Dissertations / Theses: 'Cost evaluations'

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Strayer, Thomas Edward III. "An Examination of Virginia's Adult SNAP-Ed Program by Cost-Effectiveness Using Program Cost and Participant Self-Evaluations." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/56562.

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) is an extension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that aims to promote living healthier lifestyles for low-income participants of SNAP with limited resources. This thesis aims to investigate the effectiveness of Virginia's adult SNAP-Ed program through a cost-effective analysis (CEA) for fiscal year 2013 which requires the separation of the into the costs and the effects of the program. The costs for the program are categories as the labor, capital, material, and utility costs that are required to implement the adult SNAP-Ed program. The effects are measured as the number of participants who start, graduate, and improve from the start to the end of the program. The effects were measured on a retrospective self-assessment that measured both if a participant graduated and their magnitude of improvement. The analysis showed that as the state of Virginia the adult SNAP-Ed program incurred a cost of $2,488,170.07 with 6,759 participants starting the program and 3,704 of those that graduated in fiscal year 2013. Participants that improved on at least one of the questions by a score of one were 3,609 of the 3,704 that graduated. For the state of Virginia the cost effective ratio (CER) for starting a participant was $368 and CER of $672 for each graduated participant. An improvement on at least one question saw a CER value of $689. These findings show patterns that can be used for future policy implementation and the focus of the program.
Master of Science

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Lundkvist, Jonas. "The role of economic evaluations in health care decision making /." Stockholm, 2005. http://diss.kib.ki.se/2005/91-7140-423-6/.

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Bångman, Gunnel. "Equity in welfare evaluations : the rationale for and effects of distributional weighting /." Örebro : Örebro University : Universitetsbiblioteket, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-309.

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Young, Tracey Anne. "Measuring uncertainty in economic evaluations : a case study in liver transplantation." Thesis, Brunel University, 2006. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/4822.

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It is important to account for all sources of uncertainty when evaluating the clinical or cost-effectiveness of health care technologies. Therefore, this thesis takes as its basis a cost-effectiveness study in liver transplantation and identifies two previously unexplored issues that can arise in clinical and cost-effectiveness studies. A literature review of studies evaluating the effectiveness, costs or cost-effectiveness of solid organ transplantation confirmed that these issues were important and relevant to other transplantation studies. The first issue concerns the selection of an appropriate method for estimating mean study costs in the presence of incomplete (censored) data. Twelve techniques were identified and their accuracy was compared across artificially created mechanisms and levels of censoring. Lin's method with known cost histories and short interval lengths is recommended for accurately estimating mean costs and their uncertainty. It is assumed that these findings are generalisable to any solid organ transplant study where censoring is an issue. The second issue explored in this thesis relates to methods for measuring uncertainty around survival, HRQL and cost estimates derived from prognostic models in the absence of observed data. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis is recommended for measuring prognostic model parameter uncertainty and estimating individual patient outcomes and their uncertainties, as it is able to incorporate the additional uncertainty from using prognostic models to estimate control group outcomes. This thesis shows the quantitative importance of these issues and the methodological guidance offered should enable decision makers to have more confidence in clinical and cost-effectiveness estimates. Providing decision makers with a fuller estimate of the uncertainty around clinical and cost effectiveness estimates will aid them in decisions about the necessity of conducting further research in to the clinical or cost-effectiveness of health care technologies.

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Houmstuen, Jørgen. "Condition Monitoring of Offshore O&G Separator – Cost-Benefit Evaluations and Presentation of Information." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for marin teknikk, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-11535.

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This thesis introduces and analyses the following condition monitoring methods for a first stage production separator: - Neutron backscatter - Acoustic monitoring (active/passive/ultrasonic) - Gamma monitoring - Microwave monitoring - IR thermometry The methods are analyzed and evaluated in a cost-benefit analysis. Different models for cost estimation are presented along with estimations of the benefits. To perform the cost-benefit analysis a model has been developed and implemented in a spreadsheet. The method yielding the highest net benefit for the lifetime of the case separator was a combined passive acoustic and IR monitoring solution. To maximize the utilization of condition monitoring data it is important that it is presented to decision makers as information aggregated up to a useful level. As the amount of condition monitoring data increases automatic aggregation and filtration of information is becoming more important to limit the operational costs. Technical condition indexing (TCI) is presented as a method to automate this process. An example of how condition monitoring data can be utilized using TCI is given complete with the implementation of the measurements in the TCI software TeCoMan.

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Carvalho, Natalie. "Health Impacts and Economic Evaluations of Maternal and Child Health Programs in Developing Countries." Thesis, Harvard University, 2012. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10264.

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This dissertation is motivated by two of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): MDG 4, focused on reducing child mortality, and MDG 5, which aims to improve maternal health. My three papers evaluate the health and economic impact, and cost-effectiveness, of interventions to improve maternal and child health in three areas of the developing world using methods from decision sciences and statistics. In paper 1, I use a decision-analytic model that simulates the natural history of pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications to assess the expected health outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness of strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Afghanistan. Increasing family planning was found to be the most effective single intervention to reduce maternal mortality. Further findings suggest that a stepwise approach that couples increased family planning with incremental improvements in access to appropriate intrapartum care could prevent 3 out of 4 maternal deaths and would be cost-effective. Paper 2 explores the value of community-based disease management programs for reducing mortality from childhood pneumonia and malaria in 24 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. I use a model-based framework that combines symptom patterns, care-seeking behavior, and treatment coverage from an empirical assessment of household survey data with information on diagnostic algorithms and disease progression from the literature. Results indicate that a community health worker program modeled on currently-existing programs could avert over 100,000 under-five deaths combined across the 24 countries and would be regarded as cost-effective compared to the status quo under typical benchmarks for international cost-effectiveness analysis. My third paper evaluates the effect of Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a conditional cash transfer program intended to promote the use of reproductive health services in India, on childhood immunizations and other reproductive and child health indicators. Using observational data from the most recent district-level household survey, I conduct a matching analysis with logistic regression to assess the associations of interest. Results show that receipt of financial assistance from JSY led to a significant increase in childhood immunizations rates, post-partum check-ups, and some healthy breastfeeding practices, but no impact was found on exclusive breastfeeding and care-seeking behaviors.

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ESTEVES, JOSELFINA M. da S. "Avaliacao comparativa do custeio baseado em atividades e do custeio variavel: um estudo de caso no IPEN." reponame:Repositório Institucional do IPEN, 2010. http://repositorio.ipen.br:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/9516.

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Dissertacao (Mestrado)
IPEN/D
Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

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Bångman, Gunnel. "Equity in welfare evaluations : The rationale for and effects of distributional weighting." Doctoral thesis, Örebro University, Department of Business, Economics, Statistics and Informatics, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-309.

