SUSTAINABILITY OF OFF-SITE CONSTRUCTION: A BIBLIOMETRIC REVIEW AND VISUALIZED ANALYSIS OF TRENDING TOPICS AND THEMES

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-154
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Yahaya Wuni ◽  
Geoffrey Qiping Shen ◽  
Robert Osei-Kyei
Keyword(s):  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Knowledge Domain ◽  
Steady Growth ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Bibliometric Review ◽  
Building Components ◽  
Resources Conservation ◽  
Job Site

ABSTRACT Off-site construction (OSC) involves the fabrication and assembly of building components in a purpose-built factory which are then transported to the job site for final installation. OSC has proven to be a greener construction approach, spurring research towards benchmarking the sustainable attributes of the technique. However, a quantitative statistical analysis of studies on OSC sustainability and a framework of the knowledge domain are not well-established. Drawing on 642 bibliographic records from Scopus, this paper conducted a bibliometric and visualized analysis of research on the sustainability of OSC from 1971 to 2019. The findings show that research publications on OSC sustainability only witnessed steady growth since 2000. A geospatial analysis revealed that at least 32% of countries are involved in the OSC sustainability research, of which the United States, China, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada make the greatest contributions. The hot topics in the contemporary OSC sustainability research were identified as embodied carbon, embodied energy, construction waste, post-occupancy evaluation, resources conservation, and recycling, and cost savings. The paper identified areas that require further research. Thus, the paper offers an all-embracing understanding of the core research themes, trends, and patterns on OSC sustainability to stakeholders.

scholarly journals Cost effectiveness analysis of implementing tuberculosis screening among applicants for non-immigrant U.S. work visas

Pneumonia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bisma Ali Sayed ◽  
Drew L. Posey ◽  
Brian Maskery ◽  
La’Marcus T. Wingate ◽  
Martin S. Cetron
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Active Tuberculosis ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Tuberculosis Screening ◽  
Hospitalization Costs ◽  
The U.S

Abstract Background While persons who receive immigrant and refugee visas are screened for active tuberculosis before admission into the United States, nonimmigrant visa applicants (NIVs) are not routinely screened and may enter the United States with infectious tuberculosis. Objectives We evaluated the costs and benefits of expanding pre-departure tuberculosis screening requirements to a subset of NIVs who arrive from a moderate (Mexico) or high (India) incidence tuberculosis country with temporary work visas. Methods We developed a decision tree model to evaluate the program costs and estimate the numbers of active tuberculosis cases that may be diagnosed in the United States in two scenarios: 1) “Screening”: screening and treatment for tuberculosis among NIVs in their home country with recommended U.S. follow-up for NIVs at elevated risk of active tuberculosis; and, 2) “No Screening” in their home country so that cases would be diagnosed passively and treatment occurs after entry into the United States. Costs were assessed from multiple perspectives, including multinational and U.S.-only perspectives. Results Under “Screening” versus “No Screening”, an estimated 179 active tuberculosis cases and 119 hospitalizations would be averted in the United States annually via predeparture treatment. From the U.S.-only perspective, this program would result in annual net cost savings of about $3.75 million. However, rom the multinational perspective, the screening program would cost $151,388 per U.S. case averted for Indian NIVs and $221,088 per U.S. case averted for Mexican NIVs. Conclusion From the U.S.-only perspective, the screening program would result in substantial cost savings in the form of reduced treatment and hospitalization costs. NIVs would incur increased pre-departure screening and treatment costs.

A Follow-On Biological Drug is not a Biogeneric: Lessons from Omnitrope and Valtropin

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert I. Roth ◽  
Nicholas M. Fleischer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Therapeutic Proteins ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Substantial Cost ◽  
Biological Drugs ◽  
Biological Drug ◽  
Therapeutic Properties ◽  
Drug Developer ◽  
The Eu

Recent years have seen the approvals, more so in the EU than the United States, of follow-on biological drugs. These products have been new formulations of recombinant therapeutic proteins, developed to compete with the marketed originator products. Intended to closely mimic the originator products in terms of chemistry and therapeutic properties, these so-called ‘biosimilar’ products were initially conceived to be developed according to abbreviated development programmes, presumably at a substantial cost savings to both the drug developer and the consumer. With several such products now recently approved, however, it has become clear that their development programmes have been quite extensive and not particularly abbreviated. Accordingly, cost savings to consumers appear to be relatively modest.

