OBJETIVES: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of collapse of the health system created great difficulties. We will demonstrate that Intermediate Respiratory Care Units (IRCU) provide adequate management of patients with non-invasive respiratory support, which is particularly important in patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. METHODS: A prospective observational study of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU of a tertiary hospital. Sociodemographic data, comorbidities, pharmacological, respiratory support, laboratory and blood gas variables were collected. The overall cost of the unit was subsequently analyzed. RESULTS: 991 patients were admitted, 56 to the IRCU (of the 81 a critical care unit). Mean age was 65 years (SD 12.8), Barthel Index 75 (SD 8.3), Charlson 3.1 (SD 2.2), HTN 27%, COPD 89% and obesity 24%. Significant relationship (p <0.05) with higher mortality of the following: fever greater than or equal to 39oC [OR 5.6; 95% CI (1.2-2.7); p = 0.020], protocolized pharmacological treatment [OR 0.3; 95% CI (0.1-0.9); p = 0.023] and IOI [OR 3.7; 95% CI (1.1-12.3); p = 0.025]. NIMV showed less of a negative impact [OR 1.8; 95% CI (0.4-8.4); p = 0.423] than IOI. The total cost of the IRCUs amounted to €66,233. The cost per day of stay in the IRCU was €164 per patient. The total cost avoided was €214,865. CONCLUSION: The pandemic has highlighted the importance of IRCUs in facilitating the management of a high patient volume. The treatment carried out in IRCUs is effective and efficient, reducing both admissions to and stays in the ICU.

A mathematical model that incorporates human attacks on dogs is presented to explore the dynamics of rabies transmission. The model divided the infection rate into two categories: dog-to-dog transmission rates during the prodromal phase (βdP) and the furious phase (βdF). It has been determined that the model is well-posed and that all of the solutions are positive, as well as the feasibility and positivity of the model's solutions. Both the basic reproduction number (R0) and the effective reproductive number (Re) are computed, and it is demonstrated that the model has a unique disease-free equilibrium that is globally asymptotically stable whenever Re < 1. To identify the model's most sensitive parameters and the ones that intervention efforts should focus on, sensitivity analysis of the effective reproduction number is carried out. We can construct an optimal control system using the state equations, the adjoint equations, and the optimality condition that determines the controls by applying Pontryagin's Maximum/Minimum principle. To help decision-makers in allocating funds for rabies interventions, cost-effectiveness analyses are conducted. To determine the degree to which the intervention strategies are advantageous and cost-effective, this study performs a cost-effective analysis of one or all possible combinations of the optimal rabies control strategies (pre-exposed and post-exposed vaccination for both dog and human populations) for the four different transmission settings. After arranging the techniques to increase effectiveness (total infections prevented), a cost-effective analysis using the Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) was conducted. The result supports the function that the four intervention options are performing to either completely eradicate or significantly reduce rabies disease among the populations. The dynamical behavior of the system is studied through simulations using the ode45 numerical technique from MATLAB.

The osteoarthritis (OA), the main cause of disability, is a chronic condition that most frequently affects older adults. As the population ages, the cost of treatment is placing pressure on the healthcare budget. As a result, it is imperative to evaluate the medicines' cost-effectiveness and the influence they have on health resource allocation. Hence, our study aims to summarize the cost and outcome of utilizing glucosamine in OA treatment. Authentic databases like Medline, Cochrane, and Scopus were adopted for the identification process up until July 2023. Our primary inclusion criteria centered on the economic evaluation of Glucosamine in OA treatments with provided the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) at least. The Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES) instrument was applied to grade the quality of the studies. A total of 7 qualified studies were selected and discussed the cost-effectiveness of glucosamine with or without other formulations. All of them demonstrated that glucosamine was cost-effective. There was an in-creasement of QALY when incorporating Glucosamine into conventional care. Moreover, Crystalline Glucosamine Sulfate (pCGS) was more cost-effective than the Other Formulations of Glucosamine (OFG). In overall, utilizing pCGS was more beneficial than OFG in terms both of cost and quality of life.

Dealing with randomness is a crucial aspect that cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) tools need to address, but existing stochastic CEA tools have rarely examined risk and return from the perspective of global benefits. This paper proposes a stochastic CEA tool that supports medical decision-making from the perspective of global benefits of risk and return, the risk-adjusted incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). The tool has a traditional form of ICER but uses the risk-adjusted expected cost. Theoretically, we prove that the tool can provide marginal medical decisions that promote the risk-return level on global benefits within any intervention structure and can also serve as a discriminating condition for the optimal intervention structure. Numerical simulations within a framework of mean-variance support the conclusions in this paper.

Background: Trichomoniasis is the most common non-viral STI globally and yet is not a reportable disease. Trichomonas Vaginalis is an important source of reproductive morbidity and may increase risk of acquisition and transmission of HIV. WHO and CDC recommend various regimens of Nitro-Imidazoles for treatment. The common Nitro-Imidazoles used for Trichomoniasis are Metronidazole and Tinidazole, which vary in their cost, efficacy and side effect profile and it is relevant to study these factors, for better management of the patients. Objectives: This study aims to compare and study the efficacy, compliance of various treatment regimens, their outcomes and side-effects for Trichomoniasis, among STI clinic attendees in Trinidad. Methods: A clinical trial study was designed and after obtaining the informed consent a routine clinical examination was conducted and the swabs for Trichomoniasis tests were collected for diagnosis from the 692 participants. Out of 692 participants, Eighty two (82) patients with established diagnosis of Trichomonas infection were quasi-randomly treated using different regimens. Compliance to treatment, side effects and outcome were evaluated. Results: The prevalence of the Trichomoniasis in population attending our STI clinic is 11.9% and prevalence of HIV is 9%. Of the total 82 participants for the treatment, 80% were females; nearly 90% of the patients belonged to age group 15-45 years and over 60% were below 30 yrs. Among those diagnosed for Trichomonas vaginalis, 13.3% had associated HIV infection. The compliance with respect to single dose treatment was significantly better than the long duration oral regimen and has significant relation with side effects of the treatment. The outcome is generally better and comparable and shows no significant difference between different treatment regimens used in the study. Conclusions: Metronidazole and Tinidazole are commonly used drugs in various regimens. compliance is better with those treated with Tinidazole and Metronidazole stat, than with other groups. Outcome is comparable between these regimens, especially when combined with other important factors like abstinence and treatment of the partners. The treatment regimens mainly differ in the compliance and side effects profile, which suggests that to improve the compliance the drugs with less side effects, short course regimen would be a preferred choice.