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This thesis addresses the issue of weighted cost-benefit analysis (WCBA). WCBA is a welfare evaluation model where income distribution effects are valued by distributional weighting. The method was developed already in the 1970s. The interest in and applications of this method have increased in the past decade, e.g. when evaluating of global environmental problems. There are, however, still unsolved problems regarding the application of this method. One such issue is the choice of the approach to the means of estimating of the distributional weights. The literature on WCBA suggests a couple of approaches, but gives no clues as to which one is the most appropriate one to use, either from a theoretical or from an empirical point of view. Accordingly, the choice of distributional weights may be an arbitrary one. In the first paper in this thesis, the consequences of the choice of distributional weights on project decisions have been studied. Different sets of distributional weights have been compared across a variety of strategically chosen income distribution effects. The distributional weights examined are those that correspond to the WCBA approaches commonly suggested in literature on the topic. The results indicate that the choice of distributional weights is of importance for the rank of projects only when the income distribution effects concern target populations with low incomes. The results also show that not only the mean income but also the span of incomes, of the target population of the income distribution effect, affects the result of the distributional weighting when applying very progressive non-linear distributional weights. This may cause the distributional weighting to indicate an income distribution effect even though the project effect is evenly distributed across the population.

One rational for distributional weighting, commonly referred to when applying WCBA, is that marginal utility of income is decreasing with income. In the second paper, this hypothesis is tested. My study contributes to this literature by employing stated preference data on compensated variation (CV) in a model flexible as to the functional form of the marginal utility. The results indicate that the marginal utility of income decreases linearly with income.

Under certain conditions, a decreasing marginal utility of income corresponds to risk aversion. Thus the hypothesis that marginal utility of income is decreasing with income can be tested by analyses of individuals’ behaviour in gambling situations. The third paper examines of the role of risk aversion, defined by the von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility function, for people’s concern about the problem of ‘sick’ buildings. The analysis is based on data on the willingness to pay (WTP) for having the indoor air quality (IAQ) at home examined and diagnosed by experts and the WTP for acquiring an IAQ at home that is guaranteed to be good. The results indicate that some of the households are willing to pay for an elimination of the uncertainty of the IAQ at home, even though they are not willing to pay for an elimination of the risks for building related ill health. The probability to pay, for an elimination of the uncertainty of the indoor air quality at home, only because of risk aversion is estimated to 0.3-0.4. Risk aversion seems to be a more common motive, for the decision to pay for a diagnosis of the IAQ at home, among young people.

Another rationale for distributional weighting, commonly referred to, is the existence of unselfish motives for economic behaviour, such as social inequality aversion or altruism. In the fourth paper the hypothesis that people have altruistic preferences, i.e. that they care about other people’s well being, is tested. The WTP for a public project, that ensures good indoor air quality in all buildings, have been measured in three different ways for three randomly drawn sub-samples, capturing different motives for economic behaviour (pure altruism, paternalism and selfishness). The significance of different questions, and different motives, is analysed using an independent samples test of the mean WTPs of the sub-samples, a chi-square test of the association between the WTP and the sample group membership and an econometric analysis of the decision to pay to the public project. No evidence for altruism, either pure altruism or paternalism, is found in this study.

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SUZUKI, FABIO F. "Estudo de niveis genericos de intervencao para protecao do publico em um acidente nuclear ou emergencia radiologica." reponame:Repositório Institucional do IPEN, 2003. http://repositorio.ipen.br:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/11137.

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Dissertacao (Mestrado)
IPEN/D
Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

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MENZEL, FRANCINE. "Cálculo de custo ambiental das usinas nucleares de Angra 1,2 e 3 utilizando o programa SIMPACTS." reponame:Repositório Institucional do IPEN, 2014. http://repositorio.ipen.br:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/10618.

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IPEN/D
Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

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Merlo, Gregory B. ""Going over the parapet": The development of a framework for understanding the translation of evidence from economic evaluations." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/103657/8/Gregory%20Brian_Merlo_Thesis.pdf.

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The thesis contextualises the translation of evidence from economic evaluations into a broader implementation framework, while discussing the features of economic evaluation that make it unique as an innovation. Multiple research methods were used, including a review-based adaptation of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, a discrete choice experiment measuring the preferences of healthcare decision makers for aspects of economic evidence, and interviews with health economists about the evidence translation process. A new framework is proposed - the CFIR-EE (Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research for Economic Evidence).

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Elsheikhi, Salah A. "A holistic approach to injection moulding optimisation for product quality and cost through the characterisation of reprocessed polymeric materials and process monitoring : experimental evaluations and statistical analysis of multiple reprocessing of unfilled and short glass fibre filled polypropylene materials : an optimised methodology to realise minimum product cost at an acceptable product quality." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5405.

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The plastics industry is one of the fastest growing major industries in the world. There is an increase in the amount of plastic used for all types of products due to its light weight and ability to reprocess. For this reason, the reprocessing of thermoplastics and the usability of reprocessed materials are gaining significance, and it is important to produce and consume plastic materials in an environmentally friendly way. In addition, rising raw material cost linked to the increased oil prices encouraged for reusing of the plastic materials. The aim of this research was to study and optimize the injection moulding process parameters to achieve a trade-off between the product cost and product quality, measured through mechanical properties and geometry, based on using regrind ratios. The work was underpinned by a comprehensive study of multiple reprocessing effects in order to evaluate the effect of process parameters, material behaviour, reprocessing effects and possible links between the processing parameters and key properties. Experimental investigations were carried out, in particular, focused on the melt preparation phase to identify key process parameters and settings. Multiple reprocessing stages were carried out; using two types of PP material: unfilled and short glass filled. A series of tests were used to examine product quality (mass, colour and shrinkage) and physical properties (density, crystallinity, thermal stability, fibre length, molecular weight, in-line and off-line viscosity, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, elongation (%) and flexural strength). This investigation showed that the mouldability of the filled and unfilled PP materials, through the successive reprocessing stages (using 100 % regrind), was observed to be relatively consistent. Given the link between the processing parameters and key product and material properties, it is possible to manufacture products with minimal loss to part quality and mechanical properties. The final phase of the work focused on process optimisation study for short glass fibre filled PP material and the identified key process parameters (melt temperature, screw rotational speed, holding pressure, holding time and injection rate). A response surface experiment was planned and carried out for three reprocessing stages (0 %, 25 % and 50 % regrind). The fitted response surface models were utilised to carry out the trade-off analysis between the operating cost (material cost, energy cost and labour cost) and product quality (dimensions and tensile strength) Based on the optimal moulding conditions, the operating cost was reduced (from stage I as a reference), by 24% and 30 % for stage II and stage III respectively. A small, perhaps undetectable, change in product dimensions was noted. In addition, a small reduction in tensile strength was noted (from stage I as a reference), by 0.4% and 0.1 % for stage II and stage III respectively. The same data was applied in other countries (Australia, USA, Brazil, Libya and China) to manufacture the same product; and it was observed that the cost was reduced with increasing of regrind ratio. But the significant reduction of the cost, essentially, depended on those countries which have low wage rates (e.g. Brazil, Libya and China). For example, the cost of moulded product manufactured in China is £ 0.025 (using 50% of regrind), while the cost of the same product produced in Australia is £ 0.12, hence giving a total saving of 79 % and making it a valuable issue to be considered in industry.

