work by preventing job accidents and professional diseases by reducing the time required to cover distances between or within workflow phases or stages by reducing waste of time by waiting. Model calculations, based on highly plausible basic postulates, show that fully integrated occupational medical services are throughout economic and cost-saving. Using a concrete example, we arrived at a cost/benefit ratio of 1:2 while confining ourselves to benefits attainable within a relatively short time. We ignored other, future benefits requiring certain preventive measures, as well as other parameters that are difficult to assess, such as corporate identity. At present occupational medicine faces a certain amount of identity crisis which should not be counteracted by pointing to legislation that justifies its existence, but rather by proving that it is indeed highly economical because it saves time and money.

Usefulness of a Regional Health Care Information System in primary care: a case study.

PubMed

Maass, Marianne C; Asikainen, Paula; Mäenpää, Tiina; Wanne, Olli; Suominen, Tarja

2008-08-01

The goal of this paper is to describe some benefits and possible cost consequences of computer based access to specialised health care information. A before-after activity analysis regarding 20 diabetic patients' clinical appointments was performed in a Health Centre in Satakunta region in Finland. Cost data, an interview, time-and-motion studies, and flow charts based on modelling were applied. Access to up-to-date diagnostic information reduced redundant clinical re-appointments, repeated tests, and mail orders for missing data. Timely access to diagnostic information brought about several benefits regarding workflow, patient care, and disease management. These benefits resulted in theoretical net cost savings. The study results indicated that Regional Information Systems may be useful tools to support performance and improve efficiency. However, further studies are required in order to verify how the monetary savings would impact the performance of Health Care Units.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to reduce coronary heart disease in Syria, 2010-2020.

PubMed

Wilcox, Meredith L; Mason, Helen; Fouad, Fouad M; Rastam, Samer; al Ali, Radwan; Page, Timothy F; Capewell, Simon; O'Flaherty, Martin; Maziak, Wasim

2015-01-01

This study presents a cost-effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to lower coronary heart disease in Syria. Costs and benefits of a health promotion campaign about salt reduction (HP); labeling of salt content on packaged foods (L); reformulation of salt content within packaged foods (R); and combinations of the three were estimated over a 10-year time frame. Policies were deemed cost-effective if their cost-effectiveness ratios were below the region's established threshold of $38,997 purchasing power parity (PPP). Sensitivity analysis was conducted to account for the uncertainty in the reduction of salt intake. HP, L, and R+HP+L were cost-saving using the best estimates. The remaining policies were cost-effective (CERs: R=$5,453 PPP/LYG; R+HP=$2,201 PPP/LYG; R+L=$2,125 PPP/LYG). R+HP+L provided the largest benefit with net savings using the best and maximum estimates, while R+L was cost-effective with the lowest marginal cost using the minimum estimates. This study demonstrated that all policies were cost-saving or cost effective, with the combination of reformulation plus labeling and a comprehensive policy involving all three approaches being the most promising salt reduction strategies to reduce CHD mortality in Syria.

What reductions in dependency costs result from treatment in an inpatient neurological rehabilitation unit for people with stroke?

PubMed

O'Connor, Rory J; Beden, Rushdy; Pilling, Andrew; Chamberlain, M Anne

2011-02-01

This paper examines the reductions in care costs that result from inpatient multidisciplinary rehabilitation for younger people with acquired brain injury. Thirty-five consecutive patients admitted following a stroke over one year were recruited to this observational study. Physical ability, dependency and potential community care costs were measured on admission and discharge. Fifty-one community-dwelling patients were transferred to rehabilitation from acute medical wards in a large teaching hospital; 35 met the inclusion criteria. After a median of 59 days of rehabilitation, 29 patients were discharged home and six to nursing homes. Patients made highly significant gains in physical ability (median Barthel index 50 to 64; p < 0.001). Dependency decreased; median calculated costs for care were reduced from pounds 1900 to pounds 1100 per week, a saving of pounds 868 per week. Total annualised care costs reduced from pounds 3,358,056 to pounds 1,807,208, a potential saving of pounds 1,550,848. The median time to repay rehabilitation costs was 21 weeks. Savings occurred in those with moderate and severe disability and they have the potential to continue to accrue for over 12 years. Similar results will probably be found for rehabilitation in other forms of acquired brain injury.

Exploring Demand Charge Savings from Commercial Solar

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

Darghouth, Naim; Barbose, Galen; Mills, Andrew

Commercial retail electricity rates commonly include a demand charge component, based on some measure of the customer’s peak demand. Customer-sited solar PV can potentially reduce demand charges, but the magnitude of these savings can be difficult to predict, given variations in demand charge designs, customer loads, and PV generation profiles. Moreover, depending on the circumstances, demand charges from solar may or may not align well with associated utility cost savings. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are collaborating in a series of studies to understand how solar PV can reduce demand charge levelsmore » for a variety of customer types and demand charges designs. Previous work focused on residential customs with solar. This study, instead, focuses on commercial customers and seeks to understand the extent and conditions under which rooftop can solar reduce commercial demand charges. To answer these questions, we simulate demand charge savings for a broad range of commercial customer types, demand charge designs, locations, and PV system characteristics. This particular analysis does not include storage, but a subsequent analysis in this series will evaluate demand charge savings for commercial customers with solar and storage.« less

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Delaware Reduces Truck Idling With

Science.gov Websites

and saves money with electrified parking areas. For information about this project, contact State of Florida Feb. 15, 2014 Renzenberger Inc Saves Money With Propane Vans Feb. 1, 2014 Photo of an electric Buses Help Kansas City Save Money Nov. 12, 2011 Metropolitan Utilities District Fuels Vehicles With

Comparative cost-efficiency across the European G5 countries of various regimens of filgrastim, biosimilar filgrastim, and pegfilgrastim to reduce the incidence of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia.

PubMed

Aapro, Matti; Cornes, Paul; Abraham, Ivo

2012-06-01

This cost-efficiency analysis of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF) filgrastim (originator Neupogen® and biosimilar Zarzio®) and pegfilgrastim (Neulasta®) examined against a time horizon of 1-14 days of treatment and across the European Union G5 countries (a) when, cost-wise, using Neulasta® 6 mg versus Neupogen® or Zarzio® 300 µg may be cost-saving in reducing the incidence of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia; and (b) if cost-wise, treatment with Zarzio® 300 µg yields a savings advantage over Neupogen® 300 µg. Cost-efficiency analysis of the direct costs a buyer or payer would incur when purchasing or covering any of these agents for managing one patient during one cycle of chemotherapy under regimens of 1-14 days of standard filgrastim using the population-weighted average unit dose cost of each agent per their public pack cost across the European G5 countries. The cost of Neupogen® treatment ranged from €128.16 (1 day) to €1794.30 (14 days), compared to €95.46 and €1336.46 for Zarzio®, thus yielding potential cost savings from €32.70 to €457.84 for the latter. Neulasta® turns cost-saving at day 12 of Neupogen® treatment. At no point over a 14-day treatment period did Neulasta® yield a savings advantage over Zarzio®. Prophylaxis or treatment of febrile neutropenia with Zarzio® is cost-efficient under all possible treatment scenarios relative to Neupogen® and to Neulasta®. In the absence of convincing evidence that pegfilgrastim is pharmacotherapeutically superior to standard filgrastim, there is no cost-efficiency rationale to treat with Neulasta® over Zarzio®, though there may be a small window of approximately 3 days where Neulasta® is cost-efficient over Neupogen®. Regardless, our analysis shows Zarzio® to be the most cost-efficient approach to reducing the incidence of febrile neutropenia in chemotherapy-treated patients.

Single-Use Energy Sources and Operating Room Time for Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Holloran-Schwartz, M Brigid; Gavard, Jeffrey A; Martin, Jared C; Blaskiewicz, Robert J; Yeung, Patrick P

2016-01-01

To compare the intraoperative direct costs of a single-use energy device with reusable energy devices during laparoscopic hysterectomy. A randomized controlled trial (Canadian Task Force Classification I). An academic hospital. Forty-six women who underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy from March 2013 to September 2013. Each patient served as her own control. One side of the uterine attachments was desiccated and transected with the single-use device (Ligasure 5-mm Blunt Tip LF1537 with the Force Triad generator). The other side was desiccated and transected with reusable bipolar forceps (RoBi 5 mm), and transected with monopolar scissors using the same Covidien Force Triad generator. The instrument approach used was randomized to the attending physician who was always on the patient's left side. Resident physicians always operated on the patient's right side and used the converse instruments of the attending physician. Start time was recorded at the utero-ovarian pedicle and end time was recorded after transection of the uterine artery on the same side. Costs included the single-use device; amortized costs of the generator, reusable instruments, and cords; cleaning and packaging of reusable instruments; and disposal of the single-use device. Operating room time was $94.14/min. We estimated that our single use-device cost $630.14 and had a total time savings of 6.7 min per case, or 3.35 min per side, which could justify the expense of the device. The single-use energy device had significant median time savings (-4.7 min per side, p < .001) and total intraoperative direct cost savings ($254.16 per case). A single-use energy device that both desiccates and cuts significantly reduced operating room time to justify its own cost, and it also reduced total intraoperative direct costs during laparoscopic hysterectomy in our institution. Operating room cost per minute varies between institutions and must be considered before generalizing our results. Copyright © 2016 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring efficacy of residential energy efficiency programs in Florida

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Nicholas Wade

Electric utilities, government agencies, and private interests in the U.S. have committed and continue to invest substantial resources in the pursuit of energy efficiency and conservation through demand-side management (DSM) programs. Program investments, and the demand for impact evaluations that accompany them, are projected to grow in coming years due to increased pressure from state-level energy regulation, costs and challenges of building additional production capacity, fuel costs and potential carbon or renewable energy regulation. This dissertation provides detailed analyses of ex-post energy savings from energy efficiency programs in three key sectors of residential buildings: new, single-family, detached homes; retrofits to existing single-family, detached homes; and retrofits to existing multifamily housing units. Each of the energy efficiency programs analyzed resulted in statistically significant energy savings at the full program group level, yet savings for individual participants and participant subgroups were highly variable. Even though savings estimates were statistically greater than zero, those energy savings did not always meet expectations. Results also show that high variability in energy savings among participant groups or subgroups can negatively impact overall program performance and can undermine marketing efforts for future participation. Design, implementation, and continued support of conservation programs based solely on deemed or projected savings is inherently counter to the pursuit of meaningful energy conservation and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. To fully understand and optimize program impacts, consistent and robust measurement and verification protocols must be instituted in the design phase and maintained over time. Furthermore, marketing for program participation must target those who have the greatest opportunity for savings. In most utility territories it is not possible to gain access to the type of large scale datasets that would facilitate robust program analysis. Along with measuring and optimizing energy conservation programs, utilities should provide public access to historical consumption data. Open access to data, program optimization, consistent measurement and verification and transparency in reported savings are essential to reducing energy use and its associated environmental impacts.

Amine Swingbed Payload Testing on ISS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Button, Amy B.; Sweterlitsch, Jeffrey J.

2014-01-01

One of NASA Johnson Space Center's test articles of the amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent system known as the CO2 And Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed, or CAMRAS, was incorporated into a payload on the International Space Station (ISS). The intent of the payload is to demonstrate the spacecraft-environment viability of the core atmosphere revitalization technology baselined for the new Orion vehicle. In addition to the air blower, vacuum connection, and controls needed to run the CAMRAS, the payload incorporates a suite of sensors for scientific data gathering, a water save function, and an air save function. The water save function minimizes the atmospheric water vapor reaching the CAMRAS unit, thereby reducing ISS water losses that are otherwise acceptable, and even desirable, in the Orion environment. The air save function captures about half of the ullage air that would normally be vented overboard every time the cabin air-adsorbing and space vacuum-desorbing CAMRAS beds swap functions. The JSC team conducted 1000 hours of on-orbit Amine Swingbed Payload testing in 2013 and early 2014. This paper presents the basics of the payload's design and history, as well as a summary of the test results, including comparisons with prelaunch testing.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Michigan Converts Vehicles to Propane,

Science.gov Websites

, Reducing Emissions Learn how Detroit reduces emissions and saves money by converting vehicles to run on , 2014 Renzenberger Inc Saves Money With Propane Vans Feb. 1, 2014 Photo of an electric vehicle at a Natural Gas Fueling Stations July 1, 2010 Hybrid Electric Shuttle Buses Offer Free Rides in Maryland June

Research Status of Evaporative Condenser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Feifei; Yang, Yongan

2018-02-01

Reducing energy consumption, saving water resources, recycling cool water are main directions of China’s development. Evaporative condenser using latent heat reduces water resources waste, with energy-saving advantages. This paper reviews the research status of evaporative condenser at home and abroad, and introduces the principle, classification, various influencing factors of evaporative condenser, and puts forward the future research direction.

Daylight Saving Time Transitions and Road Traffic Accidents

PubMed Central

Lahti, Tuuli; Nysten, Esa; Haukka, Jari; Sulander, Pekka; Partonen, Timo

2010-01-01

Circadian rhythm disruptions may have harmful impacts on health. Circadian rhythm disruptions caused by jet lag compromise the quality and amount of sleep and may lead to a variety of symptoms such as fatigue, headache, and loss of attention and alertness. Even a minor change in time schedule may cause considerable stress for the body. Transitions into and out of daylight saving time alter the social and environmental timing twice a year. According to earlier studies, this change in time-schedule leads to sleep disruption and fragmentation of the circadian rhythm. Since sleep deprivation decreases motivation, attention, and alertness, transitions into and out of daylight saving time may increase the amount of accidents during the following days after the transition. We studied the amount of road traffic accidents one week before and one week after transitions into and out of daylight saving time during years from 1981 to 2006. Our results demonstrated that transitions into and out of daylight saving time did not increase the number of traffic road accidents. PMID:20652036

Aerodynamics of a Cycling Team in a Time Trial: Does the Cyclist at the Front Benefit?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iniguez-de-la Torre, A.; Iniguez, J.

2009-01-01

When seasonal journeys take place in nature, birds and fishes migrate in groups. This provides them not only with security but also a considerable saving of energy. The power they need to travel requires overcoming aerodynamic or hydrodynamic drag forces, which can be substantially reduced when the group travels in an optimal arrangement. Also in…

Automated detection of diabetic retinopathy in retinal images.

PubMed

Valverde, Carmen; Garcia, Maria; Hornero, Roberto; Lopez-Galvez, Maria I

2016-01-01

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a disease with an increasing prevalence and the main cause of blindness among working-age population. The risk of severe vision loss can be significantly reduced by timely diagnosis and treatment. Systematic screening for DR has been identified as a cost-effective way to save health services resources. Automatic retinal image analysis is emerging as an important screening tool for early DR detection, which can reduce the workload associated to manual grading as well as save diagnosis costs and time. Many research efforts in the last years have been devoted to developing automatic tools to help in the detection and evaluation of DR lesions. However, there is a large variability in the databases and evaluation criteria used in the literature, which hampers a direct comparison of the different studies. This work is aimed at summarizing the results of the available algorithms for the detection and classification of DR pathology. A detailed literature search was conducted using PubMed. Selected relevant studies in the last 10 years were scrutinized and included in the review. Furthermore, we will try to give an overview of the available commercial software for automatic retinal image analysis.

Achieving Deeper Energy Savings in Federal Energy Performance Contracts

DOE PAGES

Shonder, John A.; Nasseri, Cyrus

2015-01-01

Legislation requires each agency of the US federal government to reduce the aggregate energy use index of its buildings by 30% by 2015, with respect to a 2003 baseline. The declining availability of appropriated funding means that energy performance contracting will be key to achieving this goal. Historically however, energy performance contracts have been able to reduce energy use by only about 20% over baseline. Achieving 30% energy reductions using performance contracting will require new approaches and a specific focus on achieving higher energy savings, both by ESCOs and by agencies. This paper describes some of the ways federal agenciesmore » are meeting this challenge, and presents results from the efforts of one agency the US General Services Administration -- to achieve deeper energy savings in conventional energy savings performance contracts.« less

Energy saving and consumption reducing evaluation of thermal power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Xiu; Han, Miaomiao

2018-03-01

At present, energy saving and consumption reduction require energy saving and consumption reduction measures for thermal power plant, establishing an evaluation system for energy conservation and consumption reduction is instructive for the whole energy saving work of thermal power plant. By analysing the existing evaluation system of energy conservation and consumption reduction, this paper points out that in addition to the technical indicators of power plant, market activities should also be introduced in the evaluation of energy saving and consumption reduction in power plant. Ttherefore, a new evaluation index of energy saving and consumption reduction is set up and the example power plant is calculated in this paper. Rresults show that after introducing the new evaluation index of energy saving and consumption reduction, the energy saving effect of the power plant can be judged more comprehensively, so as to better guide the work of energy saving and consumption reduction in power plant.

Impact of improvement of water supply on household economy in a squatter area of Manila.

PubMed

Aiga, Hirotsugu; Umenai, Takusei

2002-08-01

To estimate the impact of the improvement of water supply. a comparative study on water collection and household expenditure on water was conducted between a former squatter community with an improved water supply (Leveriza: LE) and a typical squatter community with public water faucets (Maestranza: MA) in Manila, the Philippines. Data were collected from 201 structured household interviews and a focus group discussion among housewives in each community. To measure the time spent collecting water, observations of private and public water faucets were conducted. The residents in LE enjoyed significantly larger quantities of water from private water connections than in MA, where only three public water faucets were available as a water source. Conversely, the unit price of water in LE was much lower than in MA. In LE, 72.1% of the households started working for more income using time saved through the improvement of water supply and the proportion of the households under the poverty threshold was reduced from 55.6% to 29.9%. In MA, 68.6% of the households expressed their willingness to work for more income when time spent collecting water was saved. It would be possible for MA to reduce the proportion of the households under the poverty threshold through the improvement of the water supply. The results of the study indicated that the improvement of water supply would possibly encourage urban slum residents to increase their household incomes through reallocating time saved to income-generating activities. The underserved residents spent more money for less water compared to those with access to private water connections. In MA, it took 3-4 h, on average, to complete one water collecting task, even though the nearest public water faucet was within 100 m of any housing unit. This suggests that the definition of accessibility to safe water be reconsidered when discussing the urban poor.

Improving the quality of percutaneous revascularisation in patients with multivessel disease in Australia: cost-effectiveness, public health implications, and budget impact of FFR-guided PCI.

PubMed

Siebert, Uwe; Arvandi, Marjan; Gothe, Raffaella M; Bornschein, Bernhard; Eccleston, David; Walters, Darren L; Rankin, James; De Bruyne, Bernard; Fearon, William F; Pijls, Nico H; Harper, Richard

2014-06-01

The international multicentre FAME Study (n=1,005) demonstrated significant health benefits for patients undergoing multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) guided by fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurement compared with angiography guidance alone (ANGIO). We determined the cost-effectiveness and the public health/budget impact for Australia. We performed a prospective economic evaluation comparing FFR vs. ANGIO in patients with multivessel disease based on original patient-level FAME data. We used Australian utilities (EQ-5D) and costs to calculate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness adopting the societal perspective. The public health and budget impact from the payer's perspective was based on Australian PCI registries. Uncertainty was explored using deterministic sensitivity analyses and the bootstrap method (n=5,000 samples). The cost-effectiveness analysis showed that FFR was cost-saving and reduces costs by 1,776 AUD per patient during one year. Over a two-year time horizon, the public health impact ranged from 7.8 to 73.9 QALYs gained and the budget impact from 1.8 to 14.5 million AUD total cost savings. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that FFR was cost-saving over a wide range of assumptions. FFR-guided PCI in patients with multivessel coronary disease substantially reduces cardiac events, improves QALYs and is cost-saving in the Australian health care system. Copyright © 2014 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surveillance-guided selective digestive decontamination of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in the intensive care unit: A cost-effectiveness analysis.

PubMed

You, Joyce H S; Li, Hong-Kiu; Ip, Margaret

2018-03-01

Clinical findings have shown effectiveness and safety of selective digestive decontamination (SDD) for eradication of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in high-risk carriers. We aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of SDD guided by CRE surveillance in the intensive care unit (ICU). Outcomes of surveillance-guided SDD (test-guided SDD) and no screening (control) in the ICU were compared by Markov model simulations. Model outcomes were CRE infection and mortality rates, direct costs, and quality-adjusted life year (QALY) loss. Model inputs were estimated from clinical literature. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine the robustness of base case results. Test-guided SDD reduced infection (4.8% vs 5.0%) and mortality (1.8% vs 2.1%) rates at a higher cost ($1,102 vs $1,074) than the control group in base case analysis, respectively. Incremental cost per QALY saved (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio [ICER]) by the test-guided SDD group was $557 per QALY. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that test-guided SDD was effective in saving QALYs in 100% of 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations, and cost-saving 59.1% of time. The remaining 40.9% of simulations found SDD to be effective at an additional cost, with ICERs accepted as cost-effective per the willingness-to-pay threshold. Surveillance-guided SDD appears to be cost-effective in reducing CRE infection and mortality with QALYs saved. Copyright © 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Enterovirus Testing on Resource Use in Febrile Young Infants: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Wallace, Sowdhamini S; Lopez, Michelle A; Caviness, A Chantal

2017-02-01

Enterovirus infection commonly causes fever in infants aged 0 to 90 days and, without testing, is difficult to differentiate from serious bacterial infection. To determine the cost savings of routine enterovirus testing and identify subgroups of infants with greater potential impact from testing among infants 0 to 90 days old with fever. Studies were identified systematically from published and unpublished literature by using Embase, Medline, the Cochrane database, and conference proceedings. Inclusion criteria were original studies, in any language, of enterovirus infection including the outcomes of interest in infants aged 0 to 90 days. Standardized instruments were used to appraise each study. The evidence quality was evaluated using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria. Two investigators independently searched the literature, screened and critically appraised the studies, extracted the data, and applied the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria. Of the 257 unique studies identified and screened, 32 were completely reviewed and 8 were included. Routine enterovirus testing was associated with reduced hospital length of stay and cost savings during peak enterovirus season. Cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis was a poor predictor of enterovirus meningitis. The studies were all observational and the evidence was of low quality. Enterovirus polymerase chain reaction testing, independent of cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis, can reduce length of stay and achieve cost savings, especially during times of high enterovirus prevalence. Additional study is needed to identify subgroups that may achieve greater cost savings from testing to additionally enhance the efficiency of testing. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Experience with physician assistants in a Canadian arthroplasty program.

PubMed

Bohm, Eric R; Dunbar, Michael; Pitman, David; Rhule, Chris; Araneta, Jose

2010-04-01

Recent increases in orthopedic surgical services in Canada have added further demand to an already stretched orthopedic workforce. Various initiatives have been undertaken across Canada to meet this demand. One successful model has been the use of physician assistants (PAs) within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA). This study documents the effect of PAs working in an arthroplasty practice from the perspective of patients and health care providers. We also describe the costs, time savings for surgeons and the effects on surgical throughput and waiting times. We calculated time savings by the use of a daily diary kept by the PAs. Surgeons', residents', nurses' and patients' opinions about PAs were recorded by use of a self administered questionnaire. We calculated costs using forgone general practitioner (GP) surgical assist fees and salary costs for PAs. We obtained information about surgical throughput and wait times from the WRHA waitlist database. In this study, PAs "saved" their supervising physician about 204 hours per year; this time can be used for other clinical, administrative or research duties. Physician assistants are regarded as important members of the health care team by surgeons, nurses, orthopedic residents and patients. When we compared the billing costs with those that would have been generated by the use of GP surgical assists, PAs were essentially cost neutral. Furthermore, they potentially freed GPs from the operating room to spend more time delivering primary care. We found that use of the double operating room model facilitated by PAs increased the surgical throughput of primary hip and knee replacements by 42%, and median wait times decreased from 44 weeks to 30 weeks compared with the preceding year. Physician assistants integrate well into the care team and can increase surgical volumes to reduce wait times in a cost-effective manner.

Measuring the hemodynamic response to primary pharmacoprophylaxis of variceal bleeding: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

PubMed

Imperiale, Thomas F; Chalasani, Naga; Klein, Robert W

2003-12-01

The hemodynamic response to ss-blockers alone or with nitrates is highly predictive of efficacy in prevention of variceal bleeding. Hemodynamic monitoring (HDM) requires catheterization of the hepatic vein and measurement of the hepatic venous pressure gradient, the difference between wedged and free hepatic venous pressure. The aim of this study was to compare HDM with no HDM in patients considered for primary pharmacoprophylaxis of esophageal variceal bleeding. A decision model was constructed to compare HDM with no HDM in cirrhotic patients with moderate to large esophageal varices. Patients intolerant to beta-blocker therapy would undergo endoscopic variceal ligation; those with an inadequate hemodynamic response (HDR) to beta-blocker therapy could have nitrates added before ligation was considered. Variceal bleeding was treated with ligation, with transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) reserved for refractory bleeding. Probabilities of treatment responses as well as risks of bleeding and mortality were based on published literature. Only direct costs were considered during the 5-yr time horizon. Outcomes were cost in United States dollars, survival length in life-years, and proportions of patients who experienced variceal bleeding, TIPS insertion, and mortality from any cause. In the base case analysis, HDM was either cost-saving ($2,523 US dollars /life-year gained) or cost-effective (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $5,200 US dollars/life-year saved) compared with no HDM, depending on whether nitrates were added to beta-blocker therapy. HDM reduced variceal bleeding by nearly 60% and had a small effect on all-cause mortality. In the sensitivity analysis, HDM was sensitive to the time horizon, as it was not cost-effective for a time horizon of <22 months and was not cost-saving before 49 months. The cost-effectiveness of HDM was not sensitive to reasonable variation in the probability of HDR to beta-blocker therapy, risk of bleeding, risk reduction with pharmacotherapy, or to the costs of HDM, bleeding, ligation, or TIPS. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that HDM was more effective and less costly 100% and 57% of the time, respectively. Compared with the current standard of no HDM, measuring the hemodynamic response of primary pharmacoprophylaxis substantially reduces the number of bleeding episodes and is cost-effective or cost-saving over a wide range of sensitivity analyses. A randomized trial of HDM is needed to verify its efficacy in clinical practice.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Local Businesses Get Creative to Offer

Science.gov Websites

employees receive free charging, save money on gas and reduce their carbon footprints. When potential Workplace Charging " Being a business, we're interested in saving money and [workplace charging] has businesses look to save money while lowering their carbon footprint, but Hollywood Woodwork has found a

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Pennsylvania School Buses Run on Natural Gas

Science.gov Websites

reduce petroleum use and save money. For information about this project, contact Eastern Pennsylvania Renzenberger Inc Saves Money With Propane Vans Feb. 1, 2014 Photo of a school bus Michigan Transports Students Natural Gas School Buses Help Kansas City Save Money Nov. 12, 2011 Metropolitan Utilities District Fuels

Impact of a University-Based Outpatient Telemedicine Program on Time Savings, Travel Costs, and Environmental Pollutants.

PubMed

Dullet, Navjit W; Geraghty, Estella M; Kaufman, Taylor; Kissee, Jamie L; King, Jesse; Dharmar, Madan; Smith, Anthony C; Marcin, James P

2017-04-01

The objective of this study was to estimate travel-related and environmental savings resulting from the use of telemedicine for outpatient specialty consultations with a university telemedicine program. The study was designed to retrospectively analyze the telemedicine consultation database at the University of California Davis Health System (UCDHS) between July 1996 and December 2013. Travel distances and travel times were calculated between the patient home, the telemedicine clinic, and the UCDHS in-person clinic. Travel cost savings and environmental impact were calculated by determining differences in mileage reimbursement rate and emissions between those incurred in attending telemedicine appointments and those that would have been incurred if a visit to the hub site had been necessary. There were 19,246 consultations identified among 11,281 unique patients. Telemedicine visits resulted in a total travel distance savings of 5,345,602 miles, a total travel time savings of 4,708,891 minutes or 8.96 years, and a total direct travel cost savings of $2,882,056. The mean per-consultation round-trip distance savings were 278 miles, average travel time savings were 245 minutes, and average cost savings were $156. Telemedicine consultations resulted in a total emissions savings of 1969 metric tons of CO 2 , 50 metric tons of CO, 3.7 metric tons of NO x , and 5.5 metric tons of volatile organic compounds. This study demonstrates the positive impact of a health system's outpatient telemedicine program on patient travel time, patient travel costs, and environmental pollutants. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing Treatment Effects of Inhaled Corticosteroids on Medical Expenses and Exacerbations among COPD Patients: Longitudinal Analysis of Managed Care Claims

PubMed Central

Akazawa, Manabu; Stearns, Sally C; Biddle, Andrea K

2008-01-01

Objective To assess costs, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) augmenting bronchodilator treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Data Sources Claims between 1997 and 2005 from a large managed care database. Study Design Individual-level, fixed-effects regression models estimated the effects of initiating ICS on medical expenses and likelihood of severe exacerbation. Bootstrapping provided estimates of the incremental cost per severe exacerbation avoided. Data Extraction Methods COPD patients aged 40 or older with ≥15 months of continuous eligibility were identified. Monthly observations for 1 year before and up to 2 years following initiation of bronchodilators were constructed. Principal Findings ICS treatment reduced monthly risk of severe exacerbation by 25 percent. Total costs with ICS increased for 16 months, but declined thereafter. ICS use was cost saving 46 percent of the time, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $2,973 per exacerbation avoided; for patients ≥50 years old, ICS was cost saving 57 percent of time. Conclusions ICS treatment reduces exacerbations, with an increase in total costs initially for the full sample. Compared with younger patients with COPD, patients aged 50 or older have reduced costs and improved outcomes. The estimated cost per severe exacerbation avoided, however, may be high for either group because of uncertainty as reflected by the large standard errors of the parameter estimates. PMID:18671750

Commercialization of the power factor controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The purpose of the Motor Power Controller, also known as the Power Factor Controller, is to improve power factor and reduce power dissipation in induction motors operating below full load. These purposes were studied and tested in detail. The Motor Power Controller is capable of raising power factors from 0.2 to 0.8 and results in energy savings. It was found that many motors, in their present operating applications, are classified as unstable. The electronic nature of the controller vs. the electrical nature of the motor, compound this problem due to the differences in response time of the two devices. Many tests were successfully completed, the most indicating greater savings than anticipated. Also, there was an effect on efficiency which was not included in the calculations.

Additional reductions in Medicare spending growth will likely require shifting costs to beneficiaries.

PubMed

Chernew, Michael E

2013-05-01

Policy makers have considerable interest in reducing Medicare spending growth. Clarity in the debate on reducing Medicare spending growth requires recognition of three important distinctions: the difference between public and total spending on health, the difference between the level of health spending and rate of health spending growth, and the difference between growth per beneficiary and growth in the number of beneficiaries in Medicare. The primary policy issue facing the US health care system is the rate of spending growth in public programs, and solving that problem will probably require reforms to the entire health care sector. The Affordable Care Act created a projected trajectory for Medicare spending per beneficiary that is lower than historical growth rates. Although opportunities for one-time savings exist, any long-term savings from Medicare, beyond those already forecast, will probably require a shift in spending from taxpayers to beneficiaries via higher beneficiary premium contributions (overall or via means testing), changes in eligibility, or greater cost sharing at the point of service.

Influence of Implementation of Composite Materials in Civil Aircraft Industry on reduction of Environmental Pollution and Greenhouse Effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, A. J.; Hodzic, A.; Soutis, C.; Wilson, C. W.