Robotic surgery is a rapidly developing and evolving surgical technique. This literature review evaluates the advantages and disadvantages in the context of gallbladder disease comparing robotic Cholecystectomy to the well-established laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. Significant advantages are reduced operative blood loss, hospital stays and post operative pain, alongside increased patient satisfaction and improved visualization and precision compared to the laparoscopic approach. Disadvantages include lack of tactile feedback, significant cost attributed to equipment, training requirements and increased procedural time due to the set-up sequences. The implementation of robotic surgery also poses significant changes for the training of future surgeons. Whilst it can standardize training and increases opportunity for simulation, the concern is the loss of traditional skills. Currently the evidence base remains mixed however the use of robotics in the right setting, with suitably trained operatives and appropriate patients can enable improved outcomes for patients with gallbladder disease. There is a lot of scope for development including the implementation of tactile feedback to aid operative technique and artificial intelligence to aid patient safety. Likely broadening the use and potential benefit of robotic surgery not only for cholecystectomy but many surgical specialties.

The pollution of the bays in Abidjan is a major concern for the Ivorian policy makers. In fact, the pollution of the bays induce high costs to the society while impacting population health dramatically. As a result, pollution reduction management of production activities has been undertaken in the Cocody Bay area. To our knowledge, no study has yet proposed a model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these pollution management strategies. A cost-effectiveness model, based on Monte Carlo simulation, was developed to assess the economic and environmental impacts of various scenarios characterized by a set of production practices, both in the short term and in the long term. The authors discuss the steps and input parameters of the model presented. The proposed model may serve as the basis for identifying an optimal production scenario defined as the scenario with the best incremental cost-effectiveness ratio considering a willingness to pay (WTP) threshold. The WTP, to be estimated based on the gross domestic product of Côte d’Ivoire, represents the opportunity costs associated with selecting the optimal scenario. The current framework can also be applied to other settings facing similar challenge.

In order to evaluate the economy of superhighway, on the basis of the analysis of the cost of the ordinary expressway and high speed railway, the cost of superhighway is estimated. On this basis, the standard of the toll of superhighway at all levels is determined by reference to the standard of the construction cost and the toll collection standard of the ordinary expressway. According to the toll collection standard of superhighway and the fuel consumption cost of superhighway at all levels, the cost of single car and the single person cost of superhighway are calculated. Based on the analysis of highway passenger transport, railway passenger transport and civil aviation ticket price, the single person cost per kilometer of the above travel modes is calculated and compared with the single person travel cost per kilometer of superhighway. The results show that the single person cost of superhighway is between 0.29 and 0.47 yuan /km, which is 0.28 yuan /km higher than the highway bus, 0.18 yuan /km higher than the ordinary expressway self driving and 0.23 yuan /km higher than the express train, but 0.78 yuan/km lower than that of the first class seat of high-speed train, and is 0.92 yuan/km far lower than that of civil aviation flight economy class and 2.42 yuan/km lower than the business class. Therefore, the superhighway trip has certain advantages in economy.

Industrial effluents contain contaminants that pose threats to the environment and human health. Bioremediation is an environmentally friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective approach to degrade or transform pollutants using microbial enzymes. Laccase is a versatile enzyme that oxidizes a wide range of substrates, such as dyes, phenolic compounds, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with the consumption of molecular oxygen. Laccase can also remove heavy metals by forming complexes with organic ligands or reducing them to fewer toxic forms. However, the application of laccase in bioremediation is limited by its low production, stability, and specificity. Recombinant technology has been employed to enhance the expression, activity, and stability of laccase in various bacterial hosts. Immobilization techniques have been developed to improve the reusability and stability of laccase in different environmental conditions. This review summarizes the recent developments in the production optimization of recombinant laccase enzymes and their role in the bioremediation of industrial effluents. It also discusses the challenges of laccase-based biocatalytic systems for environmental cleanup.

Medical tests' cost-effectiveness analysis reveals a strong correlation between their accuracy and analysis results. Theoretically, we provide two lower bounds that medical tests' accuracy must exceed to be considered cost-effective. Theoretically, we provide two lower bounds that the accuracy of medical tests meeting cost-effectiveness must exceed. First, medical tests' accuracy should surpass the lower bound of matching requirements for each patient to receive the most appropriate intervention based on their test results. Second, the overall lower limit should be exceeded for the medical testing to be cost-effective for the patients as a whole. Furthermore, the conclusions from this model also provide an economic explanation for the under-diagnosis of rare diseases and the challenges faced in implementing precision medicine for minority patients. A numerical simulation example validates the conclusions of this paper.

Aims: The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of the CardioMEMS HF system in a HF Clinic in Spain by evaluating the real-time remote monitoring of pulmonary artery pressures, which has shown to reduce heart failure (HF) related hospitalizations and improve the quality of life for selected HF patients. Particularly, the study aimed to determine the value of CardioMEMS in Southern Europe, where healthcare costs are significantly lower and its effectiveness remains uncertain. Methods: This single-centre study enrolled all consecutive HF patients who had been implanted with a pulmonary artery pressure sensor (CardioMEMS-HF system, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA). The number of HF hospitalizations in the year before and the year after the sensor implantation was compared and quality-adjusted life years (QALY) gained based on a literature review of previous studies was calculated. Results: The rate of HF hospitalisations was significantly lower at 1 year compared with the year before CardioMEMS implantation (0.25 versus 1.10 events/patient-years, HR 0.22, p=0.001). At the end of first year, the usual management outperformed the CardioMEMS HF system, resulting in a net monetary value difference of 2,540€ per patient and a benefit-cost ratio of 0.38. However, by the end of the second year, the CardioMEMS system is estimated to reduce costs compared to usual management. Conclusions: Based on the results, we suggest that remote monitoring of pulmonary artery pressure with the CardioMEMS HF system represents a long-term cost-effective strategy in a healthcare setting in Southern Europe.

This economic evaluation aims to support policy-making on the combined use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with HIV vaccines by evaluating the potential cost-effectiveness of implementation that would support the design of clinical trials for assessment of combined product safety and efficacy. The target study population is a cohort of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. Policy strategies considered include standard HIV prevention, daily oral PrEP, HIV vaccine, and their combination. We constructed a Markov model based on clinical trial data and published literature. We used a payer perspective, monthly cycle length, a lifetime horizon, and a 3% discount rate. We assumed a price of $500 per HIV vaccine series in the base case. HIV vaccines dominated standard care and PrEP. At current prices,PrEP was not cost-effective alone or in combination. A combination strategy had the greatest health benefit but was not cost-effective (ICER=$463,448/QALY) as compared to vaccination alone. Sensitivity analyses suggest a combination may be valuable for higher-risk men with good adherence. Vaccine durability and PrEP drug prices were key drivers of cost-effectiveness. Results suggest that boosting potential may be key to HIV vaccine value.