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Gavin, Victor S. "Evaluation of cost estimating methods for military software application in a COTS environment." Master's thesis, This resource online, 1996. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-02232010-020031/.

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Jönsson, Linus. "Economic evaluation of treatments for Alzheimer's disease /." Stockholm, 2003. http://diss.kib.ki.se/2003/91-7349-724-x.

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Kalibatas, Vytenis. "Evaluating Hospital Costs in Kaunas Medical University Hospital." Thesis, Nordic School of Public Health NHV, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-3289.

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The purpose of the study is to evaluate hospital costs in Kaunas Medical University Hospital (KMUH). KMUH is the largest hospital in Lithuania, having 1995 in-patient beds, 26 specialised in-patient departments, 5130 employees, and providing wide range of in-patient services. Methods. Methods, used in the study include assessment of inputs and outputs, evaluation of average cost per case, estimation of cost structure, estimation of case-mix dimensions in in-patient departments and clinical categories and assessment of impact of case-mix dimensions to cost per case, using multiple regressionanalysis. Cross-sectional study designwas used in the study, evaluating mainly cases and expenses of all 26 specialised in-patient departments of KMUH per year 2002. Five cost groups have been used and defined inmonetary terms in each in-patient department: labour costs; medication costs; laboratory, radiology and anaesthesiology costs; running costs of medical equipment supply andother costs (including in-patients’ mealcosts, transportation, laundry, communication, etc. costs). Case was defined as one treatment episode in particular in-patient department. Cases were analysed using following case-mix dimensions: sex, age, absenceor presence of surgical operation, patient separation status and in-patientservice group. Results. Average costs per case vary widely among in-patient departments, ranging from 126.01 Litas (36.52 Euro) to 3451.68 Litas (999.73 Euro) per case.During the study average cost per case were also estimated in clinical profiles – surgery – 1161.0 Litas (336.24 Euro), therapy – 1312.15 Litas (380.02 Euro),obstetrics and gynaecology –685.82 Litas (198.62 Euro), newborn and child care – 893.54 Litas (258.78 Euro) and intensive care – 1292.92 Litas (374.45 Euro). Using multiple regression analysis method, costper case ineach in-patient department and clinical category according case-mix dimensions were predicted. In all in-patient departments predicted values of average costs per case according case-mix dimensions, comparing with actual values, did not differ so much. Positive contributions to predictedvalue of cost per case, shows only one variable – IA in-patient service group. In any predicted case contributions of independent variables have notbeen observedas significant (p>0.05). Conclusions. Inputs (measured in the number of beds) and outputs (measured in the number of in-patientcases and the number of bed-days) are different across in-patient departments, as well as outputs (measured inthe number of treatment episodes according to case-mix dimensions). The average costs per case vary widely across in-patient departments and clinical categories. The analysis of the structure of average costs per case demonstrated striking differences in in-patient departments. In all in-patient departments the predicted values of the average costs per case according to case-mix dimensions, do not differ so much comparing with theactual observed costs per case. Positive contributions to the predicted value of the cost per case, shows only onevariable – IA in-patient service group. The results of the study have proved the evidence that clinical casestreated within the same in-patient department of the hospital are not similar. The results of studyhave showedthe failure of use of “in-patient service groups” as proxy of International Disease Classification due to numberof reasons

ISBN 91-7997-101-6

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Oscarson, Nils. "Health economic evaluation methods for decision-making in preventive dentistry." Doctoral thesis, Umeå : Public Health and Clinical Medicine, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-687.

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Baykent, Hayri Kerem. "Implementation Of A Low-cost Smart Camera Apllication On A Cots System." Master's thesis, METU, 2012. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613944/index.pdf.

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The objective of this study is to implement a low-cost smart camera application on a Commercial off the Shelf system that is based on Texas Instrument&rsquo
s DM3730 System on Chip processor. Although there are different architectures for smart camera applications, ARM plus DSP based System on Chip architecture is selected for implementation because of its different core abilities. Beagleboard-XM platform that has an ARM plus DSP based System on Chip processor is chosen as Commercial off the Shelf platform. During this thesis, firstly to start-up the Commercial off the Shelf platform the design steps of porting an embedded Linux to ARM core of System on Chip processor is described. Then design steps that are necessary for implementation of smart camera applications on both ARM and DSP cores in parallel are given in detail. Furthermore, the real-time image processing performance of the Beagleboard-xM platform for the smart camera applications is evaluated with simple implementations.

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Icyk, Bryan. "At What Cost? A comparative evaluation of the social costs of selected electricity generation alternatives in Ontario." Thesis, University of Waterloo, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/2899.

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This thesis examines the private and external costs of electricity generated in Ontario by natural gas, wind, refurbished nuclear and new nuclear power. The purpose of the assessment is to determine a capacity expansion plan that meets the forecasted electricity supply gap in Ontario at the lowest social costs (i. e. the lowest aggregated private and external costs). A levelized unit electricity cost (LUEC) analysis is employed to evaluate private costs under both public and merchant perspectives. Computable external costs are monetized by adapting estimates from the literature that were previously developed using a primarily bottom-up damage cost method.

The findings reveal that social cost estimates for nuclear refurbishment are the lowest of the generation alternatives studied regardless of the evaluation perspective. Therefore, if the capacity expansion decision were based solely on these estimates, nuclear refurbishment should be utilized until its capacity constraints are reached. The generation alternative with the second lowest social costs depends on the perspective from which private costs are evaluated: from a public perspective, the remainder of the supply gap should be filled by new nuclear generation and from a merchant perspective, which is assumed to be more reflective of the current Ontario electricity market, natural gas-fired generation should be used.

Due to inherent uncertainty and limitations associated with the estimation of social costs, the estimates obtained in this thesis are considered to be context and data specific. A sensitivity analysis, which is employed to attempt to mitigate some of the uncertainty, shows that changes to key variables alter the capacity expansion plan. This reinforces the observation that methods and assumptions significantly affect social cost estimates.

Despite the limitations of this kind of evaluation, it is argued that a social cost assessment that is consistent, transparent and comprehensive can be a useful tool to assess the trade-offs of electricity generation alternatives if used along with existing evaluation criteria. Such an assessment can increase the likelihood that actual social costs are minimized, which can steer electricity generation in Ontario towards a system that is more efficient and sustainable.

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Choi, Ming-hang Edmund, and 蔡銘鏗. "Evaluation of the cost estimating systems." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31251651.

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Choi, Ming-hang Edmund. "Evaluation of the cost estimating systems /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2001. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B25949780.

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Olivi, Matteo. "Evaluation of confidence-driven cost aggregation strategies." Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2016. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/11621/.

