scholarly journals The Impact of Biomedical Engineering on the Development of Minimally Invasive Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 3877
Author(s):  
Riccardo Cocchieri ◽  
Bertus van de Wetering ◽  
Marco Stijnen ◽  
Robert Riezebos ◽  
Bastian de Mol
Keyword(s):  
Minimally Invasive ◽  
Medical Engineering ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Work Process ◽  
Clinical Safety ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Returns On Investment ◽  
The Impact

(1) We describe the boundary conditions for minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) with the aim to reduce procedure-related patient injury and discomfort. (2) The analysis of the MICS work process and its demand for improved tools and devices is followed by a description of the relevant sub-specialties of bio-medical engineering: electronics, biomechanics, and materials sciences. (3) Innovations can represent a desired adaptation of an existing work process or a radical redesign of procedure and devices such as in transcutaneous procedures. Focused interaction between engineers, industry, and surgeons is always mandatory (i.e., a therapeutic alliance for addressing ‘unmet patient or professional needs’. (4) Novel techniques in MICS lean heavily on usability and safe and effective use in dedicated hands. Therefore, the use of training and simulation models should enable skills selection, a safe learning curve, and maintenance of proficiency. (5) The critical technical steps and cost–benefit trade-offs during the journey from invention to application will be explained. Business considerations such as time-to-market and returns on investment do shape the cost–benefit room for commercial use of technology. Proof of clinical safety and effectiveness by physicians remains important, but establishing the technical reliability of MICS tools and warranting appropriate surgical skills come first.

scholarly journals DO MATURE INNOVATION PLATFORMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT? A META-ANALYSIS OF CASE STUDIES

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARC SCHUT ◽  
JEAN-JOSEPH CADILHON ◽  
MICHAEL MISIKO ◽  
IDDO DROR
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Technology Dissemination ◽  
The Impact

SUMMARYInnovation Platforms (IPs) have become a popular vehicle in agricultural research for development (AR4D). The IP promise is that integrating scientific and local knowledge results in innovations that can have impact at scale. Many studies have uncovered how IPs work in various countries, value chains and themes. The conclusion is clear: IPs generate enthusiasm and can bring together stakeholders to effectively address specific problems and achieve ‘local’ impact. However, few studies focus on ‘mature’ IPs and whether or not these achieve impact at a ‘higher’ scale: address systems trade-offs to guide decision making, focus on integration of multiple commodities, reach a large number of beneficiaries and learn from their failures. This study evaluates the impact of mature IPs in AR4D by analysing the success factors of eight case studies across three continents. Although we found pockets of IP success and impact, these were rarely achieved at scale. We therefore critically question the use of IPs as a technology dissemination and scaling mechanism in AR4D programs that aim to benefit the livelihoods of many farmers in developing countries. Nevertheless, we do find that IPs can fulfil an important role in AR4D. If the IP processes are truly demand-driven, participatory and based on collective investment and action, they have the ability to bring together committed stakeholders, and result in innovations that are technically sound, locally adapted, economically feasible for farmers, and socially, culturally and politically acceptable. Several of our cases show that if these IPs are firmly embedded in other public and private extension mechanisms and networks, they can allow the technologies or other types of innovations to scale out beyond the original IP scope, geographical focus or target audience. We see a need for more rigorous, accurate and continuous measurement of IP performance which can contribute to adaptive management of IPs, better understanding of ‘what works’ in terms of process design and facilitation, as well as to cost-benefit analysis of IPs as compared to other approaches that aim to contribute to agricultural development.

Cost-benefit analysis of alternatives to mitigate the air quality and health impacts from agricultural residue burning in India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruoyu Lan ◽  
Sebastian Eastham ◽  
Leslie Norford ◽  
Steven Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Population Exposure ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Agricultural Residue ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Analysis Of Alternatives ◽  
The Impact

<p>Poor air quality in India affects the health of millions living in one of the most populated regions in the world. Agricultural residue burning as a common way to remove crop waste and make fields for the next planting season contributes to this problem and, despite attempts to reduce agricultural fires, remains a recurring issue due to a lack of viable alternatives. As India population grows, more food production will be needed, with yet more crop residue to burn. Sustainable and economically feasible interventions are therefore needed to mitigate the impact of agricultural residue burning. To support policy-making, an adjoint modeling approach has been applied to estimate how air quality and health impacts respond to changes in specific time and location of burning, and how effective potential mitigation options might be in reducing them.</p><p>This work extends based upon these initial findings and seeks to provide a cost-benefit analysis of alternatives to agricultural residue burning using the GEOS-Chem adjoint model. With a multi-year assessment that accounts for the impact of inter-annual variability of meteorology, the public cost presented in terms of the monetary valuation of air quality damages resulting from population exposure and health impacts due to emissions of agricultural burning,<span>  </span>and the private returns presented in terms of the individual profit from crop cultivation for farmers in India, are quantified in order to better understand the potential trade-offs between air quality improvement and economic benefit.</p><p>The end results focusing on northwestern India during the post-monsoon rice residue burning season, where the majority of agricultural fires in India come from, show that appropriate measures, including crop diversification, agricultural mechanization and shifting the time of burning, may help avoid air quality damages from agricultural residue burning without risking the income of farmers. Proper incentive mechanisms such as subsidies for investment cost and compensation for human effort may further facilitate the best possible outcomes. These findings help inform better decision-making to mitigate the impacts of agricultural fires and reduce the uncertainties regarding sustainable agricultural practices not just for India but also for regions and countries facing similar issues.</p>

scholarly journals Supporting scale-up of COVID-19 RT-PCR testing processes with discrete event simulation