This paper analyzes the mitigation of enteric methane (CH4) emissions from ruminants with the use of feed additives inhibiting of rumen methanogenesis to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 °C. A mathematical simulation conducted herein predicted that pronounced inhibition of rumen methanogenesis with pure chemicals or bromoform-containing algae can contribute to limit global temperature increase by 2050 to 1.5 °C only if widely adopted at a global level and considering an efficacy higher than obtained in most studies. Currently, the most important limitations to the adoption of antimethanogenic feed additives are probably increased feeding cost without a consistent return in production efficiency, and achieving sustained delivery of inhibitors to the rumens of non-supplemented, extensively ranging animals. Economic incentives, and changes in rumen microbial metabolism caused by inhibiting methanogenesis, could potentially be used to make the methanogenesis inhibition intervention cost effective. Also, the composition of the methanogenic community, and rate of disappearance of inhibitors of methanogenesis in the rumen can influence the effective dose of the inhibitors, and hence the cost of their adoption. Possible means for sustained delivery of antimethanogenic compounds to extensively grazing animals are discussed. Limitations and knowledge gaps of these approaches, and future research directions, are examined.

Phenacoccus manihoti (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is an invasive pest that is very detrimental to cassava cultivation in Indonesia. Control efforts by utilizing natural enemies of the parasitoid have succeeded in overcoming the cassava mealybug in 25 countries such as in Africa and Thailand. The purpose of this study was to specifically evaluate the potential for parasitoid species associated with the mealybug P. manihoti by (1) determining the level of parasitization against mealybugs on various varieties of cassava, (2) determining parasitoid preference for P. manihoti instars, and (3) determining the type of parasitoid. This study was undertaken in the field to re-evaluate the kinds of parasitoids associated with cassava pests, and in the laboratory to assess the amount of parasitization, predilection, and functional response of parasitoids to P. manihoti population density. The findings revealed three of parasitoids linked with P. manihoti in the field: Anagyrus lopezi, Acerophagus sp., and Blepyrus sp. The parasitoid A. lopezi had the greatest parasitization rate in the field, which was 18.67 %. Furthermore, the parasitoids A. lopezi and Blepyrus sp. preferred 3rd instar nymphs, but Acerophagus sp. preferred 2nd instar nymphs. The parasitoid A. lopezi demonstrated a type-III functional response, while Acerophagus sp. and Blepyrus sp. demonstrated a type-II functional response. The handling capacity (Th) of A. lopezi is the shortest at 3.42 minutes. This work is a comprehensive study of the parasitoid A. lopezi's potential as a biological agent, highlighting how it effectively suppresses P. manihoti on various cassava varieties in Bali, providing an inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and applicable control in tropical countries.

Methods to handle uncertainty in economic evaluation have gained much attention in the literature and the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve (CEAC) is the most widely used method to summarize and present uncertainty associated with program costs and effects in cost-effectiveness analysis. Some researchers have emphasized the limitations of the CEAC for informing decision and policy makers as the CEAC is insensitive to radial shifts of the joint distribution of incremental costs and effects in the North-East and South-West quadrants of the cost-effective plane (CEP). Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the CEAC does not incorporate risk-aversion in valuing uncertain costs and effects. In the present article we show that the cost-effectiveness affordability curve (CEAFC) captures both dimensions of the joint distribution of incremental costs and effects on the CEP and is therefore sensitive to radial shifts of the joint distribution on the CEP. Furthermore, the CEAFC also informs about the budget impact of a new intervention as it estimates the joint probability an intervention is both affordable and cost-effective. Moreover, we show that the cost-effectiveness risk-aversion curve (CERAC) allows to incorporate risk-aversion into the analysis and can therefore be used to inform decision-makers who are risk-averse. We use data from a published cost-effectiveness model of palbociclib in addition to letrozole versus letrozole alone for the treatment of oestrogen-receptor positive, HER-2 negative, advanced breast cancer to demonstrate the differences between CEAC, CEAFC and CERAC and show how these can jointly be used to inform decision and policy makers.

Late pear cultivars, such as ‘Conference’, can be stored for a long period, with their storability depending on storage conditions. A three-year study (2011-2013) compared the impact of half-year storage using four technologies – normal atmosphere, normal atmosphere + 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), controlled atmosphere, controlled atmosphere + 1-MCP – on the quality parameters of ‘Conference’ pears, such as mass loss, firmness, total soluble solids, acidity, antioxidant capacity, and the incidence of diseases and disorders. Additionally, the study analysed different storage conditions in terms of profitability, based on the market prices for pears in the seasons during which the pears were stored. The storage conditions had a very strong influence on the fruit quality parameters, and was found to affect most visibly the mass loss and the incidence of postharvest diseases and disorders. The storage of ‘Conference’ pears for 180 days in normal atmosphere is not economically viable, even if the fruit is subjected to 1-MCP treatment.

Background: The phase III KEYNOTE-604 study confirmed the benefit of pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer(ES-SCLC). Intergrated the clinical benefits of pembrolizumab and its high cost into account, this study aim to assess the cost-effectiveness of adding pembrolizumab to standard first-line etoposide-platinum (EP) for patients with ES-SCLC from the the US payer perspective. Methods: A Markov model was developed to compared the costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of pembrolizumab plus EP and placebo plus EP over a 10-year time horizon. Clinical efficacy, treatment utilization and safety data were pooled from the KEYNOTE-604 trial. Utilities were obtained from published resources. Costs were mainly collected from Medicare in 2020. Sensitivity analyses were performed to examined the robustness of our model. Results: Adding pembrolizumab to standard first-line EP, resulted in better effectiveness than the use of EP alone for ES-SCLC by 0.22 QALYs. Pembrolizumab plus EP was dominated economically by placebo plus EP, leading to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio(ICER) of $334,373/ QALY. Deterministic sensitivity analyses indicated that the uncertainty in model parameters exerts no substantial effect on our results. Probability sensitivity analysis indicated that probabilities for pembrolizumab plus EP being cost-effective within a wide rang of willingness to pay were modest. Conclusion: From the US payer perspective, the first-line treatment for ES-SCLC with pembrolizumab plus EP was not cost-effective compare with placebo plus EP. Although pembrolizumab combination chemotherapy was beneficial to the survival of ES-SCLC, price reduction may be the necessary measure to improve its cost-effectiveness.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the degeneration of cartilage in joints that results in bones rubbing against each other, it causes uncomfortable symptoms such as pain, swelling, stiffness, and can lead to disability. It usually occurs in the elderly and causes a large medical burden. The aim of this study is to evaluate cost-effectiveness between the standard treatment for osteoarthritis and the standard treatment with added crystalline glucosamine sulfate at various stages. The Markov analysis modelling was applied to evaluate the effect of both adding glucosamine compared to standard treatment from a societal perspective during whole patients’ lifetimes. Data input was collected by review in previous studies. The outcome was measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) from a societal perspective was ap-plied with 3%-discounted for all cost and outcome. One-way analysis via Tornado diagram was performed to investigate the change of factors in model. In general, the adding glucosamine into the standard treatment proved to be more cost-effectiveness compared to the standard treatment. Particularly, early stage adding glucosamine in the treatment was cost-effectiveness then post-stage adding glucosamine. The addition of supplementing crystalline glucosamine sulfate to whole regimen at any stage was cost-effectiveness at willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold

This research examines the fire resistance of geopolymer composites (GCs), formulated using alka-li-activated metakaolin and aluminum powder. The production method involves spray-coating carbon steel plates with fresh GCs, followed by a 28-day curing period at room temperature. Sub-sequently, fire performance and aging tests are conducted to evaluate fire resistance. The study investigates GC properties, including apparent density, bending strength, compression strength, thermal conductivity, porosity, and production cost. Morphological changes before and after fire and aging tests are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results demonstrate GC foams' outstanding thermal insulation, providing up to 75 minutes of fire resistance with a 6 mm coating, reducing temperatures by 300 °C compared to uncoated steel. GCs exhibit a density of 670 kg/m³, thermal conductivity of 0.166 W/m·K, 68% porosity, and cost efficiency at 250 dollars per cubic meter. This study underscores the potential of foamed geopolymer coatings for effective and economical surface protection.

