Sewer infiltration/inflow: long-term monitoring based on diurnal variation of pollutant mass flux

The paper deals with a method for quantification of infiltrating groundwater based on the variation of diurnal pollutant load and continuous water quality and quantity monitoring. Although the method gives us the potential to separate particular components of wastewater hygrograph, several aspects of the method should be discussed. Therefore, the paper investigates the cost-effectiveness, the relevance of pollutant load from surface waters (groundwater) and the influence of measurement time step. These aspects were studied in an experimental catchment of Prague sewer system, Czech Republic, within a three-month period. The results indicate high contribution of parasitic waters on night minimal discharge. Taking into account the uncertainty of the results and time-consuming maintenance of the sensor, the principal advantages of the method are evaluated. The study introduces a promising potential of the discussed measuring concept for quantification of groundwater infiltrating into the sewer system. It is shown that the conventional approach is sufficient and cost-effective even in those catchments, where significant contribution of foul sewage in night minima would have been assumed.

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Efficient routes to land conservation given risk of covenant failure

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1033v1 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Schuster ◽

Peter Arcese

Keyword(s):

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Private Land ◽

Legal Challenges ◽

Monitoring And Enforcement ◽

Cost Effective Alternative ◽

The Cost ◽

Conservation Investment ◽

Term Monitoring

Conservation initiatives to protect valued species communities in human-dominated landscapes face challenges linked to their potential costs. Conservation covenants on private land may represent a cost-effective alternative to land purchase, although many questions on the long-term monitoring and enforcement costs of covenants and the risk of violation or legal challenges remain unquantified. We explore the cost-effectiveness of conservation covenants, defined here as the fraction of the high-biodiversity landscape potentially protected via investment in covenants versus land purchase. We show that covenant violation and dispute rates substantially affect the estimated long-term cost-effectiveness of a covenant versus land purchase strategy. Our results suggest the long-term cost-effectiveness of conservation covenants may outperform land purchase as a strategy to protect biodiversity as long as disputes and legal challenges are low, but point to a critical need for monitoring data to reduce uncertainty and maximize conservation investment cost-effectiveness.

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Efficient routes to land conservation given risk of covenant failure

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1033 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Schuster ◽

Peter Arcese

Keyword(s):

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Private Land ◽

Legal Challenges ◽

Monitoring And Enforcement ◽

Cost Effective Alternative ◽

The Cost ◽

Conservation Investment ◽

Term Monitoring

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The Cost-Effectiveness of an RCT to Establish Whether 5 or 10 Years of Bisphosphonate Treatment Is the Better Duration for Women With a Prior Fracture

Medical Decision Making ◽

10.1177/0272989x09336077 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 29 (6) ◽

pp. 678-689 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Matt D. Stevenson ◽

Jeremy E. Oakley ◽

Myfawny Lloyd Jones ◽

Alan Brennan ◽

Juliet E. Compston ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Fracture Prevention ◽

Published Data ◽

Bisphosphonate Treatment ◽

Net Benefit ◽

England And Wales ◽

Term Efficacy ◽

The Cost

Purpose. Five years of bisphosphonate treatment have proven efficacy in reducing fractures. Concerns exist that long-term bisphosphonate treatment may actually result in an increased number of fractures. This study evaluates, in the context of England and Wales, whether it is cost-effective to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and what sample size may be optimal to estimate the efficacy of bisphosphonates in fracture prevention beyond 5 years. Method. An osteoporosis model was constructed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of extending bisphosphonate treatment from 5 years to 10 years. Two scenarios were run. The 1st uses long-term efficacy data from published literature, and the 2nd uses distributions elicited from clinical experts. Results of a proposed RCT were simulated. The expected value of sample information technique was applied to calculate the expected net benefit of sampling from conducting such an RCT at varying levels of participants per arm and to compare this with proposed trial costs. Results. Without further information, the better duration of bisphosphonate treatment was estimated to be 5 years using the published data but 10 years using the elicited expert opinions, although in both cases uncertainty was substantial. The net benefit of sampling was consistently high when between 2000 and 5000 participants per arm were recruited. Conclusions. An RCT to evaluate the long-term efficacy of bisphosphonates in fracture prevention appears to be cost-effective for informing decision making in England and Wales.