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0255214
Author(s):  
Jad El Hage ◽  
Patti Gravitt ◽  
Jacques Ravel ◽  
Nadia Lahrichi ◽  
Erica Gralla
Keyword(s):  
Discrete Event Simulation ◽  
Discrete Event ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
The United States ◽  
Molecular Testing ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Event Simulation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

Testing is critical to mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic, but testing capacity has fallen short of the need in the United States and elsewhere, and long wait times have impeded rapid isolation of cases. Operational challenges such as supply problems and personnel shortages have led to these bottlenecks and inhibited the scale-up of testing to needed levels. This paper uses operational simulations to facilitate rapid scale-up of testing capacity during this public health emergency. Specifically, discrete event simulation models were developed to represent the RT-PCR testing process in a large University of Maryland testing center, which retrofitted high-throughput molecular testing capacity to meet pandemic demands in a partnership with the State of Maryland. The simulation models support analyses that identify process steps which create bottlenecks, and evaluate “what-if” scenarios for process changes that could expand testing capacity. This enables virtual experimentation to understand the trade-offs associated with different interventions that increase testing capacity, allowing the identification of solutions that have high leverage at a feasible and acceptable cost. For example, using a virucidal collection medium which enables safe discarding of swabs at the point of collection removed a time-consuming “deswabbing” step (a primary bottleneck in this laboratory) and nearly doubled the testing capacity. The models are also used to estimate the impact of demand variability on laboratory performance and the minimum equipment and personnel required to meet various target capacities, assisting in scale-up for any laboratories following the same process steps. In sum, the results demonstrate that by using simulation modeling of the operations of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing, preparedness planners are able to identify high-leverage process changes to increase testing capacity.

scholarly journals Virulence-mediated infectiousness and activity trade-offs and their impact on transmission potential of influenza patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1927) ◽  
pp. 20200496
Author(s):  
Brian McKay ◽  
Mark Ebell ◽  
Ariella Perry Dale ◽  
Ye Shen ◽  
Andreas Handel
Keyword(s):  
Health Centre ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Transmission Potential ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Exploratory Data ◽  
Systemic Symptoms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Reduced Activity

Communicable diseases are often virulent, i.e. they cause morbidity symptoms in those infected. While some symptoms may be transmission-enhancing, other symptoms are likely to reduce transmission potential. For human diseases, the reduction in transmission opportunities is commonly caused by reduced activity. There is limited data regarding the potential impact of virulence on transmission potential. We performed an exploratory data analysis of 324 influenza patients at a university health centre during the 2016/2017 influenza season. We classified symptoms as infectiousness-related or morbidity-related and calculated two scores. The scores were used to explore the relationship between infectiousness, morbidity (virulence), and activity level. We found a decrease in the activity level with increasing morbidity scores. There was no consistent pattern between an activity level and an infectiousness score. We also found a positive correlation between morbidity and infectiousness scores. Overall, we find that increasing virulence leads to increased infectiousness and reduced activity, suggesting a trade-off that can impact overall transmission potential. Our findings indicate that a reduction of systemic symptoms may increase host activity without reducing infectiousness. Therefore, interventions should target both systemic- and infectiousness-related symptoms to reduce overall transmission potential. Our findings can also inform simulation models that investigate the impact of different interventions on transmission.

scholarly journals The Impact of Elevation Sidelobe Contamination on Radar Data Quality for Operational Interpretation

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-724
Author(s):  
Feng Nai ◽  
Jami Boettcher ◽  
Christopher Curtis ◽  
David Schvartzman ◽  
Sebastián Torres
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Data Interpretation ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Cost Driver ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Antenna Radiation ◽  
Weather Radars ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

AbstractTo fulfill the evolving observational needs of the National Weather Service (NWS), future weather radar systems will have to meet demanding requirements. Designing such systems will likely involve trade-offs between system cost and operational performance. A potential cost driver for future weather radars that could cause significant data-quality impacts on forecasters is the required angular resolution and sidelobe performance, which are mainly dictated by the antenna radiation pattern. Typical antenna radiation patterns can be characterized by the width of the main lobe and their sidelobe levels, which are traditionally measured across the azimuthal and elevation dimensions. In this work, we study the impact of increasing sidelobe levels on NWS forecasters’ data interpretation during warning operations. The resulting impact model can be used by decision-makers to better understand the cost–benefit trade-offs inherent in any radar system design.