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In this thesis I describe eight new stereo matching algorithms that perform the cost-aggregation step using a guided filter with a confidence map as guidance image, and share the structure of a linear stereo matching algorithm. The results of the execution of the proposed algorithms on four pictures from the Middlebury dataset are shown as well. Finally, based on these results, a ranking of the proposed algorithms is presented.

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Macomber, Gary L. "The design, development, and evaluation of a prototype training course life cycle cost estimating tool." Diss., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/53587.

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A prototype cost estimating tool was built using an iterative design approach to help training managers assess the impact of changes in the training environment on course life cycle costs. In the first of two evaluations, training managers evaluated the prototype tools during a demonstration for both functionality and face validity in their environment. They also evaluated the usefulness of different levels of graphics and detail in a guide designed to assist the user with the tool. Feedback from the first evaluation was used to revise the prototype tool, and the guide usefulness ratings were used to select the guide for use in the second evaluation. The impact of the guide on performance with the tool was analyzed in a second evaluation. The second evaluation analyzed the difference in performance of two groups. The first group only had the users manual to help them solve the problems. The second group had the users manual and a performance aid to help them. Subjects' performance was compared on the number of spreadsheets used, number of errors made, and the amount of time they took to complete the tasks. The two groups did not significantly differ on these measures.
Ph. D.

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Luengo-Fernandez, Ramon. "Resource costs, health outcomes and cost-effectiveness in stroke care : evidence from the Oxford Vascular Study." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2009. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a5012d51-6794-48a7-bb78-4e5166e8cfdf.

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Introduction: Cerebrovascular events are a major cause of mortality, disability and healthcare resource use. Despite this, there is a lack of reliable information on their costs and outcomes, particularly related to transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) and minor stroke. Such information is vital to inform decisions about local and national service provision, and to provide reliable estimates for use in cost-effectiveness analyses. Aims This thesis estimates the costs and outcomes of stroke and TIA using data from a population-based study undertaken in a population of over 91,000 individuals in Oxfordshire (the Oxford Vascular Study – OXVASC). In addition, the thesis aims to estimate the short-term cost-effectiveness of two secondary stroke prevention programmes evaluated in a study nested within OXVASC. Methods: Using multiple methods of case ascertainment, 1,282 patients were identified as having suffered a stroke or TIA, of which 1,199 (723 stroke and 476 TIA) patients consented to the study. Follow-up of patients took place at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months, with data collected on patients’ disability, medication usage, living arrangements, and quality of life. Healthcare resource use information was derived from hospital and primary care records, and priced using published unit costs. Findings: Stroke patients had higher case-fatality rates than TIA patients (15% vs. 1%; p<0.001), with 5-year life expectancy being one year longer for TIA patients. For stroke and TIA survivors, the risk of disability remained higher, at around 30% at each of the four follow-ups, than at baseline (17%; p<0.001 for all follow-ups). After standardising for age and gender, average quality of life for stroke and TIA patients combined was significantly lower than English population norms (p<0.001 for all follow-ups). However, when quality of life was compared to population norms by event type, quality of life differences between TIA patients and English population norms no longer remained statistically significant. Important predictors of quality of life included event severity, baseline disability and recurrent vascular events. Total costs were considerably higher 1-year after the initial stroke or TIA than for the year preceding it and, except for day cases, increases were observed for all resource-use categories. Five years after the index event, stroke patients incurred costs of £16,923 (95% CI: 15,149 to 18,858) per patient, significantly higher than those incurred by TIA patients, at £13,904 (95% CI: 11,488 to 16,657; p=0.019). In multivariate analyses, event severity was found to be a significant predictor of inpatient care resource use and costs, as were the presence of recurrent vascular events, especially stroke and coronary events. For non-hospitalised patients, results showed that urgent outpatient specialist assessment and treatment reduced the 90-day risk of fatal or disabling stroke (0.4% vs. 5%, p<0.001) compared with less urgent assessment and treatment. In terms of resource usage, patients who were assessed and treated urgently had lower recurrent stroke hospitalisation (2% vs. 8%; p=0.001), and reduced overall number of days in hospital (average reduction of 4 days; p=0.017). These reductions in hospital resource usage generated savings of £643 per patient assessed and treated urgently in an outpatient clinic (p=0.028). Conclusion: Despite the impact of stroke on death, disability and healthcare resource use, there is a lack of reliable information on costs and outcomes, especially for TIA and minor stroke. Through the use of a population-based study, the gold-standard study design when assessing the incidence and outcomes of TIA and stroke, this thesis provides healthcare decision makers and researchers with a wealth of data on the resource use patterns, costs and outcomes of TIA and stroke patients, and their main predictors.

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Furusköld, Jenny, and Emma Hall. "Profitable negotiations : A case study regarding purchase-, transport- and inventory costs at ABB." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Industriell ekonomi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-129018.

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ABB is a global company with a leading position in power and automation technologies. Being active on a global market creates a high pressure to always develop the business and reduce costs in order to stay competitive. The purchasing function at ABB ́s unit Control Products is divided into a strategic- and an operative purchase department. The negotiated setups the strategic purchasers establish with the suppliers have been shown to affect the transport- and inventory costs that are charged to the operative purchase department. In order to determine whether more beneficial setups could be negotiated by including transport- and inventory costs when they are evaluated, this case study has been requested. Two master students from Linköping University have conducted the study and by investigating different setups, conclusions to answer the study ́s purpose could be drawn. The purpose is presented below. The study’s purpose is to recommend future guidelines for the strategic purchasers at ABB’s unit Control Products that can be applied when negotiating with suppliers, by evaluating purchase-, transport- and inventory costs. In order to investigate how the purchase-, transport- and inventory costs were affected by different setups, four different cases were defined. Each case included a specific article, which was chosen based on its properties and its current and alternative setups. The conducted literature reviews and interviews with employees at Control Products resulted in the two sub- criteria lead time and net price were defined as the most important ones when negotiating and evaluating suppliers. A combination of these sub-criteria was therefore used to choose suitable articles. Once the cases had been defined, the purchase-, transport- and inventory costs could be calculated for both their current situation and alternative setup scenarios. Theories from relevant researches were used to strengthen and criticised the cases’ results. Each case's result provided information regarding how the purchase-, transport- and inventory costs were affected by specific setups. By comparing the alternative scenarios with the setup currently used, the alternatives ́ profitability could be determined. The cases showed that by only studying one of the three cost posts, only a limited insight was gained. Even if the purchase cost was to increase for an alternative setup, it could still be profitable to implement due to decreased transport- and inventory costs. Furthermore, an alternative setup that showed significant potential to reduce inventory costs was proven to not be profitable because of its effect on the net price. Neglecting to take transport- and inventory costs into account when a potential supplier is evaluated can make a deal look more profitable than it is. The final recommendation is that purchase-, transport- and inventory costs all have to be taken into consideration in order to determine which setups that are economically preferable. If the strategic purchasers at Control Products includes these when they negotiate with suppliers, more profitable deals can be obtained.

Examensarbetet är en förvrängd version då känslig information om ABB inte ska läcka ut.