2011-12-01

Computer-based Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) models were carried out to compare lightweight composites with the traditional aluminium over their useful lifetime. The analysis included raw materials, production, useful life in operation and disposal at the end of the material's useful life. The carbon fibre epoxy resin composite could in some cases reduce the weight of a component by up to 40 % compared to aluminium. As the fuel consumption of an aircraft is strongly influenced by its total weight, the emissions can be significantly reduced by increasing the proportion of composites used in the aircraft structure. Higher emissions, compared to aluminium, produced during composites production meet their 'break even' point after certain number of time units when used in aircraft structures, and continue to save emissions over their long-term operation. The study highlighted the environmental benefits of using lightweight structures in aircraft design, and also showed that utilisation of composites in products without energy saving may lead to increased emissions in the environment.

Dynamic VMs placement for energy efficiency by PSO in cloud computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dashti, Seyed Ebrahim; Rahmani, Amir Masoud

2016-03-01

Recently, cloud computing is growing fast and helps to realise other high technologies. In this paper, we propose a hieratical architecture to satisfy both providers' and consumers' requirements in these technologies. We design a new service in the PaaS layer for scheduling consumer tasks. In the providers' perspective, incompatibility between specification of physical machine and user requests in cloud leads to problems such as energy-performance trade-off and large power consumption so that profits are decreased. To guarantee Quality of service of users' tasks, and reduce energy efficiency, we proposed to modify Particle Swarm Optimisation to reallocate migrated virtual machines in the overloaded host. We also dynamically consolidate the under-loaded host which provides power saving. Simulation results in CloudSim demonstrated that whatever simulation condition is near to the real environment, our method is able to save as much as 14% more energy and the number of migrations and simulation time significantly reduces compared with the previous works.

Cost analysis of nurse telephone consultation in out of hours primary care: evidence from a randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

Lattimer, Val; Sassi, Franco; George, Steve; Moore, Michael; Turnbull, Joanne; Mullee, Mark; Smith, Helen

2000-01-01

Objective To undertake an economic evaluation of nurse telephone consultation using decision support software in comparison with usual general practice care provided by a general practice cooperative. Design Cost analysis from an NHS perspective using stochastic data from a randomised controlled trial. Setting General practice cooperative with 55 general practitioners serving 97 000 registered patients in Wiltshire, England. Subjects All patients contacting the service, or about whom the service was contacted during the trial year (January 1997 to January 1998). Main outcome measures Costs and savings to the NHS during the trial year. Results The cost of providing nurse telephone consultation was £81 237 per annum. This, however, determined a £94 422 reduction of other costs for the NHS arising from reduced emergency admissions to hospital. Using point estimates for savings, the cost analysis, combined with the analysis of outcomes, showed a dominance situation for the intervention over general practice cooperative care alone. If a larger improvement in outcomes is assumed (upper 95% confidence limit) NHS savings increase to £123 824 per annum. Savings of only £3728 would, however, arise in a scenario where lower 95% confidence limits for outcome differences were observed. To break even, the intervention would have needed to save 138 emergency hospital admissions per year, around 90% of the effect achieved in the trial. Additional savings of £16 928 for general practice arose from reduced travel to visit patients at home and fewer surgery appointments within three days of a call. Conclusions Nurse telephone consultation in out of hours primary care may reduce NHS costs in the long term by reducing demand for emergency admission to hospital. General practitioners currently bear most of the cost of nurse telephone consultation and benefit least from the savings associated with it. This indicates that the service produces benefits in terms of service quality, which are beyond the reach of this cost analysis. PMID:10764368

Restricted Collision List method for faster Direct Simulation Monte-Carlo (DSMC) collisions

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

Macrossan, Michael N., E-mail: m.macrossan@uq.edu.au

The ‘Restricted Collision List’ (RCL) method for speeding up the calculation of DSMC Variable Soft Sphere collisions, with Borgnakke–Larsen (BL) energy exchange, is presented. The method cuts down considerably on the number of random collision parameters which must be calculated (deflection and azimuthal angles, and the BL energy exchange factors). A relatively short list of these parameters is generated and the parameters required in any cell are selected from this list. The list is regenerated at intervals approximately equal to the smallest mean collision time in the flow, and the chance of any particle re-using the same collision parameters inmore » two successive collisions is negligible. The results using this method are indistinguishable from those obtained with standard DSMC. The CPU time saving depends on how much of a DSMC calculation is devoted to collisions and how much is devoted to other tasks, such as moving particles and calculating particle interactions with flow boundaries. For 1-dimensional calculations of flow in a tube, the new method saves 20% of the CPU time per collision for VSS scattering with no energy exchange. With RCL applied to rotational energy exchange, the CPU saving can be greater; for small values of the rotational collision number, for which most collisions involve some rotational energy exchange, the CPU may be reduced by 50% or more.« less

Efficient Fourier-based algorithms for time-periodic unsteady problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gopinath, Arathi Kamath

2007-12-01

This dissertation work proposes two algorithms for the simulation of time-periodic unsteady problems via the solution of Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations. These algorithms use a Fourier representation in time and hence solve for the periodic state directly without resolving transients (which consume most of the resources in a time-accurate scheme). In contrast to conventional Fourier-based techniques which solve the governing equations in frequency space, the new algorithms perform all the calculations in the time domain, and hence require minimal modifications to an existing solver. The complete space-time solution is obtained by iterating in a fifth pseudo-time dimension. Various time-periodic problems such as helicopter rotors, wind turbines, turbomachinery and flapping-wings can be simulated using the Time Spectral method. The algorithm is first validated using pitching airfoil/wing test cases. The method is further extended to turbomachinery problems, and computational results verified by comparison with a time-accurate calculation. The technique can be very memory intensive for large problems, since the solution is computed (and hence stored) simultaneously at all time levels. Often, the blade counts of a turbomachine are rescaled such that a periodic fraction of the annulus can be solved. This approximation enables the solution to be obtained at a fraction of the cost of a full-scale time-accurate solution. For a viscous computation over a three-dimensional single-stage rescaled compressor, an order of magnitude savings is achieved. The second algorithm, the reduced-order Harmonic Balance method is applicable only to turbomachinery flows, and offers even larger computational savings than the Time Spectral method. It simulates the true geometry of the turbomachine using only one blade passage per blade row as the computational domain. In each blade row of the turbomachine, only the dominant frequencies are resolved, namely, combinations of neighbor's blade passing. An appropriate set of frequencies can be chosen by the analyst/designer based on a trade-off between accuracy and computational resources available. A cost comparison with a time-accurate computation for an Euler calculation on a two-dimensional multi-stage compressor obtained an order of magnitude savings, and a RANS calculation on a three-dimensional single-stage compressor achieved two orders of magnitude savings, with comparable accuracy.

Energy savings by reduced mixing in aeration tanks: results from a full scale investigation and long term implementation at Avedoere wastewater treatment plant.

PubMed

Sharma, A K; Guildal, T; Thomsen, H R; Jacobsen, B N

2011-01-01

The aim of this project was to investigate the potential of reducing number of mixers in the biological treatment process and thereby achieve energy and economical savings and contribute to cleaner environment. The project was carried out at Avedoere wastewater treatment plant and a full scale investigation was conducted to study the effect of reduced mixing on flow velocity, suspended solid sedimentation, concentration gradients of oxygen and SS with depth and treatment efficiency. The only negative effect observed was on flow velocity; however the velocity was above the critical velocity. The plant has been operating with 50% of its designed number of mixers since September 2007 and long term results also confirm that reduced mixing did not have any negative effect on treatment efficiency. The estimated yearly electricity saving is 0.75 GWh/year.

How School Facilities Managers and Business Officials Are Reducing Operating Costs and Saving Money. Energy-Smart Building Choices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

This guide addresses contributions that school facility administrators and business officials can make in an effort to reduce operating costs and free up money for capital improvements. The guide explores opportunities available to utilize energy-saving strategies at any stage in a building's life, from its initial design phase through renovation.…

Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of cardiovascular disease prevention in whole populations: modelling study.

PubMed

Barton, Pelham; Andronis, Lazaros; Briggs, Andrew; McPherson, Klim; Capewell, Simon

2011-07-28

To estimate the potential cost effectiveness of a population-wide risk factor reduction programme aimed at preventing cardiovascular disease. Economic modelling analysis. England and Wales. Population Entire population. Model Spreadsheet model to quantify the reduction in cardiovascular disease over a decade, assuming the benefits apply consistently for men and women across age and risk groups. Cardiovascular events avoided, quality adjusted life years gained, and savings in healthcare costs for a given effectiveness; estimates of how much it would be worth spending to achieve a specific outcome. A programme across the entire population of England and Wales (about 50 million people) that reduced cardiovascular events by just 1% would result in savings to the health service worth at least £30m (€34m; $48m) a year compared with no additional intervention. Reducing mean cholesterol concentrations or blood pressure levels in the population by 5% (as already achieved by similar interventions in some other countries) would result in annual savings worth at least £80m to £100m. Legislation or other measures to reduce dietary salt intake by 3 g/day (current mean intake approximately 8.5 g/day) would prevent approximately 30,000 cardiovascular events, with savings worth at least £40m a year. Legislation to reduce intake of industrial trans fatty acid by approximately 0.5% of total energy content might gain around 570,000 life years and generate NHS savings worth at least £230m a year. Any intervention that achieved even a modest population-wide reduction in any major cardiovascular risk factor would produce a net cost saving to the NHS, as well as improving health. Given the conservative assumptions used in this model, the true benefits would probably be greater.

Comparative study of irrigation water use and groundwater recharge under various irrigation schemes in an agricultural region, central Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shih-Kai; Jang, Cheng-Shin; Tsai, Cheng-Bin

2016-04-01

The risk of rice production has increased notably due to climate change in Taiwan. To respond to growing agricultural water shortage without affecting normal food production in the future, the application of water-saving irrigation will be a substantial resolution. However, the adoption of water-saving irrigation may result in the reducing of groundwater recharge because continuous flooding in the paddy fields could be regarded as an important source for groundwater recharge. The aim of this study was to evaluate the irrigation water-saving benefit and groundwater recharge deficit when adopting the System of Rice Intensification, known as SRI methodology, in the Choushui River alluvial fan (the largest groundwater pumping and the most important rice-cropping region in central Taiwan). The three-dimensional finite element groundwater model, FEMWATER, was applied to simulate the infiltration process and groundwater recharge under SRI methodology and traditional irrigation schemes including continuous irrigation, and rotational irrigation in two rice-crop periods with hydro-climatic data of 2013. The irrigation water use was then calculated by water balance. The results showed that groundwater recharge amount of SRI methodology was slightly lower than those of traditional irrigation schemes, reduced 3.6% and 1.6% in the first crop period, and reduced 3.2% and 1.6% in the second crop period, compared with continuous irrigation and rotational irrigation, respectively. However, the SRI methodology achieved notably water-saving benefit compared to the disadvantage of reducing the groundwater recharge amount. The field irrigation requirement amount of SRI methodology was significantly lower than those of traditional irrigation schemes, saving 37% and 20% of irrigation water in the first crop period, and saving 53% and 35% in the second crop period, compared with continuous irrigation and rotational irrigation, respectively. Therefore, the amount of groundwater pumping for irrigation water use can be reduced when adopting the SRI methodology in the future. The reducing of groundwater recharge could be supplemented by using 1,500 hectares of fallow paddy fields, located at proximal-fan region, as recharge pools in the wet season. The adoption of water-saving irrigation would be helpful for the relevant government agency to formulate the integral water resource management strategies in this region. Keywords:Groundwater recharge, SRI, FEMWATER, Field irrigation requirement

Energy-Saving Opportunities for Manufacturing Companies, (English/Russian Fact Sheet) (Revised)

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

Not Available

This English/Russian brochure describes the Industrial Technologies Program Save Energy Now model and provides information on tools and resources to help manufacturing facilities reduce industrial energy intensity.

Energy-Saving Opportunities for Manufacturing Companies, International Fact Sheet (Spanish)

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

Not Available

This English/Spanish fact sheet describes the Industrial Technologies Program Save Energy Now model and provides information on tools and resources to help manufacturing facilities reduce industrial energy intensity.

Testing simulation and structural models with applications to energy demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolff, Hendrik

2007-12-01

This dissertation deals with energy demand and consists of two parts. Part one proposes a unified econometric framework for modeling energy demand and examples illustrate the benefits of the technique by estimating the elasticity of substitution between energy and capital. Part two assesses the energy conservation policy of Daylight Saving Time and empirically tests the performance of electricity simulation. In particular, the chapter "Imposing Monotonicity and Curvature on Flexible Functional Forms" proposes an estimator for inference using structural models derived from economic theory. This is motivated by the fact that in many areas of economic analysis theory restricts the shape as well as other characteristics of functions used to represent economic constructs. Specific contributions are (a) to increase the computational speed and tractability of imposing regularity conditions, (b) to provide regularity preserving point estimates, (c) to avoid biases existent in previous applications, and (d) to illustrate the benefits of our approach via numerical simulation results. The chapter "Can We Close the Gap between the Empirical Model and Economic Theory" discusses the more fundamental question of whether the imposition of a particular theory to a dataset is justified. I propose a hypothesis test to examine whether the estimated empirical model is consistent with the assumed economic theory. Although the proposed methodology could be applied to a wide set of economic models, this is particularly relevant for estimating policy parameters that affect energy markets. This is demonstrated by estimating the Slutsky matrix and the elasticity of substitution between energy and capital, which are crucial parameters used in computable general equilibrium models analyzing energy demand and the impacts of environmental regulations. Using the Berndt and Wood dataset, I find that capital and energy are complements and that the data are significantly consistent with duality theory. Both results would not necessarily be achieved using standard econometric methods. The final chapter "Daylight Time and Energy" uses a quasi-experiment to evaluate a popular energy conservation policy: we challenge the conventional wisdom that extending Daylight Saving Time (DST) reduces energy demand. Using detailed panel data on half-hourly electricity consumption, prices, and weather conditions from four Australian states we employ a novel 'triple-difference' technique to test the electricity-saving hypothesis. We show that the extension failed to reduce electricity demand and instead increased electricity prices. We also apply the most sophisticated electricity simulation model available in the literature to the Australian data. We find that prior simulation models significantly overstate electricity savings. Our results suggest that extending DST will fail as an instrument to save energy resources.

The Anesthesia Preoperative Evaluation Clinic (APEC): a prospective randomized controlled trial assessing impact on consultation time, direct costs, patient education and satisfaction with anesthesia care.

PubMed

Schiff, J H; Frankenhauser, S; Pritsch, M; Fornaschon, S A; Snyder-Ramos, S A; Heal, C; Schmidt, K; Martin, E; Böttiger, B W; Motsch, J

2010-07-01

Anesthetic preoperative evaluation clinics (APECs) are relatively new institutions. Although cost effective, APECs have not been universally adopted in Europe. The aim of this study was to compare preoperative anesthetic assessment in wards with an APEC, assessing time, information gain, patient satisfaction and secondary costs. Two hundred and seven inpatients were randomized to be assessed at the APEC or on the ward by the same two senior anesthetists. The outcomes measured were the length of time for each consultation, the amount of information passed on to patients and the level of patient satisfaction. The consultation time was used to calculate impact on direct costs. A multivariate analysis was conducted to detect confounding variables. Ninety-four patients were seen in the APEC, and 78 were seen on the ward. The total time for the consultation was shorter for the APEC (mean 8.4 minutes [P<0.01]), and we calculated savings of 6.4 Euro per patient. More information was passed on to the patients seen in the APEC (P<0.01). The general satisfaction scores were comparable between groups. A multivariate analysis found that the consultation time was significantly influenced by the type of anesthesia, the magnitude of the operation and the location of the consultation. Gain in information was significantly influenced by age, education and the location of the visit. The APEC reduced consultation times and costs and had a positive impact on patient education. The cost savings are related to personnel costs and, therefore, are independent of other potential savings of an APEC, whereas global patient satisfaction remains unaltered.

Fatal alcohol-related traffic crashes increase subsequent to changes to and from daylight savings time.

PubMed

Hicks, G J; Davis, J W; Hicks, R A

1998-06-01

On the hypothesis that sleepiness and alcohol interact to increase the risk of alcohol-related traffic fatalities, the percentages of alcohol-related fatal traffic crashes were assessed for the entire state of New Mexico for the years 1989-1992, for each of the seven days that preceded the changes to and from Daylight Savings Time and for each of the 14 days which followed the changes to and from Daylight Savings Time. Consistent with our hypothesis the percentage of alcohol-related fatal crashes increased significantly during the first seven days after these changes in Daylight Savings Time.

Daylight saving time transitions and hospital treatments due to accidents or manic episodes

PubMed Central

Lahti, Tuuli A; Haukka, Jari; Lönnqvist, Jouko; Partonen, Timo

2008-01-01

Background Daylight saving time affects millions of people annually but its impacts are still widely unknown. Sleep deprivation and the change of circadian rhythm can trigger mental illness and cause higher accident rates. Transitions into and out of daylight saving time changes the circadian rhythm and may cause sleep deprivation. Thus it seems plausible that the prevalence of accidents and/or manic episodes may be higher after transition into and out of daylight saving time. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of transitions into and out of daylight saving time on the incidence of accidents and manic episodes in the Finnish population during the years of 1987 to 2003. Methods The nationwide data were derived from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register. From the register we obtained the information about the hospital-treated accidents and manic episodes during two weeks before and two weeks after the transitions in 1987–2003. Results The results were negative, as the transitions into or out of daylight saving time had no significant effect on the incidence of accidents or manic episodes. Conclusion One-hour transitions do not increase the incidence of manic episodes or accidents which require hospital treatment. PMID:18302734

Physician Engagement in Improving Operative Supply Chain Efficiency Through Review of Surgeon Preference Cards.

PubMed

Harvey, Lara F B; Smith, Katherine A; Curlin, Howard

To reduce operative costs involved in the purchase, packing, and transport of unnecessary supplies by improving the accuracy of surgeon preference cards. Quality improvement study (Canadian Task Force classification II-3). Gynecologic surgery suite of an academic medical center. Twenty-one specialized and generalist gynecologic surgeons. The preference cards of up to the 5 most frequently performed procedures per surgeon were selected. A total of 81 cards were distributed to 21 surgeons for review. Changes to the cards were communicated to the operating room charge nurse and finalized. Fourteen surgeons returned a total of 48 reviewed cards, 39 of which had changes. A total of 109 disposable supplies were removed from these cards, at a total cost savings of $767.67. The cost per card was reduced by $16 on average for disposables alone. Three reusable instrument trays were also eliminated from the cards, resulting in savings of approximately $925 in processing costs over a 3-month period. Twenty-two items were requested by surgeons to be available on request but were not routinely placed in the room at the start of each case, at a total cost of $6,293.54. The rate of return of unused instruments to storage decreased after our intervention, from 10.1 to 9.6 instruments per case. Surgeon preference cards serve as the basis for economic decision making regarding the purchase, storing, packing, and transport of operative instruments and supplies. A one-time surgeon review of cards resulted in a decrease in the number of disposable and reusable instruments that must be stocked, transported, counted in the operating room, or returned, potentially translating into cost savings. Surgeon involvement in preference card management may reduce waste and provide ongoing cost savings. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Financial Capability and Sociodemographic Factors among Survivors of Human Trafficking.

PubMed

Okech, David; McGarity, Stephen Vandiver; Hansen, Nathan; Burns, Abigail C; Howard, Waylon

2018-01-01

Improving the economic well-being of the girls and women is a key to reducing re-trafficking and in providing stability that survivors can use to rebuild their lives. The study looks at how various sociodemographic traits affected the financial capability of n = 144 women and girls who received intervention at a residential care facility in Ghana, West Africa. Three domain of financial capability are assessed in this, i.e., financial risk, financial planning, and financial saving. A scaled likelihood ratio test (chi-square difference test) was used to evaluate the significance of each direct covariate effect(%). Each of the overall goodness-of-fit indices suggested that the initial CFA model fit the data well, χ 2 (19, N = 144)  = 31.45, p = 0.04, RMSEA = 0.067 (90% CI: 0.017-0.108), TLI = 0.923, CFI = 0.948. Older women reported lower levels of financial savings than younger women. We found that women with secondary school education or higher reported significantly higher financial risk than women with less education. Women with children reported lower levels of financial saving than women without children. Married women indicated significantly more financial saving than single women. There was a significant negative effect of time spent in trafficking conditions on financial saving, indicating the highest average level of financial savings at intervention and decreased thereafter. Programs and policies in resource-scarce contexts that aim to assist trafficking survivors must go beyond providing psychosocial counseling and focus also on economic development opportunities.

Energy-Saving Opportunities for Manufacturing Companies (English/Portuguese Brochure) (in English/Portuguese)

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

Not Available

This English/Portuguese brochure describes the Industrial Technologies Program Save Energy Now model and provides information on tools and resources to help manufacturing facilities reduce industrial energy intensity.

Analysis of optimal design of low temperature economizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, J. H.; Wang, S.

2017-11-01

This paper has studied the Off-design characteristic of low temperature economizer system based on thermodynamics analysis. Based on the data from one 1000 MW coal-fired unit, two modes of operation are contrasted and analyzed. One is to fix exhaust gas temperature and the other one is to take into account both of the average temperature difference and the exhaust gas temperature. Meanwhile, the cause of energy saving effect change is explored. Result shows that: in mode 1, the amount of decrease in coal consumption reduces from 1.11 g/kWh (under full load) to 0.54 g/kWh (under half load), and in mode 2, when the load decreases from 90% to 50%, the decrease in coal consumption reduces from 1.29 g/kWh to 0.84 g/kWh. From the result, under high load, the energy saving effect is superior, and under lower work load, energy saving effect declines rapidly when load is reduced. When load changes, the temperature difference of heat transfer, gas flow, the flue gas heat rejection and the waste heat recovery change. The energy saving effect corresponding changes result in that the energy saving effect under high load is superior and more stable. However, rational adjustment to the temperature of outlet gas can alleviate the decline of the energy saving effect under low load. The result provides theoretical analysis data for the optimal design and operation of low temperature economizer system of power plant.

Data management using the personal digital assistant in an acute pain service.

PubMed

Chan, S S; Chu, C P; Cheng, B C; Chen, P P

2004-02-01

Handheld personal digital assistants (PDA) are increasingly being used by physicians for a variety of information and data management purposes. We evaluated a PDA-based data management system for our acute pain service. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted to assess staff experience and attitude towards the paper system before the introduction of the PDA, and three months after introduction of the PDA system. We compared the time taken to conduct the acute pain round before and after the implementation of the PDA. The time saved in data management and the amount of paper saved were estimated. Data from 177 patients with a total of 635 acute pain follow-up visits were entered over a three-month period. User satisfaction, ease of access to drug reference and clinical guidelines were similar between the two systems. The respondents found that the PDA was easy to use but less so than the paper system (P = 0.007), in particular, when accessing a patient's cumulative data (P = 0.007). There was no missed follow-up or data entry with the use of PDA. The time taken to attend follow-up visits was similar for the two systems (Paper: 8.8 +/- 3.2 compared to PDA: 7.0 +/- 2.0 minutes, P = 0.151). The estimated annual amount of paper and time saved in data management was 650 sheets and 130 man-hours respectively. Our experience with the use of the PDA in APS was satisfactory. The PDA system can potentially reduce time and paper use and missed data entry and patient follow-up.

Estimates of the direct and indirect cost savings associated with heart disease that could be avoided through dietary change in the United States.

PubMed

Cawley, John; Meyerhoefer, Chad; Gillingham, Leah G; Kris-Etherton, Penny; Jones, Peter J H

2017-02-01

Diets high in saturated fat are associated with elevated risk of heart disease. This study estimates the savings in direct (medical care) costs and indirect (job absenteeism) costs in the US from reductions in heart disease associated with substituting monounsaturated fats (MUFA) for saturated fats. A four-part model of the medical care cost savings from avoided heart disease was estimated using data on 247,700 adults from the 2000-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The savings from reduced job absenteeism due to avoided heart disease was estimated using a zero-inflated negative binomial model of the number of annual work loss days applied to data on 164,577 adults from the MEPS. Estimated annual savings in medical care expenditures resulting from a switch from a diet high in saturated fat to a high-MUFA diet totaled ∼ $25.7 billion (95% CI = $6.0-$45.4 billion) in 2010, with private insurance plans saving $7.9 billion (95% CI = $1.8-$14.0 billion), Medicare saving $9.4 billion (95% CI = $2.1-$16.7 billion), Medicaid saving $1.4 billion (95% CI = $0.2-$2.5 billion), and patients saving $2.2 billion (95% CI = $0.5-$3.8 billion). The annual savings in terms of reduced job absenteeism ranges from a lower bound of $600 million (95% CI = $100 million to $1.0 billion) to an upper bound of $1.2 billion (95% CI = $0.2-$2.1 billion) for 2010. The data cover only the non-institutionalized population. Decreased costs due to any decreases in the severity of heart disease are not included. Cost savings do not include any reduction in informal care at home. Diets high in saturated fat impose substantial medical care costs and job absenteeism costs, and substantial savings could be achieved by substituting MUFA for saturated fat.

Potential reduction of energy consumption in public university library

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noranai, Z.; Azman, ADF

2017-09-01

Efficient electrical energy usage has been recognized as one of the important factor to reduce cost of electrical energy consumption. Various parties have been emphasized about the importance of using electrical energy efficiently. Inefficient usage of electrical energy usage lead to biggest factor increasing of administration cost in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. With this in view, a project the investigate potential reduction electrical energy consumption in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia was carried out. In this project, a case study involving electrical energy consumption of Perpustakaan Tunku Tun Aminah was conducted. The scopes of this project are to identify energy consumption in selected building and to find the factors that contributing to wastage of electrical energy. The MS1525:2001, Malaysian Standard - Code of practice on energy efficiency and use of renewable energy for non-residential buildings was used as reference. From the result, 4 saving measure had been proposed which is change type of the lamp, install sensor, decrease the number of lamp and improve shading coefficient on glass. This saving measure is suggested to improve the efficiency of electrical energy consumption. Improve of human behaviour toward saving energy measure can reduce 10% from the total of saving cost while on building technical measure can reduce 90% from total saving cost.

Saving-enhanced memory: the benefits of saving on the learning and remembering of new information.

PubMed

Storm, Benjamin C; Stone, Sean M

2015-02-01

With the continued integration of technology into people's lives, saving digital information has become an everyday facet of human behavior. In the present research, we examined the consequences of saving certain information on the ability to learn and remember other information. Results from three experiments showed that saving one file before studying a new file significantly improved memory for the contents of the new file. Notably, this effect was not observed when the saving process was deemed unreliable or when the contents of the to-be-saved file were not substantial enough to interfere with memory for the new file. These results suggest that saving provides a means to strategically off-load memory onto the environment in order to reduce the extent to which currently unneeded to-be-remembered information interferes with the learning and remembering of other information. © The Author(s) 2014.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Texas Law Enforcement Vehicles Fill up With

Science.gov Websites

. 15, 2014 Renzenberger Inc Saves Money With Propane Vans Feb. 1, 2014 Photo of an electric vehicle at Natural Gas School Buses Help Kansas City Save Money Nov. 12, 2011 Metropolitan Utilities District Fuels Buses Save Money for Virginia Schools Feb. 25, 2010 Michigan Fleet Reduces Gasoline and Diesel Use Feb

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

Thayer, B.M.

A daylight office building built for Lockheed Martin near San Francisco has saved half a million dollars on energy bills and several times more due to reduced absenteeism and improved employee productivity. The building design incorporates soft daylight throughout the interior of the building. This article discusses the following topics in relationship to the building design: design for the climate; deep daylighting; integrated electric lighting; mechanical system; energy performance; the productivity story.

Online referrals one way capitated groups gain efficiencies, reduce errors.

PubMed

2002-08-01

An online referral system is just the latest money and time-saving tool in the e-commerce arsenal at Hill Physicians Medical Group. Using a modified version of Healinx Corp.'s secure e-mail messaging platform, Hill is testing a custom-made online referral system at two primary care practices that appear to be helping the practice boost its bottom line under capitation.

Computed Tomography For Internal Inspection Of Castings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanna, Timothy L.

1995-01-01

Computed tomography used to detect internal flaws in metal castings before machining and otherwise processing them into finished parts. Saves time and money otherwise wasted on machining and other processing of castings eventually rejected because of internal defects. Knowledge of internal defects gained by use of computed tomography also provides guidance for changes in foundry techniques, procedures, and equipment to minimize defects and reduce costs.

An Innovative Approach to Improve Communication and Reduce Physician Stress and Burnout in a University Affiliated Residency Program.

PubMed

Lapointe, Ryan; Bhesania, Siddharth; Tanner, Tristan; Peruri, Adithya; Mehta, Parag

2018-05-28

Ineffective communication between nursing staff and residents leads to numerous educational and patient-care interruptions, increasing resident stress and overall workload. We developed an innovative and simple, secure electronic health record (EHR) base text paging system to communicate with internal medicine residents. The goal is to avoid unnecessary interruption during patient care or educational activities and reduce stress. Traditional paging system can send a phone number to call back. We developed and implemented a HIPPA-compliant, EHR-integrated text paging at a busy 591-bed urban hospital. Access was granted to unit clerks, nursing staff, case managers, and physicians. Senders could either send a traditional telephone number page or a text page through our EHR. The recipient could then either acknowledge receipt of the page or take appropriate actions. Afterward, Internal medicine residents were polled on overall satisfaction difference between basic phone based numeric paging and the enhanced EHR text paging system. Educational interruptions (averaging over 7 pages) decreased from 64% to 16%. Patient care interruptions fell from 68% to 12%. 88% of residents felt that 50% or less of the pages were non-emergent and did not require an immediate action. 92% of 25 surveyed internal medicine residents preferred text paging over numeric paging and responded through the EHR 60% of the time by placing direct orders. Time savings using the new system over a 3-month span amounted to 72.5 h in transmission time alone. Text paging among medical caregivers and internal medicine residents through EHR-associated communication reduced patient care and educational interruptions. It saved time spent sending pages, answering unnecessary pages and it improved resident's subjective stress and satisfaction levels.

[Saving motives in young, middle-aged, and older adults. Preliminary results of a new inventory for exploring lifespan saving motives].

PubMed

Rager, B; Lang, F R; Wagner, G G

2012-12-01

There is some research on personal reasons for saving money in the economic sciences. However, not much is known about the age differences of saving motives. In this vein, the future time perspective (FTP) is known to play a critical role for motivation across the life span. In this study, we introduce a new Saving Motive Inventory (SMI), which also covers saving goals after retirement. Furthermore, it is argued that additional saving motives that are not based on economic models of life-cycle saving also exist. In accordance with the socio-emotional selectivity theory, we explored age differences in an online survey with 496 participants from young (19-44 years), middle-aged (45-64 years), and older (65-86 years) adulthood, who completed a questionnaire on saving motives, personality, and future-related thinking (e.g., Future Time Perspective Scale, Life Orientation Test). Results of the explorative Factor Analysis (EFA) are consistent with the theoretical expectations. The factors are generativity, educational investment, consumption, indifference, and provision for death and dying. Together these five factors account for 67% of the variance. In general, the inventory is reliable and valid with respect to the expected internal and external criteria. It contributes to better understanding of saving motives over the lifespan, especially with respect to effects of the future time perspective.