scholarly journals Enhanced Financial Business Competitiveness by Leveraging Technology and Innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-89
Author(s):  
Suwinto Johan
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Finance ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
Work Process ◽  
Adoption Of Technology ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Business Competitiveness ◽  
Impact Of Technology ◽  
Motorized Vehicles ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Financial Technology

The financial industry has developed rapidly with the emergence of financial technology companies. Moreover, the use of technology in the financial industry has developed rapidly. However, conventional financial companies face tough challenges in doing business. They have to adopt the technology to survive. The adoption of technology will increase the competitiveness of established financial companies against financial technology companies. The research aims to analyze the impact of technology on improving the work process of established financial companies. It examines the business model of established financial companies and financial technology companies. The work process is almost identical for all companies. The research applies a qualitative method. The chosen companies are multi-purpose financing for the purchase of two-wheeled and four-wheeled motorized vehicles. The total number of companies involved in the research is four companies. The result concludes that conventional consumer finance companies need to adopt technology into the work process to compete with financial technology companies. Technologies that can be used are Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation job allocation, chatbot, and face recognition. The work process is reviewed by digitizing, eliminating, and moving. Then, technology adoption will require a large investment. Hence, consumer finance companies can collaborate with technology companies, including financial technology companies.

Aumento de coroa estética sem elevação de retalho – abordagem minimamente invasiva

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (45) ◽  
pp. 34-39
Author(s):  
Flavia Sukekava ◽  
Julia Helena Luiz ◽  
Paloma Palma ◽  
Jaques Luiz
Keyword(s):  
Minimally Invasive ◽  
Correct Diagnosis ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Minimally Invasive Techniques ◽  
Bone Removal ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Treatment Plans ◽  
Invasive Techniques ◽  
Crown Lengthening ◽  
Gummy Smile

Gummy smile is a characteristic in which the patient exposes more than 2 mm of keratinized gingiva in forced smile. With a multifactorial cause, its correct planning depends directly on the correct diagnosis. Usually, the procedures that involve manipulation and the enlargement of the aesthetical crown lengthening are surgical. The objective of this case series was to show the advantages of surgical crown augmentation surgery in aesthetic areas with minimally invasive techniques. Three cases of gummy smile were presented, with different treatment plans and techniques for execution. In the 3 cases, bone removal was performed with piezoelectric ultrasound, which made the postoperative more comfortable for patients. These cases illustrate the use of technology to reduce morbidity in patients who need to undergo bone removal to treat gingival smile.

U.S. Regulatory Approaches: A Critical Appraisal

1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
R. L. Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Command And Control ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Treatment Technologies ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

The American approach to environmental regulation is characterized by fragmentation of responsibilities, primary reliance on command and control regulations, extraordinary complexity, a preference for identifiable standards, and heavy resort to litigation. This system has provided important benefits, including significant reduction of environmental contamination, substantial use of science in decision-making, broad participatory rights, and the stimulation of new treatment technologies. However, these gains have been achieved at excessive cost. Too much reliance is placed on command and control methods and especially on technology-based standards. There is too much resort to litigation, and inadequate input from science. Participatory rights are being undermined, and there is a poor allocation of decision-making among the federal agencies and the states. Over-regulation sometimes leads to under-regulation, and insufficient attention is given to the impact on small entities. The responsibility for these difficulties rests with everyone, including the federal agencies, the Congress, the general public and the courts. Changes in the regulatory system are needed. We should abandon the use of technology-based standards to control toxic substances under the Clean Water Act in favor of strong health- and environmentally based standards, coupled with taxes on toxic substances in wastewater.

scholarly journals Carbon Dynamics in the Northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2030 Using Landsat Land Use/Cover Change Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingye Li ◽  
Jian Gong ◽  
Jean-Michel Guldmann ◽  
Shicheng Li ◽  
Jie Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Sharp Decrease ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Qinghai Lake ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Ecosystem Carbon ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

Land use/cover change (LUCC) has an important impact on the terrestrial carbon cycle. The spatial distribution of regional carbon reserves can provide the scientific basis for the management of ecosystem carbon storage and the formulation of ecological and environmental policies. This paper proposes a method combining the CA-based FLUS model and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to assess the temporal and spatial changes in ecosystem carbon storage due to land-use changes over 1990–2015 in the Qinghai Lake Basin (QLB). Furthermore, future ecosystem carbon storage is simulated and evaluated over 2020–2030 under three scenarios of natural growth (NG), cropland protection (CP), and ecological protection (EP). The long-term spatial variations in carbon storage in the QLB are discussed. The results show that: (1) Carbon storage in the QLB decreased at first (1990–2000) and increased later (2000–2010), with total carbon storage increasing by 1.60 Tg C (Teragram: a unit of mass equal to 1012 g). From 2010 to 2015, carbon storage displayed a downward trend, with a sharp decrease in wetlands and croplands as the main cause; (2) Under the NG scenario, carbon reserves decrease by 0.69 Tg C over 2020–2030. These reserves increase significantly by 6.77 Tg C and 7.54 Tg C under the CP and EP scenarios, respectively, thus promoting the benign development of the regional ecological environment. This study improves our understanding on the impact of land-use change on carbon storage for the QLB in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP).

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