Already more than 140 countries consider or have pledged to reach net-zero emission targets by 2050 or earlier and the share of global emissions falling into an emission pricing scheme has steeply increased over the past three years. Even where there are no direct implications for industry (yet), there is a series of subtle pressure points driving an increasing number of companies across the globe to work towards climate neutrality and pledging ambitious emission reduction goals. This article sheds light on the pressure points, the subtle triggers, the underlying considerations as well as the hoped-for benefits for industrial companies from achieving net-zero emissions. The observations and ideas presented in this paper are derived from quantitative data obtained via the Energy Efficiency Index of German Industry (EEI) and qualitative data. Not only societal, work force, supply chain and investor expectations play a large role, but also many strategic considerations which have the potential to make the company more resilient and profitable, particularly in time of crisis. Those companies that do not move towards decarbonisation, on the other hand, may face a costly late-mover disadvantage. This piece uncovers subtle interconnections, helping stakeholders from industry and beyond to grasp opportunities and challenges ahead.

This study addresses the pressing energy constraints in nations like Bangladesh by proposing the implementation of photovoltaic (PV) microgrids. Given concerns about environmental degrada-tion, limited fossil fuel reserves, and volatile product costs, renewable energy sources are gaining momentum globally. Our research focuses on a grid-connected solar PV system model at Char Jazira, Lalpur, Natore, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Through PVsyst simulation software, we assess the performance ratio (PR) and system losses, revealing an annual solar energy potential of 3375 MWh at Standard Test Condition (STC) efficiency. After considering losses, the system generates 2815 MWh annually, with 2774 MWh exported to the grid. We analyze an average PR of 78.63% and calculate a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of 2.82 BDT/kWh [1 USD = 110 BDT]. The financial assessment indicates a cost-effective LCOE for the grid-connected PV system, with an annual gross income of 27744 BDT from selling energy to the grid and operating costs of 64060.60 BDT/year. Remarkably, this initiative can prevent 33074.061 tCO2 emissions over the project’s 25-year lifespan.

Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia, which has its own problems in building transportation facilities, especially on land routes. For private vehicle users, congestion is a common thing, given the very dense number of people living in Jakarta, both natives and migrants from outside the region. And for users of public transportation services such as city transportation (angkot) and transjakarta, convenience is the main obstacle. And even though it is a public vehicle, it cannot avoid congestion because it is in one lane with private vehicles except for the transjakarta bus which has its own lane. Meanwhile, for train-based public transportation such as MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), LRT (Light rail Transit), and electric railroad (KRL), the problem is the lack of integration, namely that many stations are not yet integrated with other transportation. Various policies have been implemented to overcome these problems. This study aims to determine the level of effectiveness and efficiency of public transportation in DKI Jakarta today. The method used in this research is qualitative-descriptive through a literature review on 16 journal articles and 4 websites. The results of this study indicate that congestion is a major problem in the means of transportation in Jakarta. This is due to the increase in population due to urbanization which is also accompanied by an increase in the number of private vehicles. Therefore, to overcome this, the Jakarta Provincial Government has made improvements, reforms, and developments in public transportation. And it is hoped that people who originally used private vehicles will switch to using public transportation. But in reality, various problems in public transportation in Jakarta have not been resolved properly. Especially why traffic jams still occur?, and what are the solutions to overcome them?. It is hoped that the results of the findings of this study can be used as a reference in making or designing policies and can contribute to overcoming problems in the transportation sector, especially in the DKI Jakarta area. The limit of this research is that it only focuses on land transportation facilities in Jakarta.

The efficiencies of conventional triple organic Rankine cycle (TORC) configurations are restricted by the low critical temperatures of common working fluids (＜320 °C). This paper proposes a high-temperature TORC system. A near-azeotropic mixture biphenyl/diphenyl oxide (BDO), which has stellar track record in the high-temperature ORC applications, is innovatively adopted as the top and middle ORC fluid simultaneously. The top cycle evaporation temperature is up to 400 °C in view of BDO’s high stability. Five conventional organic fluids are chosen for the bottom ORC. Fundamentals of the TORC system are illustrated, and mathematical models are built. Thermo-economic performance is investigated. The results hint that the optimal thermodynamic property is achieved on the use of benzene as the bottom fluid. The maximum thermal and exergy efficiencies are respectively 40.86% and 74.14%. The largest irreversible loss occurs inside the heat exchanger coupling the middle and bottom ORCs, accounting for above 30% of the total entropy generation. The levelized energy cost (LEC) is 0.0284 $/kWh. Given the same heat source condition, the TORC system can boost efficiency by 1.02% and drive down LEC by 0.0024 $/kWh compared with a BDO mixture-based cascade ORC.

This study aims to develop a performance evaluation system that can facilitate performance evaluation at region, hospital, and department levels to enable better cost management for sustainable development. A multi-level system of performance evaluation informs a hierarchical assessment of cost management from regions to hospitals to departments using diagnosis-related group (DRGs). Various metrics are developed employing the variances between targets and actuals where targets are determined from two perspectives: benchmarking using external regional prices and change management using internal data. Targets for the latter are statistically based and specifically incorporate variability. The model is applied to two hospitals, twenty departments, nine DRGs and 1071 inpatients. The analyses indicate that the approach can provide a practical evaluation tool that allows for particular characteristics at multiple levels. The system provides macro-micro and external-internal perspectives in performance, enabling high-level variances to be decomposed thereby identifying sources of performance variability and financial impact.

Celiac disease (CD) is a genetically conditioned autoimmune process that appears in susceptible people. It can affect people of any age, and slightly predominates in females. It has a fairly homogenous global distribution, with an average prevalence of 1-2%, the frequency having increased in recent decades. The only effective treatment is a strict and permanent gluten-free diet (GFD), although the level of compliance with it is poor, at about 50% of cases. To monitor the effectiveness of the GFD, several procedures involving various approaches are employed: a) periodic interviews by nutritionists; b) clinical follow-up; c) serological controls of specific antibodies; d) endoscopies with collection of duodenal biopsies; e) structured questionnaires; f) determination of gluten peptides derived from gluten in feces and/or urine. All of these procedures are useful when applied, alone or in combination, depending on the cases. Some patients will only need to consult to their doctors, while others will require a multidisciplinary approach to assess their compliance with the GFD. In children, normalization of duodenal mucosa was achieved in 95% of cases within 2 years, while it is more delayed in adults, whose mucosa take longer to heal completely.