The effectiveness of the 55 MPH national maximum speed limit as a life saving benefit

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-10-01

The report contains an analysis of the life saving benefits resulting from the 55 mph NMSL from 1974-1979. Monthly fatality data from 1970-1979 was used in a time series model to arrive at the estimated safety benefits (lives saved). The time series ...

An energy saving mechanism of EPON networks for real time video transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chien-Ping; Wu, Ho-Ting; Chiang, Yun-Ting; Chien, Shieh-Chieh; Ke, Kai-Wei

2015-07-01

Modern access networks are constructed widely by passive optical networks (PONs) to meet the growing bandwidth demand. However, higher bandwidth means more energy consumption. To save energy, a few research works propose the dual-mode energy saving mechanism that allows the ONU to operate between active and sleep modes periodically. However, such dual-mode energy saving design may induce unnecessary power consumption or packet delay increase in the case where only downstream data exist for most of the time. In this paper, we propose a new tri-mode energy saving scheme for Ethernet PON (EPON). The new tri-mode energy saving design, combining the dual-mode saving mechanism with the doze mode, allows the ONU to switch among these three modes alternatively. In the doze mode, the ONU may receive downstream data while keeping its transmitter close. Such scenario is often observed for real time video downstream transmission. Furthermore, the low packet delay of high priority upstream data can be attained through the use of early wake-up mechanism employed in both energy saving modes. The energy saving and system efficiency can thus be achieved jointly while maintaining the differentiated QoS for data with various priorities. Performance results via simulation have demonstrated the effectiveness of such mechanism.

Reducing the financial impact of pathogen inactivation technology for platelet components: our experience.

PubMed

Girona-Llobera, Enrique; Jimenez-Marco, Teresa; Galmes-Trueba, Ana; Muncunill, Josep; Serret, Carmen; Serra, Neus; Sedeño, Matilde

2014-01-01

Pathogen inactivation (PI) technology for blood components enhances blood safety by inactivating viruses, bacteria, parasites, and white blood cells. Additionally, PI for platelet (PLT) components has the potential to extend PLT storage time from 5 to 7 days. A retrospective analysis was conducted into the percentage of outdated PLT components during the 3 years before and after the adoption of PLT PI technology in our institution. The PLT transfusion dose for both pre-PI and post-PI periods was similar. A retrospective analysis to study clinical safety and component utilization was also performed in the Balearic Islands University Hospital. As a result of PI implementation in our institution, the PLT production cost increased by 85.5%. However, due to the extension of PLT storage time, the percentage of outdated PLT units substantially decreased (-83.9%) and, consequently, the cost associated with outdated units (-69.8%). This decrease represented a 13.7% reduction of the initial cost increase which, together with the saving in blood transportation (0.1%), led to a saving of 13.8% over the initial cost. Therefore, the initial 85.5% increase in the cost of PLT production was markedly reduced to 71.7%. The mean number of PLT concentrates per patient was similar during both periods. The extension of PLT storage time can substantially contribute to reducing the financial impact of PI by decreasing the percentage of outdated PLTs while improving blood safety. Since the adoption of PI, there have been no documented cases of PLT transfusion-related sepsis in our region. © 2013 American Association of Blood Banks.

The economic benefits of reducing physical inactivity: an Australian example

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Physical inactivity has major impacts on health and productivity. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of physical inactivity in the 2008 Australian adult population. The economic benefits were estimated as 'opportunity cost savings', which represent resources utilized in the treatment of preventable disease that are potentially available for re-direction to another purpose from fewer incident cases of disease occurring in communities. Methods Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 10% feasible, reduction target for physical inactivity from current Australian levels (70%). Lifetime cohort health benefits were estimated as fewer incident cases of inactivity-related diseases; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) by age and sex. Opportunity costs were estimated as health sector cost impacts, as well as paid and unpaid production gains and leisure impacts from fewer disease events associated with reduced physical inactivity. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of physically active and inactive adults, and valued using the friction cost approach. The impact of an improvement in health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modeled from time use survey data, as applied to the exposed and non-exposed population subgroups and valued by suitable proxy. Potential costs associated with interventions to increase physical activity were not included. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariate sensitivity analyses were undertaken to provide information on the strength of the conclusions. Results A 10% reduction in physical inactivity would result in 6,000 fewer incident cases of disease, 2,000 fewer deaths, 25,000 fewer DALYs and provide gains in working days (114,000), days of home-based production (180,000) while conferring a AUD96 million reduction in health sector costs. Lifetime potential opportunity cost savings in workforce production (AUD12 million), home-based production (AUD71 million) and leisure-based production (AUD79 million) was estimated (total AUD162 million 95% uncertainty interval AUD136 million, AUD196 million). Conclusions Opportunity cost savings and health benefits conservatively estimated from a reduction in population-level physical inactivity may be substantial. The largest savings will benefit individuals in the form of unpaid production and leisure gains, followed by the health sector, business and government. PMID:21943093

The economic benefits of reducing physical inactivity: an Australian example.

PubMed

Cadilhac, Dominique A; Cumming, Toby B; Sheppard, Lauren; Pearce, Dora C; Carter, Rob; Magnus, Anne

2011-09-24

Physical inactivity has major impacts on health and productivity. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of physical inactivity in the 2008 Australian adult population. The economic benefits were estimated as 'opportunity cost savings', which represent resources utilized in the treatment of preventable disease that are potentially available for re-direction to another purpose from fewer incident cases of disease occurring in communities. Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 10% feasible, reduction target for physical inactivity from current Australian levels (70%). Lifetime cohort health benefits were estimated as fewer incident cases of inactivity-related diseases; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) by age and sex. Opportunity costs were estimated as health sector cost impacts, as well as paid and unpaid production gains and leisure impacts from fewer disease events associated with reduced physical inactivity. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of physically active and inactive adults, and valued using the friction cost approach. The impact of an improvement in health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modeled from time use survey data, as applied to the exposed and non-exposed population subgroups and valued by suitable proxy. Potential costs associated with interventions to increase physical activity were not included. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariate sensitivity analyses were undertaken to provide information on the strength of the conclusions. A 10% reduction in physical inactivity would result in 6,000 fewer incident cases of disease, 2,000 fewer deaths, 25,000 fewer DALYs and provide gains in working days (114,000), days of home-based production (180,000) while conferring a AUD96 million reduction in health sector costs. Lifetime potential opportunity cost savings in workforce production (AUD12 million), home-based production (AUD71 million) and leisure-based production (AUD79 million) was estimated (total AUD162 million 95% uncertainty interval AUD136 million, AUD196 million). Opportunity cost savings and health benefits conservatively estimated from a reduction in population-level physical inactivity may be substantial. The largest savings will benefit individuals in the form of unpaid production and leisure gains, followed by the health sector, business and government.

Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior.

PubMed

Choi, James J; Laibson, David; Madrian, Brigitte C; Metrick, Andrew

2009-12-01

We show that individual investors over-extrapolate from their personal experience when making savings decisions. Investors who experience particularly rewarding outcomes from saving in their 401(k)-a high average and/or low variance return-increase their 401(k) savings rate more than investors who have less rewarding experiences with saving. This finding is not driven by aggregate time-series shocks, income effects, rational learning about investing skill, investor fixed effects, or time-varying investor-level heterogeneity that is correlated with portfolio allocations to stock, bond, and cash asset classes. We discuss implications for the equity premium puzzle and interventions aimed at improving household financial outcomes.

Clinical evaluation of atlas and deep learning based automatic contouring for lung cancer.

PubMed

Lustberg, Tim; van Soest, Johan; Gooding, Mark; Peressutti, Devis; Aljabar, Paul; van der Stoep, Judith; van Elmpt, Wouter; Dekker, Andre

2018-02-01

Contouring of organs at risk (OARs) is an important but time consuming part of radiotherapy treatment planning. The aim of this study was to investigate whether using institutional created software-generated contouring will save time if used as a starting point for manual OAR contouring for lung cancer patients. Twenty CT scans of stage I-III NSCLC patients were used to compare user adjusted contours after an atlas-based and deep learning contour, against manual delineation. The lungs, esophagus, spinal cord, heart and mediastinum were contoured for this study. The time to perform the manual tasks was recorded. With a median time of 20 min for manual contouring, the total median time saved was 7.8 min when using atlas-based contouring and 10 min for deep learning contouring. Both atlas based and deep learning adjustment times were significantly lower than manual contouring time for all OARs except for the left lung and esophagus of the atlas based contouring. User adjustment of software generated contours is a viable strategy to reduce contouring time of OARs for lung radiotherapy while conforming to local clinical standards. In addition, deep learning contouring shows promising results compared to existing solutions. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Climate Change, Indoor Environment and Health

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Climate change is becoming a driving force for improving energy efficiency because saving energy can help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. However, it is important to balance energy saving measures with ventilation...

Health, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Climate change is becoming a driving force for improving energy efficiency because saving energy can help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. However, it is important to balance energy saving measures with ventilation...

Maximizing Energy Savings Reliability in BC Hydro Industrial Demand-side Management Programs: An Assessment of Performance Incentive Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gosman, Nathaniel

For energy utilities faced with expanded jurisdictional energy efficiency requirements and pursuing demand-side management (DSM) incentive programs in the large industrial sector, performance incentive programs can be an effective means to maximize the reliability of planned energy savings. Performance incentive programs balance the objectives of high participation rates with persistent energy savings by: (1) providing financial incentives and resources to minimize constraints to investment in energy efficiency, and (2) requiring that incentive payments be dependent on measured energy savings over time. As BC Hydro increases its DSM initiatives to meet the Clean Energy Act objective to reduce at least 66 per cent of new electricity demand with DSM by 2020, the utility is faced with a higher level of DSM risk, or uncertainties that impact the costeffective acquisition of planned energy savings. For industrial DSM incentive programs, DSM risk can be broken down into project development and project performance risks. Development risk represents the project ramp-up phase and is the risk that planned energy savings do not materialize due to low customer response to program incentives. Performance risk represents the operational phase and is the risk that planned energy savings do not persist over the effective measure life. DSM project development and performance risks are, in turn, a result of industrial economic, technological and organizational conditions, or DSM risk factors. In the BC large industrial sector, and characteristic of large industrial sectors in general, these DSM risk factors include: (1) capital constraints to investment in energy efficiency, (2) commodity price volatility, (3) limited internal staffing resources to deploy towards energy efficiency, (4) variable load, process-based energy saving potential, and (5) a lack of organizational awareness of an operation's energy efficiency over time (energy performance). This research assessed the capacity of alternative performance incentive program models to manage DSM risk in BC. Three performance incentive program models were assessed and compared to BC Hydro's current large industrial DSM incentive program, Power Smart Partners -- Transmission Project Incentives, itself a performance incentive-based program. Together, the selected program models represent a continuum of program design and implementation in terms of the schedule and level of incentives provided, the duration and rigour of measurement and verification (M&V), energy efficiency measures targeted and involvement of the private sector. A multi criteria assessment framework was developed to rank the capacity of each program model to manage BC large industrial DSM risk factors. DSM risk management rankings were then compared to program costeffectiveness, targeted energy savings potential in BC and survey results from BC industrial firms on the program models. The findings indicate that the reliability of DSM energy savings in the BC large industrial sector can be maximized through performance incentive program models that: (1) offer incentives jointly for capital and low-cost operations and maintenance (O&M) measures, (2) allow flexible lead times for project development, (3) utilize rigorous M&V methods capable of measuring variable load, process-based energy savings, (4) use moderate contract lengths that align with effective measure life, and (5) integrate energy management software tools capable of providing energy performance feedback to customers to maximize the persistence of energy savings. While this study focuses exclusively on the BC large industrial sector, the findings of this research have applicability to all energy utilities serving large, energy intensive industrial sectors.

A facility monitoring system: The single most valuable and cost-effective tool available to an energy manager

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

Holmes, W.A.

Energy engineering and management combines engineering problem-solving and financial management techniques to reduce utility costs. At present, substantial amounts of time and money are being spent in order to attempt to quantify energy consumption and costs and define opportunities for savings. Unfortunately, accurate verification of results is often overlooked. Advances in technology during the last few years have made the installation of a permanent, PC-based monitoring system possible for any facility, often for no more than the cost of a detailed study. By investing initially in a monitoring system rather than audits or studies, the actual consumption and cost datamore » will be available on a continuing basis and can be used to produce immediate operational savings, more accurately analyze opportunities requiring capital investments, and to verify actual savings resulting from changes. A permanent monitoring system, installed as the first step in a utility cost reduction effort, to identify where and how energy is used in a facility on a dynamic and real-time basis, can provide the most valuable and cost-effective tool available to an energy manager. The resulting data allows energy consumption patterns and utility costs to be understood and managed in the same manner as all other costs within a facility.« less

A Reduced Set of Features for Chronic Kidney Disease Prediction

PubMed Central

Misir, Rajesh; Mitra, Malay; Samanta, Ranjit Kumar

2017-01-01

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the life-threatening diseases. Early detection and proper management are solicited for augmenting survivability. As per the UCI data set, there are 24 attributes for predicting CKD or non-CKD. At least there are 16 attributes need pathological investigations involving more resources, money, time, and uncertainties. The objective of this work is to explore whether we can predict CKD or non-CKD with reasonable accuracy using less number of features. An intelligent system development approach has been used in this study. We attempted one important feature selection technique to discover reduced features that explain the data set much better. Two intelligent binary classification techniques have been adopted for the validity of the reduced feature set. Performances were evaluated in terms of four important classification evaluation parameters. As suggested from our results, we may more concentrate on those reduced features for identifying CKD and thereby reduces uncertainty, saves time, and reduces costs. PMID:28706750

'Green-in-Three' IT Solutions Protecting Workers and the Environment - 12526

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

Eckman, Todd

2012-07-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management (EM), DOE Richland Operations Office (RL), Mission Support Alliance (MSA), and Lockheed Martin Services, Inc. (LMSI), Information Technology partnered in an effort to reduce environmental impacts, energy use, and operating costs and improve worker safety through consolidation, centralization, and standardization of Information Technology (IT) assets on the Hanford Site. Green-in-Three is an IT Value strategy, which is moving Hanford from an inefficient, antiquated 20. Century IT architecture to a smart, green, flexible 21. Century IT architecture that delivers information anywhere at any time to Hanford Mission partners. The 'Green-in-three' efforts to datemore » have had a significant impact on meeting and exceeding the overall IT Value Strategy to decrease IT maintenance and delivery costs and move Hanford into a smart, green, and flexible 21. Century IT architecture. Some of the results and impacts are as follows: - Thirteen data centers were reduced to two, freeing up approximately 279 m{sup 2} (3000 ft{sup 2})) of space; - Reduced data center energy use 50%, from 120,000 to 60,000 kW; - Excessed 9 metric tons (10 tons) of server equipment; - Removed and properly disposed of 2871 kg (6,300 lb) lead acid batteries; - Projects saved over $1 M in fiber and copper cable installation through 2011; - Developed or improved partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies, Tribes, and Site contractors; - Increased wireless coverage for improved access to remote areas. Moving forward to 2012, the impact of these accomplishments will be realized in the years to come. IT services will be delivered in days instead of months. Field personnel will have access to information at the point of performance, reducing travel time. Remote monitoring, telemetry, and/or video can be conducted using the wireless network; reducing travel time for field inspections. Emergency personnel have access to critical information at the incident site, saving valuable time. Full deployment of the VoIP technologies will reduce power use by 1,000,000 kWh/yr for telecommunications equipment, driving home the IT Value Strategy of Green-in-Three. (author)« less

Energy Savings Lifetimes and Persistence

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

Hoffman, Ian M.; Schiller, Steven R.; Todd, Annika

2016-02-01

This technical brief explains the concepts of energy savings lifetimes and savings persistence and discusses how program administrators use these factors to calculate savings for efficiency measures, programs and portfolios. Savings lifetime is the length of time that one or more energy efficiency measures or activities save energy, and savings persistence is the change in savings throughout the functional life of a given efficiency measure or activity. Savings lifetimes are essential for assessing the lifecycle benefits and cost effectiveness of efficiency activities and for forecasting loads in resource planning. The brief also provides estimates of savings lifetimes derived from amore » national collection of costs and savings for electric efficiency programs and portfolios.« less

Health care costs: saving in the private sector.

PubMed

Robeson, F E

1979-01-01

Robeson offers a number of options to employers to help reduce the impact of increasing health care costs. He points out that large organizations which employ hundreds of people have considerable market power which can be exerted to contain costs. It is suggested that the risk management departments assume the responsibility for managing the effort to reduce the costs of medical care and of the health insurance programs of these organizations since that staff is experienced at evaluating premiums and negotiating with third-party payors. The article examines a number of short-run strategies for firms to pursue to contain health care costs: (1) use alternative delivery systems such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs) which have cost-cutting potential but require marketing efforts to persuade employees of their desirability; (2) contracts with third-party payors which require a second opinion (peer review), a practice which saved one labor union over $2 million from 1972 to 1976; (3) implementation of insurance coverage for less expensive outpatient care; and (4) the use of claims review. These strategies are compared in terms of four criteria: supply of demand for health services; management effort; cost; and time necessary for realized savings. Robeson concludes that development of a management plan for containing health care costs requires an extensive analysis of alternatives, organizational objectives, existing policies, and resources, and offers a table summarizing the cost-containment strategies that a firm should consider.

Safety and cost savings of reducing adult dengue hospitalization in a tertiary care hospital in Singapore.

PubMed

Lee, Linda K; Earnest, Arul; Carrasco, Luis R; Thein, Tun L; Gan, Victor C; Lee, Vernon J; Lye, David C; Leo, Yee-Sin

2013-01-01

Previously, most dengue cases in Singapore were hospitalized despite low incidence of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) or death. To minimize hospitalization, the Communicable Disease Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) in Singapore implemented new admission criteria which included clinical, laboratory, and DHF predictive parameters in 2007. All laboratory-confirmed dengue patients seen at TTSH during 2006-2008 were retrospectively reviewed for clinical data. Disease outcome and clinical parameters were compared over the 3 years. There was a 33.0% mean decrease in inpatients after the new criteria were implemented compared with the period before (p < 0.001). The proportion of inpatients with DHF increased significantly from 31.7% in 2006 to 34.4% in 2008 (p = 0.008); 68 DHF cases were managed safely on an outpatient basis after compared with none before implementation. DHF inpatients had more serious signs such as clinical fluid accumulation (15.5% vs 2.9% of outpatients), while most DHF outpatients had hypoproteinemia (92.7% vs 81.3% of inpatients). The eight intensive care unit admissions and five deaths during this time period all occurred among inpatients. The new criteria resulted in a median cost saving of US$1.4 million to patients in 2008. The new dengue admission criteria were effective in sustainably reducing length of hospitalization, yielding considerable cost savings. A minority of DHF patients with mild symptoms recovered uneventfully through outpatient management.

A review on waste heat recovery from exhaust in the ceramics industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delpech, Bertrand; Axcell, Brian; Jouhara, Hussam

2017-11-01

Following the energy crisis in 1980, many saving technologies have been investigated with attempts to implement them into various industries, one of them is the field of ceramic production. In order to comply with energy saving trends and environmental issues, the European ceramic industry sector has developed energy efficient systems which reduced significantly production time and costs and reduced total energy consumption. The last achievement is of great importance as the energy consumption of the ceramic process accounts for a significant percentage of the total production costs. More precisely, the firing stage consumes the highest amount of energy during the whole ceramic production process. The use of roller kilns, fired by natural gas, involves a loss of 50% of the input energy via the flue gas and the cooling gas exhausts. This review paper briefly describes the production process of the different ceramic products, with a focus on the ceramic sector in Europe. Due to the limited on waste heat recovery in the ceramic industry, other high temperature waste heat recovery applications are considered in the paper, such as in concrete and steel production, which could have a potential use in the ceramic industry. The state of the art technologies used in the ceramics industry are reviewed with a special interest in waste heat recovery from the ceramic process exhaust stacks and energy saving technologies.

Single visit surgery for pediatric ambulatory surgical procedures: a satisfaction and cost analysis.

PubMed

Olson, Jacob K; Deming, Lisa A; King, Denis R; Rager, Terrence M; Gartner, Sarah; Huibregtse, Natalie; Moss, R Lawrence; Besner, Gail E

2017-10-10

Single visit surgery (SVS) consists of same-day pre-operative assessment and operation with telephone post-operative follow-up. This reduces family time commitment to 1 hospital trip rather than 2-3. We began SVS for ambulatory patients with clear surgical indications in 2013. We sought to determine family satisfaction, cost savings to families, and institutional financial feasibility of SVS. SVS patients were compared to age/case matched conventional surgery (CS) patients. Satisfaction was assessed by post-operative telephone survey. Family costs were calculated as the sum of lost revenue (based on median income) and transportation costs ($0.50/mile). Satisfaction was high in both groups (98% for SVS vs. 93% for CS; p=0.27). 40% of CS families indicated that they would have preferred SVS, whereas no SVS families indicated preference for the CS option (p<0.001). Distance from the hospital did not correlate with satisfaction. Estimated cost savings for an SVS family was $188. Reimbursement, hospital and physician charges, and day-of-surgery cancellation rates were similar. SVS provides substantial cost savings to families while maintaining patient satisfaction and equivalent institutional reimbursement. SVS is an effective approach to low-risk ambulatory surgical procedures that is less disruptive to families, facilitates access to pediatric surgical care, and reduces resource utilization. Cost Effectiveness Study. Level II. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using Incentives to Improve Maintainability

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

felt that if these tasks were successfully accomplished, system acquisition would be streamlined and ~ost savings would result. One of the...reducing the it [ Ref. 12]. labor hours and spares required to These savings generally accrue system and are difficul~ to the acquisition. As one...maintainability were not considered. The savings that result will be generated by the reduction in man-hours spent in the maintenance of tbe equipment, the

ESTEEM - Encouraging School Transportation Effective Energy Management - Fuel Economy Management Handbook for Directors of Pupil Transportation, School District Administrators, Transportation Department Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BRI Systems, Inc., Phoenix, AZ.

This publication is a guide for school districts to reduce pupil transportation costs and save energy. The information presented is based upon: (1) energy saving programs implemented by school districts; (2) government and industry research efforts in fuel economy; (3) the successful experiences of commercial trucking fleets to save fuel; and (4)…

Operating Room Time Savings with the Use of Splint Packs: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Gonzalez, Tyler A.; Bluman, Eric M.; Palms, David; Smith, Jeremy T.; Chiodo, Christopher P.

2016-01-01

Background: The most expensive variable in the operating room (OR) is time. Lean Process Management is being used in the medical field to improve efficiency in the OR. Streamlining individual processes within the OR is crucial to a comprehensive time saving and cost-cutting health care strategy. At our institution, one hour of OR time costs approximately $500, exclusive of supply and personnel costs. Commercially prepared splint packs (SP) contain all components necessary for plaster-of-Paris short-leg splint application and have the potential to decrease splint application time and overall costs by making it a more lean process. We conducted a randomized controlled trial comparing OR time savings between SP use and bulk supply (BS) splint application. Methods: Fifty consecutive adult operative patients on whom post-operative short-leg splint immobilization was indicated were randomized to either a control group using BS or an experimental group using SP. One orthopaedic surgeon (EMB) prepared and applied all of the splints in a standardized fashion. Retrieval time, preparation time, splint application time, and total splinting time for both groups were measured and statistically analyzed. Results: The retrieval time, preparation time and total splinting time were significantly less (p<0.001) in the SP group compared with the BS group. There was no significant difference in application time between the SP group and BS group. Conclusion: The use of SP made the process of splinting more lean. This has resulted in an average of 2 minutes 52 seconds saved in total splinting time compared to BS, making it an effective cost-cutting and time saving technique. For high volume ORs, use of splint packs may contribute to substantial time and cost savings without impacting patient safety. PMID:26894212

How low can you go? The impact of reduced benefits and increased cost sharing.

PubMed

Lee, Jason S; Tollen, Laura

2002-01-01

Amid escalating health care costs and a managed care backlash, employers are considering traditional cost control methods from the pre-managed care era. We use an actuarial model to estimate the premium-reducing effects of two such methods: increasing employee cost sharing and reducing benefits. Starting from a baseline plan with rich benefits and low cost sharing, estimated premium savings as a result of eliminating five specific benefits were about 22 percent. The same level of savings was also achieved by increasing cost sharing from a 15 dollars copayment with no deductible to 20 percent coinsurance and a 250 dollars deductible. Further increases in cost sharing produced estimated savings of up to 50 percent. We discuss possible market- and individual-level effects of the proliferation of plans with high cost sharing and low benefits.

An objective decision model of power grid environmental protection based on environmental influence index and energy-saving and emission-reducing index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Jun-shu; Jin, Yan-ming; Hao, Wei-hua

2017-01-01

Based on modelling the environmental influence index of power transmission and transformation project and energy-saving and emission-reducing index of source-grid-load of power system, this paper establishes an objective decision model of power grid environmental protection, with constraints of power grid environmental protection objectives being legal and economical, and considering both positive and negative influences of grid on the environmental in all-life grid cycle. This model can be used to guide the programming work of power grid environmental protection. A numerical simulation of Jiangsu province’s power grid environmental protection objective decision model has been operated, and the results shows that the maximum goal of energy-saving and emission-reducing benefits would be reached firstly as investment increasing, and then the minimum goal of environmental influence.

26 CFR 1.149(d)-1A - Limitations on advance refundings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... savings test. If any separate issue in a multipurpose issue increases the aggregate present value debt service savings on the entire multipurpose issue or reduces the present value debt service losses on that...

Cost/Value Approach to Insulation Produces Savings at Sibley School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

School Business Affairs, 1978

1978-01-01

An energy savings study revealed that adding insulation to an existing building and reducing ventilation loads would enable the school to heat both the existing building and the addition with existing boiler equipment. (Author/MLF)

31 CFR 315.10 - Limitations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... each series of bonds and savings notes for each specific year, which has varied from time to time, can..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BUREAU OF THE PUBLIC DEBT REGULATIONS GOVERNING U.S. SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES A, B, C.... Specific limitations have been placed on the amounts of bonds of each series and savings notes that might...

31 CFR 315.10 - Limitations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... each series of bonds and savings notes for each specific year, which has varied from time to time, can..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BUREAU OF THE PUBLIC DEBT REGULATIONS GOVERNING U.S. SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES A, B, C.... Specific limitations have been placed on the amounts of bonds of each series and savings notes that might...

31 CFR 315.10 - Limitations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... each series of bonds and savings notes for each specific year, which has varied from time to time, can..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BUREAU OF THE PUBLIC DEBT REGULATIONS GOVERNING U.S. SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES A, B, C.... Specific limitations have been placed on the amounts of bonds of each series and savings notes that might...

31 CFR 315.10 - Limitations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... each series of bonds and savings notes for each specific year, which has varied from time to time, can..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BUREAU OF THE PUBLIC DEBT REGULATIONS GOVERNING U.S. SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES A, B, C.... Specific limitations have been placed on the amounts of bonds of each series and savings notes that might...

Wastewater treatment process impact on energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions.

PubMed

Mamais, D; Noutsopoulos, C; Dimopoulou, A; Stasinakis, A; Lekkas, T D

2015-01-01

The objective of this research was to assess the energy consumption of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), to apply a mathematical model to evaluate their carbon footprint, and to propose energy saving strategies that can be implemented to reduce both energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Greece. The survey was focused on 10 WWTPs in Greece with a treatment capacity ranging from 10,000 to 4,000,000 population equivalents (PE). Based on the results, annual specific energy consumption ranged from 15 to 86 kWh/PE. The highest energy consumer in all the WWTPs was aeration, accounting for 40-75% of total energy requirements. The annual GHG emissions varied significantly according to the treatment schemes employed and ranged between 61 and 161 kgCO₂e/PE. The highest values of CO₂emissions were obtained in extended aeration systems and the lowest in conventional activated sludge systems. Key strategies that the wastewater industry could adopt to mitigate GHG emissions are identified and discussed. A case study is presented to demonstrate potential strategies for energy savings and GHG emission reduction. Given the results, it is postulated that the reduction of dissolved oxygen (DO) set points and sludge retention time can provide significant energy savings and decrease GHG emissions.

What goes on behind closed doors? How college dormitory residents change to save energy during a competition-based energy reduction intervention

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

Sintov, Nicole; Dux, Ellen; Tran, Agassi

Here, the aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of a competition-based intervention combining high resolution electricity feedback, incentives, information, and prompts on college dormitory residents’ energy consumption and participation in demand response (DR) events. We also investigated changes in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors and examined psycho-social correlates of behavior change. Residents of 39 suites in a freshman residence hall competed against one another to reduce energy consumption and win prizes as part of a 3-week competition. Feedback was provided in near real time at the suite-level via an interactive touch-screen kiosk. Participants also completed baseline and followup surveys.more » Findings have indicated that electricity use among all suites was approximately 6.4% lower during the competition period compared to baseline, a significant reduction. Additionally, participants reported engaging in various pro-environmental behaviors significantly more frequently during the competition relative to baseline. Changes in pro-environmental behavior were associated with changes in level of group identification and perceived social norms. In three weeks, dormitory residents saved 3, 158 kWh of electricity compared to baseline – the equivalent of more than 3, 470 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Our findings provide evidence that real-time feedback, combined with incentives, information, and prompts, can motivate on-campus residents to reduce energy consumption. We contribute to a limited body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of dorm energy competitions in motivating college students to save energy. In addition, we identified individual-level behavioral and psycho-social changes made during such an intervention. University residential life planners may also use the results of this research to inform student programming.« less

What goes on behind closed doors? How college dormitory residents change to save energy during a competition-based energy reduction intervention

DOE PAGES

Sintov, Nicole; Dux, Ellen; Tran, Agassi; ...

2016-07-04

Here, the aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of a competition-based intervention combining high resolution electricity feedback, incentives, information, and prompts on college dormitory residents’ energy consumption and participation in demand response (DR) events. We also investigated changes in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors and examined psycho-social correlates of behavior change. Residents of 39 suites in a freshman residence hall competed against one another to reduce energy consumption and win prizes as part of a 3-week competition. Feedback was provided in near real time at the suite-level via an interactive touch-screen kiosk. Participants also completed baseline and followup surveys.more » Findings have indicated that electricity use among all suites was approximately 6.4% lower during the competition period compared to baseline, a significant reduction. Additionally, participants reported engaging in various pro-environmental behaviors significantly more frequently during the competition relative to baseline. Changes in pro-environmental behavior were associated with changes in level of group identification and perceived social norms. In three weeks, dormitory residents saved 3, 158 kWh of electricity compared to baseline – the equivalent of more than 3, 470 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Our findings provide evidence that real-time feedback, combined with incentives, information, and prompts, can motivate on-campus residents to reduce energy consumption. We contribute to a limited body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of dorm energy competitions in motivating college students to save energy. In addition, we identified individual-level behavioral and psycho-social changes made during such an intervention. University residential life planners may also use the results of this research to inform student programming.« less

Ahorre Energia: Consejos sobre el ahorro de dinero y energia en el hogar (Book)

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

Not Available

Learn how to save money with Energy Saver: Tips on Saving Money & Energy at Home, from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Energy Saver guide will help you reduce your monthly energy costs and live more efficiently. This guide takes you through the systems and appliances that consume the most energy in your home, and provides solutions to cut costs for you while saving the environment. The Energy Saver guide also includes transportation tips to help you save money at the pump.