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Wang, Peng. "Reliability cost/worth considerations in distribution system evaluation." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0016/NQ37921.pdf.

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Jiang, Meng. "Evaluation of Low-Cost Water Quality Measurement System." Thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Avdelningen för elektronikkonstruktion, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-27179.

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Water is a very important element in our daily life, being able to check the water quality by ourselves would be a useful project to improve our life quality. My idea is to create something cheap and easy to examine the water quality and test it to see if it is capable for outdoor using as well. In this project I chose a DS18B20 as a temperature sensor. To get a system which can work as a water pump I chose an L298P as a motor driver board to support the electric motor, a Hall flow meter to get the flow and quantity, and a Water sensor to get the conductivity. With the Arduino and the Visual Studio user interface program, the system can extract the data that we want. The result of the measurement shows it is possible to analyse the water quality by comparing the conductivity of the known liquid to a test sample in a controlled environment. The system shows great promise of being a cheaper and easier system but still needs to improve accuracy, by reducing outside influence (like temperature), thereby enabling the system to work in more harsh environments.

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Pandit, Ravi. "Disposable versus reusable ware : cost evaluation model development /." Online version of thesis, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/10790.

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Westerlund, Louise, and Anna Simonsson. "Economic evaluation of preventive methods used in dentistry – a systematic review." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Odontologiska fakulteten (OD), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-19754.

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Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka ekonomiska utvärderingar av preventiva metoder som används inom tandvården genom att göra en systematisk litteraturöversikt och besvara frågor om vilka preventiva metoder som analyserats avseende kostnad och effekt samt vilka typer av ekonomiska utvärderingar som analyserats. Material och metod: En sökningsstrategi genomfördes och PubMed, The Cochrane Library och Web of Science utgjorde databaser för litteratursökningen. Inklusions- och exklusionskriterier fastställdes och ett protokoll utgjorde grunden för läsningen av de inkluderade studierna i fulltext. En kritisk granskning av de inkluderade studierna genomfördes genom att använda ett andra protokoll. Resultat: Totalt 38 publikationer om ekonomiska utvärderingar av preventiva metoder som används inom tandvården inkluderades. Studier om kariespreventiva metoder var av övervägande majoritet (n=35) och endast ett fåtal studier utvärderade preventiva metoder för andra sjukdomar (n=3). Den vanligaste preventiva metoden som utvärderades var fissurförsegling (n=8) följt av fluorlackning (n=6) och vattenfluoridering (n=3). Många studier utvärderade kombinerade preventiva metoder (n=12). Typerna av ekonomiska utvärderingar var CEA (n=16) följt av CA/Cost-minimization analysis (n=10), CBA (n=3), en kombination av CEA och CBA (n=5), CUA (n=1) och en kombination av CEA och CA (n=1). Konklusion: Även om studierna om ekonomiska utvärderingar av preventiva metoder som används inom tandvården är betydligt fler än när SBU-rapporterna publicerades så kan ingen generell slutsats beträffande kostnadseffektiviteten dras på grund heterogenitet i design och sätt att analysera. Fler välgjorda studier rekommenderas.
Aims: The aim of this study was to examine economic evaluations of preventive methods used in dentistry by using a systematic review approach and answering questions about which preventive methods used in dentistry that have been analysed regarding costs and effects and what types of economic evaluations that have been conducted. Material and method: A search strategy were conducted and PubMed, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science formed the basis of the literature search. Inclusion- and exclusion criteria were defined and a protocol was made for full-text reading of the included publications. A critical appraisal of the included publications was made using a second protocol. Results: A total of 38 publications on economic evaluations of preventive methods used in dentistry were included. Publications on caries preventive methods were of overwhelming majority (n=35) and only a few publications evaluated preventive methods for other diseases (n=3). The most common evaluated preventive method was pit and fissure sealant (n=8) followed by fluoride varnish (n=6) and water fluoridation (n=3). Most publications evaluated combined preventive methods (n=11). Types of economic evaluations were CEA (n=16) followed by CA/Cost-minimization analysis (n=10), CBA (n=3), a combination of CEA and CBA (n=5), CUA (n=1) and a combination of CEA and CA (n=1). Conclusions: Publications on economic evaluations of preventive methods used in dentistry were considerably more than when the SBU reports were published. Yet, no general conclusions could be drawn regarding cost-effectiveness due to heterogeneity in design and way of analyses. Future well-designed studies are recommended.

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Clowes, Brian Woodbridge. "Simplified Framework Evaluation of Large Water Resource Project Impacts." PDXScholar, 1988. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1203.

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The document most frequently used to support a water resource project's economic feasibility is the commercial benefit-cost analysis, which quantifies tangible and direct project consequences. The objective of this type of analysis is simply to maximize net monetary benefits. This analysis assigns an arbitrary monetary value to ecological and social disruptions, if it does not ignore these effects entirely. An improvement on this method is the social benefit-cost analysis, which assesses sane intangible costs such as air and noise pollution. Unfortunately, even the social analysis usually neglects the sometimes profound effects that a large water resource project has upon quality of life, particularly with regards to massive relocations. The purpose of this dissertation is to resolve these problems by presenting a method by which a water resource study team may use five unique viewpoints - technical, organizational, personal, social, and environmental - to quantify and compare the true benefits and costs of project construction and operation. The study team begins by rigorously documenting the three general categories of project consequence (economic, social and environmental) and assigning each benefit or cost a relative value within category according to perceived positive or negative effects. The second step is to use these quantifications to produce three impact vs. dam height curves. The final and most difficult step in this study process is to assign a relative weight to the respective economic, social, and enviromental impact clusters, depending on national priorities and the biases and personal viewpoints of the decisiomaker (s). The final product of this procedure is a single curve which is used to further investigate and assess the overall feasibility of a water resource project and the 'optimum' range of dam heights. All of the possible impacts of a large water resource project, whether they be tangible or intangible, should be investigated in order to produce an authentic indicator of project efficiency. The only way to insure that all impacts are properly accounted for is to perform an exhaustive examination of a water resource project from the five perspectives mentioned above. The body of this dissertation is an example analysis based upon the proposed Three Gorge Dam and Reservoir on the Yangtze River in the People's Republic of China. This project will be the world's largest power plant at 13,000 megawatts. Because of its size, anticipated impacts, and the interest it has generated all over the world, the Three Gorge project is considered the ideal subject of a comprehensive multiple perspective analysis as described in this study.

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Sahlén, Viktoria, and Jessica Daberius. "A model based on total cost and manufacturer performance to evaluate a product as well as possible cost reductions." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Logistik- och kvalitetsutveckling, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-130609.