The decline in assisted reproductive technology (ART) success among older women, attributed to decreased oocyte quantity and quality, poses a significant challenge. Currently, no consensus ex-ists on the optimal ovarian stimulation protocol for older women undergoing IVF. This retrospec-tive registered cohort study aimed to compare cumulative live birth rates (CLBR), time to live birth (TTLB), and cost-effectiveness in women over 35 years using gonadotropin-releasing hor-mone agonist (GnRHa) or clomiphene-primed ovarian stimulation (CPOS). We performed pro-pensity score matching (PSM) on 2,871 IVF cycles in women over 35 who received either GnRHa or CPOS protocols, resulting in 375 cycles in each group to compare treatment outcomes. Addition-ally, a decision tree model was utilized to assess the cost-effectiveness of the two protocols. Fol-lowing PSM, both groups showed similar baseline characteristics. The CPOS protocol exhibited a higher cycle cancellation rate (13.07% vs 8.00%, p=0.032), yet maintained comparable fertilization and embryo quality. While CLBRs per initial cycle (41.07% vs. 45.33%, p=0.269) and delivery out-comes were similar between the groups after a 24-month follow-up, TTLB was longer in the CPOS group. Notably, the average cost per live birth in the CPOS group was 21.27% less than that in the GnRHa group (￥32,301.42 vs ￥39,174.22). In conclusion, for women over 35 undergoing IVF, the CPOS protocol demonstrated similar CLBR to GnRHa but with lower costs, suggesting its potential as a viable and cost-efficient ovarian stimulation option.

This article presents a novel sustainable business management technique, emphasizing description and estimation over the outdated profit metric. Due to the intricacies and challenges of implementing the 2019 capital management method based on capital valuation (implemented in 2020–2022), a simpler approach became essential. While it is plausible for organizations to implement capital management based on their valuation, undertaking it with no outside help presents a challenge. The new descriptive method is fundamentally distinct in that detailed monetary valuations of capitals are omitted in favor of description and estimation. This paper establishes the groundwork for applying the new approach in several stages and introduces three new management indicators—the overall accomplishment of management goals index (evaluating management efficacy), the capital level index, and the adjustment (compliance) index—replacing the profit metric. Noteworthy advantages include separating the assessment of management outcomes from the organization's condition, including human and social capital into efficiency evaluations, and removing the profit indicator for management purposes, which prevents resource waste and enhances company efficiency and effectiveness.

Most people living in Europe's cities are still exposed to levels of air pollution deemed harmful by the World Health Organization. In the modern world, air pollution is the foremost concern because of its impact in human health and economy. This strong connection appears gaining a lot of concern, driven by new installed low-cost electrochemical sensors monitoring systems. Highly accuracy, real-time monitoring, daily and yearly statistics, data access from experts or simple users, low-cost equipment and forecasting needs, enforce the market to develop new air quality monitoring systems using advanced technologies and protocols. In this study, a comparison via low-cost electrochemical sensors and of static, fixed site measurement monitoring station, is taking place in Athens, Greece, along with the data quality and Air Quality Index (AQI) including data accuracy and quality of data concerning adverse health effects due to air pollution. The findings presented in this work, relate to different flexible and affordable alternatives adopted during the evaluation and calibration of low-cost gas sensors for the monitoring. The significance of the positive results is particularly useful, especially considering the founding for interference, environmental conditions affections and air quality information including indexes and health recommendations for a specific location.

Background: Significant national and global costs were incurred from recent emerging infectious disease outbreaks, notably H1N1 highly pathogenic influenza, Zika and Severe Acute Respiratory Disease (SARS), both in the medical sphere and within the socioeconomic context around it. With forecasts expecting an increase in direct and indirect burden of novel infectious disease events, costs of future outbreak events are likely to be exacerbated. In this scope, it is critical for countries to identify this trend and work towards minimizing costs while continuing to improve prevention, treatment and mitigation. Objectives: The impacts of the West Africa Ebola crisis have largely focused on the response to the outbreak abroad. The aim of this paper was to determine the direct and indirect domestic costs of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) introduction into the United States (U.S.), compare the economic consequences of the epidemic with other disease outbreaks and identify the primary drivers of such costs to leverage more global health preparation to prevent, prepare for, and respond to disease threats more effectively. Methods: I conducted a literature review of 1) EVD cases documented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), 2) scientific articles identifying the costs of Ebola for the U.S. and countries around the world and 3) grey literature on treatments and public reactions. Extrapolating data from these sources, I then performed a cost-analysis of direct costs (preparation, treatment and contact tracing) and indirect costs (loss of productivity owing to disease, death, and risk avoidance behaviors) of the disease. Findings: The country spent between $300-$700 million in direct costs. Additionally, roughly $200-$340 million were forgone as results of loss of productivity from to disease, death or social risk avoidance behaviors. The cost-per-case for the United States was vastly higher than for any other country. Conclusions: High direct costs suggest that either the United States took disproportionate preparative measures to mitigate a potential American outbreak or were unprepared for a potential outbreak of this magnitude. The significant risk avoidance behavior estimates hint that forces having the ability to shape social attitudes and norms – namely traditional and online media – played a significant role in driving social behavior towards fear of exposure to others. The findings reinforce that outbreaks occurring in a single part of the world can have dramatic economic effects globally, even in areas with existing public health capacity and other preventive measures, highlighting the need for change in global health systems to shift from a passive responder and incorporate other societal actors to effectively reduce the ever-increasing costs of disease threats.

Context: As software industries, adopted different frameworks where Scrum is play a vital role in different software industries. Scrum basis the three main stakeholders i.e. Product Owner, Scrum Master and Development. Where Scrum Master is a very crucial role for any agile project. However, in the past Scrum Master Faces different challenges, which discovered in several studies. However, we need to measure the effectiveness of the Scrum master in Agile Projects, how presently Scrum Master are performing in Pakistani software industries. Objective: The main objective of this research to identify the effectiveness of the Scrum Master in agile projects in Pakistani software industries. Method: Research Method (Qualitative Research) For this purpose, we gathered the facts from Pakistani software industries by using the qualitative method. We conducted a survey from different software industries; almost 12 participants responded the survey as per their best knowledge as well as they agreed for face- to-face interviews. Results: The results indicated that, mostly organization compliance with the Scrum ceremonies. In addition, 65% Scrum Masters has a great effectiveness in any agile project. 21% of Scrum Master generates negative impact in agile project. Conclusion: The main highlights of this research, we have presented the compliance of the Scrum in different software organization. Further, we explore the both positive and negative impact of the Scrum master in Pakistani software organizations.