Benchmarking, benchmarks, or best practices? Applying quality improvement principles to decrease surgical turnaround time.

PubMed

Mitchell, L

1996-01-01

The processes of benchmarking, benchmark data comparative analysis, and study of best practices are distinctly different. The study of best practices is explained with an example based on the Arthur Andersen & Co. 1992 "Study of Best Practices in Ambulatory Surgery". The results of a national best practices study in ambulatory surgery were used to provide our quality improvement team with the goal of improving the turnaround time between surgical cases. The team used a seven-step quality improvement problem-solving process to improve the surgical turnaround time. The national benchmark for turnaround times between surgical cases in 1992 was 13.5 minutes. The initial turnaround time at St. Joseph's Medical Center was 19.9 minutes. After the team implemented solutions, the time was reduced to an average of 16.3 minutes, an 18% improvement. Cost-benefit analysis showed a potential enhanced revenue of approximately $300,000, or a potential savings of $10,119. Applying quality improvement principles to benchmarking, benchmarks, or best practices can improve process performance. Understanding which form of benchmarking the institution wishes to embark on will help focus a team and use appropriate resources. Communicating with professional organizations that have experience in benchmarking will save time and money and help achieve the desired results.

Measuring Skew in Average Surface Roughness as a Function of Surface Preparation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stahl, Mark

2015-01-01

Characterizing surface roughness is important for predicting optical performance. Better measurement of surface roughness reduces polishing time, saves money and allows the science requirements to be better defined. This study characterized statistics of average surface roughness as a function of polishing time. Average surface roughness was measured at 81 locations using a Zygo white light interferometer at regular intervals during the polishing process. Each data set was fit to a normal and Largest Extreme Value (LEV) distribution; then tested for goodness of fit. We show that the skew in the average data changes as a function of polishing time.

Cost-benefit analysis of Xpert MTB/RIF for tuberculosis suspects in German hospitals.

PubMed

Diel, Roland; Nienhaus, Albert; Hillemann, Doris; Richter, Elvira

2016-02-01

Our objective was to assess the cost-benefit of enhancing or replacing the conventional sputum smear with the real-time PCR Xpert MTB/RIF method in the inpatient diagnostic schema for tuberculosis (TB).Recent data from published per-case cost studies for TB/multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB and from comparative analyses of sputum microscopy, mycobacterial culture, Xpert MTB/RIF and drug susceptibility testing, performed at the German National Reference Center for Mycobacteria, were used. Potential cost savings of Xpert MTB/RIF, based on test accuracy and multiple cost drivers, were calculated for diagnosing TB/MDR-TB suspects from the hospital perspective.Implementing Xpert MTB/RIF as an add-on in smear-positive and smear-negative TB suspects saves on average €48.72 and €503, respectively, per admitted patient as compared with the conventional approach. In smear-positive and smear-negative MDR-TB suspects, cost savings amount to €189.56 and €515.25 per person, respectively. Full replacement of microscopy by Xpert MTB/RIF saves €449.98. In probabilistic Monte-Carlo simulation, adding Xpert MTB/RIF is less costly in 46.4% and 76.2% of smear-positive TB and MDR-TB suspects, respectively, but 100% less expensive in all smear-negative suspects. Full replacement by Xpert MTB/RIF is also consistently cost-saving.Using Xpert MTB/RIF as an add-on to and even as a replacement for sputum smear examination may significantly reduce expenditures in TB suspects. Copyright ©ERS 2016.

Effects of road decommissioning on carbon stocks, losses, and emissions in north coastal California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madej, Mary Ann; Seney, Joseph; van Mantgem, Philip

2013-01-01

During the last 3 decades, many road removal projects have been implemented on public and private lands in the United States to reduce erosion and other impacts from abandoned or unmaintained forest roads. Although effective in decreasing sediment production from roads, such activities have a carbon (C) cost as well as representing a carbon savings for an ecosystem. We assessed the carbon budget implications of 30 years of road decommissioning in Redwood National Park in north coastal California. Road restoration techniques, which evolved during the program, were associated with various carbon costs and savings. Treatment of 425 km of logging roads from 1979 to 2009 saved 72,000 megagrams (Mg) C through on-site soil erosion prevention, revegetation, and soil development on formerly compacted roads. Carbon sequestration will increase in time as forests and soils develop more fully on the restored sites. The carbon cost for this road decommissioning work, based on heavy equipment and vehicle fuel emissions, short-term soil loss, and clearing of vegetation, was 23,000 Mg C, resulting in a net carbon savings of 49,000 Mg C to date. Nevertheless, the degree to which soil loss is a carbon sink or source in steep mountainous watersheds needs to be further examined. The ratio of carbon costs to savings will differ by ecosystem and road removal methodology, but the procedure outlined here to assess carbon budgets on restoration sites should be transferable to other systems.

Reducing costs while maintaining quality in endovascular neurosurgical procedures.

PubMed

Kashlan, Osama N; Wilson, Thomas J; Chaudhary, Neeraj; Gemmete, Joseph J; Stetler, William R; Dunnick, N Reed; Thompson, B Gregory; Pandey, Aditya S

2014-11-01

As medical costs continue to rise during a time of increasing medical resource utilization, both hospitals and physicians must attempt to limit superfluous health care expenses. Neurointerventional treatment has been shown to be costly, but it is often the best treatment available for certain neuropathologies. The authors studied the effects of 3 policy changes designed to limit the costs of performing neurointerventional procedures at the University of Michigan. The authors retrospectively analyzed the costs of performing neurointerventional procedures during the 6-month periods before and after the implementation of 3 cost-saving policies: 1) the use of an alternative, more economical contrast agent, 2) standardization of coil prices through negotiation with industry representatives to receive economies of scale, and 3) institution of a feedback method to show practitioners the costs of unused products per patient procedure. The costs during the 6-month time intervals before and after implementation were also compared with costs during the most recent 6-month time period. The policy requiring use of a more economical contrast agent led to a decrease in the cost of contrast usage of $42.79 per procedure for the first 6 months after implementation, and $137.09 per procedure for the most current 6-month period, resulting in an estimated total savings of $62,924.31 for the most recent 6-month period. The standardized coil pricing system led to savings of $159.21 per coil after the policy change, and $188.07 per coil in the most recent 6-month period. This yielded total estimated savings of $76,732.56 during the most recent 6-month period. The feedback system for unused items decreased the cost of wasted products by approximately $44.36 per procedure in the 6 months directly after the policy change and by $48.20 per procedure in the most recent 6-month period, leading to total estimated savings of $22,123.80 during the most recent 6-month period. According to extrapolation over a 1-year period, the 3 policy changes decreased costs by an estimated $323,561.34. Simple cost-saving policies can lead to substantial reductions in costs of neurointerventional procedures while maintaining high levels of quality and growth of services.

31 CFR 321.27 - Supplements, amendments, or revisions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS OF UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS AND UNITED STATES SAVINGS NOTES (FREEDOM SHARES... any time or from time to time, revise, supplement, amend or withdraw, in whole or in part, the...

Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior*

PubMed Central

Choi, James J.; Laibson, David; Madrian, Brigitte C.; Metrick, Andrew

2009-01-01

We show that individual investors over-extrapolate from their personal experience when making savings decisions. Investors who experience particularly rewarding outcomes from saving in their 401(k)—a high average and/or low variance return—increase their 401(k) savings rate more than investors who have less rewarding experiences with saving. This finding is not driven by aggregate time-series shocks, income effects, rational learning about investing skill, investor fixed effects, or time-varying investor-level heterogeneity that is correlated with portfolio allocations to stock, bond, and cash asset classes. We discuss implications for the equity premium puzzle and interventions aimed at improving household financial outcomes. PMID:20352013

Turbine lubricating oil: New filtration advances save time and money

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

Bushar, T.

1996-11-01

This article describes benefits of filtration advances which include fewer forced outages, faster startups and reduced bearing wear. The importance of clean lubricating oil for turbines has been recognized for a long time, and almost all generating plants use some type of filtration system. Many older technologies and systems cannot remove enough of the contaminants to meet the needs of today`s turbines and operating conditions. Newer filtration technologies, such as multiphase filtration systems incorporating pressure coalescence filters to remove water, can reduce contaminants to levels that will help prevent unscheduled or forced outages, allow faster startups after an ongoing outage,more » and reduce wear of bearings and other components. Such preventive measures are more important than ever because of today`s increased competition and emphasis on cost control.« less

Saving in cycles: how to get people to save more money.

PubMed

Tam, Leona; Dholakia, Utpal

2014-02-01

Low personal savings rates are an important social issue in the United States. We propose and test one particular method to get people to save more money that is based on the cyclical time orientation. In contrast to conventional, popular methods that encourage individuals to ignore past mistakes, focus on the future, and set goals to save money, our proposed method frames the savings task in cyclical terms, emphasizing the present. Across the studies, individuals who used our proposed cyclical savings method, compared with individuals who used a linear savings method, provided an average of 74% higher savings estimates and saved an average of 78% more money. We also found that the cyclical savings method was more efficacious because it increased implementation planning and lowered future optimism regarding saving money.

Shared Savings Contracting for Reducing Energy Costs of Defense Facilities.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

also needs additional -4 operation and maintenance help, especially if new equipment is involved. New equipment with sophisticated control technology...process may take time to develop and may be " difficult to integrate with existing financial control practices. For example, the regulations and...will seek a change order on the contract. The potential for such changes, if not controlled , seriously undermines the value of these contracts. DoD

Laser Peening Effects on Friction Stir Welding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hatameleh, Omar

2009-01-01

The laser peening process can result in considerable improvement to crack initiation, propagation, and mechanical properties in FSW which equates to longer hardware service life Processed hardware safety is improved by producing higher failure tolerant hardware, and reducing risk. Lowering hardware maintenance cost produces longer hardware service life, and lower hardware down time. Application of this proposed technology will result in substantial benefits and savings throughout the life of the treated components

Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-03

inflation, and round appropriately, the fixed- dollar amounts of the civil penalties to account for the decrease in real value over time and so that...policy, and funding decisions. GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability , integrity, and reliability. The...United States Government Accountability Office GAO Testimony Before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

A Reduced Dimension Static, Linearized Kalman Filter and Smoother

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fukumori, I.

1995-01-01

An approximate Kalman filter and smoother, based on approximations of the state estimation error covariance matrix, is described. Approximations include a reduction of the effective state dimension, use of a static asymptotic error limit, and a time-invariant linearization of the dynamic model for error integration. The approximations lead to dramatic computational savings in applying estimation theory to large complex systems. Examples of use come from TOPEX/POSEIDON.

31 CFR 351.6 - When may I redeem my Series EE savings bond?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... before January 1, 2003. You may redeem your Series EE savings bond at any time beginning six months after... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false When may I redeem my Series EE savings... SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds...

31 CFR 351.6 - When may I redeem my Series EE savings bond?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... before January 1, 2003. You may redeem your Series EE savings bond at any time beginning six months after... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false When may I redeem my Series EE savings... SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds...

31 CFR 351.6 - When may I redeem my Series EE savings bond?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... before January 1, 2003. You may redeem your Series EE savings bond at any time beginning six months after... 31 Money and Finance:Treasury 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false When may I redeem my Series EE savings... SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds...

Measuring, managing and maximizing performance of mineral processing plants

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

Bascur, O.A.; Kennedy, J.P.

1995-12-31

The implementation of continuous quality improvement is the confluence of Total Quality Management, People Empowerment, Performance Indicators and Information Engineering. The supporting information technologies allow a mineral processor to narrow the gap between management business objectives and the process control level. One of the most important contributors is the user friendliness and flexibility of the personal computer in a client/server environment. This synergistic combination when used for real time performance monitoring translates into production cost savings, improved communications and enhanced decision support. Other savings come from reduced time to collect data and perform tedious calculations, act quickly with fresh newmore » data, generate and validate data to be used by others. This paper presents an integrated view of plant management. The selection of the proper tools for continuous quality improvement are described. The process of selecting critical performance monitoring indices for improved plant performance are discussed. The importance of a well balanced technological improvement, personnel empowerment, total quality management and organizational assets are stressed.« less

Demonstration Assessment of Light-Emitting Diode Parking Structure Lighting at U.S. Department of Labor Headquarters

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

Kinzey, Bruce R.; Myer, Michael

2013-03-01

This report documents a solid-state lighting (SSL) technology demonstration at the parking structure of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Headquarters in Washington, DC, in which light-emitting diode (LED) luminaires were substituted for the incumbent high-pressure sodium (HPS) luminaires and evaluated for relative light quantity and performance. The demonstration results show energy savings of 52% from the initial conversion of HPS to the LED product. These savings were increased to 88% by using occupancy sensor controls that were ultimately set to reduce power to 10% of high state operation after a time delay of 2.5 minutes. Because of the relativelymore » high cost of the LED luminaires at their time of purchase for this project (2010), the simple payback periods were 6.5 years and 4.9 years for retrofit and new construction scenarios, respectively. Staff at DOL Headquarters reported high satisfaction with the operation of the LED product.« less

Health savings accounts--a revolutionary method of funding medical care expenses.

PubMed

Knox, George Con

2004-10-01

Health Savings Accounts coupled with a High-Deductible Health Care plan offer many eligible individuals the opportunity to reduce their insurance premiums and create a tax-deductible account to pay medical, dental, and vision care expenses.

ATD-1 Team Completes Flight Tests

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-24

Members of a NASA-led research team pose in front of a trio of aircraft, which on Feb. 22 concluded racking up enough air miles to circle the planet four times, all in the name of testing a new cockpit-based air traffic management tool. The prototype hardware and software is designed to automatically provide pilots with more precise spacing information on approach into a busy airport so that more planes can safely land in a given time. The technology is intended to help airplanes spend less time in the air, save money on fuel, and reduce engine emissions – all the while improving schedule efficiency to help passengers arrive on time.

Essays on Economic Policy and Foreign Policy,

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-01

the puzzle. Reducing taxes on income and on capital gains, and providing increased tax shelters for retirement accounts, were supposed by supply...behavior accordingly. Moreover, the structure of taxes , as well as their rates, still provides a disincentive to save. When interest income that’s...rather than to save and lend. (It’s worth noting that in Japan, interest income on savings deposits is tax exempt.) Inflationary expectations are yet

Reduced acute inpatient care was largest savings component of Geisinger Health System's patient-centered medical home.

PubMed

Maeng, Daniel D; Khan, Nazmul; Tomcavage, Janet; Graf, Thomas R; Davis, Duane E; Steele, Glenn D

2015-04-01

Early evidence suggests that the patient-centered medical home has the potential to improve patient outcomes while reducing the cost of care. However, it is unclear how this care model achieves such desirable results, particularly its impact on cost. We estimated cost savings associated with Geisinger Health System's patient-centered medical home clinics by examining longitudinal clinic-level claims data from elderly Medicare patients attending the clinics over a ninety-month period (2006 through the first half of 2013). We also used these data to deconstruct savings into its main components (inpatient, outpatient, professional, and prescription drugs). During this period, total costs associated with patient-centered medical home exposure declined by approximately 7.9 percent; the largest source of this savings was acute inpatient care ($34, or 19 percent savings per member per month), which accounts for about 64 percent of the total estimated savings. This finding is further supported by the fact that longer exposure was also associated with lower acute inpatient admission rates. The results of this study suggest that patient-centered medical homes can lead to sustainable, long-term improvements in patient health outcomes and the cost of care. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Energy and Economic Impacts of U.S. Federal Energy and Water Conservation Standards Adopted From 1987 Through 2015

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

Meyers, Stephen; Williams, Alison; Chan, Peter

This paper presents estimates of the key impacts of Federal energy and water conservation standards adopted from 1987 through 2015. The standards for consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment include those set by legislation as well as standards adopted by DOE through rulemaking. In 2015, the standards saved an estimated 4.49 quads of primary energy, which is equivalent to 5% of total U.S. energy consumption. The savings in operating costs for households and businesses totaled $63.4 billion. The average household saved $320 in operating costs as a result of residential appliance standards. The estimated reduction in CO2 emissions associatedmore » with the standards in 2015 was 238 million metric tons, which is equivalent to 4.3% of total U.S. CO2 emissions. The estimated cumulative energy savings over the period 1990-2090 amount to 216.9 quads. Accounting for the increased upfront costs of more-efficient products and the operating cost (energy and water) savings over the products’ lifetime, the standards have a cumulative net present value (NPV) of consumer benefit of between $1,627 billion and $1,887 billion, using 7 percent and 3 percent discount rates, respectively. The water conservation standards, together with energy conservation standards that also save water, reduced water use by 1.9 trillion gallons in 2015 and estimated cumulative water savings by 2090 amount to 55 trillion gallons. The estimated consumer savings in 2015 from reduced water use amounted to $12 billon.« less

Energy and Economic Impacts of U.S. Federal Energy and Water Conservation Standards Adopted From 1987 Through 2013

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

Meyers, Stephen; Williams, Alison; Chan, Peter

This paper presents estimates of the key impacts of Federal energy and water conservation standards adopted from 1987 through 2013. The standards for consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment include those set by legislation as well as standards adopted by DOE through rulemaking. In 2013, the standards saved an estimated 4.05 quads of primary energy, which is equivalent to 4% of total U.S. energy consumption. The savings in operating costs for households and businesses totaledmore » $56 billion. The average household saved $$361 in operating costs as a result of residential and plumbing product standards. The estimated reduction in CO{sub 2} emissions associated with the standards in 2013 was 218 million metric tons, which is equivalent to 4% of total U.S. CO{sub 2} emissions. The estimated cumulative energy savings over the period 1990-2090 amount to 181 quads. Accounting for the increased upfront costs of more-efficient products and the operating cost (energy and water) savings over the products’ lifetime, the standards have a past and projected cumulative net present value (NPV) of consumer benefit of between $$1,271 billion and $1,487 billion, using 7 percent and 3 percent discount rates, respectively. The water conservation standards, together with energy conservation standards that also save water, reduced water use by 1.9 trillion gallons in 2013, and will achieve cumulative water savings by 2090 of 55 trillion gallons. The estimated consumer savings in 2013 from reduced water use amounted to $16 billon.« less

Energy and Economic Impacts of U.S. Federal Energy and Water Conservation Standards Adopted From 1987 through 2012

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

Meyers, Stephen; Williams, Alison; Chan, Peter

This paper presents estimates of the key impacts of Federal energy and water conservation standards adopted from 1987 through 2012. The standards for consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment include those set by legislation as well as standards adopted by DOE through rulemaking. In 2012, the standards saved an estimated 3.6 quads of primary energy, which is equivalent to 3% of total U.S. energy consumption. The savings in operating costs for households and businesses totaled $51.4 billion. The average household saved $347 in operating costs as a result of residential and plumbing product standards. The estimated reduction in CO2more » emissions associated with the standards in 2012 was 198 million metric tons, which is equivalent to 3% of total U.S. CO2 emissions. The estimated cumulative energy savings over the period 1990-2070 amount to 179 quads. Accounting for the increased upfront costs of more-efficient products and the operating cost (energy and water) savings over the products’ lifetime, the standards have a past and projected cumulative net present value (NPV) of consumer benefit of between $1,104 billion and $1,390 billion, using 7 percent and 3 percent discount rates, respectively. The water conservation standards, together with energy conservation standards that also save water, reduced water use by 1.8 trillion gallons in 2012, and will achieve cumulative water savings by 2040 of 54 trillion gallons. The estimated consumer savings in 2012 from reduced water use amounted to $13 billon.« less

Biomechanical pulping of aspen chips; Energy savings resulting from different fungal treatments

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

Leatham, G.F.; Myers, G.C.; Wegner, T.H.

1990-05-01

Besides increasing paper strength, fungal treatments can also reduce the electrical energy needed for fiberizing chips during mechanical pulping. Fungal species, chip movement, and treatment duration affected the extent of energy savings. This paper reports that four-week-long treatment with white-rot fungi, including Phlebia species or Pholiota mutabilis, in a stationary wire tray bioreactor resulted in at least 35% energy savings for pulping chips to 100 mL CSF in a 300-mm-diameter disc refiner. With Phanerochaete chrysosporium in a rotating-drum bioreactor, the optimal treatment duration was four weeks. Treatment with a brown-rot fungus also resulted in energy savings. Over the range ofmore » fungi and conditions tested, neither chip weight loss nor lignin loss correlated with energy savings. Some treatments giving the least chip weight loss ({lt}5%) saved the most energy. Wood modifications responsible for energy savings differed from those that increased strength. Treatments that saved the most energy did not necessarily give the highest strength properties.« less

The research and application of green computer room environmental monitoring system based on internet of things technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Wang; Chongchao, Pan; Yikai, Liang; Gang, Li

2017-11-01

With the rapid development of information technology, the scale of data center increases quickly, and the energy consumption of computer room also increases rapidly, among which, energy consumption of air conditioning cooling makes up a large proportion. How to apply new technology to reduce the energy consumption of the computer room becomes an important topic of energy saving in the current research. This paper study internet of things technology, and design a kind of green computer room environmental monitoring system. In the system, we can get the real-time environment data from the application of wireless sensor network technology, which will be showed in a creative way of three-dimensional effect. In the environment monitor, we can get the computer room assets view, temperature cloud view, humidity cloud view, microenvironment view and so on. Thus according to the condition of the microenvironment, we can adjust the air volume, temperature and humidity parameters of the air conditioning for the individual equipment cabinet to realize the precise air conditioning refrigeration. And this can reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning, as a result, the overall energy consumption of the green computer room will reduce greatly. At the same time, we apply this project in the computer center of Weihai, and after a year of test and running, we find that it took a good energy saving effect, which fully verified the effectiveness of this project on the energy conservation of the computer room.

Multiple Power-Saving MSSs Scheduling Methods for IEEE802.16e Broadband Wireless Networks

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

This work proposes two enhanced multiple mobile subscriber stations (MSSs) power-saving scheduling methods for IEEE802.16e broadband wireless networks. The proposed methods are designed for the Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) of IEEE802.16e. To reduce the active periods of all power-saving MSSs, the base station (BS) allocates each MSS fewest possible transmission frames to retrieve its data from the BS. The BS interlaces the active periods of each MSS to increase the amount of scheduled MSSs and splits the overflowing transmission frames to maximize the bandwidth utilization. Simulation results reveal that interlacing the active periods of MSSs can increase the number of scheduled MSSs to more than four times of that in the Direct scheduling method. The bandwidth utilization can thus be improved by 60%–70%. Splitting the overflowing transmission frames can improve bandwidth utilization by more than 10% over that achieved using the method of interlacing active periods, with a sacrifice of only 1% of the sleep periods in the interlacing active period method. PMID:24523656

An Innovative Enhanced Wall to Reduce the Energy Demand in Buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fantozzi, F.; Filipeschi, S.; Mameli, M.; Nesi, S.; Cillari, G.; Mantelli, M. B. H.; Milanez, F. H.

2017-01-01

Energy saving in buildings is one of most important issues for European countries. Although in the last years many studies have been carried out in order to reach the zero-consumption house the energy rate due to passive solar heating could be further enhanced. This paper proposes a method for increasing the energy rate absorbed by opaque walls by using a two phase loop thermosyphon connecting the internal and the external façade of a prefabricated house wall. The evaporator zone is embedded into the outside facade and the condenser is indoor placed to heat the domestic environment. The thermosyphon has been preliminary designed and implanted into a wall for a prefabricated house in Italy. An original dynamic thermal model of the building equipped with the thermosyphon wall allowed the evolution of the indoor temperature over time and the energy saving rates. The transient behaviour of the building has been simulated during the winter period by using the EnergyPlusTM software. The annual saving on the heating energy is higher than 50% in the case of a low consumption building.

Research on energy-saving optimal control of trains in a following operation under a fixed four-aspect autoblock system based on multi-dimension parallel GA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Qiheng; Feng, Xiaoyun

2013-03-01

After analyzing the working principle of the four-aspect fixed autoblock system, an energy-saving control model was created based on the dynamics equations of the trains in order to study the energy-saving optimal control strategy of trains in a following operation. Besides the safety and punctuality, the main aims of the model were the energy consumption and the time error. Based on this model, the static and dynamic speed restraints under a four-aspect fixed autoblock system were put forward. The multi-dimension parallel genetic algorithm (GA) and the external punishment function were adopted to solve this problem. By using the real number coding and the strategy of ramps divided into three parts, the convergence of GA was speeded up and the length of chromosomes was shortened. A vector of Gaussian random disturbance with zero mean was superposed to the mutation operator. The simulation result showed that the method could reduce the energy consumption effectively based on safety and punctuality.

Launch vehicle operations cost reduction through artificial intelligence techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Tom C., Jr.

1988-01-01

NASA's Kennedy Space Center has attempted to develop AI methods in order to reduce the cost of launch vehicle ground operations as well as to improve the reliability and safety of such operations. Attention is presently given to cost savings estimates for systems involving launch vehicle firing-room software and hardware real-time diagnostics, as well as the nature of configuration control and the real-time autonomous diagnostics of launch-processing systems by these means. Intelligent launch decisions and intelligent weather forecasting are additional applications of AI being considered.

Fast and low power Michelson interferometer thermo-optical switch on SOI.

PubMed

Song, Junfeng; Fang, Q; Tao, S H; Liow, T Y; Yu, M B; Lo, G Q; Kwong, D L

2008-09-29

We designed and fabricated silicon-on-insulator based Michelson interferometer (MI) thermo-optical switches with deep etched trenches for heat-isolation. Switch power was reduced approximately 20% for the switch with deep etched trenches, and the MI saved approximately 50% power than that of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. 10.6 mW switch power, approximately 42 micros switch time for the MI with deep trenches, 13.14 mW switch power and approximately 34 micros switch time for the MI without deep trenches were achieved.

The potential impact of reducing indoor tanning on melanoma prevention and treatment costs in the United States: An economic analysis.

PubMed

Guy, Gery P; Zhang, Yuanhui; Ekwueme, Donatus U; Rim, Sun Hee; Watson, Meg

2017-02-01

Indoor tanning is associated with an increased risk of melanoma. The US Food and Drug Administration proposed prohibiting indoor tanning among minors younger than 18 years. We sought to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing indoor tanning in the United States. We used a Markov model to estimate the expected number of melanoma cases and deaths averted, life-years saved, and melanoma treatment costs saved by reducing indoor tanning. We examined 5 scenarios: restricting indoor tanning among minors younger than 18 years, and reducing the prevalence by 20%, 50%, 80%, and 100%. Restricting indoor tanning among minors younger than 18 years was estimated to prevent 61,839 melanoma cases, prevent 6735 melanoma deaths, and save $342.9 million in treatment costs over the lifetime of the 61.2 million youth age 14 years or younger in the United States. The estimated health and economic benefits increased as indoor tanning was further reduced. Limitations include the reliance on available data and not examining compliance to indoor tanning laws. Reducing indoor tanning has the potential to reduce melanoma incidence, mortality, and treatment costs. These findings help quantify and underscore the importance of continued efforts to reduce indoor tanning and prevent melanoma. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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

Radhi, Hassan

Developments in the design and manufacture of photovoltaic cells have recently been a growing concern in the UAE. At present, the embodied energy pay-back time (EPBT) is the criterion used for comparing the viability of such technology against other forms. However, the impact of PV technology on the thermal performance of buildings is not considered at the time of EPBT estimation. If additional energy savings gained over the PV system life are also included, the total EPBT could be shorter. This paper explores the variation of the total energy of building integrated photovoltaic systems (BiPV) as a wall cladding systemmore » applied to the UAE commercial sector and shows that the ratio between PV output and saving in energy due to PV panels is within the range of 1:3-1:4. The result indicates that for the southern and western facades in the UAE, the embodied energy pay-back time for photovoltaic system is within the range of 12-13 years. When reductions in operational energy are considered, the pay-back time is reduced to 3.0-3.2 years. This study comes to the conclusion that the reduction in operational energy due to PV panels represents an important factor in the estimation of EPBT. (author)« less

Energy-efficient fault tolerance in multiprocessor real-time systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Yifeng

The recent progress in the multiprocessor/multicore systems has important implications for real-time system design and operation. From vehicle navigation to space applications as well as industrial control systems, the trend is to deploy multiple processors in real-time systems: systems with 4 -- 8 processors are common, and it is expected that many-core systems with dozens of processing cores will be available in near future. For such systems, in addition to general temporal requirement common for all real-time systems, two additional operational objectives are seen as critical: energy efficiency and fault tolerance. An intriguing dimension of the problem is that energy efficiency and fault tolerance are typically conflicting objectives, due to the fact that tolerating faults (e.g., permanent/transient) often requires extra resources with high energy consumption potential. In this dissertation, various techniques for energy-efficient fault tolerance in multiprocessor real-time systems have been investigated. First, the Reliability-Aware Power Management (RAPM) framework, which can preserve the system reliability with respect to transient faults when Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS) is applied for energy savings, is extended to support parallel real-time applications with precedence constraints. Next, the traditional Standby-Sparing (SS) technique for dual processor systems, which takes both transient and permanent faults into consideration while saving energy, is generalized to support multiprocessor systems with arbitrary number of identical processors. Observing the inefficient usage of slack time in the SS technique, a Preference-Oriented Scheduling Framework is designed to address the problem where tasks are given preferences for being executed as soon as possible (ASAP) or as late as possible (ALAP). A preference-oriented earliest deadline (POED) scheduler is proposed and its application in multiprocessor systems for energy-efficient fault tolerance is investigated, where tasks' main copies are executed ASAP while backup copies ALAP to reduce the overlapped execution of main and backup copies of the same task and thus reduce energy consumption. All proposed techniques are evaluated through extensive simulations and compared with other state-of-the-art approaches. The simulation results confirm that the proposed schemes can preserve the system reliability while still achieving substantial energy savings. Finally, for both SS and POED based Energy-Efficient Fault-Tolerant (EEFT) schemes, a series of recovery strategies are designed when more than one (transient and permanent) faults need to be tolerated.

Dynamic Computation Offloading for Low-Power Wearable Health Monitoring Systems.

PubMed

Kalantarian, Haik; Sideris, Costas; Mortazavi, Bobak; Alshurafa, Nabil; Sarrafzadeh, Majid

2017-03-01

The objective of this paper is to describe and evaluate an algorithm to reduce power usage and increase battery lifetime for wearable health-monitoring devices. We describe a novel dynamic computation offloading scheme for real-time wearable health monitoring devices that adjusts the partitioning of data processing between the wearable device and mobile application as a function of desired classification accuracy. By making the correct offloading decision based on current system parameters, we show that we are able to reduce system power by as much as 20%. We demonstrate that computation offloading can be applied to real-time monitoring systems, and yields significant power savings. Making correct offloading decisions for health monitoring devices can extend battery life and improve adherence.

New protocol for construction of eyeglasses-supported provisional nasal prosthesis using CAD/CAM techniques.

PubMed

Ciocca, Leonardo; Fantini, Massimiliano; De Crescenzio, Francesca; Persiani, Franco; Scotti, Roberto

2010-01-01

A new protocol for making an immediate provisional eyeglasses-supported nasal prosthesis is presented that uses laser scanning, computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing procedures, and rapid prototyping techniques, reducing time and costs while increasing the quality of the final product. With this protocol, the eyeglasses were digitized, and the relative position of the nasal prosthesis was planned and evaluated in a virtual environment without any try-in appointment. This innovative method saves time, reduces costs, and restores the patient's aesthetic appearance after a disfiguration caused by ablation of the nasal pyramid better than conventional restoration methods. Moreover, the digital model of the designed nasal epithesis can be used to develop a definitive prosthesis anchored to osseointegrated craniofacial implants.