Does Eco-Certification Correlate with Improved Financial Performance? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study in the US Hospital Industry

2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142110189
Author(s):  
Germán M. Izón ◽  
Nathaniel Islip
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Sustainable Practices ◽  
Production Externalities ◽  
Energy Star ◽  
Operating Margin

Health care-based negative production externalities, such as greenhouse gas emissions, underscore the need for hospitals to implement sustainable practices. Eco-certification has been adopted by a number of providers in an attempt, for instance, to curb energy consumption. While these strategies have been evaluated with respect to cost savings, their implications pertaining to hospitals’ financial viability remain unknown. We specify a fixed-effects model to estimate the correlation between Energy Star certification and 3 different hospitals’ financial performance measures (net patient revenue, operating expenses, and operating margin) in the United States between 2000 and 2016. The Energy Star participation indicators’ parameters imply that this type of eco-certification is associated with lower net patient revenue and lower operating expenses. However, the estimated negative relationship between eco-certification and operating margin suggests that the savings in operating expenses are not enough for a hospital to achieve higher margins. These findings may indicate that undertaking sustainable practices is partially related to intangible benefits such as community reputation and highlight the importance of government policies to financially support hospitals’ investments in green practices.

scholarly journals State of the Art Research on Sustainable Use of Water Hyacinth: A Bibliometric and Text Mining Analysis

Informatics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Aman Basu ◽  
Amit Kumar Hazra ◽  
Shibani Chaudhury ◽  
Andrew B. Ross ◽  
Srinivasan Balachandran
Keyword(s):  
Water Hyacinth ◽  
Eichhornia Crassipes ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pollutant Removal ◽  
Aquatic Weed ◽  
Steady Growth ◽  
Art Research ◽  
Negative Sentiment

This study aims to present a systematic data-driven bibliometric analysis of the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) infestation problem around the globe. As many solutions are being proposed in academia for its management, mitigation, and utilization, it requires investigation through a systematic scrutinizing lens. In this study, literature records from 1977 to June 2020 concerning research on water hyacinth are taken from Scopus for text analysis. Trends in the publication of different article types, dynamics of publication, clustering, correlation, and co-authoring patterns between different countries are observed. The cluster analysis indicated four clusters viz. (i) ecological works related to species, (ii) pollutant removal process and methods, (iii) utilization of biofuels for biogas production, and (iv) modelling works. It is clear from the networking analysis that most of the publications regarding water hyacinth are from India, followed by China and the United States. Sentiment analysis with the AFINN lexicon showed that the negative sentiment towards the aquatic weed has intensified over time. An exploratory analysis was performed using a bigram network plot, depicting and outlining different important domains of water hyacinth research. Water hyacinth research has passed the pioneering phase and is now at the end of a steady growth phase or at the beginning of an acceleration phase. In this article, an overview is given for the entirety of water hyacinth research, with an indication of future trends and possibilities.

scholarly journals Surgical instrumentation: the true cost of instrument trays and a potential strategy for optimization

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Mhlaba ◽  
Emily W. Stockert ◽  
Martin Coronel ◽  
Alexander J. Langerman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
Waste Reduction ◽  
Significant Cost ◽  
Instrument Type ◽  
Hospital Revenue ◽  
Potential Strategy ◽  
The Cost

Objective: Operating rooms (OR) generate a large portion of hospital revenue and waste. Consequently, improving efficiency and reducing waste is a high priority. Our objective was to quantify waste associated with opened but unused instruments from trays and to compare this with the cost of individually wrapping instruments.Methods: Data was collected from June to November of 2013 in a 550-bed hospital in the United States. We recorded the instrument usage of two commonly-used trays for ten cases each. The time to decontaminate and reassemble instrument trays and peel packs was measured, and the cost to reprocess one instrument was calculated.Results: Average utilization was 14% for the Plastic Soft Tissue Tray and 29% for the Major Laparotomy Tray. Of 98 instruments in the Plastics tray (n = 10), 0% was used in all cases observed and 59% were used in no observed cases. Of 110 instruments in the Major Tray (n = 10), 0% was used in all cases observed and 25% were used in no observed cases. Average cost to reprocess one instrument was $0.34-$0.47 in a tray and $0.81-$0.84 in a peel pack, or individually-wrapped instrument.Conclusions: We estimate that the cost of peel packing an instrument is roughly two times the cost of tray packing. Therefore, it becomes more cost effective from a processing standpoint to package an instrument in a peel pack when there is less than a 42%-56% probability of use depending on instrument type. This study demonstrates an opportunity for reorganization of instrument delivery that could result in a significant cost-savings and waste reduction.