Self-efficacy and perfectionism play an important role in high-performance activities. This cross-sectional study analyses the relationship between these constructs and resilience in a sample of 145 music students (57.9% female) with a mean age of 27.77 years. Perfectionism was assessed using the Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport, resilience using the Resilience Scale, and self-efficacy using the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Compared to those with low resilience, students with high resilience score higher on self-efficacy and lower on dysfunctional perfectionism. No differences were observed in the total perfectionism score or adaptive perfectionism. Self-efficacy shows significant predictive power for resilience (β = .525, p &lt; .001). Although functional perfectionism did not significantly predict resilience, a marginal negative relationship was found between dysfunctional perfectionism and resilience (β = - .156, p = .063). The results are discussed concerning their implications for music pedagogy and teacher intervention.

Knee osteoarthritis is the most popular type of osteoarthritis that causes extreme pain in elderly. Currently there is no cure for osteoarthritis. To lessen clinical symptoms, glucosamine was suggested. The primary goal of our study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of glucosamine from recent studies. Electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane were used to assess RCT. From the beginning through March 2023, the papers were checked, and if they fulfilled the inclusion criteria, they were then examined. WOMAC and VAS scales were considered as main outcome measure. A total of 15 studies were selected. Global pain was significantly decreased in comparison to placebo, as measured by the VAS index, with an overall effect size SMD of -7.41 ([95% CI] 14.31, 0.51). The WOMAC scale confirmed that pain, stiffness, and physical function had improved, however the effects were insufficient. A statistical update also revealed that there were no reports of serious medication interactions or significant adverse events. To summarize, glucosamine is more effective than a placebo at reducing pain in knee osteoarthritis patients. In long-term treatment, oral glucosamine sulfate 1500 mg/day is believed to be well tolerated.

The study examined the effectiveness of developed instructional module on the enhancement of learners’ academic achievements specifically this current situation of COVID-19 pandemic under distance learning delivery modalities. This instructional module in Physics was personally developed by the researcher and intended to used in teaching-learning process in Senior High School under the Department of Education. The participants of the study are the grade 12 SHS students at Aliaga National High School into two groups –the controlled and experimental. The parameters are the content knowledge, alignment to learning competencies, learning tasks, assessment method, design course, friendliness and timeliness. To examine the effectiveness, the experimental research designed was employed. The following findings were made: the mean pre-test scores of two groups had 5.40 and 5.33 which means almost the same while the post-test mean scores of controlled group had 14.40 and experimental group had 17.80 which means the mean scores of experimental group were higher than the mean scores of the controlled groups. The pretest of two groups of participants had value of 14.976 with significant value of .000 and found out “not significant” while the post-test had value of 14.976 with significant value of .000 and interpreted as “significant” therefore the developed instructional module in Physics found “effective” and had impact to students’ academic performance. On the assessment made on the effectiveness of developed instructional module in Physics the overall weighted mean got 3.77 with an interpretation of “Very Satisfactory”. Continuous development and enhance of instructional module is recommended.

Supplier selection/replacement strategies and optimized purchasing policies play a key role in efficient supply chain management in today’s dynamic market. Here we study supplier replacement in a one-level assembly system (OLAS) producing one type of finished product. To assemble the product, we need to provide multi-type components, but assembly will be interrupted if any single component is missing, and incoming units will get hoarded until the missing component arrives. The assembly process can be interrupted by various sources of uncertainty, including delays in component deliveries. There is consequently a non-negligible risk that the assembly process may get stopped any moment. This brings inventory-related costs, which should be minimized. Here we consider discrete lead-time distributions to mimic industry-world reality. We present a model that takes into account not only optimal assignment of component order release dates but also replacement of a critical supplier. For a given unit, we model several alternative suppliers with alternative pricing and lead-time uncertainties, and we evaluate the impact on the total assembly system. For a more general case where several suppliers may be replaced, we propose a genetic algorithm.

In Malaysia, as in many parts of the world, vocational education and training (VET) is frequently perceived as the solution to improving the opportunities of youths who lack the resources, skills or motivation to continue with higher education. The focus of the study falls on the effectiveness of the apprenticeship scheme during the 10^th Malaysia Plan. This study may provide an opportunity to find out how the related parties react towards the apprenticeship scheme. This is important, as feedbacks are central to the success or failure of any scheme. It is expected that the relevant government bodies, private sectors, trainers and trainees will have a valuable insight on the progress this far and what need to be done in the future based on the outcome of the research. This study follows snowballing sampling method and gathers the information from apprentices from variety of industrial sectors. The findings indicate effectiveness at some types of training but lacks comprehensiveness and efficient use of resources and future direction, especially during the 10^th Malaysia plan period from 2011 to 2016. This exploratory research is a first chapter of the deeper study in this niche.

This paper is focused on the analysis of methods used to assess effectiveness and efficiency of the occupational safety and health management system (OSHMS) in a company. It reviews current Russian and international occupational safety and health standards. The paper details the method outlined in International Standard GOST 12.0.230.3-2016 “Occupational safety standards system. Management systems for occupational safety. Evaluation of effectiveness and efficiency” based on the data collected during the external audit of OSHMS function efficiency in a Russian mining company. Effectiveness and efficiency indicators were determined, and a generalized desirability coefficient was calculated. Weaknesses of the method proposed in GOST 12.0.230.3-2016 were identified and mathematical and linguistic solutions were proposed to improve it. Harrington function was used to determine a numerical and linguistic score. The performed calculation demonstrated that the company needed strategic management decisions to improve the current situation. Practical approaches were offered to enhance the company's systems-based occupational safety and health performance..

Air quality and environmental fairness have always been an area of prime interest across the globe. The significance low-cost air quality sensing and practices spikes during the time of pan-demic and epidemics when the air becomes a threat to living beings especially human beings. The gradual innovation and enrichment in low-cost air quality sensing sensors, nodes or devices, and systems are exponentially increasing for the last three decades. This work reviews the major contributions in a) low-cost scalable air quality assessment; b) low-cost air quality sensors, sensing approaches and technologies; c) low-cost state-of-the-art gas sensors fabrication methods (MEMS and CMOS); d) low-cost gas sensors measurement configurations and assemblies; and e) low-cost air quality sensors calibration and testing systems. A systematic review of past work with a goal to assist end-users, public health facilities, state agencies, researchers, scientists and air quality protection agencies has been rendered in this work. Starting from sensors electrodes to IoT based mobile smart nodes; all have been introduced in this article.