A New Wavelength Optimization and Energy-Saving Scheme Based on Network Coding in Software-Defined WDM-PON Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Danping; Wu, Shanshan; Zhang, Lijing

2016-09-01

In view of the characteristics of the global control and flexible monitor of software-defined networks (SDN), we proposes a new optical access network architecture dedicated to Wavelength Division Multiplexing-Passive Optical Network (WDM-PON) systems based on SDN. The network coding (NC) technology is also applied into this architecture to enhance the utilization of wavelength resource and reduce the costs of light source. Simulation results show that this scheme can optimize the throughput of the WDM-PON network, greatly reduce the system time delay and energy consumption.

The impact of early discharge laws on the health of newborns.

PubMed

Evans, William N; Garthwaite, Craig; Wei, Heng

2008-07-01

Using an interrupted time series design and a census of births in California over a 6-year period, we show that state and federal laws passed in the late 1990s designed to increase the length of postpartum hospital stays reduced considerably the fraction of newborns that were discharged early. The law had little impact on re-admission rates for privately insured, vaginally delivered newborns, but reduced re-admission rates for privately insured c-section-delivered and Medicaid-insured vaginally delivered newborns by statistically significant amounts. Our calculations suggest the program was not cost saving.

Time Series Data Analysis of Wireless Sensor Network Measurements of Temperature.

PubMed

Bhandari, Siddhartha; Bergmann, Neil; Jurdak, Raja; Kusy, Branislav

2017-05-26

Wireless sensor networks have gained significant traction in environmental signal monitoring and analysis. The cost or lifetime of the system typically depends on the frequency at which environmental phenomena are monitored. If sampling rates are reduced, energy is saved. Using empirical datasets collected from environmental monitoring sensor networks, this work performs time series analyses of measured temperature time series. Unlike previous works which have concentrated on suppressing the transmission of some data samples by time-series analysis but still maintaining high sampling rates, this work investigates reducing the sampling rate (and sensor wake up rate) and looks at the effects on accuracy. Results show that the sampling period of the sensor can be increased up to one hour while still allowing intermediate and future states to be estimated with interpolation RMSE less than 0.2 °C and forecasting RMSE less than 1 °C.

The Impact of Rate Design and Net Metering on the Bill Savings from Distributed PV for Residential Customers in California

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

Darghouth, Naim; Barbose, Galen; Wiser, Ryan

2010-03-30

Net metering has become a widespread policy in the U.S. for supporting distributed photovoltaics (PV) adoption. Though specific design details vary, net metering allows customers with PV to reduce their electric bills by offsetting their consumption with PV generation, independent of the timing of the generation relative to consumption - in effect, compensating the PV generation at retail electricity rates (Rose et al. 2009). While net metering has played an important role in jump-starting the residential PV market in the U.S., challenges to net metering policies have emerged in a number of states and contexts, and alternative compensation methods aremore » under consideration. Moreover, one inherent feature of net metering is that the value of the utility bill savings it provides to customers with PV depends heavily on the structure of the underlying retail electricity rate, as well as on the characteristics of the customer and PV system. Consequently, the value of net metering - and the impact of moving to alternative compensation mechanisms - can vary substantially from one customer to the next. For these reasons, it is important for policymakers and others that seek to support the development of distributed PV to understand both how the bill savings varies under net metering, and how the bill savings under net metering compares to other possible compensation mechanisms. To advance this understanding, we analyze the bill savings from PV for residential customers of California's two largest electric utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). The analysis is based on hourly load data from a sample of 215 residential customers located in the service territories of the two utilities, matched with simulated hourly PV production for the same time period based on data from the nearest of 73 weather stations in the state.« less

Energy management system saves $250,000 + fuel -with 4-mo payback

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

Massey, C.L.; Robe, K.

1980-09-01

Innovations made at Hershey Chocolate Company's Oakdale, California plant eliminated simultaneous cool-reheat-cycles by incorporating dead band controls into existing HVAC systems. Calculated savings of the project are about 90% of former heating and cooling energy usage for HVAC operation. Electric power savings amount to about $75,000/y, and natural gas savings about $185,000/y, using 1980 fuel costs, with an approximate 4-month payback. Because of the reduced demand for chilled water, a smaller water chiller carries full plant load for 4 to 5 months of the year without operating two existing 500-ton units.

DART system analysis.

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

Boggs, Paul T.; Althsuler, Alan; Larzelere, Alex R.

2005-08-01

The Design-through-Analysis Realization Team (DART) is chartered with reducing the time Sandia analysts require to complete the engineering analysis process. The DART system analysis team studied the engineering analysis processes employed by analysts in Centers 9100 and 8700 at Sandia to identify opportunities for reducing overall design-through-analysis process time. The team created and implemented a rigorous analysis methodology based on a generic process flow model parameterized by information obtained from analysts. They also collected data from analysis department managers to quantify the problem type and complexity distribution throughout Sandia's analyst community. They then used this information to develop a communitymore » model, which enables a simple characterization of processes that span the analyst community. The results indicate that equal opportunity for reducing analysis process time is available both by reducing the ''once-through'' time required to complete a process step and by reducing the probability of backward iteration. In addition, reducing the rework fraction (i.e., improving the engineering efficiency of subsequent iterations) offers approximately 40% to 80% of the benefit of reducing the ''once-through'' time or iteration probability, depending upon the process step being considered. Further, the results indicate that geometry manipulation and meshing is the largest portion of an analyst's effort, especially for structural problems, and offers significant opportunity for overall time reduction. Iteration loops initiated late in the process are more costly than others because they increase ''inner loop'' iterations. Identifying and correcting problems as early as possible in the process offers significant opportunity for time savings.« less

Short-term versus long-term rainfall time series in the assessment of potable water savings by using rainwater in houses.

PubMed

Ghisi, Enedir; Cardoso, Karla Albino; Rupp, Ricardo Forgiarini

2012-06-15

The main objective of this article is to assess the possibility of using short-term instead of long-term rainfall time series to evaluate the potential for potable water savings by using rainwater in houses. The analysis was performed considering rainfall data from 1960 to 1995 for the city of Santa Bárbara do Oeste, located in the state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The influence of the rainfall time series, roof area, potable water demand and percentage rainwater demand on the potential for potable water savings was evaluated. The potential for potable water savings was estimated using computer simulations considering a set of long-term rainfall time series and different sets of short-term rainfall time series. The ideal rainwater tank capacity was also assessed for some cases. It was observed that the higher the percentage rainwater demand and the shorter the rainfall time series, the larger the difference between the potential for potable water savings and the greater the variation in the ideal rainwater tank size. The sets of short-term rainfall time series considered adequate for different scenarios ranged from 1 to 13 years depending on the roof area, percentage rainwater demand and potable water demand. The main finding of the research is that sets of short-term rainfall time series can be used to assess the potential for potable water savings by using rainwater, as the results obtained are similar to those obtained from the long-term rainfall time series. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wireless Sensor-Based Smart-Clothing Platform for ECG Monitoring

PubMed Central

Lin, Chung-Chih; Yu, Yan-Shuo

2015-01-01

The goal of this study is to use wireless sensor technologies to develop a smart clothes service platform for health monitoring. Our platform consists of smart clothes, a sensor node, a gateway server, and a health cloud. The smart clothes have fabric electrodes to detect electrocardiography (ECG) signals. The sensor node improves the accuracy of QRS complexes detection by morphology analysis and reduces power consumption by the power-saving transmission functionality. The gateway server provides a reconfigurable finite state machine (RFSM) software architecture for abnormal ECG detection to support online updating. Most normal ECG can be filtered out, and the abnormal ECG is further analyzed in the health cloud. Three experiments are conducted to evaluate the platform's performance. The results demonstrate that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the smart clothes exceeds 37 dB, which is within the “very good signal” interval. The average of the QRS sensitivity and positive prediction is above 99.5%. Power-saving transmission is reduced by nearly 1980 times the power consumption in the best-case analysis. PMID:26640512

Wireless Sensor-Based Smart-Clothing Platform for ECG Monitoring.

PubMed

Wang, Jie; Lin, Chung-Chih; Yu, Yan-Shuo; Yu, Tsang-Chu

2015-01-01

The goal of this study is to use wireless sensor technologies to develop a smart clothes service platform for health monitoring. Our platform consists of smart clothes, a sensor node, a gateway server, and a health cloud. The smart clothes have fabric electrodes to detect electrocardiography (ECG) signals. The sensor node improves the accuracy of QRS complexes detection by morphology analysis and reduces power consumption by the power-saving transmission functionality. The gateway server provides a reconfigurable finite state machine (RFSM) software architecture for abnormal ECG detection to support online updating. Most normal ECG can be filtered out, and the abnormal ECG is further analyzed in the health cloud. Three experiments are conducted to evaluate the platform's performance. The results demonstrate that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the smart clothes exceeds 37 dB, which is within the "very good signal" interval. The average of the QRS sensitivity and positive prediction is above 99.5%. Power-saving transmission is reduced by nearly 1980 times the power consumption in the best-case analysis.

Leyla loop: a time-saving suture technique for robotic atrial closure

PubMed Central

Kılıç, Leyla; Şenay, Şahin; Ümit Güllü, A.; Alhan, Cem

2013-01-01

The longer durations of cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times remain the disadvantages of robotic or minimally invasive cardiac surgery. For this reason, every small contribution to speeding up these procedures is of the utmost importance. Here, we present a practical, easy and time-saving suture technique for atrial closure. It consists of a hand-made loop at one end of the suture and saves the time otherwise consumed by knotting. It may also be used during conventional or minimally invasive cardiac surgery. PMID:23760357

Potential savings in prescription drug costs for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus by equivalent drug substitution in Austria: a nationwide cohort study.

PubMed

Heinze, Georg; Hronsky, Milan; Reichardt, Berthold; Baumgärtel, Christoph; Müllner, Marcus; Bucsics, Anna; Winkelmayer, Wolfgang C

2015-04-01

Healthcare systems spend considerable proportions of their budgets on pharmaceutical treatment of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus. From data on almost all residents of Austria, a country with mandatory health insurance and universal health coverage, we estimated potential cost savings by substituting prescribed medicines with the cheapest medicines that were of the same chemical substance and strength, and available during the same time. Data from 8.3 million persons (98.5 % of the total Austrian insured population) from 2009-2012 were analyzed. Real prescription costs for antihypertensive, lipid-lowering, and hypoglycemic medicines achievable by same-substance, same-strength drug substitution were computed for each active ingredient, and per gender and 1-year age category of patients. In 2012, health insurance providers spent 231.3 million, 77.8 million, and 91.9 million for antihypertensive, lipid-lowering, and diabetes medications, of which 52.2 million (22.6 %), 15.9 million (20.5 %), and 4.1 million (4.5 %), respectively, could have been saved by same-substance drug substitution. Highest potential savings were calculated for amlodipine (8.0 million, 65.4 %), simvastatin (12.2 million, 59.3 %), and metformin (2.4 million, 54.6 %), respectively. Higher savings for men than for women resulted from differing prescribed cumulative dosages and proportions of patients with co-payment waiver. Potential cost savings in antihypertensive and lipid-lowering drugs increased from 2009-2012. Our study highlights the cost-savings potential from arguably the most acceptable of interventions, simply switching to the cheapest available same-substance, same-strength product. In 2012, this strategy could have reduced costs for antihypertensive, lipid-lowering, and hypoglycemic treatment by up to 18.0 %.

Tax-Saving Tips for Self-Employed Childbirth Educators

PubMed Central

Philipsen, Nayna Campbell

1999-01-01

A self-employed childbirth educator asks for advice on how to reduce her end-of-the-year tax payments. The answer includes some general advice and four specific suggestions that may help a small-business owner save money on taxes. PMID:22945998

Tip Saves Energy, Money for Pennsylvania Plant

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A wastewater treatment plant in Berks County, Pennsylvania is saving nearly $45,000 a year and reducing hundreds of metric tons of greenhouse gases since employing an energy conservation tip offered by the Water Protection Division in EPA’s R3 and PADEP.

Shining a Light on Savings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Mike

2000-01-01

Discusses how schools and universities can save energy and money by evaluating lighting systems and changing behaviors. Retrofitting older buildings with better lighting technology and use of natural light are examined. An example of an energy conservation education program to reduce energy waste is highlighted. (GR)

Cost and time savings from a rapid access model of care using transient elastography to screen and triage patients with chronic Hepatitis C infection.

PubMed

Whitty, Jennifer A; Tallis, Caroline; Nguyen, Kim-Huong; Scuffham, Paul A; Crosland, Paul; Hewson, Kaye; Pai Mangalore, Rehka; Black, Marrianne; Holtmann, Gerald

2014-02-01

Treatment uptake amongst patients with chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Australia is relatively low. New approaches to assessment have the potential to reduce public waiting lists, improve access to treatment, and to reduce healthcare costs. To describe the costs to the public hospital system and waiting time associated with a novel integrated rapid access to assessment and treatment (RAAT) model of care that utilizes Transient Elastography (TE) as a specialist outpatient-based approach for a streamlined assessment of patients with chronic HCV, compared to conventional outpatient management with liver biopsy (LB). Time from first medical review to treatment plan and costs associated with detection of fibrosis were recorded for patients receiving RAAT during a 3-month period, and for a similar historical cohort managed conventionally with LB. Costs related to medical and multidisciplinary team reviews and the TE/LB test itself were included. Patients receiving RAAT had lower costs (n = 27, median AU$2716) and shorter time to treatment (median = 194 days) than for conventional management (n = 13, median $5005, 420 days; p < 0.01). Differences related to the lower TE test costs and the lower cost of consults between first medical review and establishment of a treatment plan. Based on real world audit data, this evaluation suggests TE, used as part of a new RAAT model of care, is cost saving to the health system in the short-term and reduces waiting times. The analysis reported here was intended to assess the costs related to detection of fibrosis, and is limited by the small sample size and potential selection bias. Future research should undertake a full economic evaluation at a whole of service level, to consider a more comprehensive and longer-term assessment of the costs and benefits associated with HCV management.

Turtle: identifying frequent k-mers with cache-efficient algorithms.

PubMed

Roy, Rajat Shuvro; Bhattacharya, Debashish; Schliep, Alexander

2014-07-15

Counting the frequencies of k-mers in read libraries is often a first step in the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data. Infrequent k-mers are assumed to be a result of sequencing errors. The frequent k-mers constitute a reduced but error-free representation of the experiment, which can inform read error correction or serve as the input to de novo assembly methods. Ideally, the memory requirement for counting should be linear in the number of frequent k-mers and not in the, typically much larger, total number of k-mers in the read library. We present a novel method that balances time, space and accuracy requirements to efficiently extract frequent k-mers even for high-coverage libraries and large genomes such as human. Our method is designed to minimize cache misses in a cache-efficient manner by using a pattern-blocked Bloom filter to remove infrequent k-mers from consideration in combination with a novel sort-and-compact scheme, instead of a hash, for the actual counting. Although this increases theoretical complexity, the savings in cache misses reduce the empirical running times. A variant of method can resort to a counting Bloom filter for even larger savings in memory at the expense of false-negative rates in addition to the false-positive rates common to all Bloom filter-based approaches. A comparison with the state-of-the-art shows reduced memory requirements and running times. The tools are freely available for download at http://bioinformatics.rutgers.edu/Software/Turtle and http://figshare.com/articles/Turtle/791582. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Transitioning the second-generation antihistamines to over-the-counter status: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

PubMed

Sullivan, Patrick W; Follin, Sheryl L; Nichol, Michael B

2003-12-01

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee deemed the second-generation antihistamines (SGA) safe for over-the-counter use against the preliminary opposition of the manufacturers. As a result, loratadine is now available over-the-counter. First-generation antihistamines (FGA) are associated with an increased risk of unintentional injuries, fatalities, and reduced productivity. Access to SGA over-the-counter could result in decreased use of FGA, thereby reducing deleterious outcomes. The societal impact of transitioning this class of medications from prescription to over-the-counter status has important policy implications. To examine the cost-effectiveness of transitioning SGA to over-the-counter status from a societal perspective. A simulation model of the decision to transition SGA to over-the-counter status was compared with retaining prescription-only status for a hypothetical cohort of individuals with allergic rhinitis in the United States. Estimates of costs and effectiveness were obtained from the medical literature and national surveys. Sensitivity analysis was performed using a second-order Monte Carlo simulation. Discounted, quality-adjusted life-years saved as a result of amelioration of allergic rhinitis symptoms and avoidance of motor vehicle, occupational, public and home injuries and fatalities; discounted direct and indirect costs. Availability of SGA over-the-counter was associated with annual savings of 4 billion dollars (2.4-5.3 billion dollars) or 100 dollars (64-137 dollars) per allergic rhinitis sufferer and 135,061 time-discounted quality-adjusted life years (84,913-191,802). The sensitivity analysis provides evidence in support of these results. Making SGA available over-the-counter is both cost-saving and more effective for society, largely as a result of reduced adverse outcomes associated with FGA-induced sedation. Further study is needed to determine the differential impact on specific vulnerable populations.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of infant universal routine pneumococcal vaccination in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

PubMed

Wu, David Bin-Chia; Roberts, Craig; Lee, Vivian Wing Yan; Hong, Li-Wen; Tan, Kah Kee; Mak, Vivienne; Lee, Kenneth Kwing Chin

2016-01-01

Pneumococcal disease causes large morbidity, mortality and health care utilization and medical and non-medical costs, which can all be reduced by effective infant universal routine immunization programs with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV). We evaluated the clinical and economic benefits of such programs with either 10- or 13-valent PCVs in Malaysia and Hong Kong by using an age-stratified Markov cohort model with many country-specific inputs. The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) was calculated to compare PCV10 or PCV13 against no vaccination and PCV13 against PCV10 over a 10-year birth cohort's vaccination. Both payer and societal perspectives were used. PCV13 had better public health and economic outcomes than a PCV10 program across all scenarios considered. For example, in the base case scenario in Malaysia, PCV13 would reduce more cases of IPD (+2,296), pneumonia (+705,281), and acute otitis media (+376,967) and save more lives (+6,122) than PCV10. Similarly, in Hong Kong, PCV13 would reduce more cases of IPD cases (+529), pneumonia (+172,185), and acute otitis media (+37,727) and save more lives (+2,688) than PCV10. During the same time horizon, PCV13 would gain over 74,000 and 21,600 additional QALYs than PCV10 in Malaysia and Hong Kong, respectively. PCV13 would be cost saving when compared against similar program with PCV10, under both payer and societal perspective in both countries. PCV13 remained a better choice over PCV10 in multiple sensitivity, scenario, and probabilistic analyses. PCV13s broader serotype coverage in its formulation and herd effect compared against PCV10 were important drivers of differences in outcomes.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of infant universal routine pneumococcal vaccination in Malaysia and Hong Kong

PubMed Central

Wu, David Bin-Chia; Roberts, Craig; Lee, Vivian Wing Yan; Hong, Li-Wen; Tan, Kah Kee; Mak, Vivienne; Lee, Kenneth Kwing Chin

2016-01-01

Pneumococcal disease causes large morbidity, mortality and health care utilization and medical and non-medical costs, which can all be reduced by effective infant universal routine immunization programs with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV). We evaluated the clinical and economic benefits of such programs with either 10- or 13-valent PCVs in Malaysia and Hong Kong by using an age-stratified Markov cohort model with many country-specific inputs. The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) was calculated to compare PCV10 or PCV13 against no vaccination and PCV13 against PCV10 over a 10-year birth cohort's vaccination. Both payer and societal perspectives were used. PCV13 had better public health and economic outcomes than a PCV10 program across all scenarios considered. For example, in the base case scenario in Malaysia, PCV13 would reduce more cases of IPD (+2,296), pneumonia (+705,281), and acute otitis media (+376,967) and save more lives (+6,122) than PCV10. Similarly, in Hong Kong, PCV13 would reduce more cases of IPD cases (+529), pneumonia (+172,185), and acute otitis media (+37,727) and save more lives (+2,688) than PCV10. During the same time horizon, PCV13 would gain over 74,000 and 21,600 additional QALYs than PCV10 in Malaysia and Hong Kong, respectively. PCV13 would be cost saving when compared against similar program with PCV10, under both payer and societal perspective in both countries. PCV13 remained a better choice over PCV10 in multiple sensitivity, scenario, and probabilistic analyses. PCV13s broader serotype coverage in its formulation and herd effect compared against PCV10 were important drivers of differences in outcomes. PMID:26451658

Burden of stroke in Italy: an economic model highlights savings arising from reduced disability following thrombolysis.

PubMed

Chiumente, M; Gianino, M M; Minniti, D; Mattei, T J; Spass, B; Kamal, K M; Zimmerman, D E; Muca, A; Luda, E

2015-08-01

The consequences of stroke must be assessed not only in terms of incidence and mortality rates, but also in terms of disability, which may persist long after the acute phase. Thrombolysis, if timely administered, can effectively reduce post-stroke disability. The economic model presented herein aims to evaluate, in eligible patients, the effects of alteplase on post-stroke disability and related costs over three-years. The economic analysis was developed on the basis of four key components: clinical outcomes from international trials, economic consequences extracted from cost of illness studies, regulatory data from national and international agencies, and national epidemiological data. A population-level model estimated the difference in disability costs between patients treated with standard care versus those receiving thrombolytic therapy within 4×5 h of acute ischemic stroke. The analysis covered 36 months from discharge. Reduced costs related to post-stroke disability were observed in treated patients compared with those receiving standard care (control). The overall savings were €2330×15 per average patient: €1445×81 during the first 18 months, €362×25 between 18 and 24 months, and €522×09 in the 24-36 months period. The overall savings on 3174 Italian treated patients in 2013 were €7 395 907 over three-years. Our study reveals that performing thrombolytic therapy in eligible patients improves economic outcomes compared with patients receiving standard care. This model is useful for decision makers, both within and outside of the Italian national context, as a tool to assess the cost-effectiveness of thrombolysis in both short- and long-term period. © 2015 World Stroke Organization.

Determining the Cost-Savings Threshold and Alignment Accuracy of Patient-Specific Instrumentation in Total Ankle Replacements.

PubMed

Hamid, Kamran S; Matson, Andrew P; Nwachukwu, Benedict U; Scott, Daniel J; Mather, Richard C; DeOrio, James K

2017-01-01

Traditional intraoperative referencing for total ankle replacements (TARs) involves multiple steps and fluoroscopic guidance to determine mechanical alignment. Recent adoption of patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) allows for referencing to be determined preoperatively, resulting in less steps and potentially decreased operative time. We hypothesized that usage of PSI would result in decreased operating room time that would offset the additional cost of PSI compared with standard referencing (SR). In addition, we aimed to compare postoperative radiographic alignment between PSI and SR. Between August 2014 and September 2015, 87 patients undergoing TAR were enrolled in a prospectively collected TAR database. Patients were divided into cohorts based on PSI vs SR, and operative times were reviewed. Radiographic alignment parameters were retrospectively measured at 6 weeks postoperatively. Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) was used to derive direct costs. Cost vs operative time-savings were examined via 2-way sensitivity analysis to determine cost-saving thresholds for PSI applicable to a range of institution types. Cost-saving thresholds defined the price of PSI below which PSI would be cost-saving. A total of 35 PSI and 52 SR cases were evaluated with no significant differences identified in patient characteristics. Operative time from incision to completion of casting in cases without adjunct procedures was 127 minutes with PSI and 161 minutes with SR ( P < .05). PSI demonstrated similar postoperative accuracy to SR in coronal tibial-plafond alignment (1.1 vs 0.3 degrees varus, P = .06), tibial-plafond alignment (0.3 ± 2.1 vs 1.1 ± 2.1 degrees varus, P = .06), and tibial component sagittal alignment (0.7 vs 0.9 degrees plantarflexion, P = .14). The TDABC method estimated a PSI cost-savings threshold range at our institution of $863 below which PSI pricing would provide net cost-savings. Two-way sensitivity analysis generated a globally applicable cost-savings threshold model based on institution-specific costs and surgeon-specific time-savings. This study demonstrated equivalent postoperative TAR alignment with PSI and SR referencing systems but with a significant decrease in operative time with PSI. Based on TDABC and associated sensitivity analysis, a cost-savings threshold of $863 was identified for PSI pricing at our institution below which PSI was less costly than SR. Similar internal cost accounting may benefit health care systems for identifying cost drivers and obtaining leverage during price negotiations. Level III, therapeutic study.

I-SAVE: AN INTERACTIVE REAL-TIME MONITOR AND CONTROLLER TO INFLUENCE ENERGY CONSERVATION BEHAVIOR BY IMPULSE SAVING

EPA Science Inventory

Simulation-based model to explore the benefits of monitoring and control to energy saving opportunities in residential homes; an adaptive algorithm to predict the type of electrical loads; a prototype user friendly interface monitoring and control device to save energy; a p...

Savings opportunities through Medicaid disease management.

PubMed

Lewis, Alfred

2004-01-01

In their attempts to control spending in Medicaid, a few states have looked beyond the obvious reductions in reimbursement, tightened eligibility requirements, and institution of copays to disease management outsourcing. While the traditional panoply of cutbacks will save money the year they are instituted, they tend to have trade-offs. Reducing reimbursement, for example, may encourage providers to leave the program. As a result, several states are implementing outsourced medical management programs, which together at maturity will, as shown below, noticeably reduce Medicaid spending by improving the way health care is delivered. These purely voluntary, quality-enhancing outsourced medical management programs are also fully guaranteed by a wide variety of vendors to save money starting in the first year they are implemented.

Alarm Fatigue: Use of an Evidence-Based Alarm Management Strategy.

PubMed

Turmell, Jacob W; Coke, Lola; Catinella, Rachel; Hosford, Tracy; Majeski, Amy

The purpose of this article is to describe the impact of an evidence-based alarm management strategy on patient safety. An alarm management program reduced alarms up to 30%. Evaluation of patients on continuous cardiac monitoring showed a 3.5% decrease in census. This alarm management strategy has the potential to save $136 500 and 841 hours of registered nurses' time per year. No patient harm occurred during the 2-year project.

A Cost Estimation Analysis of U.S. Navy Ship Fuel-Savings Techniques and Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

readings to the boiler operator. The PLC will provide constant automatic trimming of the excess oxygen based upon real time SGA readings. An SCD...the author): The Aegis Combat System is controlled by an advanced, automatic detect-and-track, multi-function three-dimensional passive...subsequently offloaded. An Online Wash System would reduce these maintenance costs and improve fuel efficiency of these engines by keeping the engines

Observations on SOFIA Observation Scheduling: Search and Inference in the Face of Discrete and Continuous Constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, Jeremy; Gross, Michael; Kuerklu, Elif

2003-01-01

We did cool stuff to reduce the number of IVPs and BVPs needed to schedule SOFIA by restricting the problem. The restriction costs us little in terms of the value of the flight plans we can build. The restriction allowed us to reformulate part of the search problem as a zero-finding problem. The result is a simplified planning model and significant savings in computation time.

Laser Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York is a broad-based firm which produces photographic apparatus and supplies, fibers, chemicals and vitamin concentrates. Much of the company's research and development effort is devoted to photographic science and imaging technology, including laser technology. Eastman Kodak is using a COSMIC computer program called LACOMA in the analysis of laser optical systems and camera design studies. The company reports that use of the program has provided development time savings and reduced computer service fees.

Staining paraffin embedded sections of scald of barley before paraffin removal.

PubMed

Xi, K; Burnett, P A

1997-07-01

Staining of paraffin embedded sections with periodic acid-Schiff reagent and fast green before paraffin removal resulted in differentiation of barley seed and leaf tissue from fungal structures of Rhynchosporium secalis. Crystal violet, toluidine blue O and antiline blue also successfully stained fungal structures of R. secalis in barley leaf tissues. Staining of embedded sections before paraffin removal allows simple processing of a series of sections, saves time and reduces solvent consumption.

Effect of a pharmacist-managed hypertension program on health system costs: an evaluation of the Study of Cardiovascular Risk Intervention by Pharmacists-Hypertension (SCRIP-HTN).

PubMed

Houle, Sherilyn K D; Chuck, Anderson W; McAlister, Finlay A; Tsuyuki, Ross T

2012-06-01

To quantify the potential cost savings of a community pharmacy-based hypertension management program based on the results of the Study of Cardiovascular Risk Intervention by Pharmacists-Hypertension (SCRIP-HTN) study in terms of avoided cardiovascular events-myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure hospitalization, and to compare these cost savings with the cost of the pharmacist intervention program. An economic model was developed to estimate the potential cost avoidance in direct health care resources from reduced cardiovascular events over a 1-year period. The SCRIP-HTN study found that patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension who were receiving the pharmacist intervention had a greater mean reduction in systolic blood pressure of 5.6 mm Hg than patients receiving usual care. For our model, published meta-analysis data were used to compute cardiovascular event absolute risk reductions associated with a 5.6-mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure over 6 months. Costs/event were obtained from administrative data, and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness of the results. Two program scenarios were evaluated-one with monthly follow-up for a total of 1 year with sustained blood pressure reduction, and the other in which pharmacist care ended after the 6-month program but the effects on systolic blood pressure diminished over time. The cost saving results from the economic model were then compared with the costs of the program. Annual estimated cost savings (in 2011 Canadian dollars) from avoided cardiovascular events were $265/patient (95% confidence interval [CI] $63-467) if the program lasted 1 year or $221/patient (95%CI $72-371) if pharmacist care ceased after 6 months with an assumed loss of effect afterward. Estimated pharmacist costs were $90/patient for 6 months or $150/patient for 1 year, suggesting that pharmacist-managed programs are cost saving, with the annual net total cost savings/patient estimated to be $131 for a program lasting 6 months or $115 for a program lasting 1 year. Our model found that community pharmacist interventions capable of reducing systolic blood pressure by 5.6 mm Hg within 6 months are cost saving and result in improved patient outcomes. Wider adoption of pharmacist-managed hypertension care for patients with diabetes and hypertension is encouraged. © 2012 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Strategies to improve energy efficiency in sewage treatment plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Au, Mau Teng; Pasupuleti, Jagadeesh; Chua, Kok Hua

2013-06-01

This paper discusses on strategies to improve energy efficiency in Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). Four types of STP; conventional activated sludge, extended aeration, oxidation ditch, and sequence batch reactor are presented and strategized to reduce energy consumption based on their influent flow. Strategies to reduce energy consumption include the use of energy saving devices, energy efficient motors, automation/control and modification of processes. It is envisaged that 20-30% of energy could be saved from these initiatives.

Societal value of generic medicines beyond cost-saving through reduced prices.