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Development and Assembly of a MEMS Based High-Sensitivity Relative Gravimeter for Multi-Pixel Imaging Applications

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-13167 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Karl Toland ◽

Abhinav Prasad ◽

Andreas Noack ◽

Kristian Anastasiou ◽

Richard Middlemiss ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Sensitivity ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Mount Etna ◽

Earth Tides ◽

Gravity Measurements ◽

Stepper Motors ◽

Long Term Monitoring ◽

The Stability ◽

Term Monitoring

The manufacture and production of a&#160;high-sensitivity&#160;cost-effective gravimeter has the potential to change the&#160;methodology&#160;and efficiency&#160;of gravity measurements. Currently,&#160;the&#160;most common&#160;method&#160;to conduct a survey is&#160;by using&#160;a single gravimeter, usually costing tens of thousands of Dollars,&#160;with measurements taken at multiple locations to&#160;obtain the required data.&#160;The availability of a cost-effective gravimeter&#160;however would allow the user to install multiple gravimeters, at the same cost of a single gravimeter,&#160;to increase the efficiency of&#160;surveys and long-term monitoring.&#160;&#160;&#160;Since the previous reporting on a low-drift relative MEMS gravimeter for multi-pixel imaging applications (Prasad, A. et al,&#160;EGU2020-18528), significant&#160;progress&#160;has&#160;been made in the&#160;development and assembly of the previously reported system. Field prototypes have been manufactured and undergone significant testing&#160;to investigate the stability and robustness of the system&#160;in preparation for&#160;the&#160;deployment&#160;of multiple devices&#160;as part of the gravity imager on Mount Etna. The device, known as Wee-g, has several key features which makes it an attractive prospect in the field of gravimetry. Examples of these features are that the Wee-g is small and portable with the ability to connect to the device remotely, can be powered through a mains connected power supply, or through portable batteries, weighs under 4kg, has a low power consumption during normal use of 5W, correct for tilt through manual adjustments or remotely through integrated stepper motors with a total tilt correction range of 5 degrees, the ability to read out tilt of the device through an inclinometer for either alignment or long term monitoring and numerous temperature sensors and heater servos to control the temperature of the MEMS to <1mK.&#160;This presentation aims to report on the progress that has been achieved&#160;in the&#160;development and&#160;manufacturing of the prototype devices, various testing of the devices under various laboratory conditions (such as the measurements of the Earth tides, and a relative measurement of gravity at various floor levels), as well as additional&#160;applications that are to be explored in 2021.&#160;

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Cost-effective Analysis of Proton Pump Inhibitors in Long-term Management of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Narrative Review

Hospital Pharmacy ◽

10.1177/0018578719893378 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 55 (5) ◽

pp. 292-305

Author(s):

Shazia Jamshed ◽

Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula ◽

Sheikh Muhammad Zeeshan Qadar ◽

Umaira Alauddin ◽

Sana Shamim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease ◽

Cost Effective ◽

The Other ◽

Cost Effectiveness Ratio ◽

On Demand ◽

Step Down ◽

The Cost ◽

Term Management

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that results from regurgitation of acid from the stomach into the esophagus. Treatment available for GERD includes lifestyle changes, antacids, histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs), proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), and anti-reflux surgery. Aim: The aim of this review is to assess the cost-effectiveness of the use of PPIs in the long-term management of patients with GERD. Method: We searched in PubMed to identify related original articles with close consideration based on inclusion and exclusion criteria to choose the best studies for this narrative review. The first section compares the cost-effectiveness of PPIs with H2RAs in long-term heartburn management. The other sections shall only discuss the cost-effectiveness of PPIs in 5 different strategies, namely, continuous (step-up, step-down, and maintenance), on-demand, and intermittent therapies. Results: Of 55 articles published, 10 studies published from 2000 to 2015 were included. Overall, PPIs are more effective in relieving heartburn in comparison with ranitidine. The use of PPIs in managing heartburn in long-term consumption of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) has higher cost compared with H2RA. However, if the decision-maker is willing to pay more than US$174 788.60 per extra quality-adjusted life year (QALY), then the optimal strategy is traditional NSAID (tNSAID) and PPIs. The probability of being cost-effective was also highest for NSAID and PPI co-therapy users. On-demand PPI treatment strategy showed dominant with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of US$2197 per QALY gained and was most effective and cost saving compared with all the other treatments. The average cost-effectiveness ratio was lower for rabeprazole therapy than for ranitidine therapy. Conclusion: Our review revealed that long-term treatment with PPIs is effective but costly. To achieve long-term cost-effective approach, we recommend on-demand approach to treat heartburn symptoms, but if the symptoms persist, treatment with continuous step-down therapy should be applied.

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Replacement and Maintenance Decision Analysis for Hydraulic Machinery Facilities at Reservoirs under Imperfect Maintenance

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13102507 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 2507

Author(s):

Sou-Sen Leu ◽

Tao-Ming Ying

Keyword(s):

Cost Effective ◽

Maintenance Cost ◽

Imperfect Maintenance ◽

Term Operation ◽

Engineering Economics ◽

Hydraulic Machinery ◽

Effective Manner ◽

The Cost ◽

Replacement Time

After the long-term operation of reservoir facilities, they will become nonoperational due to the material deterioration and the performance degradation. One of crucial decisions is to determine the maintenance or replacement of the facilities in a cost-effective manner. Conventional replacement models seldom consider the maintenance effect. The facilities after maintenance are generally not as good as new, but are relatively restored. The target of this study is to establish a replacement decision model of the reservoir facilities under imperfect maintenance. By combining the theories of reliability analysis, imperfect maintenance, and engineering economics, the best timing of replacement that achieves cost-effectiveness is analyzed and proposed. Lastly, based on the design of experiments (DOE) and simulation, the regression curve chart for the economical replacement decision is established. Once the failure rate, the age of recovery after maintenance, and the ratio of maintenance cost to replacement cost are estimated based on historical data, the cost-effective replacement time of hydraulic machinery facilities will be efficiently determined.