scholarly journals Gharacteristics and management style of Mexican enterprises in the United State

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Blanco Jimenez ◽  
J Valdez ◽  
Martha Fasci
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Management Style ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Steady Growth ◽  
The Us ◽  
El Sistema

Key words: Enterprises, Foreign Direct Investment, management style, Mexico, United StatesAbstract: The United States and Mexico are two countries with vast cultural and economic differences, but their bilateral relations oftrade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDl) are very close. Their geographic proximity and their membership to NAFTA have increased the US-Mexican goods trade and have multiplied the Foreign Direct Investment (FDl) inflows into Mexico by seven folds during 1988-2000. Onthe other hand, the Mexican FDI inflows into the United States even though enjoyed a steady growth during last years, but without asubstantial ncrease. Although, there are some outside oolitical nd economical fctors that have influenced this evolution ofFDI in both countries, there are some managerial fctors that have made it difficult to integrate he Mexican enterprises with the US ones. Some researches confirm that in Mexico, cultural aspects influence in all possible ways to make business. These are different from the American management style, so the Mexican enterprises that want o invest in the American market must adopt the American management system, in order to have a successful investment. This research aims to: 1) Demonstrate thgrowing mutual economic trade interdependence between Mexico and the United States, 2) ldentify in which sectors and what areas are most of the Mexican enterprises located in the United States and 3) Compare the Mexican management style with the American system.Palabras Clave: Empresas, estilo de administración, Estados Unidos, Inversión Directa Extranjera, MéxicoResumen: Los Estados Unidos y México son dos países con importantes diferencias culturales y económicas, sinembargo su relación bilateral en el comercio y la inversión es muy estrecha. La proximidad geográfica y la firma del Tratado de Libre Comercio de Norte América han incrementado el comercio USA-México y han permitido que la inversión directa extranjera Americana enMéxico se multiplique por siete veces de 1988 a|2000. Por otro lado, la Inversión Directa Extranjera de México en los Estados Unidos, aunque presenta un incremento enestos últimos años, no ha tenido un crecimiento sustancial. Existen factores políticos y económicos que han influenciado esta evolución deIDE en ambos países, sin embargo, hay otros factores como la cultura empresarial que ha sido un elemento de dificultad para integrar las empresas Mexicanas en los Estados Unidos. Algunos investigadores confirman que la cultura empresarial infuye en la manera como las empresas Mexicanas hacen negocios, la cual es diferente a la cultura empresarial Americana, entonces, las empresas Mexicanas que quieran invertir y hacer negocio en el mercado Americano, tienen que adoptar elestilo empresarial Americano para tener éxito en sus inversiones. Por lo tanto, esta investigación trata de: 1) Demostrar el crecimiento de Ia dependencia económica comercial que existe entre México y los Estados Unidos, 2)ldentificar en que sectores y donde están establecidas la mayor parte de las empresas mexicanas en los Estados Unidos y 3) Comparar el estilo empresarial mexicanos con el sistema Americano. 

scholarly journals Textbook Alternative Incentive Programs at U.S. Universities: A Review of the Literature

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 105-123
Author(s):  
Ashley Lierman
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Impact Measurement ◽  
Grant Programs ◽  
Incentive Programs ◽  
Financial Investments ◽  
Faculty Time ◽  
The Cost