PubMed

Dylst, Pieter; Vulto, Arnold; Simoens, Steven

2015-01-01

This paper aims to provide an overview of the added societal value of generic medicines beyond their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. In addition, an observational case study will document the impact of generic entry on access to pharmacotherapy in The Netherlands and an illustrative exercise was carried out to highlight the budget impact of generic entry. A narrative literature review was carried out to explore the impact of generic medicines on access to pharmacotherapy, innovation and medication adherence. Data from the Medicines and Medical Devices Information Project database in The Netherlands were used for the case study in which the impact of generic medicine entrance on the budget and the number of users was calculated as an illustrative exercise. Generic medicines have an additional societal value beyond their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. Generic medicines increase access to pharmacotherapy, provide a stimulus for innovation by both originator companies and generic companies and, under the right circumstances, have a positive impact on medication adherence. Generic medicines offer more to society than just their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. As such, governments must not focus only on the prices of generic medicines as this will threaten their long-term sustainability. Governments must therefore act appropriately and implement a coherent set of policies to increase the use of generic medicines.

Reducing Energy Consumption and CO2 One Street Lamp at a Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somssich, Peter

2011-11-01

Why wait for federal action on incentives to reduce energy use and address Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reductions (e.g. CO2), when we can take personal actions right now in our private lives and in our communities? One such initiative by private citizens working with Portsmouth NH officials resulted in the installation of energy reducing lighting products on Court St. and the benefits to taxpayers are still coming after over 4 years of operation. This citizen initiative to save money and reduce CO2 emissions, while only one small effort, could easily be duplicated in many towns and cities. Replacing old lamps in just one street fixture with a more energy efficient (Non-LED) lamp has resulted after 4 years of operation (˜15,000 hr. life of product) in real electrical energy savings of > 43. and CO2 emission reduction of > 465 lbs. The return on investment (ROI) was less than 2 years. This is much better than any financial investment available today and far safer. Our street only had 30 such lamps installed; however, the rest of Portsmouth (population 22,000) has at least another 150 street lamp fixtures that are candidates for such an upgrade. The talk will also address other energy reduction measures that green the planet and also put more green in the pockets of citizens and municipalities.

Improving value of travel time savings estimation for more effective transportation project evaluation.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-12-01

Estimates of value of time (VOT) and value of travel time savings (VTTS) are critical elements in benefitcost : analyses of transportation projects and in developing congestion pricing policies. In addition, : differences in VTTS among various modes ...

Realtime mitigation of GPS SA errors using Loran-C

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Braasch, Soo Y.

1994-01-01

The hybrid use of Loran-C with the Global Positioning System (GPS) was shown capable of providing a sole-means of enroute air radionavigation. By allowing pilots to fly direct to their destinations, use of this system is resulting in significant time savings and therefore fuel savings as well. However, a major error source limiting the accuracy of GPS is the intentional degradation of the GPS signal known as Selective Availability (SA). SA-induced position errors are highly correlated and far exceed all other error sources (horizontal position error: 100 meters, 95 percent). Realtime mitigation of SA errors from the position solution is highly desirable. How that can be achieved is discussed. The stability of Loran-C signals is exploited to reduce SA errors. The theory behind this technique is discussed and results using bench and flight data are given.

Spaceborne GPS: Current Status and Future Visions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, Frank H.; Hartman, Kate; Lightsey, E. Glenn

1998-01-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS), developed by the Department of Defense is quickly revolutionizing the architecture of future spacecraft and spacecraft systems. Significant savings in spacecraft life cycle cost, in power, and in mass can be realized by exploiting GPS technology in spaceborne vehicles. These savings are realized because GPS is a systems sensor--it combines the ability to sense space vehicle trajectory, attitude, time, and relative ranging between vehicles into one package. As a result, a reduced spacecraft sensor complement can be employed and significant reductions in space vehicle operations cost can be realized through enhanced on-board autonomy. This paper provides an overview of the current status of spaceborne GPS, a description of spaceborne GPS receivers available now and in the near future, a description of the 1997-2000 GPS flight experiments, and the spaceborne GPS team's vision for the future.

Estimating the Resources Needed and Savings Anticipated from Roll-Out of Adult Male Circumcision in Sub-Saharan Africa

PubMed Central

Auvert, Bertran; Marseille, Elliot; Korenromp, Eline L.; Lloyd-Smith, James; Sitta, Remi; Taljaard, Dirk; Pretorius, Carel; Williams, Brian; Kahn, James G.

2008-01-01

Background Trials in Africa indicate that medical adult male circumcision (MAMC) reduces the risk of HIV by 60%. MAMC may avert 2 to 8 million HIV infections over 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa and cost less than treating those who would have been infected. This paper estimates the financial and human resources required to roll out MAMC and the net savings due to reduced infections. Methods We developed a model which included costing, demography and HIV epidemiology. We used it to investigate 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence of male circumcision was lower than 80% and HIV prevalence among adults was higher than 5%, in addition to Uganda and the Nyanza province in Kenya. We assumed that the roll-out would take 5 years and lead to an MC prevalence among adult males of 85%. We also assumed that surgery would be done as it was in the trials. We calculated public program cost, number of full-time circumcisers and net costs or savings when adjusting for averted HIV treatments. Costs were in USD, discounted to 2007. 95% percentile intervals (95% PI) were estimated by Monte Carlo simulations. Results In the first 5 years the number of circumcisers needed was 2 282 (95% PI: 2 018 to 2 959), or 0.24 (95% PI: 0.21 to 0.31) per 10 000 adults. In years 6–10, the number of circumcisers needed fell to 513 (95% PI: 452 to 664). The estimated 5-year cost of rolling out MAMC in the public sector was $919 million (95% PI: 726 to 1 245). The cumulative net cost over the first 10 years was $672 million (95% PI: 437 to 1 021) and over 20 years there were net savings of $2.3 billion (95% PI: 1.4 to 3.4). Conclusion A rapid roll-out of MAMC in sub-Saharan Africa requires substantial funding and a high number of circumcisers for the first five years. These investments are justified by MAMC's substantial health benefits and the savings accrued by averting future HIV infections. Lower ongoing costs and continued care savings suggest long-term sustainability. PMID:18682725

An adaptive two-stage energy-efficiency mechanism for the doze mode in EPON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikoukar, AliAkbar; Hwang, I.-Shyan; Su, Yu-Min; Liem, Andrew Tanny

2016-07-01

Sleep and doze power-saving modes are the common ways to reduce power consumption of optical network units (ONUs) in Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). The doze mode turns off the ONU transmitter when there is no traffic in the upstream direction while the sleep mode turns off the ONU transmitter and receiver. As the result, the sleep mode is more efficient compared to the doze mode, but it introduces additional complexity of scheduling and signaling, losses the clock synchronization and requires long clock recovery time; furthermore, it requires the cooperation of the optical line terminal (OLT) in the downstream direction to queue frames. To improve the energy-saving in the doze mode, a new two-stage mechanism is introduced that the doze sleep duration is extended for longer time with acceptable quality-of-services (QoS) metrics when ONU is idle in the current cycle. By this way the ONU enters the doze mode even in the high load traffic; moreover, the green dynamic bandwidth allocation (GBA) is proposed to calculate the doze sleep duration based on the ONU queue state and incoming traffic ratio. Simulation results show that the proposed mechanism significantly improves the energy-saving 74% and 54% when traffic load is from the light load to the high load in different traffic situations, and also promises the QoS performance.

Time Savings and Surgery Task Load Reduction in Open Intraperitoneal Onlay Mesh Fixation Procedure.

PubMed

Roy, Sanjoy; Hammond, Jeffrey; Panish, Jessica; Shnoda, Pullen; Savidge, Sandy; Wilson, Mark

2015-01-01

This study assessed the reduction in surgeon stress associated with savings in procedure time for mechanical fixation of an intraperitoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) compared to a traditional suture fixation in open ventral hernia repair. Nine general surgeons performed 36 open IPOM fixation procedures in porcine model. Each surgeon conducted two mechanical (using ETHICON SECURESTRAP ™ Open) and two suture fixation procedures. Fixation time was measured using a stopwatch, and related surgeon stress was assessed using the validated SURG-TLX questionnaire. T-tests were used to compare between-group differences, and a two-sided 95% confidence interval for the difference in stress levels was established using nonparametric methodology. The mechanical fixation group demonstrated an 89.1% mean reduction in fixation time, as compared to the suture group (p < 0.00001). Surgeon stress scores measured using SURG-TLX were 55.5% lower in the mechanical compared to the suture fixation group (p < 0.001). Scores in five of the six sources of stress were significantly lower for mechanical fixation. Mechanical fixation with ETHICON SECURESTRAP ™ Open demonstrated a significant reduction in fixation time and surgeon stress, which may translate into improved operating efficiency, improved performance, improved surgeon quality of life, and reduced overall costs of the procedure.

Time Savings and Surgery Task Load Reduction in Open Intraperitoneal Onlay Mesh Fixation Procedure

PubMed Central

Roy, Sanjoy; Hammond, Jeffrey; Panish, Jessica; Shnoda, Pullen; Savidge, Sandy; Wilson, Mark

2015-01-01

Background. This study assessed the reduction in surgeon stress associated with savings in procedure time for mechanical fixation of an intraperitoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) compared to a traditional suture fixation in open ventral hernia repair. Study Design. Nine general surgeons performed 36 open IPOM fixation procedures in porcine model. Each surgeon conducted two mechanical (using ETHICON SECURESTRAPTM Open) and two suture fixation procedures. Fixation time was measured using a stopwatch, and related surgeon stress was assessed using the validated SURG-TLX questionnaire. T-tests were used to compare between-group differences, and a two-sided 95% confidence interval for the difference in stress levels was established using nonparametric methodology. Results. The mechanical fixation group demonstrated an 89.1% mean reduction in fixation time, as compared to the suture group (p < 0.00001). Surgeon stress scores measured using SURG-TLX were 55.5% lower in the mechanical compared to the suture fixation group (p < 0.001). Scores in five of the six sources of stress were significantly lower for mechanical fixation. Conclusions. Mechanical fixation with ETHICON SECURESTRAPTM Open demonstrated a significant reduction in fixation time and surgeon stress, which may translate into improved operating efficiency, improved performance, improved surgeon quality of life, and reduced overall costs of the procedure. PMID:26240834

Development of the Integrated Urban Water Management Tool (WERF Report INFR4SG09c)

EPA Science Inventory

The challenges of addressing the needs of aging water and wastewater infrastructure require new management approaches. Benefits including water savings, cost savings, and reduced wastewater production may be realized through the adoption of new integrated water management concep...

Vacuum Pump System Optimization Saves Energy at a Dairy Farm

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

None

In 1998, S&S Dairy optimized the vacuum pumping system at their dairy farm in Modesto, California. In an effort to reduce energy costs, S&S Dairy evaluated their vacuum pumping system to determine if efficiency gains and energy savings were possible.

Debunking the Fire Sprinkler Myth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Connell, Thomas

1996-01-01

Sprinklers can protect school buildings, save lives, and actually reduce construction costs. Sprinkler-system costs can be easily offset by insurance savings, as well as by specific alternatives or design options permitted by nationally recognized building codes in view of the superior protection that sprinklers provide. (MLF)

32 CFR 162.3 - Definition.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

.... Benefits resulting from PECIs are classified as savings or as cost avoidance: (1) Savings. Benefits that... achieved. Examples include costs for manpower authorizations and or funded work-year reductions, reduced or... manpower or costs that would be necessary, if present management practices were continued. The effect of...

32 CFR 162.3 - Definition.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

.... Benefits resulting from PECIs are classified as savings or as cost avoidance: (1) Savings. Benefits that... achieved. Examples include costs for manpower authorizations and or funded work-year reductions, reduced or... manpower or costs that would be necessary, if present management practices were continued. The effect of...

32 CFR 162.3 - Definition.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

.... Benefits resulting from PECIs are classified as savings or as cost avoidance: (1) Savings. Benefits that... achieved. Examples include costs for manpower authorizations and or funded work-year reductions, reduced or... manpower or costs that would be necessary, if present management practices were continued. The effect of...

32 CFR 162.3 - Definition.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

.... Benefits resulting from PECIs are classified as savings or as cost avoidance: (1) Savings. Benefits that... achieved. Examples include costs for manpower authorizations and or funded work-year reductions, reduced or... manpower or costs that would be necessary, if present management practices were continued. The effect of...

32 CFR 162.3 - Definition.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

.... Benefits resulting from PECIs are classified as savings or as cost avoidance: (1) Savings. Benefits that... achieved. Examples include costs for manpower authorizations and or funded work-year reductions, reduced or... manpower or costs that would be necessary, if present management practices were continued. The effect of...

Autonomy-Enabled Fuel Savings for Military Vehicles: Report on 2016 Aberdeen Test Center Testing

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

Ragatz, Adam; Prohaska, Robert; Gonder, Jeff

Fuel savings have never been the primary focus for autonomy-enabled military vehicles. However, studies have estimated that autonomy in passenger and commercial vehicles could improve fuel economy by as much as 22%-33% over various drive cycles. If even a fraction of this saving could be realized in military vehicles, significant cost savings could be realized each year through reduced fuel transport missions, reduced fuel purchases, less maintenance, fewer required personnel, and increased vehicle range. Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory installed advanced data logging equipment and instrumentation on two autonomy-enabled convoy vehicles configured with Lockheed Martin's Autonomous Mobility Appliquemore » System to determine system performance and improve on the overall vehicle control strategies of the vehicles. Initial test results from testing conducted at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds are included in this report. Lessons learned from in-use testing and performance results have been provided to the project partners for continued system refinement.« less

Application of automated measurement and verification to utility energy efficiency program data

DOE PAGES

Granderson, Jessica; Touzani, Samir; Fernandes, Samuel; ...

2017-02-17

Trustworthy savings calculations are critical to convincing regulators of both the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency program investments and their ability to defer supply-side capital investments. Today’s methods for measurement and verification (M&V) of energy savings constitute a significant portion of the total costs of energy efficiency programs. They also require time-consuming data acquisition. A spectrum of savings calculation approaches is used, with some relying more heavily on measured data and others relying more heavily on estimated, modeled, or stipulated data. The increasing availability of “smart” meters and devices that report near-real time data, combined with new analytical approaches to quantifymore » savings, offers the potential to conduct M&V more quickly and at lower cost, with comparable or improved accuracy. Commercial energy management and information systems (EMIS) technologies are beginning to offer these ‘M&V 2.0’ capabilities, and program administrators want to understand how they might assist programs in quickly and accurately measuring energy savings. This paper presents the results of recent testing of the ability to use automation to streamline the M&V process. In this paper, we apply an automated whole-building M&V tool to historic data sets from energy efficiency programs to begin to explore the accuracy, cost, and time trade-offs between more traditional M&V, and these emerging streamlined methods that use high-resolution energy data and automated computational intelligence. For the data sets studied we evaluate the fraction of buildings that are well suited to automated baseline characterization, the uncertainty in gross savings that is due to M&V 2.0 tools’ model error, and indications of labor time savings, and how the automated savings results compare to prior, traditionally determined savings results. The results show that 70% of the buildings were well suited to the automated approach. In a majority of the cases (80%) savings and uncertainties for each individual building were quantified to levels above the criteria in ASHRAE Guideline 14. In addition the findings suggest that M&V 2.0 methods may also offer time-savings relative to traditional approaches. Lastly, we discuss the implications of these findings relative to the potential evolution of M&V, and pilots currently being launched to test how M&V automation can be integrated into ratepayer-funded programs and professional implementation and evaluation practice.« less

Application of automated measurement and verification to utility energy efficiency program data

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

Granderson, Jessica; Touzani, Samir; Fernandes, Samuel

Trustworthy savings calculations are critical to convincing regulators of both the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency program investments and their ability to defer supply-side capital investments. Today’s methods for measurement and verification (M&V) of energy savings constitute a significant portion of the total costs of energy efficiency programs. They also require time-consuming data acquisition. A spectrum of savings calculation approaches is used, with some relying more heavily on measured data and others relying more heavily on estimated, modeled, or stipulated data. The increasing availability of “smart” meters and devices that report near-real time data, combined with new analytical approaches to quantifymore » savings, offers the potential to conduct M&V more quickly and at lower cost, with comparable or improved accuracy. Commercial energy management and information systems (EMIS) technologies are beginning to offer these ‘M&V 2.0’ capabilities, and program administrators want to understand how they might assist programs in quickly and accurately measuring energy savings. This paper presents the results of recent testing of the ability to use automation to streamline the M&V process. In this paper, we apply an automated whole-building M&V tool to historic data sets from energy efficiency programs to begin to explore the accuracy, cost, and time trade-offs between more traditional M&V, and these emerging streamlined methods that use high-resolution energy data and automated computational intelligence. For the data sets studied we evaluate the fraction of buildings that are well suited to automated baseline characterization, the uncertainty in gross savings that is due to M&V 2.0 tools’ model error, and indications of labor time savings, and how the automated savings results compare to prior, traditionally determined savings results. The results show that 70% of the buildings were well suited to the automated approach. In a majority of the cases (80%) savings and uncertainties for each individual building were quantified to levels above the criteria in ASHRAE Guideline 14. In addition the findings suggest that M&V 2.0 methods may also offer time-savings relative to traditional approaches. Lastly, we discuss the implications of these findings relative to the potential evolution of M&V, and pilots currently being launched to test how M&V automation can be integrated into ratepayer-funded programs and professional implementation and evaluation practice.« less

Calibrated energy simulations of potential energy savings in actual retail buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alhafi, Zuhaira

Retail stores are commercial buildings with high energy consumption due to their typically large volumes and long hours of operation. This dissertation assesses heating, ventilating and air conditioning saving strategies based on energy simulations with input parameters from actual retail buildings. The dissertation hypothesis is that "Retail store buildings will save a significant amount of energy by (1) modifying ventilation rates, and/or (2) resetting set point temperatures. These strategies have shown to be beneficial in previous studies. As presented in the literature review, potential energy savings ranged from 0.5% to 30% without compromising indoor thermal comfort and indoor air quality. The retail store buildings can be ventilated at rates significantly lower than rates called for in the ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010 while maintaining acceptable indoor air quality. Therefore, two dissertation objectives are addressed: (1) Investigate opportunities to reduce ventilation rates that do not compromise indoor air quality in retail stores located in Central Pennsylvania, (2) Investigate opportunities to increase (in summer) and decrease (in winter) set point temperatures that do not compromise thermal comfort. This study conducted experimental measurements of ventilation rates required to maintain acceptable air quality and indoor environmental conditions requirements for two retail stores using ASHRAE Standard 62.1_2012. More specifically, among other parameters, occupancy density, indoor and outdoor pollutant concentrations, and indoor temperatures were measured continuously for one week interval. One of these retail stores were tested four times for a yearlong time period. Pollutants monitored were formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, particle size distributions and concentrations, as well as total volatile organic compounds. As a part of the base protocol, the number of occupants in each store was hourly counted during the test, and the results reveal that the occupant densities were approximately 20% to 30% of that called by ASHRAE 62.1. Formaldehyde was the most important contaminant of concern in retail stores investigated. Both stores exceeded the most conservative health guideline for formaldehyde (OEHHA TWA REL = 7.3 ppb). This study found that source removal and reducing the emission rate, as demonstrated in retail stores sampled in this study, is a viable strategy to meet the health guideline. Total volatile compound were present in retail stores at low concentrations well below health guidelines suggested by Molhave (1700microg /m 2) and Bridges (1000 microg /m2). Based on these results and through mass--balance modeling, different ventilation rate reduction scenarios were proposed, and for these scenarios the differences in energy consumption were estimated. Findings of all phases of this desertion have contributed to understanding (a) the trade-off between energy savings and ventilation rates that do not compromise indoor air quality, and (b) the trade-off between energy savings and resets of indoor air temperature that do not compromise thermal comfort. Two models for retail stores were built and calibrated and validated against actual utility bills. Energy simulation results indicated that by lowering the ventilation rates from measured and minimum references would reduce natural gas energy use by estimated values of 6% to 19%. Also, this study found that the electrical cooling energy consumption was not significantly sensitive to different ventilation rates. However, increasing indoor air temperature by 3°C in summer had a significant effect on the energy savings. In winter, both energy savings strategies, ventilation reduction and decrease in set points, had a significant effect on natural gas consumption. Specially, when the indoor air temperature 21°C was decreased to 19.4°C with the same amount of ventilation rate of Molhaves guideline for both cases. Interestingly, the temperature of 23.8°C (75°F), which is the lowest value of ASHRAE 55 thermal comfort for sedentary people (cashiers) and the highest value for thermal comfort adjustments due to activity level (customers and workers) that are calculated by using empirical equation, was the optimum temperature for sedentary and active people in Retail store buildings.

Darbepoetin alfa therapeutic interchange protocol for anemia in dialysis.

PubMed

Brophy, Donald F; Ripley, Elizabeth Bd; Kockler, Denise R; Lee, Seina; Proeschel, Lori A

2005-11-01

Erythropoiesis-stimulating proteins, such as erythropoietin alfa and darbepoetin alfa, have positively impacted anemia management. These medications improve patient outcomes and quality of life. Their costs, however, remain a major barrier for health systems. To evaluate the development, implementation, and cost-effectiveness of an inpatient therapeutic interchange protocol for erythropoiesis-stimulating proteins at a large, tertiary care, university-affiliated health system. Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCUHS) developed and implemented a therapeutic interchange program to convert therapy for all inpatients undergoing dialysis from erythropoietin alfa to darbepoetin alfa for treatment of chronic kidney disease-related anemia. An evaluation of the economic impact of this program on drug expenditures over a fiscal quarter (2003) was conducted using historical comparator data (2002). Preliminary evaluation of the program demonstrated cost-savings and reduced drug utilization of erythropoiesis-stimulating proteins in hospitalized dialysis patients. For the first quarter of 2003 compared with the first quarter of 2002, VCUHS realized a cost-savings of nearly 10,000 US dollars, which was related to the program's aggressive screening procedure. When these data were normalized for equal numbers of patients in each group receiving one of the drugs, the actual cost-savings was over 2000 US dollars. These cost-savings are largely due to reduced utilization of these expensive biotechnology products with implementation of a dosing protocol. VCUHS has successfully developed and implemented a darbepoetin alfa therapeutic interchange protocol for hospitalized dialysis patients. This has translated into reduced use of erythropoiesis-stimulating proteins, resulting in cost-savings for the health system.

Economic considerations in the use of inhaled anesthetic agents.

PubMed

Golembiewski, Julie

2010-04-15

To describe the components of and factors contributing to the costs of inhaled anesthesia, basis for quantifying and comparing these costs, and practical strategies for performing pharmacoeconomic analyses and reducing the costs of inhaled anesthetic agents. Inhaled anesthesia can be costly, and some of the variable costs, including fresh gas flow rates and vaporizer settings, are potential targets for cost savings. The use of a low fresh gas flow rate maximizes rebreathing of exhaled anesthetic gas and is less costly than a high flow rate, but it provides less control of the level of anesthesia. The minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) hour is a measure that can be used to compare the cost of inhaled anesthetic agents at various fresh gas flow rates. Anesthesia records provide a sense of patterns of inhaled anesthetic agent use, but the amount of detail can be limited. Cost savings have resulted from efforts to reduce the direct costs of inhaled anesthetic agents, but reductions in indirect costs through shortened times to patient recovery and discharge following the judicious use of these agents are more difficult to demonstrate. The patient case mix, fresh gas flow rates typically used during inhaled anesthesia, availability and location of vaporizers, and anesthesia care provider preferences and practices should be taken into consideration in pharmacoeconomic evaluations and recommendations for controlling the costs of inhaled anesthesia. Understanding factors that contribute to the costs of inhaled anesthesia and considering those factors in pharmacoeconomic analyses and recommendations for use of these agents can result in cost savings.

Addressing inequity to achieve the maternal and child health millennium development goals: looking beyond averages.

PubMed

Ruhago, George M; Ngalesoni, Frida N; Norheim, Ole F

2012-12-27

Inequity in access to and use of child and maternal health interventions is impeding progress towards the maternal and child health Millennium Development Goals. This study explores the potential health gains and equity impact if a set of priority interventions for mothers and under fives were scaled up to reach national universal coverage targets for MDGs in Tanzania. We used the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) to estimate potential reductions in maternal and child mortality and the number of lives saved across wealth quintiles and between rural and urban settings. High impact maternal and child health interventions were modelled for a five-year scale up, by linking intervention coverage, effectiveness and cause of mortality using data from Tanzania. Concentration curves were drawn and the concentration index estimated to measure the equity impact of the scale up. In the poorest population quintiles in Tanzania, the lives of more than twice as many mothers and under-fives were likely to be saved, compared to the richest quintile. Scaling up coverage to equal levels across quintiles would reduce inequality in maternal and child mortality from a pro rich concentration index of -0.11 (maternal) and -0.12 (children) to a more equitable concentration index of -0,03 and -0.03 respectively. In rural areas, there would likely be an eight times greater reduction in maternal deaths than in urban areas and a five times greater reduction in child deaths than in urban areas. Scaling up priority maternal and child health interventions to equal levels would potentially save far more lives in the poorest populations, and would accelerate equitable progress towards maternal and child health MDGs.

Addressing inequity to achieve the maternal and child health millennium development goals: looking beyond averages

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Inequity in access to and use of child and maternal health interventions is impeding progress towards the maternal and child health Millennium Development Goals. This study explores the potential health gains and equity impact if a set of priority interventions for mothers and under fives were scaled up to reach national universal coverage targets for MDGs in Tanzania. Methods We used the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) to estimate potential reductions in maternal and child mortality and the number of lives saved across wealth quintiles and between rural and urban settings. High impact maternal and child health interventions were modelled for a five-year scale up, by linking intervention coverage, effectiveness and cause of mortality using data from Tanzania. Concentration curves were drawn and the concentration index estimated to measure the equity impact of the scale up. Results In the poorest population quintiles in Tanzania, the lives of more than twice as many mothers and under-fives were likely to be saved, compared to the richest quintile. Scaling up coverage to equal levels across quintiles would reduce inequality in maternal and child mortality from a pro rich concentration index of −0.11 (maternal) and −0.12 (children) to a more equitable concentration index of −0,03 and −0.03 respectively. In rural areas, there would likely be an eight times greater reduction in maternal deaths than in urban areas and a five times greater reduction in child deaths than in urban areas. Conclusions Scaling up priority maternal and child health interventions to equal levels would potentially save far more lives in the poorest populations, and would accelerate equitable progress towards maternal and child health MDGs. PMID:23270489

Baker-Barry Tunnel Lighting: Evaluation of a Potential GATEWAY Demonstrations Project

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

Tuenge, Jason R.

2011-06-28

The U.S. Department of Energy is evaluating the Baker-Barry Tunnel as a potential GATEWAY Demonstrations project for deployment of solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. The National Park Service views this project as a possible proving ground and template for implementation of light-emitting diode (LED) luminaires in other tunnels, thereby expanding the estimated 40% energy savings from 132 MWh/yr to a much larger figure nationally. Most of the energy savings in this application is attributable to the instant-restrike capability of LED products and to their high tolerance for frequent on/off switching, used here to separately control either end of the tunnel duringmore » daytime hours. Some LED luminaires rival or outperform their high-intensity discharge (HID) counterparts in terms of efficacy, but options are limited, and smaller lumen packages preclude true one-for-one equivalence. However, LED products continue to improve in efficacy and affordability at a rate unmatched by other light source technologies; the estimated simple payback period of eight years (excluding installation costs and maintenance savings) can be expected to improve with time. The proposed revisions to the existing high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting system would require slightly increased controls complexity and significantly increased luminaire types and quantities. In exchange, substantial annual savings (from reduced maintenance and energy use) would be complemented by improved quantity and quality of illumination. Although advanced lighting controls could offer additional savings, it is unclear whether such a system would prove cost-effective; this topic may be explored in future work.« less

Inexpensive automated paging system for use at remote research sites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sargent, S.L.; Dey, W.S.; Keefer, D.A.

1998-01-01

The use of a flow-activated automatic sampler at a remote research site required personnel to periodically visit the site to collect samples and reset the automatic sampler. To reduce site visits, a cellular telephone was modified for activation by a datalogger. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use and benefit of the modified telephone. Both the power switch and the speed-dial button on the telephone were bypassed and wired to a relay driver. The datalogger was programmed to compare values of a monitored environmental parameter with a target value. When the target value was reached or exceeded, the datalogger pulsed a relay driver, activating power to the telephone. A separate relay activated the speed dial, dialing the number of a tone-only pager. The use of this system has saved time and reduced travel costs by reducing the number of trips to the site, without the loss of any data.The use of a flow-activated automatic sampler at a remote research site required personnel to periodically visit the site to collect samples and reset the automatic sampler. To reduce site visits, a cellular telephone was modified for activation by a datalogger. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use and benefit of the modified telephone. Both the power switch and the speed-dial button on the telephone were bypassed and wired to a relay driver. The datalogger was programmed to compare values of a monitored environmental parameter with a target value. When the target value was reached or exceeded, the datalogger pulsed a relay driver, activating power to the telephone. A separate relay activated the speed dial, dialing the number of a tone-only pager. The use of this system has saved time and reduced travel costs by reducing the number of trips to the site, without the loss of any data.

Consumer Products Advertised to Save Energy--Let the Buyer Beware.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-24

AD-AL06 653 GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON DC HUMAN RESOUR--ETC F/G 5/3 CONSUMER PRODUCTS ADVERTISED TO SAVE ENERGY--LET THE BUYER BEWA-ETC...COMPTROLLER GENERAL’S CONSUMER PRODUCTS ADVERTISED REPORT TO THE CONGRESS TO SAVE ENERGY- - LET THE BUYER BEWARE D IG E ST In efforts to reduce energy costs...Federal and State efforts to protect consumers from inaccurate or misleading claims. GAO noted hundreds of advertisements having ques- tionable

Advisory Systems Save Time, Fuel for Airlines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2012-01-01

Heinz Erzberger never thought the sky was falling, but he knew it could benefit from enhanced traffic control. Throughout the 1990s, Erzberger led a team at Ames Research Center to develop a suite of automated tools to reduce restrictions and improve the efficiency of air traffic control operations. Called CTAS, or Center-TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) Automation System, the software won NASA s Software of the Year award in 1998, and one of the tools in the suite - the traffic management advisor - was adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration and implemented at traffic control centers across the United States. Another one of the tools, Direct-To, has followed a different path. The idea behind Direct-To, explains Erzberger, a senior scientist at Ames, was that airlines could save fuel and money by shortening the routes they flew between take-off and landing. Aircraft are often limited to following established airways comprised of inefficient route segments. The routes are not easily adjusted because neither the pilot nor the aircraft controller can anticipate the constantly changing air traffic situation. To make the routes more direct while in flight, Erzberger came up with an idea for a software algorithm that could automatically examine air traffic in real-time, check to see if a shortcut was available, and then check for conflicts. If there were no conflicts and the shortcut saved more than 1 minute of flight time, the controller could be notified. "I was trying to figure out what goes on in the pilot and controller s minds when they decide to guide the aircraft in a certain way. That resulted in a different kind analysis," Erzberger says. As the engineer s idea went from theory to practice, in 2001, NASA demonstrated Direct-To in the airspace of Dallas-Ft. Worth. Estimations based on the demonstration found the technology was capable of saving 900 flying minutes per day for the aircraft in the test area.

Measuring skew in average surface roughness as a function of surface preparation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stahl, Mark T.

2015-08-01

Characterizing surface roughness is important for predicting optical performance. Better measurement of surface roughness reduces polishing time, saves money and allows the science requirements to be better defined. This study characterized statistics of average surface roughness as a function of polishing time. Average surface roughness was measured at 81 locations using a Zygo® white light interferometer at regular intervals during the polishing process. Each data set was fit to a normal and Largest Extreme Value (LEV) distribution; then tested for goodness of fit. We show that the skew in the average data changes as a function of polishing time.