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Omega Pharma is a distributer of over the counter products, selling thousands of products produced at more than 200 manufacturers and sold in most European countries. The company was founded in Belgium in 1987 and has since then had a high market focus and expanded through acquisitions of brands and products. The company has in recent years started working towards centralization and supplier base management. A project team has been set up to work strategically by choosing key manufacturers and by reducing the supplier base. A first step in this is to look more closely at products with a low turnover and that are not strategically important in order to evaluate if the product is profitable and which products that could be moved to other manufacturers or cancelled from the portfolio. Therefore the purpose of the study is to: Create an evaluation model based on revenue, total cost and manufacturer performance to evaluate a product and if cost reductions can be achieved by ending the production of the product or moving the product to a different manufacturer. A four step approach for analyzing total cost was followed in order to, in a structured way, create the model and identify the relevant elements related to revenue, total cost and manufacturer performance that were to be present in the model. The four steps were: In a first step elements and costs were identified that might be relevant for the model. This was done based on previous research, holding interviews at the company and reviewing documents. The second step was to adapt the elements to the model. In the third step, it was decided how the elements and costs that were to be in the model would be calculated and presented as well as looking into how the model would be built. The fourth step consisted of doing test runs and a sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of the model. The result handed over to the company is in the form of the evaluation model created based on the above stated purpose. Within the model, there are 4 manufacturer performance parameters and 1 for revenue. When it comes to costs, the amount varies depending on the case analyzed. To evaluate product profitability there are 7 cost elements containing 20 identified costs. When evaluating moving a product to another manufacturer there are the same costs, however an additional element for transfer is added containing 5 costs. For the situation ending a production, there are 2 costs. In order to facilitate the use of the model, estimations were done to the costs to the extent possible. From test runs the model was further adapted to the company as it was identified what values connected to a product where possible for the user to find in the system and in what units of measure. The sensitivity analyses showed that none of the estimated values would, if the estimation was not accurate, affect the evaluation of the product. They could however affect the cost element of that cost.

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Babiak, Ivan. "Analýza a řízení nákladů." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2009. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-71836.

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This master thesis deals with cost management. Master thesis is firstly focused on definition of terminology in costing area. On example of Synthos Kralupy, company that passed deep change of information system, I try to demonstrate strength and weaknesses of tools and instruments which enable cost control. However the information system provides required information, it is necessary to define it and specify it. Even information system has to be developed and updated according to the management requirement and the latest trends. Each of information systems bring both, advantages and disadvantages described in this master thesis. Despite the high quality information base, the company faces difficulties with accuracy and accessibility of data. The main problem is methodology of stock evaluation of semi-finished and finished products. Due to change of IS, there was changed principle of evaluation from standard price to weight average with monthly period. Description of new calculation is described below. Based on processes applied in the company, I proposed new changes and I evaluated improvements done.

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Obermoller, Amber J. "Evaluating cost-reduction alternatives and low-cost sourcing opportunities for aerospace castings and forgings." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44381.

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Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-85).
As companies continue to outsource large portions of their manufacturing, managing costs in the supply chain is increasingly important in reducing overall costs and remaining competitive. Low-cost sourcing has become an increasingly prevalent way for companies to reduce total costs. This thesis develops a methodology for evaluating cost-reduction alternatives and low-cost sourcing opportunities. This thesis is intended to provide procurement managers with assistance in making informed and well-thought out decisions regarding cost-reduction and low-cost sourcing choices. Six criteria are established to compare cost-reduction alternatives and evaluate the fit of an alternative with the company's supply chain strategy. A framework is developed to aid procurement managers in evaluating low-cost sourcing opportunities. This framework involves the utilization of filters to screen parts, countries, and companies for fit with the supply chain strategy. A model that can provide recommended sourcing locations is developed to evaluate domestic low-cost sourcing options.
by Amber J. Obermoller.
S.M.
M.B.A.

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Young, Betty S. "A cost analysis of the ownership and use of traditional and innovative cooking appliances." Diss., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/54474.

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The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for analysis and assessment of the cost of ownership and use of major cooking appliances. This involved an assessment of the monetary cost as well as the cost of human resources required to maintain and operate cooking systems. The goal was to provide information useful in making purchase decisions within a framework that can be used to organize information about cost beyond the initial purchase price. Five cooktops--conventional electric coil, induction, solid element with thermostatic control, solid element with thermal limiter, and gas--and a microwave oven were used to develop a decision-making matrix. Data were collected in the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University College of Human Resources household equipment laboratory. In addition, data were compiled from previous studies which included the same variables. One-way analysis of variance, Student-Newman-Keuls, and Tukey’s HDS techniques were used to analyze the data. Results were used to assign weights in the matrix used to develop a 10-point scale which represented the total cost of owning and using a cooking system in food preparation. The scale was then used to evaluate the appliances used in this study. Based on the matrix, the microwave oven received the highest score followed by gas, conventional electric coil, solid element with thermostatic control, solid element with thermal limiter, and induction cooktops. The cost of owning and using any of these appliances is not markedly different in terms of life expectancy, maintenance, energy, or cooking time. However, such factors as user interaction with the appliance, speed of heat-up, heat recover rate, retained heat, evenness of heating, cleaning time, and initial purchase price do vary and are likely to influence satisfaction with a cooking system.
Ph. D.

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Holland, Michael. "An Assessment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Environmental Plan Evaluation Methods." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2011. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/124.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency with a mission to develop water resource projects to benefit the nation. Some of its large scale projects have been built to benefit cities, but through unintended consequences have caused economic and environmental damages. For example, its control of Mississippi River flooding has protected the City of New Orleans, but contributed to land loss in coastal Louisiana, and by some accounts, made the population more susceptible to hurricane damage. The agency has now embarked on a mission to restore some of the damaged environmental areas. This dissertation evaluates whether policies and practices used by the agency to evaluate and select plans to implement is logically flawed and could produce suboptimal project selection. The primary issue is the practice of including only implementation costs in the analysis while excluding other positive and negative economic impacts. A case study is performed using the method to evaluate a traditional economic development project for which optimal project selection has already been determined using widely accepted benefit-cost practices. The results show that the Corps' environmental project evaluation method would cause rejection of the most efficient plan. The loss of welfare that would result from using this technique is measured by comparing the welfare gain of the optimal project to the welfare gain of the suboptimal projects which could be selected using the flawed methodology. In addition, the dissertation evaluates whether suboptimal results could be produced using two other current Corps policies: selecting projects based on production efficiency, and the exclusion of environmental benefits from the discounting process. For the first policy, a simple counter example shows how clearly inferior choices may come from including only supply considerations in investment choices. For the second policy, it is demonstrated mathematically that refraining from discounting benefits while discounting costs causes a bias towards selection of plans that take longer to build, are delayed in their implantation, or a combination of the two.

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Becerra, Bachino Virginia 1975. "Economic evaluation of treatments for patients with localized prostate cancer." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/403886.