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Cost-Effectiveness of an Obesity Management Program for 6- to 15-Year-Old Children in Poland: Data from Over Three Thousand Participants

Obesity Facts ◽

10.1159/000509130 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 487-498

Author(s):

Ewa Bandurska ◽

Michał Brzeziński ◽

Paulina Metelska ◽

Marzena Zarzeczna-Baran

Keyword(s):

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Management Program ◽

Obesity And Overweight ◽

School Programs ◽

Overweight Group ◽

Research Findings ◽

Public Health Challenge ◽

The Cost

Background: Obesity and overweight, including childhood obesity and overweight, pose a public health challenge worldwide. According to the available research findings, long-term interventions focusing on dietary behavior, physical activity, and psychological support are the most effective in reducing obesity in children aged 6–18 years. There are limited studies showing the financial effectiveness of such interventions. Objective: The objective of the present study was to evaluate cost-effectiveness of the 6-10-14 for Health weight management program using pharmacoeconomic indicators, i.e., cost-effectiveness analysis using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. Methods: We used anthropometric data of 3,081 children included in a 1-year-long intervention with a full financial cost assessment. Results: The cost of removing a child from the overweight group (BMI >85th percentile) was PLN 27,758 (EUR 6,463), and the cost of removing a child from the obese group (BMI >95th percentile) was slightly lower, i.e., PLN 23,601 (EUR 5,495). Given the obesity-related medical costs calculated in the life-long perspective, these results can be considered encouraging. At the same time, when comparing the total costs per participant with the costs of other interventions, it can be noted that they are similar to the costs of school programs containing more than 1 type of intervention. Conclusions: The 6-10-14 for Health program can be considered cost-effective. As a result of committing financial resources in the approximate amount of EUR 1,790 per child, around half of the children participating in the program have improved their weight indicators.

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Controllable fabrication of α-Ni(OH)2 thin films with preheating treatment for long-term stable electrochromic and energy storage applications

Journal of Materials Chemistry C ◽

10.1039/c9tc06354d ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. 3010-3016 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chunhua Su ◽

Meijia Qiu ◽

Yipeng An ◽

Siyuan Sun ◽

Chuanxi Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Energy Storage ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Fast Switching ◽

Energy Storage Application ◽

One Step ◽

Energy Storage Applications ◽

Controllable Fabrication ◽

The Cost

Long-term stable, fast switching α-Ni(OH)2 electrodes for electrochromic energy storage application has been fabricated by one-step preheating treatment. The cost-effective fabrication is expected to expand to other metal hydroxide materials.

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Cost-Effectiveness of a Problem-Solving Intervention Aimed to Prevent Sickness Absence among Employees with Common Mental Disorders or Occupational Stress

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17145234 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (14) ◽

pp. 5234

Author(s):

Marijke Keus Van De Poll ◽

Gunnar Bergström ◽

Irene Jensen ◽

Lotta Nybergh ◽

Lydia Kwak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Sickness Absence ◽

Common Mental Disorders ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Production Loss ◽

The Cost

The cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness of a work-directed intervention implemented by the occupational health service (OHS) for employees with common mental disorders (CMD) or stress related problems at work were investigated. The economic evaluation was conducted in a two-armed clustered RCT. Employees received either a problem-solving based intervention (PSI; n = 41) or care as usual (CAU; n = 59). Both were work-directed interventions. Data regarding sickness absence and production loss at work was gathered during a one-year follow-up. Bootstrap techniques were used to conduct a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) from both an employer and societal perspective. Intervention costs were lower for PSI than CAU. Costs for long-term sickness absence were higher for CAU, whereas costs for short-term sickness absence and production loss at work were higher for PSI. Mainly due to these costs, PSI was not cost-effective from the employer’s perspective. However, PSI was cost-beneficial from a societal perspective. CEA showed that a one-day reduction of long-term sickness absence costed on average €101 for PSI, a cost that primarily was borne by the employer. PSI reduced the socio-economic burden compared to CAU and could be recommended to policy makers. However, reduced long-term sickness absence, i.e., increased work attendance, was accompanied by employees perceiving higher levels of production loss at work and thus increased the cost for employers. This partly explains why an effective intervention was not cost-effective from the employer’s perspective. Hence, additional adjustments and/or support at the workplace might be needed for reducing the loss of production at work.

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