Fishing Forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

ROFFS stands for Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, Inc. Roffer combines satellite and computer technology with oceanographic information from several sources to produce frequently updated charts sometimes as often as 30 times a day showing clues to the location of marlin, sailfish, tuna, swordfish and a variety of other types. Also provides customized forecasts for racing boats and the shipping industry along with seasonal forecasts that allow the marine industry to formulate fishing strategies based on foreknowledge of the arrival and departure times of different fish. Roffs service exemplifies the potential for benefits to marine industries from satellite observations. Most notable results are reduced search time and substantial fuel savings.

Retrofitting LID Practices into Existing Neighborhoods: Is It Worth It?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, Timothy J.; Liu, Yaoze; Carroll, Natalie J.; Ahiablame, Laurent M.; Engel, Bernard A.

2016-04-01

Low-impact development (LID) practices are gaining popularity as an approach to manage stormwater close to the source. LID practices reduce infrastructure requirements and help maintain hydrologic processes similar to predevelopment conditions. Studies have shown LID practices to be effective in reducing runoff and improving water quality. However, little has been done to aid decision makers in selecting the most effective practices for their needs and budgets. The long-term hydrologic impact assessment LID model was applied to four neighborhoods in Lafayette, Indiana using readily available data sources to compare LID practices by analyzing runoff volumes, implementation cost, and the approximate period needed to achieve payback on the investment. Depending on the LID practice and adoption level, 10-70 % reductions in runoff volumes could be achieved. The cost per cubic meter of runoff reduction was highly variable depending on the LID practice and the land use to which it was applied, ranging from around 3 to almost 600. In some cases the savings from reduced runoff volumes paid back the LID practice cost with interest in less than 3 years, while in other cases it was not possible to generate a payback. Decision makers need this information to establish realistic goals and make informed decisions regarding LID practices before moving into detailed designs, thereby saving time and resources.

Prediction-Based Energy Saving Mechanism in 3GPP NB-IoT Networks.

PubMed

Lee, Jinseong; Lee, Jaiyong

2017-09-01

The current expansion of the Internet of things (IoT) demands improved communication platforms that support a wide area with low energy consumption. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project introduced narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) as IoT communication solutions. NB-IoT devices should be available for over 10 years without requiring a battery replacement. Thus, a low energy consumption is essential for the successful deployment of this technology. Given that a high amount of energy is consumed for radio transmission by the power amplifier, reducing the uplink transmission time is key to ensure a long lifespan of an IoT device. In this paper, we propose a prediction-based energy saving mechanism (PBESM) that is focused on enhanced uplink transmission. The mechanism consists of two parts: first, the network architecture that predicts the uplink packet occurrence through a deep packet inspection; second, an algorithm that predicts the processing delay and pre-assigns radio resources to enhance the scheduling request procedure. In this way, our mechanism reduces the number of random accesses and the energy consumed by radio transmission. Simulation results showed that the energy consumption using the proposed PBESM is reduced by up to 34% in comparison with that in the conventional NB-IoT method.

Prediction-Based Energy Saving Mechanism in 3GPP NB-IoT Networks

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The current expansion of the Internet of things (IoT) demands improved communication platforms that support a wide area with low energy consumption. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project introduced narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) as IoT communication solutions. NB-IoT devices should be available for over 10 years without requiring a battery replacement. Thus, a low energy consumption is essential for the successful deployment of this technology. Given that a high amount of energy is consumed for radio transmission by the power amplifier, reducing the uplink transmission time is key to ensure a long lifespan of an IoT device. In this paper, we propose a prediction-based energy saving mechanism (PBESM) that is focused on enhanced uplink transmission. The mechanism consists of two parts: first, the network architecture that predicts the uplink packet occurrence through a deep packet inspection; second, an algorithm that predicts the processing delay and pre-assigns radio resources to enhance the scheduling request procedure. In this way, our mechanism reduces the number of random accesses and the energy consumed by radio transmission. Simulation results showed that the energy consumption using the proposed PBESM is reduced by up to 34% in comparison with that in the conventional NB-IoT method. PMID:28862675

New workers' compensation legislation: expected pharmaceutical cost savings.

PubMed

Wilson, Leslie; Gitlin, Matthew

2005-10-01

California Workers' Compensation (WC) system costs are under review. With recently approved California State Assembly Bill (AB) 749 and Senate Bill (SB) 228, an assessment of proposed pharmaceutical cost savings is needed. A large workers' compensation database provided by the California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI) and Medi-Cal pharmacy costs obtained from the State Drug Utilization Project are utilized to compare frequency, costs and savings to Workers' Compensation in 2002 with the new pharmacy legislation. Compared to the former California Workers' Compensation fee schedule, the newly implemented 100% Medi-Cal fee schedule will result in savings of 29.5% with a potential total pharmacy cost savings of $125 million. Further statistical analysis demonstrated that a large variability in savings across drugs could not be controlled with this drug pricing system. Despite the large savings in pharmaceuticals, inconsistencies between the two pharmaceutical payment systems could lead to negative incentives and uncertainty for long-term savings. Proposed alternative pricing systems could be considered. However, pain management implemented along with other cost containment strategies could more effectively reduce overall drug spending in the workers' compensation system.

Development of image and information management system for Korean standard brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, Soon Cheol; Choi, Do Young; Tack, Gye Rae; Sohn, Jin Hun

2004-04-01

The purpose of this study is to establish a reference for image acquisition for completing a standard brain for diverse Korean population, and to develop database management system that saves and manages acquired brain images and personal information of subjects. 3D MP-RAGE (Magnetization Prepared Rapid Gradient Echo) technique which has excellent Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR) as well as reduces image acquisition time was selected for anatomical image acquisition, and parameter values were obtained for the optimal image acquisition. Using these standards, image data of 121 young adults (early twenties) were obtained and stored in the system. System was designed to obtain, save, and manage not only anatomical image data but also subjects' basic demographic factors, medical history, handedness inventory, state-trait anxiety inventory, A-type personality inventory, self-assessment depression inventory, mini-mental state examination, intelligence test, and results of personality test via a survey questionnaire. Additionally this system was designed to have functions of saving, inserting, deleting, searching, and printing image data and personal information of subjects, and to have accessibility to them as well as automatic connection setup with ODBC. This newly developed system may have major contribution to the completion of a standard brain for diverse Korean population since it can save and manage their image data and personal information.

Efficient Kill-Save Ratios Ease Up the Cognitive Demands on Counterintuitive Moral Utilitarianism.

PubMed

Trémolière, Bastien; Bonnefon, Jean-François

2014-07-01

The dual-process model of moral judgment postulates that utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas (e.g., accepting to kill one to save five) are demanding of cognitive resources. Here we show that utilitarian responses can become effortless, even when they involve to kill someone, as long as the kill-save ratio is efficient (e.g., 1 is killed to save 500). In Experiment 1, participants responded to moral dilemmas featuring different kill-save ratios under high or low cognitive load. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants responded at their own pace or under time pressure. Efficient kill-save ratios promoted utilitarian responding and neutered the effect of load or time pressure. We discuss whether this effect is more easily explained by a parallel-activation model or by a default-interventionist model. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Reduced pleural drainage, length of stay, and readmissions using a modified Fontan management protocol.

PubMed

Pike, Nancy A; Okuhara, Carol A; Toyama, Joy; Gross, Barbara P; Wells, Winfield J; Starnes, Vaughn A

2015-09-01

Persistent pleural effusions after the Fontan procedure contribute to prolonged hospitalization and increased costs. We report our experience using a modified Wisconsin Fontan protocol to reduce chest tube drainage and hospital length of stay (LOS). Single institutional retrospective chart review of 120 consecutive patients (60 before and 60 after initiation of our protocol) undergoing an extracardiac Fontan procedure from January 2004 to February 2007. Protocol influence was assessed by comparing group differences on duration of pleural drainage, requirement for nothing by mouth/total parenteral nutrition, hospital LOS, readmission for pleural effusion, and total hospital costs. Groups were similar in demographic characteristics, single ventricle morphology, preoperative hemodynamic parameters, and operative and immediate postoperative management. Median duration of pleural drainage and hospital LOS was reduced in the post- versus preprotocol groups: 4 days (interquartile range [IQR], 4-5 days) pre versus 6 days (IQR, 5-10 days) (P < .0001) and 6 days (IQR, 5-9 days) versus 8 days (IQR, 6-13 days) (P = .005), respectively. Pleural drainage lasting >1 week was also less common postprotocol: 23 (38%) before versus 7 (12%) after (P = .001). Fewer postprotocol patients required nothing by mouth/total parenteral nutrition to control effusions: 5 pre versus 0 post (P = .06), and fewer readmissions for effusions (14 before vs 7 after [P = .1]). An average total cost savings of 22% and readmissions savings of 29% resulted in nearly $500,000 in institutional savings over the study period. A modified Fontan protocol resulted in reduced time to chest tube removal, hospital LOS, and chest tube drainage lasting >1 week. There was a strong trend toward avoiding nothing by mouth/total parenteral nutrition to control pleural effusion and lower hospital costs. Copyright © 2015 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

31 CFR 351.6 - When may I redeem my Series EE savings bond?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... before January 1, 2003. You may redeem your Series EE savings bond at any time beginning six months after... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false When may I redeem my Series EE... SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds...

31 CFR 351.6 - When may I redeem my Series EE savings bond?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... before January 1, 2003. You may redeem your Series EE savings bond at any time beginning six months after... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false When may I redeem my Series EE... SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES EE Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds...

47 CFR 73.99 - Presunrise service authorization (PSRA) and postsunset service authorization (PSSA).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... authorization. (c) Extended Daylight Saving Time Pre-Sunrise Authorizations: (1) Between the first Sunday in... presunrise operations during extended daylight saving time and shall issue conforming authorizations. These...

47 CFR 73.99 - Presunrise service authorization (PSRA) and postsunset service authorization (PSSA).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... authorization. (c) Extended Daylight Saving Time Pre-Sunrise Authorizations: (1) Between the first Sunday in... presunrise operations during extended daylight saving time and shall issue conforming authorizations. These...

Energy savings modelling of re-tuning energy conservation measures in large office buildings

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

Fernandez, Nick; Katipamula, Srinivas; Wang, Weimin

Today, many large commercial buildings use sophisticated building automation systems (BASs) to manage a wide range of building equipment. While the capabilities of BASs have increased over time, many buildings still do not fully use the BAS’s capabilities and are not properly commissioned, operated or maintained, which leads to inefficient operation, increased energy use, and reduced lifetimes of the equipment. This paper investigates the energy savings potential of several common HVAC system re-tuning measures on a typical large office building, using the Department of Energy’s building energy modeling software, EnergyPlus. The baseline prototype model uses roughly as much energy asmore » an average large office building in existing building stock, but does not utilize any re-tuning measures. Individual re-tuning measures simulated against this baseline include automatic schedule adjustments, damper minimum flow adjustments, thermostat adjustments, as well as dynamic resets (set points that change continuously with building and/or outdoor conditions) to static pressure, supply-air temperature, condenser water temperature, chilled and hot water temperature, and chilled and hot water differential pressure set points. Six combinations of these individual measures have been formulated – each designed to conform to limitations to implementation of certain individual measures that might exist in typical buildings. All the individual measures and combinations were simulated in 16 climate locations representative of specific U.S. climate zones. The modeling results suggest that the most effective energy savings measures are those that affect the demand-side of the building (air-systems and schedules). Many of the demand-side individual measures were capable of reducing annual total HVAC system energy consumption by over 20% in most cities that were modeled. Supply side measures affecting HVAC plant conditions were only modestly successful (less than 5% annual HVAC energy savings for most cities for all measures). Combining many of the re-tuning measures revealed deep savings potential. Some of the more aggressive combinations revealed 35-75% reductions in annual HVAC energy consumption, depending on climate and building vintage.« less

Energy saving concepts relating to induction generators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nola, F. J.

1980-01-01

Energy saving concepts relating to induction generators are presented. The first describes a regenerative scheme using an induction generator as a variable load for prime movers under test is described. A method for reducing losses in induction machines used specifically as wind driven generators is also described.

21st century locomotive technology: quarterly technical status report 26

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

Lembit Salasoo; Ramu Chandra

2009-08-24

Parasitic losses due to hybrid sodium battery thermal management do not significantly reduce the fuel saving benefits of the hybrid locomotive. Optimal thermal management trajectories were converted into realizable algorithms which were robust and gave excellent performance to limit thermal excusions and maintain fuel savings.

Changing of the Bulbs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baba, Keith

1995-01-01

Explains how a school's use of compact fluorescents can reduce operating costs and maintain performance. Indicates that energy cost savings can repay the initial costs of buying incandescent bulbs in as short as 12 months with continuing savings thereafter. Tips for avoiding costly mistakes in lighting retrofits are highlighted. (GR)

Supersonic transport vis-a-vis energy savings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cormery, G.

1979-01-01

The energy and economic saving modifications in supersonic transportation are studied. Modifications in the propulsion systems and in the aerodynamic configurations of the Concorde aircraft to reduce noise generation and increase fuel efficiency are discussed. The conversion of supersonic aircraft from fuel oils to synthetic fuels is examined.

Greening the Bottom Line, 2012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flynn, Emily

2012-01-01

With buildings consuming almost half (49 percent) of all energy used in the United States, and three quarters of all electricity, there is a compelling need for investment in energy efficiency upgrades. These energy saving improvements "represent a significant opportunity to save money, reduce climate impact and generate jobs," according…

Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse-gas Emissions

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

Mills, Evan

2009-07-16

The aim of commissioning new buildings is to ensure that they deliver, if not exceed, the performance and energy savings promised by their design. When applied to existing buildings, commissioning identifies the almost inevitable 'drift' from where things should be and puts the building back on course. In both contexts, commissioning is a systematic, forensic approach to quality assurance, rather than a technology per se. Although commissioning has earned increased recognition in recent years - even a toehold in Wikipedia - it remains an enigmatic practice whose visibility severely lags its potential. Over the past decade, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratorymore » has built the world's largest compilation and meta-analysis of commissioning experience in commercial buildings. Since our last report (Mills et al. 2004) the database has grown from 224 to 643 buildings (all located in the United States, and spanning 26 states), from 30 to 100 million square feet of floorspace, and from $17 million to $43 million in commissioning expenditures. The recorded cases of new-construction commissioning took place in buildings representing $2.2 billion in total construction costs (up from 1.5 billion). The work of many more commissioning providers (18 versus 37) is represented in this study, as is more evidence of energy and peak-power savings as well as cost-effectiveness. We now translate these impacts into avoided greenhouse gases and provide new indicators of cost-effectiveness. We also draw attention to the specific challenges and opportunities for high-tech facilities such as labs, cleanrooms, data centers, and healthcare facilities. The results are compelling. We developed an array of benchmarks for characterizing project performance and cost-effectiveness. The median normalized cost to deliver commissioning was $0.30/ft2 for existing buildings and $1.16/ft2 for new construction (or 0.4% of the overall construction cost). The commissioning projects for which data are available revealed over 10,000 energy-related problems, resulting in 16% median whole-building energy savings in existing buildings and 13% in new construction, with payback time of 1.1 years and 4.2 years, respectively. In terms of other cost-benefit indicators, median benefit-cost ratios of 4.5 and 1.1, and cash-on-cash returns of 91% and 23% were attained for existing and new buildings, respectively. High-tech buildings were particularly cost-effective, and saved higher amounts of energy due to their energy-intensiveness. Projects with a comprehensive approach to commissioning attained nearly twice the overall median level of savings and five-times the savings of the least-thorough projects. It is noteworthy that virtually all existing building projects were cost-effective by each metric (0.4 years for the upper quartile and 2.4 years for the lower quartile), as were the majority of new-construction projects (1.5 years and 10.8 years, respectively). We also found high cost-effectiveness for each specific measure for which we have data. Contrary to a common perception, cost-effectiveness is often achieved even in smaller buildings. Thanks to energy savings valued more than the cost of the commissioning process, associated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions come at 'negative' cost. In fact, the median cost of conserved carbon is negative - -$110 per tonne for existing buildings and -$25/tonne for new construction - as compared with market prices for carbon trading and offsets in the +$10 to +$30/tonne range. Further enhancing the value of commissioning, its non-energy benefits surpass those of most other energy-management practices. Significant first-cost savings (e.g., through right-sizing of heating and cooling equipment) routinely offset at least a portion of commissioning costs - fully in some cases. When accounting for these benefits, the net median commissioning project cost was reduced by 49% on average, while in many cases they exceeded the direct value of the energy savings. Commissioning also improves worker comfort, mitigates indoor air quality problems, increases the competence of in-house staff, plus a host of other non-energy benefits. These findings demonstrate that commissioning is arguably the single-most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings today. Energy savings tend to persist well over at least a 3- to 5-year timeframe, but data over longer time horizons are not available. It is thus important to 'Trust but Verify,' and indeed the field is moving towards a monitoring-based paradigm in which instrumentation is used not only to confirm savings, but to identify opportunities that would otherwise go undetected. On balance, we view the findings here as conservative, in the sense that they underestimate the actual performance of projects when all costs and benefits are considered. They underestimate the technical potential for a scenario in which best practices are applied.« less

Uncertainties in the Value of Bill Savings from Behind-the-Meter, Residential Photovoltaic Systems: The Roles of Electricity Market Conditions, Retail Rate Design, and Net Metering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darghouth, Naim Richard

Net metering has become a widespread policy mechanism in the U.S. for supporting customer adoption of distributed photovoltaics (PV), allowing customers with PV systems to reduce their electric bills by offsetting their consumption with PV generation, independent of the timing of the generation relative to consumption. Although net metering is one of the principal drivers for the residential PV market in the U.S., the academic literature on this policy has been sparse and this dissertation contributes to this emerging body of literature. This dissertation explores the linkages between the availability of net metering, wholesale electricity market conditions, retail rates, and the residential bill savings from behind-the-meter PV systems. First, I examine the value of the bill savings that customers receive under net metering and alternatives to net metering, and the associated role of retail rate design, based on current rates and a sample of approximately two hundred residential customers of California's two largest electric utilities. I find that the bill savings per kWh of PV electricity generated varies greatly, largely attributable to the increasing block structure of the California utilities' residential retail rates. I also find that net metering provides significantly greater bill savings than alternative compensation mechanisms based on avoided costs. However, retail electricity rates may shift as wholesale electricity market conditions change. I then investigate a potential change in market conditions -- increased solar PV penetrations -- on wholesale prices in the short-term based on the merit-order effect. This demonstrates the potential price effects of changes in market conditions, but also points to a number of methodological shortcomings of this method, motivating my usage of a long-term capacity investment and economic dispatch model to examine wholesale price effects of various wholesale market scenarios in the subsequent analysis. By developing three types of retail rates (a flat rate, a time-of-use rate, and real-time pricing) from these wholesale price profiles, I examine bill savings from PV generation for the ten wholesale market scenarios under net metering and an alternative to net metering where hourly excess PV generation is compensated at the wholesale price. Most generally, I challenge the common assertion that PV compensation is likely to stay constant (or rise) due to constant (or rising) retail rates, and find that future electricity market scenarios can drive substantial changes in residential retail rates and that these changes, in concert with variations in retail rate structures and PV compensation mechanisms, interact to place substantial uncertainty on the future value of bill savings from residential PV.

Rohm and Haas: Company Uses Knoxville Plant Assessment Results to Develop Best Practices Guidelines and Benchmark for Its Other Sites (Revised)

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

Not Available

2003-07-01

Rohm and Haas conducted a plant-wide energy assessment at its Knoxville, Tennessee, chemicals manufacturing facility. The assessment identified potential annual energy savings of nearly 47,000 MMBtu in steam and fuel and 11,000 MWh in electricity. Annual cost savings were estimated at almost$1.5 million. After the assessment was replicated in California and Kentucky plants, the companys additional estimated cost savings were$500,000 annually. Additional annual energy savings were about 23,000 MMBtu and 6,000 MWh. The assessments also indicated the plants would reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

Rohm and Haas: Company Uses Knoxville Plant Assessment Results to Develop Best Practices Guidelines and Benchmark for Its Other Sites

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

None

2003-05-01

Rohm and Haas conducted a plant-wide energy assessment at its Knoxville, Tennessee, chemicals manufacturing facility. The assessment identified potential annual energy savings of nearly 47,000 MMBtu in steam and fuel and 11,000 MWh in electricity. Annual cost savings were estimated at almost $1.5 million. After the assessment was replicated in California and Kentucky plants, the company's additional estimated cost savings were $500,000 annually. Additional annual energy savings were about 23,000 MMBtu and 6,000 MWh. The assessments also indicated the plants would reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

Alcoa World Alumina: Plant-Wide Assessment at Arkansas Operations Reveals More than$900,000 in Potential Annual Savings

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

Not Available

2003-07-01

The plant-wide energy-efficiency assessment performed in 2001 at the Alcoa World Alumina Arkansas Operations in Bauxite, Arkansas, identified seven opportunities to save energy and reduce costs. By implementing five of these improvements, the facility can save 15,100 million British thermal units per year in natural gas and 8.76 million kilowatt-hours per year in electricity. This translates into approximate annual savings of$925,300 in direct energy costs and non-fuel operating and maintenance costs. The required capital investment is estimated at$271,200. The average payback period for all five projects would be approximately 8 months.

Alcoa World Alumina: Plant Wide Assessment at Arkansas Operation Reveals More than $900,000 in Potential Annual Savings

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

None

2003-07-01

The plant-wide energy-efficiency assessment performed in 2001 at the Alcoa World Alumina Arkansas Operations in Bauxite, Arkansas, identified seven opportunities to save energy and reduce costs. By implementing five of these improvements, the facility can save 15,100 million British thermal units per year in natural gas and 8.76 million kilowatt-hours per year in electricity. This translates into approximate annual savings of $925,300 in direct energy costs and non-fuel operating and maintenance costs. The required capital investment is estimated at $271,200. The average payback period for all five projects would be approximately 8 months.

Columbia, Missouri: Using Energy Data to Reduce Emissions and Achieve Low-Income Household Energy Savings (City Energy: From Data to Decisions)

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

Office of Strategic Programs, Strategic Priorities and Impact Analysis Team

This fact sheet "Columbia, Missouri: Using Energy Data to Reduce Emissions and Achieve Low-Income Household Energy Savings" explains how the City of Columbia used data from the U.S. Department of Energy's Cities Leading through Energy Analysis and Planning (Cities-LEAP) and the State and Local Energy Data (SLED) programs to inform its city energy planning. It is one of ten fact sheets in the "City Energy: From Data to Decisions" series.

Modeling an enhanced ridesharing system with meet points and time windows

PubMed Central

Li, Xin; Hu, Sangen; Deng, Kai

2018-01-01

With the rising of e-hailing services in urban areas, ride sharing is becoming a common mode of transportation. This paper presents a mathematical model to design an enhanced ridesharing system with meet points and users’ preferable time windows. The introduction of meet points allows ridesharing operators to trade off the benefits of saving en-route delays and the cost of additional walking for some passengers to be collectively picked up or dropped off. This extension to the traditional door-to-door ridesharing problem brings more operation flexibility in urban areas (where potential requests may be densely distributed in neighborhood), and thus could achieve better system performance in terms of reducing the total travel time and increasing the served passengers. We design and implement a Tabu-based meta-heuristic algorithm to solve the proposed mixed integer linear program (MILP). To evaluate the validation and effectiveness of the proposed model and solution algorithm, several scenarios are designed and also resolved to optimality by CPLEX. Results demonstrate that (i) detailed route plan associated with passenger assignment to meet points can be obtained with en-route delay savings; (ii) as compared to CPLEX, the meta-heuristic algorithm bears the advantage of higher computation efficiency and produces good quality solutions with 8%~15% difference from the global optima; and (iii) introducing meet points to ridesharing system saves the total travel time by 2.7%-3.8% for small-scale ridesharing systems. More benefits are expected for ridesharing systems with large size of fleet. This study provides a new tool to efficiently operate the ridesharing system, particularly when the ride sharing vehicles are in short supply during peak hours. Traffic congestion mitigation will also be expected. PMID:29715302

Adverse Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Adolescents' Sleep and Vigilance

PubMed Central

Medina, Diana; Ebben, Matthew; Milrad, Sara; Atkinson, Brianna; Krieger, Ana C.

2015-01-01

Study Objectives: Daylight saving time (DST) has been established with the intent to reduce energy expenditure, however unintentional effects on sleep and vigilance have not been consistently measured. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that DST adversely affects high school students' sleep and vigilance on the school days following its implementation. Methods: A natural experiment design was used to assess baseline and post-DST differences in objective and subjective measures of sleep and vigilance by actigraphy, sleep diary, sleepiness scale, and psychomotor vigilance testing (PVT). Students were tested during school days immediately preceding and following DST. Results: A total of 40 high school students were enrolled in this study; 35 completed the protocol. Sleep duration declined by an average of 32 minutes on the weeknights post-DST, reflecting a cumulative sleep loss of 2 h 42 min as compared to the baseline week (p = 0.001). This finding was confirmed by sleep diary analyses, reflecting an average sleep loss of 27 min/night (p = 0.004) post-DST. Vigilance significantly deteriorated, with a decline in PVT performance post-DST, resulting in longer reaction times (p < 0.001) and increased lapses (p < 0.001). Increased daytime sleepiness was also demonstrated (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The early March DST onset adversely affected sleep and vigilance in high school students resulting in increased daytime sleepiness. Larger scale evaluations of sleep impairments related to DST are needed to further quantify this problem in the population. If confirmed, measures to attenuate sleep loss post-DST should be implemented. Citation: Medina D, Ebben M, Milrad S, Atkinson B, Krieger AC. Adverse effects of daylight saving time on adolescents' sleep and vigilance. J Clin Sleep Med 2015;11(8):879–884. PMID:25979095

A CLS-based survivable and energy-saving WDM-PON architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Min; Zhong, Wen-De; Zhang, Zhenrong; Luan, Feng

2013-11-01

We propose and demonstrate an improved survivable and energy-saving WDM-PON with colorless ONUs. It incorporates both energy-saving and self-healing operations. A simple effective energy-saving scheme is proposed by including an energy-saving control unit in the OLT and a control unit at each ONU. The energy-saving scheme realizes both dozing and sleep (offline) modes, which greatly improves the energy-saving efficiency for WDM-PONs. An intelligent protection switching scheme is designed in the OLT, which can distinguish if an ONU is in dozing/sleep (offline) state or a fiber is faulty. Moreover, by monitoring the optical power of each channel on both working and protection paths, the OLT can know the connection status of every fiber path, thus facilitating an effective protection switching and a faster failure recovery. The improved WDM-PON architecture not only significantly reduces energy consumption, but also performs self-healing operation in practical operation scenarios. The scheme feasibility is experimentally verified with 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1.25 Gbit/s upstream transmissions. We also examine the energy-saving efficiency of our proposed energy-saving scheme by simulation, which reveals that energy saving mainly arises from the dozing mode, not from the sleep mode when the ONU is in the online state.

Fabrication and Optimization of Properties of Polymer Laminated Nanoreinforced Automobile Glasses: Experiments and Modeling

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

Khaleel, Mohammad A.; Sun, Xin; Simmons, Kevin L.

2008-05-01

This paper describes the fabrication process for the thin cast-in-place laminate glazing systems to be used in cars of the future to achieve the weight reduction goals of FreedomCAR. The primary objective of the project is to reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel economy, and reduce vehicle emissions through the use of structurally reliable, high acoustic performance and lightweight glazing systems with low manufacturing costs. Energy savings come from reducing weight by using thinner glazing: prior studies at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have demonstrated a potential of 30% weight reductions compared with standard glazing system. Energy savings will also comemore » from reducing interior heat loads; that, in turn, will reduce the demand for air conditioning. The evaluation of alternative glazing concepts seek to improve acoustical performance such that reduced interior noise levels can be achieved while maintaining glazing at minimal thickness and weight levels. The most important factor in utilizing laminated glazing systems as vehicle side glass is its advantage in cost savings for material and manufacturing processes. To this end, a new, innovative manufacturing process is developed such that laminated glazing systems can be made with low cost in terms of raw materials and process-related equipment/facility investment.« less

Finding savings in laundry operations.

PubMed

Giancola, D

1993-07-01

A 450-bed hospital, operating at 75 percent occupancy, which has a cash outlay of $10.00 per patient day for linen service, will spend $1,231,875 on linen service per year. If the cash outlay for linen service can be reduced to $7.00 per patient day, the hospital will save $369,562 per year. This article details the factors that affect linen service operations expenses, suggests ways such operations may be improved, and provides a method of measuring the potential savings.

Testing an Asset-Building Approach for Young People: Early Access to Savings Predicts Later Savings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedline, Terri; Elliott, William; Chowa, Gina A. N.

2013-01-01

A major hypothesis of asset-building is that early access to savings accounts leads to continued and improved educational and economic outcomes over time. This study asks whether or not young adults (ages 18-22) in 2007, particularly among lower income households, are significantly more likely to own savings accounts and to accumulate more savings…

Harmonic analysis of spacecraft power systems using a personal computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williamson, Frank; Sheble, Gerald B.

1989-01-01

The effects that nonlinear devices such as ac/dc converters, HVDC transmission links, and motor drives have on spacecraft power systems are discussed. The nonsinusoidal currents, along with the corresponding voltages, are calculated by a harmonic power flow which decouples and solves for each harmonic component individually using an iterative Newton-Raphson algorithm. The sparsity of the harmonic equations and the overall Jacobian matrix is used to an advantage in terms of saving computer memory space and in terms of reducing computation time. The algorithm could also be modified to analyze each harmonic separately instead of all at the same time.

The Selection and Placement Method of Materialized Views on Big Data Platform of Equipment Condition Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Yan; Yao, Jinxia; Gu, Chao; Chen, Yufeng; Yang, Yi; Zou, Lida

2017-05-01

With the formation of electric big data environment, more and more big data analyses emerge. In the complicated data analysis on equipment condition assessment, there exist many join operations, which are time-consuming. In order to save time, the approach of materialized view is usually used. It places part of common and critical join results on external storage and avoids the frequent join operation. In the paper we propose the methods of selecting and placing materialized views to reduce the query time of electric transmission and transformation equipment, and make the profits of service providers maximal. In selection method we design a computation way for the value of non-leaf node based on MVPP structure chart. In placement method we use relevance weights to place the selected materialized views, which help reduce the network transmission time. Our experiments show that the proposed selection and placement methods have a high throughput and good optimization ability of query time for electric transmission and transformation equipment.

Our School Wellness Program Cut Staff Absenteeism and Might Save Lives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oxrieder, Ann

1987-01-01

Describes Bellevue (Washington) School District's employee wellness program's successful efforts to (1) save lives by promoting healthy lifestyles, (2) boost morale by taking health services to the workplace, (3) improve on-the-job performance by providing inexpensive, convenient opportunities for exercise and weight loss, and (4) reduce staff…

Saving Green on Energy Costs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tacke, Diane L.

2006-01-01

In recent years, colleges and universities have begun efforts to reduce their energy costs, an initiative that can not only save an institution money, but also strengthen relationships across campus. Board leadership has been central to this endeavor in setting goals, prioritizing projects, and financing those projects. Using her experiences with…

100 Ways To Save Money & Raise Money.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donaldson, Carla, Comp.; Smith, Ruth Mercedes, Comp.