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L'objectiu global d'aquesta tesi va ser avaluar l'eficiència, des de la perspectiva dels sistemes de salut, dels tractaments més establerts per als pacients diagnosticats amb càncer de pròstata localitzat. El "Estudi multicèntric Espanyol de càncer de pròstata localitzat" és un estudi observacional, prospectiu amb pacients reclutats consecutivament en 10 centres a Espanya entre 2003 i 2005, tractats amb prostatectomia radical retropúbica, braquiteràpia prostàtica o radioteràpia conformacional externa 3D, i seguits intensivament durant els primers dotze mesos i anualment a partir de llavors, fins a 10 anys post-tractament. El que destaca entre els resultats és que, tot i lleugeres diferències entre els costos dels tractaments, qualssevol de les alternatives podria considerar-se econòmicament atractiva per als pacients amb càncer de pròstata localitzat de risc baix i intermedi.
The global aim of this thesis was to assess the efficiency, from the health systems perspective, of the most established treatments for patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. The “Spanish Multicentric Study of Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer” is an observational, prospective study that consecutively recruited patients in 10 centers in Spain between 2003 and 2005, treated either with radical prostatectomy, prostate brachytherapy or external 3D conformal radiotherapy, and followed intensively during the first twelve months and yearly thereafter until the 10-year post-treatment point. What becomes outstanding among the results is that, despite slight differences between treatments costs, each of the alternatives could be considered economically attractive for patients with localized prostate cancer at low and intermediate risk.

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Safi, Mohammed. "Bridge Life Cycle Cost Optimization : Analysis, Evaluation & Implementation." Thesis, KTH, Civil and Architectural Engineering, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-11908.

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In infrastructure construction projects especially bridge investments, the most critical decisions that significantly affect the whole bridge LCC are the early stages decisions. Clearly, it's more beneficial to correctly choose the optimum bridge than to choose the optimum construction or repair method.

The ability of a bridge to provide service over time demands appropriate maintenance by the agency. Thus the investment decision should consider not only the initial activity that creates a public good, but also all future activities that will be required to keep that investment available to the public.

This research is aiming for bridge sustainability, enhance the bridge related decision making, and facilitate the usage of the bridge related feedbacks. The development of a reliable and usable computer tool for bridge LCC & LCA evaluation is the main target.

Toward the main goal, many steps were fulfilled. A unique integrated Bridge LCC evaluation methodology was developed. Two systematic evaluation ways were developed, one for bridge user cost and one for the bridge aesthetical and cultural value. To put these two systematic ways in practice, two preliminary computer programs were developed for this purpose. Today and future works are focusing on developing methodology and preliminary computer tool for bridge agency cost as well as the bridge LCA evaluation. KTH unique LCC evaluation system will enable the decision makers to correctly choose the optimum bridge in the early stages decision making phases as well as any later on reparation method.

ETSI

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Abed, El-Fattah Safi Mohammed. "Bridge Life Cycle Cost Optimization : Analysis, Evaluation, & Implementation." Thesis, KTH, Bro- och stålbyggnad, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-36944.

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ARAUJO, VICTOR KRAEMER WERMELINGER S. "COST EVALUATION FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM WASTE COOKING OIL." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2008. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=11873@1.

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CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO
FUNDAÇÃO DE APOIO A PESQUISA DA BAHIA
A busca pelo desenvolvimento sustentável tem como importante fator diferencial as fontes de energia renováveis. O biodiesel desponta como uma das alternativas mais relevantes, mas suas formas de obtenção no Rio de Janeiro não foram suficientemente investigadas. Este trabalho identifica a oportunidade da produção de biodiesel a partir de óleos residuais de fritura neste cenário, enfatizando os custos de transporte do óleo desde os principais produtores comerciais até a obtenção do biocombustível. O objetivo é avaliar os custos de forma a verificar a viabilidade do emprego desta alternativa. Para tanto, foram estudadas as diversas ferramentas de resolução do Problema de Roteamento de Veículos e foi proposto um algoritmo que visa à otimização dos custos. A formulação matemática utilizada baseia-se numa extensão de algoritmos clássicos, como o apresentado por Arenales et al. (2007), e nas equações desenvolvidas em Kallehauge (2006). Os resultados do modelo de roteamento, atrelados aos custos de produção, impostos e insumos, foram comparados com informações sobre a comercialização do biodiesel, comprovando sua viabilidade econômica. A consolidação dos dados obtidos aponta a produção de biodiesel a partir de óleo residual de fritura como viável, com custos logísticos equivalentes a R/tmp/aaaUFg8ya,19 por litro e custo final de R,22 por litro.
The search for a sustainable development has in renewable energy sources an important differential factor. Biodiesel is one of the most important alternatives, but its obtainment forms in Rio de Janeiro have not been investigated enough. This work identifies the opportunity of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil in this scenery, emphasizing oil`s transport costs until factories, where it is possible to obtain biodiesel in its final form. The objective is to evaluate costs in order to verify viability of this alternative source of energy. Hence, this research analysed several tools for solving Vehicle Routing Problem and it proposes an algorithm that results in cost optimization. The adapted mathematic formulation is based in an extension of classic algorithms, like those presented by Arenales (2007), and in equations developed by Kallehauge (2006). The routing model results, linked to production, tributes and input costs, have been compared with information about biodiesel commercialization, verifying its economic viability. The data consolidation obtained indicates that the biodiesel production from waste cooking oil is viable, with logistic costs equal to R/tmp/aaaPLIh7a,19 per liter and final cost equal to R,22 per liter.

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Doh, Kwee Yin. "The use of cost-benefit analysis in project evaluation." Thesis, Kansas State University, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/9832.

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Zappia, Nicholis John. "The Cost of Earmarks." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/330.

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Finding revenue is a challenge that faces many municipalities in the United States. As the tax base continues to decline and demand for government services increases, local governments are forced to make hard choices. Low on the list of priorities for local governments is the maintenance, and construction of infrastructure. Traditionally there have been several ways for local governments to fund long-term infrastructure projects including, federal-aid through the process of earmarking. The practice of earmarking has been around since the first congress, but hit its peak between 2003 and 2007. The earmarking process is controversial for several reasons; earmarking bypasses traditional merit procedures for distribution of federal-aid, earmarking is said to add costs to the agency awarded the funding, and earmarking has been linked to Congressional scandals and wasteful spending. In this paper I explore how an earmark, designated to local governments to fund long-term infrastructure projects, contributes to the costs of the project.

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Palm, John Harold. "Performance subdivision street standards : a model ordinance with commentary and evaluation." Thesis, Kansas State University, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/9869.

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Wang, Chih-Hsiang. "A dollar cost evaluation of mainland China's major weapon systems." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 1994. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA294751.

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Yoo, Jin Jung D. "Performance evaluation of a low cost processor with wireless connectivity." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/4269.

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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (July 17, 2006) Includes bibliographical references.

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Irava, Venkata Srinivas. "Low-cost delay-constrained multicast routing heuristics and their evaluation." Online access for everyone, 2006. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Dissertations/Summer2006/v%5Firava%5F072106.pdf.

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Belhadj, Tami A. "Computer aided architectural evaluation and design : a cost modelling experiment." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 1989. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1798/.