Objective – This article reviews current literature on incentive grant programs for textbook alternatives at universities and their libraries. Of particular interest in this review are common patterns and factors in the design, development, and implementation of these initiatives at the programmatic level, trends in the results of assessment of programs, and unique elements of certain institutions’ programs. Methods – The review was limited in scope to studies in scholarly and professional publications of textbook alternative incentive programs at universities within the United States of America, published within ten years prior to the investigation. A comprehensive literature search was conducted and then subjected to analysis for trends and patterns. Results – Studies of these types of programs have reported substantial total cost savings to affected students compared to the relatively small financial investments that are required to establish them. The majority of incentive programs were led by university libraries, although the most successful efforts appear to have been broadly collaborative in nature. Programs are well-regarded by students and faculty, with benefits to pedagogy and access to materials beyond the cost savings to students. The field of replacing textbooks with alternatives is still evolving, however, and the required investment of faculty time and effort is still a barrier, while inconsistent approaches to impact measurement make it difficult to compare programs or establish best practices. Conclusion – Overall, the literature shows evidence of significant benefits from incentive programs at a relatively low cost. Furthermore, these programs are opportunities to establish cross-campus partnerships and collaborations, and collaboration seems to be effective at helping to reduce barriers and increase impact. Further research is needed on similar programs at community colleges and at higher education institutions internationally.

scholarly journals High Costs of Dialysis Transportation in the United States: Exploring Approaches to a More Cost-effective Delivery System

10.36469/9861 ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mark Stephens ◽  
Samuel Brotherton ◽  
Stephan C. Dunning ◽  
Larry C. Emerson ◽  
David T. Gilbertson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
Dialysis Facility ◽  
Effective Delivery ◽  
Stage Renal Disease ◽  
End Stage

Background: The costs of transporting end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients to dialysis centers are high and growing rapidly. Research has suggested that substantial cost savings could be achieved if medically appropriate transport was made available and covered by Medicare. Objectives: To estimate US dialysis transportation costs from a purchaser’s perspective, and to estimate cost savings that could be achieved if less expensive means of transport were utilized. Methods: Costs were estimated using an actuarial model. Travel distance estimates were calculated using GIS software from patient ZIP codes and dialysis facility addresses. Cost and utilization estimates were derived from fee schedules, government reports, transportation websites and peer-reviewed literature. Results: The estimated annual cost of dialysis transportation in the United States is $3.0 billion, half of which is for ambulances. Most other costs are due to transport via ambulettes, wheelchair vans and taxis. Approximately 5% of costs incurred are for private vehicle or public transportation use. If ambulance use dropped to 1% of trips from the current 5%, costs could be reduced by one-third. Conclusions: Decision-makers should consider policies to reduce ambulance use, while providing appropriate levels of care.

scholarly journals Sensitivity Analysis of Occupant Preferences on Energy Usage in Residential Buildings

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaleb Pattawi ◽  
Prateek Munankarmi ◽  
Michael Blonsky ◽  
Jeff Maguire ◽  
Sivasathya Pradha Balamurugan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Electrical Grid ◽  
Home Energy Management ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Residential buildings, accounting for 37% of the total electricity consumption in the United States, are suitable for demand response (DR) programs to support effective and economical operation of the power system. A home energy management system (HEMS) enables residential buildings to participate in such programs, but it is also important for HEMS to account for occupant preferences to ensure occupant satisfaction. For example, people who prefer a higher thermal comfort level are likely to consume more energy. In this study, we used foresee™, a HEMS developed by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), to perform a sensitivity analysis of occupant preferences with the following objectives: minimize utility cost, minimize carbon footprint, and maximize thermal comfort. To incorporate the preferences into the HEMS, the SMARTER method was used to derive a set of weighting factors for each objective. We performed week-long building energy simulations using a model of a home in Fort Collins, Colorado, where there is mandatory time-of-use electricity rate structure. The foresee™ HEMS was used to control the home with six different sets of occupant preferences. The study shows that occupant preferences can have a significant impact on energy consumption and is important to consider when modeling residential buildings. Results show that the HEMS could achieve energy reduction ranging from 3% to 21%, cost savings ranging from 5% to 24%, and carbon emission reduction ranging from 3% to 21%, while also maintaining a low thermal discomfort level ranging from 0.78 K-hour to 6.47 K-hour in a one-week period during winter. These outcomes quantify the impact of varying occupant preferences and will be useful in controlling the electrical grid and developing HEMS solutions.

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