Compiled by the Commission on Small and/or Rural Colleges of the American Association of Community Colleges, this document provides over 100 tips for saving money and suggestions for fundraising activities for community college practitioners across the nation. Ideas cover such topics as reducing staff and operational costs, innovative fundraising…

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

Not Available

Dollars saved through energy efficiency can directly impact your bottom line. Whether you are planning for a major renovation or upgrading individual pieces of building equipment, these improvements can help reduce operating costs, save on utility bills, and boost profits. This fact sheet provides guidelines for SBA lenders to understand the value of financing energy efficiency investments.

Clean Cities 2016 Vehicle Buyer's Guide

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

2016-02-01

Drivers and fleets are increasingly turning to the hundreds of light-duty, alternative fuel, and advanced technology vehicle models that reduce petroleum use, save on fuel costs, and cut emissions. This guide provides a comprehensive list of the 2016 light-duty models that use alternative fuels or advanced fuel-saving technologies.

Saving Schoolhouse Energy. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudy, John; And Others

The objective of the Saving Schoolhouse Energy Program was to generate information that school administrators and federal energy/education decision makers could use to identify ways of implementing specific, economical remedies to reduce energy waste in schools. This program was designed to have five phases: (1) Conduct an energy audit of ten…

75 FR 53015 - Public Listening Session

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-30

... commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and saving lives. In carrying out its safety mandate to reduce crashes.... Following are some of the key issues that the Agency hopes public comments will address. In addition to.../mission of improving the safety of commercial motor vehicles (CMV) and saving lives as it relates to some...

The Consequences of Interdependence: A Policy Point of View

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-10-01

surplunos to world food shortages of serious proportions, This occured at a time when the US and most of the world faeed a most serious influtionary...Amer:ican taxpayer and consumer and to the efficiency of the American producer; in the US the practice has proliferated seriously into acts of states...bill (S. 613) designed to reduce litter (and to save enercy) by pro- . hibitinG the introduction into interstate commerce of non-returnable beverage

MRO DKF Post-Processing Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ayap, Shanti; Fisher, Forest; Gladden, Roy; Khanampompan, Teerapat

2008-01-01

This software tool saves time and reduces risk by automating two labor-intensive and error-prone post-processing steps required for every DKF [DSN (Deep Space Network) Keyword File] that MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) produces, and is being extended to post-process the corresponding TSOE (Text Sequence Of Events) as well. The need for this post-processing step stems from limitations in the seq-gen modeling resulting in incorrect DKF generation that is then cleaned up in post-processing.

Fisheries Handbook of Engineering Requirements and Biological Criteria

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-01

of eggs dividual species. When trays are used for chum fry, bio- in incubators where IHNV is found. Additional space or rings or flexi-saddles are...recommended. limited loading of eggs and fry are both means of reducing the infection of IHNV . It has been found that hatchery fry at swim-up time are...effects, 13.5 IHNV , 193, 19.4 Kaplan turbines, 25.1 Mechanical handling, Ch. 33 labor-saving devices, 19.4 Kokanee ,landiocked sockeye) Mechanical hauling

Self-fill oxygen technology: benefits for patients, healthcare providers and the environment

PubMed Central

Hex, Nick; Setters, Jo; Little, Stuart

2016-01-01

“Non-delivery” home oxygen technologies that allow self-filling of ambulatory oxygen cylinders are emerging. They can offer a relatively unlimited supply of ambulatory oxygen in suitably assessed people who require long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), providing they can use these systems safely and effectively. This allows users to be self-sufficient and facilitates longer periods of time away from home. The evolution and evidence base of this technology is reported with the experience of a national service review in Scotland (UK). Given that domiciliary oxygen services represent a significant cost to healthcare providers globally, these systems offer potential cost savings, are appealing to remote and rural regions due to the avoidance of cylinder delivery and have additional lower environmental impact due to reduced fossil fuel consumption and subsequently reduced carbon emissions. Evidence is emerging that self-fill/non-delivery oxygen systems can meet the ambulatory oxygen needs of many patients using LTOT and can have a positive impact on quality of life, increase time spent away from home and offer significant financial savings to healthcare providers. Educational aims Provide update for oxygen prescribers on options for home oxygen provision. Provide update on the evidence base for available self-fill oxygen technologies. Provide and update for healthcare commissioners on the potential cost-effective and environmental benefits of increased utilisation of self-fill oxygen systems. PMID:27408629

Reduction in patient burdens with graphical computerized adaptive testing on the ADL scale: tool development and simulation.

PubMed

Chien, Tsair-Wei; Wu, Hing-Man; Wang, Weng-Chung; Castillo, Roberto Vasquez; Chou, Willy

2009-05-05

The aim of this study was to verify the effectiveness and efficacy of saving time and reducing burden for patients, nurses, and even occupational therapists through computer adaptive testing (CAT). Based on an item bank of the Barthel Index (BI) and the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI) for assessing comprehensive activities of daily living (ADL) function in stroke patients, we developed a visual basic application (VBA)-Excel CAT module, and (1) investigated whether the averaged test length via CAT is shorter than that of the traditional all-item-answered non-adaptive testing (NAT) approach through simulation, (2) illustrated the CAT multimedia on a tablet PC showing data collection and response errors of ADL clinical functional measures in stroke patients, and (3) demonstrated the quality control of endorsing scale with fit statistics to detect responding errors, which will be further immediately reconfirmed by technicians once patient ends the CAT assessment. The results show that endorsed items could be shorter on CAT (M = 13.42) than on NAT (M = 23) at 41.64% efficiency in test length. However, averaged ability estimations reveal insignificant differences between CAT and NAT. This study found that mobile nursing services, placed at the bedsides of patients could, through the programmed VBA-Excel CAT module, reduce the burden to patients and save time, more so than the traditional NAT paper-and-pencil testing appraisals.

Daylight Savings Time Transitions and the Incidence Rate of Unipolar Depressive Episodes.

PubMed

Hansen, Bertel T; Sønderskov, Kim M; Hageman, Ida; Dinesen, Peter T; Østergaard, Søren D

2017-05-01

Daylight savings time transitions affect approximately 1.6 billion people worldwide. Prior studies have documented associations between daylight savings time transitions and adverse health outcomes, but it remains unknown whether they also cause an increase in the incidence rate of depressive episodes. This seems likely because daylight savings time transitions affect circadian rhythms, which are implicated in the etiology of depressive disorder. Therefore, we investigated the effects of daylight savings time transitions on the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes. Using time series intervention analysis of nationwide data from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register from 1995 to 2012, we compared the observed trend in the incidence rate of hospital contacts for unipolar depressive episodes after the transitions to and from summer time to the predicted trend in the incidence rate. The analyses were based on 185,419 hospital contacts for unipolar depression and showed that the transition from summer time to standard time were associated with an 11% increase (95% CI = 7%, 15%) in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes that dissipated over approximately 10 weeks. The transition from standard time to summer time was not associated with a parallel change in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes. This study shows that the transition from summer time to standard time was associated with an increase in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes. Distress associated with the sudden advancement of sunset, marking the coming of a long period of short days, may explain this finding. See video abstract at, http://links.lww.com/EDE/B179.

Insights from Smart Meters: Identifying Specific Actions, Behaviors, and Characteristics That Drive Savings in Behavior-Based Programs

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

Todd, A.; Perry, M.; Smith, B.

2014-12-01

In this report, we use smart meter data to analyze specific actions, behaviors, and characteristics that drive energy savings in a BB program. Specifically, we examine a Home Energy Report (HER) program. These programs typically obtain 1% to 3% annual savings, and recent studies have shown hourly savings of between 0.5% and 3%.1 But what is driving these savings? What types of households tend to be “high-savers,” and what behaviors are they adopting? There are several possibilities: one-time behaviors (e.g., changing thermostat settings), reoccurring habitual behaviors (e.g., turning off lights), and equipment purchase behaviors (e.g., energy efficient appliances); these maymore » vary across households, regions, and over time.« less

Insights from Smart Meters. Identifying Specific Actions, Behaviors and Characteristics that drive savings in Behavior-Based Programs

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

Todd, Annika; Perry, Michael; Smith, Brian

2014-12-01

In this report, we use smart meter data to analyze specific actions, behaviors, and characteristics that drive energy savings in a behavior-based (BB) program. Specifically, we examine a Home Energy Report (HER) program. These programs typically obtain 1% to 3% annual savings, and recent studies have shown hourly savings of between 0.5% and 3%. But what is driving these savings? What types of households tend to be “high-savers”, and what behaviors are they adopting? There are several possibilities: one-time behaviors (e.g., changing thermostat settings); reoccurring habitual behaviors (e.g., turning off lights); and equipment purchase behaviors (e.g., energy efficient appliances), andmore » these may vary across households, regions, and over time.« less

Time Savings with Rituximab Subcutaneous Injection versus Rituximab Intravenous Infusion: A Time and Motion Study in Eight Countries

PubMed Central

De Cock, Erwin; Kritikou, Persefoni; Sandoval, Mariana; Tao, Sunning; Wiesner, Christof; Carella, Angelo Michele; Ngoh, Charles; Waterboer, Tim

2016-01-01

Background Rituximab is a standard treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The SABRINA trial (NCT01200758) showed that a subcutaneous (SC) rituximab formulation did not compromise efficacy or safety compared with intravenous (IV) infusion. We aimed to quantify active healthcare professional (HCP) time and patient chair time for rituximab SC and IV, including potential time savings. Methods This non-interventional time and motion study was run in eight countries and 30 day oncology units. Rituximab SC data were collected alongside the MabCute trial (NCT01461928); IV data were collected per routine real-world practice. Trained observers recorded active HCP time for pre-specified tasks (stopwatch) and chair time (time of day). A random intercept model was used to analyze active HCP time (by task and for all tasks combined) in the treatment room and drug preparation area, drug administration duration, chair time and patient treatment room time by country and/or across countries. Active HCP and chair time were extrapolated to a patient’s first year of treatment (11 rituximab sessions). Results Mean active HCP time was 35.0 and 23.7 minutes for IV and SC process, respectively (-32%, p <0.0001). By country, relative reduction in time was 27–58%. Absolute reduction in extrapolated active HCP time (first year of treatment) was 1.1–5.2 hours. Mean chair time was 262.1 minutes for IV, including 180.9 minutes infusion duration, vs. 67.3 minutes for SC, including 8.3 minutes SC injection administration (-74%, p <0.0001). By country, relative reduction was 53–91%. Absolute reduction in extrapolated chair time for the first year of treatment was 3.1–5.5 eight-hour days. Conclusions Compared with rituximab IV, rituximab SC was associated with reduced chair time and active HCP time. The latter could be invested in other activities, whereas the former may lead to more available appointments, reducing waiting lists and increasing the efficiency of day oncology units. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01200758 PMID:27362533

Cost-effectiveness of reducing sulfur emissions from ships.

PubMed

Wang, Chengfeng; Corbett, James J; Winebrake, James J

2007-12-15

We model cost-effectiveness of control strategies for reducing SO2 emissions from U.S. foreign commerce ships traveling in existing European or hypothetical U.S. West Coast SO(x) Emission Control Areas (SECAs) under international maritime regulations. Variation among marginal costs of control for individual ships choosing between fuel-switching and aftertreatment reveals cost-saving potential of economic incentive instruments. Compared to regulations prescribing low sulfur fuels, a performance-based policy can save up to $260 million for these ships with 80% more emission reductions than required because least-cost options on some individual ships outperform standards. Optimal simulation of a market-based SO2 control policy for approximately 4,700 U.S. foreign commerce ships traveling in the SECAs in 2002 shows that SECA emissions control targets can be achieved by scrubbing exhaust gas of one out of ten ships with annual savings up to $480 million over performance-based policy. A market-based policy could save the fleet approximately $63 million annually under our best-estimate scenario. Spatial evaluation of ship emissions reductions shows that market-based instruments can reduce more SO2 closer to land while being more cost-effective for the fleet. Results suggest that combining performance requirements with market-based instruments can most effectively control SO2 emissions from ships.

Using data to make decisions and drive results: a LEAN implementation strategy.

PubMed

Panning, Rick

2005-03-28

During the process of facility planning, Fairview Laboratory Services utilized LEAN manufacturing to maximize efficiency, simplify processes, and improve laboratory support of patient care services. By incorporating the LEAN program's concepts in our pilot program, we were able to reduce turnaround time by 50%, improve productivity by greater than 40%, reduce costs by 31%, save more than 440 square feet of space, standardize work practices, reduce errors and error potential, continuously measure performance, eliminate excess unused inventory and visual noise, and cross-train 100% of staff in the core laboratory. In addition, we trained a core team of people that is available to coordinate future LEAN projects in the laboratory and other areas of the organization.

Evaluation of induction motor performance using an electronic power factor controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The concept of reducing the losses in an induction motor by electronically controlling the time interval between the zero crossing of the applied voltage and the zero crossing of the armature current was evaluated. The effect on power losses and power factor of reducing the applied sinusoidal voltages below the rated value was investigated experimentally. The reduction in power losses was measured using an electronic controller designed and built at MSFC. Modifications to the MSFC controller are described as well as a manually controlled electronic device which does not require that the motor be wye connected and the neutral available. Possible energy savings are examined.

Minimizing Dispersion in FDTD Methods with CFL Limit Extension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Chen

The CFL extension in FDTD methods is receiving considerable attention in order to reduce the computational effort and save the simulation time. One of the major issues in the CFL extension methods is the increased dispersion. We formulate a decomposition of FDTD equations to study the behaviour of the dispersion. A compensation scheme to reduce the dispersion in CFL extension is constructed and proposed. We further study the CFL extension in a FDTD subgridding case, where we improve the accuracy by acting only on the FDTD equations of the fine grid. Numerical results confirm the efficiency of the proposed method for minimising dispersion.

A Case Report: Cornerstone Health Care Reduced the Total Cost of Care Through Population Segmentation and Care Model Redesign.

PubMed

Green, Dale E; Hamory, Bruce H; Terrell, Grace E; O'Connell, Jasmine

2017-08-01

Over the course of a single year, Cornerstone Health Care, a multispecialty group practice in North Carolina, redesigned the underlying care models for 5 of its highest-risk populations-late-stage congestive heart failure, oncology, Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles, those with 5 or more chronic conditions, and the most complex patients with multiple late-stage chronic conditions. At the 1-year mark, the results of the program were analyzed. Overall costs for the patients studied were reduced by 12.7% compared to the year before enrollment. All fully implemented programs delivered between 10% and 16% cost savings. The key area for savings factor was hospitalization, which was reduced by 30% across all programs. The greatest area of cost increase was "other," a category that consisted in large part of hospice services. Full implementation was key; 2 primary care sites that reverted to more traditional models failed to show the same pattern of savings.

Economic evaluation of major knee surgery with recombinant activated factor VII in hemophilia patients with high titer inhibitors and advanced knee arthropathy: exploratory results via literature-based modeling.

PubMed

Ballal, Rahul D; Botteman, Marc F; Foley, Isaac; Stephens, Jennifer M; Wilke, Caitlyn T; Joshi, Ashish V

2008-03-01

People with severe hemophilia suffer from frequent intra-articular hemorrhages, leading to pain, swelling, reduced flexion, and arthropathy. Elective orthopedic surgery using factor VIII (FVIII) replacement to prevent uncontrolled bleeding has been endorsed as an effective treatment option for patients with severe or advanced hemophilic arthropathy. These surgeries reduce pain, restore mobility and function, and reduce the frequency of recurrent joint bleeds. Unfortunately, some patients with hemophilia develop inhibitors to FVIII, which neutralize FVIII activity and render the use of even massive amounts of FVIII replacement ineffective and surgery very risky. For this reason, elective surgical procedures in high-titer inhibitor patients had largely been abandoned until the introduction of new agents, such as recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa, NovoSeven, Novo Nordisk A/S, Denmark). rFVIIa has been shown effective for prophylaxis during elective surgery and has therefore improved the feasibility of orthopedic surgery in hemophilia patients with high-titer inhibitors. The present research explored, from a modified US payer perspective, the direct economic and quality of life benefits of four different elective knee surgeries (total knee replacement [TKR], knee arthrodesis [KA], proximal tibial osteotomy, and distal femoral osteotomy) with rFVIIa coverage in hemophilia patients with high-titer inhibitors. An exploratory literature-based life-table model was developed to compare the direct medical costs and quality of life of two hypothetical cohorts of high-titer inhibitor patients with frequent bleeding episodes: one undergoing and the other not undergoing elective knee surgery. Knee surgery costs included perioperative rFVIIa costs, inpatient and rehabilitation care, and repeat procedures due to surgery failure, prosthesis loosening or deep infection. Based on efficacy studies, knee surgery was assumed to reduce mean annual bleeding episodes at the affected joint from 9.13 to 1.64. The cost of managing each bleeding episode was estimated at $15 298. Thus, by reducing bleeding episodes, surgery was expected to result in related cost offsets. All costs were expressed in 2006 US dollars. Surgery was also assumed to result in gains in quality of life by reducing pain and reducing bleeding episodes. The impact of pain reduction on quality of life and utility was estimated by simulating EQ-5D scores for a typical patient with and without knee surgery. Based on the model, average knee surgery costs are predicted to range from a low of $694 000 (for KA) to a high of $855 000 (for TKR). However, knee surgery is also expected to reduce the subsequent number of bleeding episodes and resultant costs, leading to long-term costs savings. Due to improvement in pain levels, surgical patients are expected to experience improvements in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Thus, surgery appears to be the preferred strategy (i.e., saves costs and increases QALYs). Based on the assumptions used in the model, the initial cost of knee surgery was offset during the 8th and 10th years for KA and TKR, respectively, with intermediate break-even time for the other surgeries. As expected, cost savings and gains in QALYs increased over time, as well as the cost effective ness of knee surgery. Specifically, the cost per QALY with KA and TKR fell under $50 000/QALY during the 6th and 8th years, respectively, with intermediate time for the other surgeries. The present exploratory analysis is based on the long-term extrapolation of data from a small number of patients without inhibitors and short-term studies. It suggests that major knee surgery utilizing rFVIIa in hemophilia patients with inhibitors may be cost-effective on average, with expected cost savings apparent within a decade of knee surgery. The present exploratory results should be validated with real-world, longitudinal patient data.

A New Method to Directly Observe Tuberculosis Treatment: Skype Observed Therapy, a Patient-Centered Approach.

PubMed

Buchman, Tavora; Cabello, Celina

Tuberculosis (TB) treatment completion is in part determined by patient's adherence to long-term drug regimens. To best ensure compliance, directly observed therapy (DOT) is considered the standard of practice. Nassau County Department of Health TB Control is responsible for providing DOT to patients with TB. Tuberculosis Control sought to use and evaluate Skype Observed Therapy (SOT) as an alternative to DOT for eligible patients. The evaluation included analysis of patient's acceptance and adherence to drug regimen using SOT. Tuberculosis Control assessed staff efficiency and cost savings for this program. Percentages of SOT of patients and successful SOT visits, mileage, and travel time savings. Twenty percent of the caseload used SOT and 100% of patients who were eligible opted in. Average SOT success was 79%. Total mileage savings and time saved were $9,929.07 and 614 hours. Because SOT saves cost and time and is a suitable alternative to DOT for patients, it should be considered as part of new policies and practices in TB control programs.

Evaluating the benefits of digital pathology implementation: Time savings in laboratory logistics.

PubMed

Baidoshvili, Alexi; Bucur, Anca; van Leeuwen, Jasper; van der Laak, Jeroen; Kluin, Philip; van Diest, Paul J

2018-06-20

The benefits of digital pathology for workflow improvement and thereby cost savings in pathology, at least partly outweighing investment costs, are increasingly recognized. Successful implementations in a variety of scenarios start to demonstrate cost benefits of digital pathology for both research and routine diagnostics, contributing to a sound business case encouraging further adoption. To further support new adopters, there is still a need for detailed assessment of the impact this technology has on the relevant pathology workflows with emphasis on time saving. To assess the impact of digital pathology adoption on logistic laboratory tasks (i.e. not including pathologists' time for diagnosis making) in LabPON, a large regional pathology laboratory in The Netherlands. To quantify the benefits of digitization we analyzed the differences between the traditional analog and new digital workflows, carried out detailed measurements of all relevant steps in key analog and digital processes, and compared time spent. We modeled and assessed the logistic savings in five workflows: (1) Routine diagnosis, (2) Multi-disciplinary meeting, (3) External revision requests, (4) Extra stainings and (5) External consultation. On average over 19 working hours were saved on a typical day by working digitally, with the highest savings in routine diagnosis and multi-disciplinary meeting workflows. By working digitally, a significant amount of time could be saved in a large regional pathology lab with a typical case mix. We also present the data in each workflow per task and concrete logistic steps to allow extrapolation to the context and case mix of other laboratories. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Reducing Transaction Costs for Energy Efficiency Investments and Analysis of Economic Risk Associated With Building Performance Uncertainties: Small Buildings and Small Portfolios Program

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

Langner, R.; Hendron, B.; Bonnema, E.

2014-08-01

The small buildings and small portfolios (SBSP) sector face a number of barriers that inhibit SBSP owners from adopting energy efficiency solutions. This pilot project focused on overcoming two of the largest barriers to financing energy efficiency in small buildings: disproportionately high transaction costs and unknown or unacceptable risk. Solutions to these barriers can often be at odds, because inexpensive turnkey solutions are often not sufficiently tailored to the unique circumstances of each building, reducing confidence that the expected energy savings will be achieved. To address these barriers, NREL worked with two innovative, forward-thinking lead partners, Michigan Saves and Energi,more » to develop technical solutions that provide a quick and easy process to encourage energy efficiency investments while managing risk. The pilot project was broken into two stages: the first stage focused on reducing transaction costs, and the second stage focused on reducing performance risk. In the first stage, NREL worked with the non-profit organization, Michigan Saves, to analyze the effects of 8 energy efficiency measures (EEMs) on 81 different baseline small office building models in Holland, Michigan (climate zone 5A). The results of this analysis (totaling over 30,000 cases) are summarized in a simple spreadsheet tool that enables users to easily sort through the results and find appropriate small office EEM packages that meet a particular energy savings threshold and are likely to be cost-effective.« less

31 CFR 315.93 - Supplements, amendments, or revisions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

.... SAVINGS BONDS, SERIES A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, AND K, AND U.S. SAVINGS NOTES Miscellaneous Provisions § 315.93 Supplements, amendments, or revisions. The Secretary of the Treasury may at any time, or from time to time, prescribe additional, supplemental, amendatory, or revised rules and regulations...

An Energy Saving System for a Beam Pumping Unit

PubMed Central

Lv, Hongqiang; Liu, Jun; Han, Jiuqiang; Jiang, An

2016-01-01

Beam pumping units are widely used in the oil production industry, but the energy efficiency of this artificial lift machinery is generally low, especially for the low-production well and high-production well in the later stage. There are a number of ways for energy savings in pumping units, with the periodic adjustment of stroke speed and rectification of balance deviation being two important methods. In the paper, an energy saving system for a beam pumping unit (ESS-BPU) based on the Internet of Things (IoT) was proposed. A total of four types of sensors, including load sensor, angle sensor, voltage sensor, and current sensor, were used to detect the operating conditions of the pumping unit. Data from these sensors was fed into a controller installed in an oilfield to adjust the stroke speed automatically and estimate the degree of balance in real-time. Additionally, remote supervision could be fulfilled using a browser on a computer or smartphone. Furthermore, the data from a practical application was recorded and analyzed, and it can be seen that ESS-BPU is helpful in reducing energy loss caused by unnecessarily high stroke speed and a poor degree of balance. PMID:27187402

The impact of generic reference pricing interventions in the statin market.

PubMed

Puig-Junoy, Jaume

2007-11-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the intended and unintended impact on pharmaceutical use and sales of three public reimbursement reforms applied to the prescription of statins: a Spanish generic reference pricing system, and two competing policies introduced by the Andalusian Public Health Service. This study is designed as an interrupted time series analysis with comparison series of 46 monthly drug use and sales figures from January 2001 to October 2004 for each active ingredient. The mean monthly saving for the year after the introduction of reference pricing was 16.7% of total lovastatin sales, representing only 1.1% of total statins sales. Mean monthly savings for the 10 months after reference pricing being applied to simvastatin were 51.8% of simvastatin sales, and 13.9% of statin sales. Over the 46 months of the study, all analysed public interventions resulted in a 2.2% average monthly decrease in statin sales in the rest of Spain and savings non-significantly different from zero in Andalusia. RP has been effective at reducing the volume of sales growth of the off-patent statins, yet its overall impact on sales of all statins has been relatively modest.

Microlith Based Sorber for Removal of Environmental Contaminants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roychoudhury, S.; Perry, J.

2004-01-01

The development of energy efficient, lightweight sorption systems for removal of environmental contaminants in space flight applications is an area of continuing interest to NASA. The current CO2 removal system on the International Space Station employs two pellet bed canisters of 5A molecular sieve that alternate between regeneration and sorption. A separate disposable charcoal bed removes trace contaminants. An alternative technology has been demonstrated using a sorption bed consisting of metal meshes coated with a sorbent, trademarked and patented as Microlith by Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI); thesemeshes have the potential for direct electrical heating for this application. This allows the bed to be regenerable via resistive heating and offers the potential for shorter regeneration times, reduced power requirement, and net energy savings vs. conventional systems. The capability of removing both CO2 and trace contaminants within the same bed has also been demonstrated. Thus, the need for a separate trace contaminant unit is eliminated resulting in an opportunity for significant weight savings. Unlike the charcoal bed, zeolites for trace contaminant removal are amenable to periodic regeneration. This paper describes the design and performance of a prototype sorber device for simultaneous CO2 and trace contarninant removal and its attendant weight and energy savings.

Hybrid Power Management for Office Equipment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gingade, Ganesh P.

Office machines (such as printers, scanners, fax, and copiers) can consume significant amounts of power. Few studies have been devoted to power management of office equipment. Most office machines have sleep modes to save power. Power management of these machines are usually timeout-based: a machine sleeps after being idle long enough. Setting the timeout duration can be difficult: if it is too long, the machine wastes power during idleness. If it is too short, the machine sleeps too soon and too often--the wakeup delay can significantly degrade productivity. Thus, power management is a tradeoff between saving energy and keeping short response time. Many power management policies have been published and one policy may outperform another in some scenarios. There is no definite conclusion which policy is always better. This thesis describes two methods for office equipment power management. The first method adaptively reduces power based on a constraint of the wakeup delay. The second method is a hybrid with multiple candidate policies and it selects the most appropriate power management policy. Using six months of request traces from 18 different offices, we demonstrate that the hybrid policy outperforms individual policies. We also discover that power management based on business hours does not produce consistent energy savings.

Energy efficient room temperature synthesis of cardanol-based novolac resin using acoustic cavitation.

PubMed

Jadhav, Nilesh L; Sastry, Sai Krishna C; Pinjari, Dipak V

2018-04-01

The present study deals with synthesis of cardanol-cased novolac (CBN) resin by the condensation reaction between cardanol and formaldehyde using acoustic cavitation. It is a step-growth polymerization which occurs in the presence of an acid catalyst such as adipic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid. CBN was also synthesised by a conventional method for the sake of comparison of techniques. The effect of molar ratio, effect of catalyst, effect of different catalyst and effect of power on the conversion to CBN has been studied. The synthesised CBN was characterized using the Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy (FTIR), Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The reaction was monitored by the Acid value, free formaldehyde content and viscosity of the synthesised product. The reaction time required for the conventionally synthesised CBN was 5 h (300 min) with 120 °C as an operating temperature while sonochemically the time reduced to 30 min at room temperature. The amount of time and energy saved can be quantified. Ultrasound facilitated synthesis was found to be an energy efficient and time-saving method for the synthesis of novolac resin. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reagent and labor cost optimization through automation of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with the VP 2000: an Italian case study.

PubMed

Zanatta, Lucia; Valori, Laura; Cappelletto, Eleonora; Pozzebon, Maria Elena; Pavan, Elisabetta; Dei Tos, Angelo Paolo; Merkle, Dennis

2015-02-01

In the modern molecular diagnostic laboratory, cost considerations are of paramount importance. Automation of complex molecular assays not only allows a laboratory to accommodate higher test volumes and throughput but also has a considerable impact on the cost of testing from the perspective of reagent costs, as well as hands-on time for skilled laboratory personnel. The following study tracked the cost of labor (hands-on time) and reagents for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing in a routine, high-volume pathology and cytogenetics laboratory in Treviso, Italy, over a 2-y period (2011-2013). The laboratory automated FISH testing with the VP 2000 Processor, a deparaffinization, pretreatment, and special staining instrument produced by Abbott Molecular, and compared hands-on time and reagent costs to manual FISH testing. The results indicated significant cost and time saving when automating FISH with VP 2000 when more than six FISH tests were run per week. At 12 FISH assays per week, an approximate total cost reduction of 55% was observed. When running 46 FISH specimens per week, the cost saving increased to 89% versus manual testing. The results demonstrate that the VP 2000 processor can significantly reduce the cost of FISH testing in diagnostic laboratories. © 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Analysis of Application Power and Schedule Composition in a High Performance Computing Environment

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

Elmore, Ryan; Gruchalla, Kenny; Phillips, Caleb

As the capacity of high performance computing (HPC) systems continues to grow, small changes in energy management have the potential to produce significant energy savings. In this paper, we employ an extensive informatics system for aggregating and analyzing real-time performance and power use data to evaluate energy footprints of jobs running in an HPC data center. We look at the effects of algorithmic choices for a given job on the resulting energy footprints, and analyze application-specific power consumption, and summarize average power use in the aggregate. All of these views reveal meaningful power variance between classes of applications as wellmore » as chosen methods for a given job. Using these data, we discuss energy-aware cost-saving strategies based on reordering the HPC job schedule. Using historical job and power data, we present a hypothetical job schedule reordering that: (1) reduces the facility's peak power draw and (2) manages power in conjunction with a large-scale photovoltaic array. Lastly, we leverage this data to understand the practical limits on predicting key power use metrics at the time of submission.« less

17 CFR 240.0-2 - Business hours of the Commission.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever currently is in effect in Washington, DC, provided that hours for... 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in... Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight...

17 CFR 240.0-2 - Business hours of the Commission.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever currently is in effect in Washington, DC, provided that hours for... 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, whichever is currently in... Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight...

Smart Manufacturing Technologies and Data Analytics for Improving Energy Efficiency in Industrial Energy Systems

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

Nimbalkar, Sachin U.; Guo, Wei; Wenning, Thomas J.

Smart manufacturing and advanced data analytics can help the manufacturing sector unlock energy efficiency from the equipment level to the entire manufacturing facility and the whole supply chain. These technologies can make manufacturing industries more competitive, with intelligent communication systems, real-time energy savings, and increased energy productivity. Smart manufacturing can give all employees in an organization the actionable information they need, when they need it, so that each person can contribute to the optimal operation of the corporation through informed, data-driven decision making. This paper examines smart technologies and data analytics approaches for improving energy efficiency and reducing energy costsmore » in process-supporting energy systems. It dives into energy-saving improvement opportunities through smart manufacturing technologies and sophisticated data collection and analysis. The energy systems covered in this paper include those with motors and drives, fans, pumps, air compressors, steam, and process heating.« less