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This dissertation addresses the problem of Computer Aided Architectural Evaluation and Design, with particular reference to building cost evaluation and cost modelling. It identifies the lack of building evaluation tools in the CAAD environment, and suggests an integrated approach to building modelling and cost modelling. The interaction of elemental and spatial descriptions of a design solution is considered as an original contribution to the field of computer aided building modelling and evaluation. It demonstrates the potential of CAAD and Bills of Quantities intergration to give an extra dimension to cost modelling at early design stages. Essentially, this research project advocates a larger overlap in the use of computers for the generation and evaluation of design. It asserts that any computer aided solution evaluation system must be able to converse with the designer during the highly integrated iteration of briefing, analysis, synthesis and evaluation stages of design. A working example is produced after software specification and implementation, to demonstrate to possibilities and/or limitations of such an approach.

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Nie, W. "Cost evaluation and portfolio management optimization for biopharmaceutical product development." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2015. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1461733/.

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The pharmaceutical industry is suffering from declining R&D productivity and yet biopharmaceutical firms have been attracting increasing venture capital investment. Effective R&D portfolio management can deliver above average returns under increasing costs of drug development and the high risk of clinical trial failure. This points to the need for advanced decisional tools that facilitate decision-making in R&D portfolio management by efficiently identifying optimal solutions while accounting for resource constraints such as budgets and uncertainties such as attrition rates. This thesis presents the development of such tools and their application to typical industrial portfolio management scenarios. A drug development lifecycle cost model was designed to simulate the clinical and non-clinical activities in the drug development process from the pre-clinical stage through to market approval. The model was formulated using activity-based object-oriented programming that allows the activity-specific information to be collected and summarized. The model provides the decision-maker with the ability to forecast future cash flows and their distribution across clinical trial, manufacturing, and process development activities. The evaluation model was applied to case studies to analyse the non-clinical budgets needed at each phase of development for process development and manufacturing to ensure a market success each year. These cost benchmarking case studies focused on distinct product categories, namely pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and cell therapy products, under different attrition rates. A stochastic optimization tool was built that extended the drug development lifecycle cost evaluation model and linked it to combinatorial optimization algorithms to support biopharmaceutical portfolio management decision-making. The tool made use of the Monte Carlo simulation technique to capture the impact of uncertainties inherent in the drug development process. Dynamic simulation mechanisms were designed to model the progression of activities and allocation of resources. A bespoke multi-objective evolutionary algorithm was developed to locate optimal portfolio management solutions from a large decision space of possible permutations. The functionality of the tool was demonstrated using case studies with various budget and capacity constraints. Analysis of the optimization results highlighted the cash flow breakdowns across both activity categories and development stages. This work contributed to the effort of providing quantitative support to portfolio management decision-making and illustrated the benefits of combining cost evaluation with portfolio optimization to enhance process understanding and achieve better performance.

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Nilsson, Johan. "Cost-effective Packet Generation for Performance Evaluation of Network Equipment." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-128407.

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Packet generators are crucial components in performance evaluations of network equipment, but can often be very expensive tools for companies in need of these to invest in. This creates a need for a more cost-eﬀective solution to be able to scale the performance testing into the every day life of the developers at companies developing these products.This report investigates this by looking at how open-source packet generator software can be used together with oﬀ-the-shelf hardware to decrease costs compared to buying commercial systems using purpose-build hardware. The state of the art of packet generation is reviewed and the most promising solutions are evaluated in more detail. An implementation of a prototype system for packet generation using open-source software and commodity hardware is also presented to show both challenges and possibilities with this approach.A conclusion is reached that while the commercial products using purpose-built hardware still have use cases when they are the preferred choice, solutions using open-source software together with oﬀ-the-shelf hardware can ﬁll the need for scalable and cost-eﬃcient packet generation in other situations.

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Incorvia, Joseph H. "An evaluation of defense contracting based on transaction cost theory." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42008.

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This study investigates the use of the transaction cost paradigm, as a framework, for evaluating defense contracts and exploring problems related to defense contracting. The study shows that defense contracting is beleaguered with bounded rationality and uncertainty problems, and furthermore, that bounded rationality and uncertainty can lead to opportunistic behavior within defense contracting. The study shows, in particular that adverse selection, moral hazard, and hold-up problems exist within defense contracting.

Based on the results of this study the transaction cost paradigm can be used as a framework for evaluating defense contracts and related problems. The results also indicate that hold-up problems and moral hazard problems may be minimized by using proper contracts or acquisition strategies. Based on the case study in Chapter III there does not appear to be a contractual solution to adverse selection problems.
Master of Arts

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Tegbrant, Kerstin. "Cost-effectiveness of ergonomic interventions - Evaluation of a calculation model." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för kemi, bioteknologi och hälsa (CBH), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-262006.

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Several studies have shown that the work environment affects company performance. The managers are seldom aware to which extent work environment problems affect productivity, quality of delivery and sick-leave in their organisation. The present literature study showed that improvements regarding physical ergonomics generally are shown to be cost-effective. The most beneficial way of working is through proactive measures interactively with employees. An efficient, systematic way of performing risk assessments and interventions reduce the need for a calculation method. This study identified propositions for properties of calculation methods. These propositions were : “Simplicity, high usability”, “Right content for the target group”, “High ability to measure risk”, “Focus on staff”, “Correct standardised values”, “Right focus” and “Optimal design”. Scania CV, a producer of trucks and buses, has developed a calculation model for cost-effectiveness of ergonomic interventions. Evaluation of this model with semi-structured interviews showed agreement regarding the need of a simplified calculation method, based on systematic risk assessments.
Ett flertal studier har visat att arbetsmiljön påverkar företags effektivitet. Företagsledningen är sällan medveten om till vilken grad arbetsmiljö-problem påverkar produktivitet, kvalitet och sjukfrånvaro. Litteraturstudien i detta projekt visade att förbättringar inom ergonomi generellt sett är kostnadseffektiva. Det är mest gynnsamt att arbeta proaktivt samt participativt, det vill säga i samarbete med medarbetarna på den lokala avdelningen. Ett effektivt, systematiskt arbete med riskbedömningar och interventioner minskar behovet av att göra en beräkning av lönsamheten. Propositioner för egenskaper hos kostnadseffektiva beräkningsmetoder togs fram i denna studie. Dessa propositioner var; ” Enkelhet och god användbarhet”, ”rätt innehåll för målgruppen”, ”hög förmåga att bedöma risk”, ”personalfokus”, ”korrekta standardiserade värden”, ”rätt fokus” och ”optimal design”. Scania CV, producent av lastbilar och bussar, har tagit fram en beräkningsmodell för kostnadseffektivitet hos ergonomiska interventioner. Utvärderingen av denna modell med semistrukturerade intervjuer visar god samstämmighet i att det behövs enkla kalkylmetoder som grundar sig på systematiska riskbedömningar.

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Tong, Yun. "Cost Analysis and Evaluation of Syngas Synthesis through Anaerobic Digestion." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1354297810.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Cost evaluations'

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