The aim of this study was to measure one-year total cost of stroke and to investigate the value of stroke care, defined as cost per QALY. The study population included 892 patients with first ever acute stroke, hemorrhagic and ischemic, (ICD-10 codes: I61, I63 and I64) admitted within 48 hours of symptoms onset to nine public hospitals located in six cities. We conducted a bottom-up cost analysis from the societal point of view. All cost components including direct medical costs, productivity losses due to morbidity and mortality and informal care costs were considered. We used an annual time horizon, including all costs for 2021 irrespective of the time of disease onset. The average cost (direct and indirect) was extrapolated in order to estimate the national annual burden associated with stroke. We estimated the total cost of stroke in Greece at €343.1 mil a year in 2021, (€10,722/patient or €23,308 per QALY). Out of €343.1 mil., 53.3% (€182.9 mil) consisted direct healthcare cost representing 1.1% of current health expenditure in 2021. Overall, productivity losses were calculated at €160.2 mil. The mean productivity losses were estimated to 116 work days with 55.1 days lost due to premature retirement and absenteeism from work, 18.5 days lost due to mortality and 42.4 days lost due to informal caregiving by family members.This study highlights the burden of stroke and underlines the need for stakeholders and policy makers to re-organize stroke care and promote interventions that have been proved as cost-effective

For the majority of the contractual arrangements used in construction projects, the owner is not responsible for the cost deviations due to the variability of labor productivity or material price, amongst many other aspects. Consequently, the cost performance of a project may be entirely distinct for the owner and the contractor. Since the majority of the quantitative research on cost estimation and deviation found in the literature adopts the owners’ perspective, this research provides a contribution towards modelling costs and cost deviation from a contractors’ perspective. From an initial sample of 13 residential building and 10 office building projects, it was possible to develop models for cost estimation at the early stage of development including both endogenous and exogenous variables. Although the sample is relatively small, the authors were able to fully analyze all the cost data, using no secondary sources of data (very frequent in cost modelling studies). The statistically significant variables in the cost estimation models were the areas above and below ground and the years following the 2008 financial crisis, including the international bailout (2011-2014) period. For estimating the unit cost, a nonlinear model was obtained with the number of underground and total floor, the floor ratio and the years following the 2008 financial crisis, including the international bailout (2011-2014) period as predictors. For the office buildings, it was also found a statistically significant correlation between the cost deviation and the number of underground floors.

BackgroundAdvanced radiological stage of knee osteoarthritis (OA) and obesity are predictive of poorer and shorter response to viscosupplementation, but very few is known regarding the impact of other factors such as sport practice, comorbidities or anatomical features of OA. ObjectivesTo investigate the patient’s and OA characteristics associated with the duration of effectiveness (DE) of viscosupplementation in patients with knee OA.MethodsCross-sectional single center trial in patients with knee OA treated with intra-articular (IA) hyaluronic acid (HA) injection(s) within the previous 3 years. The investigator collected demographic and radiographic data (Kellgren grade, involved knee compartments), dosing regimen (single or repeat injections), presence and volume of joint effusion, previous or concomitant IA corticosteroid injection, number of previous viscosupplémentations and the comorbidities. The patient completed a questionnaire including the self-assessment of DE (number of weeks during which viscosupplementation was effective on symptoms), the activity level (sedentary, active, athletic), the level of sport activity (light, moderate or intensive). Predictors of DE were studied in univariate and multivariate analyses ResultsOne hundred five patients (149 knees) were analyzed (62% women, mean age 66.1 ± 13.2 years, mean BMI 27.5 ± 7.5 kg/m²). The mean DE was 48.2 + 24.8 weeks. In a bivariate analysis, the predictors of a shorter with DE were BMI >27.5kg/m2, more than 3 previous viscosupplémentations, Kellgren grade 4, sedentary patients, and more than 1 affected compartment. In the multivariate analysis, 4 independent factors remained associated with a shorter DE: BMI >27.5 kg/m2, knee multi-compartment damage, number of viscosupplements >3, sedentary lifestyle. A statistically significant association between a longer DE and treated arterial hypertension was found suggesting a beneficial effect of certain antihypertensive drugs. ConclusionThe study confirms the harmful influence of an increased BMI, It also shows that viscosupplementation is more effective in unicompartmental OA. Other points worth highlighting are the reduction in the duration of efficacy with repeated cycles of injections and the benefit of a regular physical activity.

Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) have suffered considerable morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few data on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) are available from middle-income countries in Europe. We evaluated primary series COVID-19 VE against laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among HCWs in Georgia. Methods HCWs in six hospitals in Georgia were invited to enroll in a prospective cohort study conducted during March 19–December 5, 2021. Participants completed weekly symptom questionnaires. Symptomatic HCWs were tested by RT-PCR and/or rapid antigen test (RAT), and participants were routinely tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR or RAT, regardless of symptoms. Serology was collected at enrolment, and quarterly thereafter, and tested by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We defined primary series vaccination as two doses of COVID-19 vaccine received ≥14 days before symptom onset. We estimated VE as (1-hazard ratio)*100 using a Cox proportional hazards model with vaccination status as a time-varying covariate. Estimates were adjusted by potential confounders that changed the VE estimate by more than 5%, according to the change-in-estimate approach. Results Overall, 1561/3849 (41%) eligible HCWs enrolled and were included in the analysis. The median age was 40 (IQR: 30-53), 1318 (84%) were female, and 1003 (64%) had laboratory evidence of prior SARS-Cov-2 infection. At enrolment, 1300 (83%) were unvaccinated; By study end, 1082 (62%) had completed a primary vaccine series (69% BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech); 22% BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm); 9% other). During the study period, 191(12%) participants had a new PCR- or RAT-confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. VEa gainst PCR- or RAT- confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was 58 (95%CI: 41; 70) for all primary series vaccinations, 68% (95%CI: 51; 79) for BNT162b2, and 40% (95%CI: 1; 64) for BBIBP-CorV vaccines. Among previously infected HCWs, VE was 58% (95%CI: 11; 80). VE against medically attended COVID-19 was 52% (95%CI: 28; 68), and VE against hospitalization was 69% (95% CI: 36; 85). During the period of predominant Delta variant circulation (July-December 2021), VE against symptomatic COVID-19 was 52% (95%CI: 30; 66). Conclusions Primary series vaccination with BNT162b2 and BBIBP-CorV was effective at preventing COVID-19 among HCWs, most of whom had previous infection, during a period of mainly Delta circulation. Our results support the utility of COVID-19 primary vaccine series, and the importance of increasing coverage, even among previously infected individuals.

Vaccination has proven to be one of the most effective strategies against the COVID 19 pandemic. Several studies have evaluated and confirmed its effectiveness in different populations, particularly in reducing severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death. However, the potential of vaccination to protect against infection itself has been overlooked. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the booster dose in a sample of Colombian patients during the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic, which was associated with the emergence and predominance of the Omicron variant. A cross-sectional study was conducted on individuals who underwent RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 detection in a dedicated laboratory in Bogotá, Colombia, between December 30th 2021 and February 7th 2022. A total of 1,468 subjects were included in the study. The comparison between fully vaccinated individuals with a booster dose and those without the booster dose revealed a 28% reduction in the odds of infection (OR = 0.719 CI 0.531 - 0.971). Age (OR = 1,009 CI 1,001 - 1,018) and low economic status (OR= 1,812 CI 1,416- 2,319) were associated with an increased risk of infection.These findings suggest the need for booster vaccination in the general population to improve the prevention rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and mitigate severe outcomes.

Micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs), also known as hidden hunger, affects more than a quarter of the global population. Agronomic biofortification helps to increase concentration of a target mineral in food crops and improve human mineral dietary intake. It is a means of providing nutrient dense foods to a larger population especially among rural resource poor settings, providing that they have access to mineral fertilizers. However, the feasibility of agronomic biofortification in combating hidden hunger depends on several factors besides fertilizer access, including crop type, genotype, climate, soils, and soil mineral interactions. Consideration of its effectiveness to increasing human mineral intakes to daily requirements and improvement to human health and the cost effectiveness the program is also important. In this paper we reviewed available literature regarding the potential effectiveness and challenges of agronomic biofortification to improve crop micronutrient concentrations and reduce hidden hunger.

Abundant animal manure in livestock areas has the potential to be used as organic fertilizer which can restore soil fertility by turning it into compost and biochar. The goal of this study was to as-sess how well soil fertility and red chili yield might be increased by using biochar and poschar made from various animal wastes. In this investigation, a factorial pattern and randomized block design were used. The first factor was the biochar treatment type, which included no biochar, biochar made from cow manure, biochar made from goat manure, and biochar made from chicken manure. The second factor was the type of poschar, which included no poschar, poschar made from cow manure, poschar made from goat manure, and poschar made from chicken manure. The findings of this study suggest that using biochar in conjunction with poschar can significantly improve soil parameters such as soil water content, pH, EC, humic acid, fulvic acid, C, N, P, K, and CEC. Red chilies grow and yield more per hectare when different types of biochar and poschar are used. The use of biochar from cow manure together with poschar from chicken manure shows the best agronomic effectiveness.

Older adults (age ≥65) are at high risk of influenza morbidity and mortality. This study evaluated the impact of a hypothetical two-dose influenza vaccine regimen per season to reduce symptomatic flu cases by providing preseason (first dose) and mid-season (second dose) protection to offset waning vaccine effectiveness (VE). The Framework for Reconstructing Epidemiological Dynamics (FRED), an agent-based modeling platform, was used to compare typical one-dose vaccination to a two-dose vaccination strategy. Primary models incorporated waning VE of 10% per month and varied influenza season timing (December through March) to estimate cases and hospitalizations in older adults. Additional scenarios modeled reductions in uptake and VE of the second dose, and overall waning. In seasons with later peaks, two vaccine doses had the largest potential to reduce cases (14.4% with February peak, 18.7% with March peak) and hospitalizations (13.1% with February peak, 16.8% with March peak). Reductions in cases and hospitalizations still resulted but decreased when 30% of individuals failed to receive a second dose, second dose VE was reduced, or overall waning was reduced to 7% per month. Agent-based modeling indicates that two influenza vaccine doses could decrease cases and hospitalizations in older individuals. The highest impact occurred in the more frequently observed late-peak seasons. The beneficial impact of the two-dose regimen persisted despite model scenarios of reduced uptake of the second dose, decreased VE of the second dose, or overall VE waning.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused very serious problems almost to the whole world, so every opportunity must be considered to improve the situation. Decontamination carried out from the air can also be considered for surface clearance of larger areas, so the possibility of this application should also be investigated regarding pandemic. There are many examples of the use of drones for disinfection to improve the epidemic situation, but good practices, as well as factors influencing the effectiveness, have not yet been identified. In the case of using drone for disinfections during a pandemic, based on the reports, we can clearly discover the adapted use of agricultural drones. In this paper, the authors perform calculations with different values of flight speed (10 to 50 km/h), flight altitude (1 to 5 m), and flow rate (1 to 5 l / min) to determine the possible amount of disinfectant fluid per unit area. The results show that by changing the parameters, the amount of disinfectant per unit area can be given within quite wide limits (30 - 0.24 g/m2). Although the results raise many new questions it can help to identify adequate flight parameters depending on different disinfectant liquids.

Even though the rules for free movement of machinery within the European Union market have existed for more than 30 years, accidents related to their activities have constantly been achieving significant value. When designing the machine, a designer must stem from risk assessment, whereas all stages of its life cycle and ways of its use must be taken into consideration. In industrial operations, there is old machinery, which, although fulfilling its function reliably, the safety level is not in accordance with the developing requirements for their safe operation. The proposed methodology of assessment of the machinery safety condition comes out from the presupposition of the right application of steps of risk assessment and their reduction mainly by means of implementation of both effective and efficient preventive measures. The aim of the research applied in 3 operations, was to verify the method of machinery safety management. The created methodology based on 19 requirements for safety evaluates the level of the actual measures by means of the so-called criterion of current status and total efficiency of measures. Its output is the assessment of the efficiency level of implemented safety of each machine as well as of the whole operation.

Nowadays the relationship between planning land use and actual land use is not so clear in general. A lot of efforts have been put in the failures of regulation for the expansion of construction land. However, it still lacks an integrated approach to study the effectiveness of land use regulation in terms of different land use types. Furthermore, the existing evaluation of land use plan mainly focuses on a general level, a detailed research on the regulation effectiveness of each construction land use type is absent. Therefore, this research tries to evaluate regulation effectiveness of land use plan, which takes Cangwu country, Guangxi Province as an example. The finding by analysis is that the total area of construction land expansion was about 3494.73 ha, nearly 1.1 times of the plan quota. Moreover, the effectiveness differs greatly in various construction land use types. Town, industrial/mining sites can be well regulated through the quota of land use plan. While, the quota regulation system is not as effective for other type of construction land. Thus, we suggest to improve the regulation effectiveness of construction land through different plan instruments.

This paper presents a theoretical evaluation of the prices of mixed briquettes produced from co-conut shells (CCS), banana peels (BNP), rattan waste (RWT), and sugarcane bagasse (SGC), and, on the other hand, an analysis of the economic viability of their use as a replacement for conventional household fuels (Liquefied Petroleum Gas, fuelwood, and wood charcoal) in house-holds in Cameroon. The investigation was carried out using the Life Cycle Cost method on a typical household over a ten-year period with annual cooking energy requirements of 950 kWhth. The SGC-CCS and SGC-RWT mixed briquettes with a ratio higher than 7.75% and 11.1%, respectively, have prices lower than 0.063 €/kWhth. The Present Value of the Net Benefit is posi-tive for the use of SGC-CCS and SGC-RWT mixed briquettes. The results show that by making the right mixes of residues, it is possible to obtain biomass briquettes that are less expensive than conventional fuels.

The purpose of this research is to determine if the tradeoffs that Kissick proposed among cost containment, quality, and access remain as rigidly interconnected as originally conceived in the contemporary health care context. Although many have relied on the Kissick model to advocate for health policy decisions, to our knowledge, the model has never been empirically tested. Some have called for policy makers to come to terms with the premise of the Kissick model tradeoffs, others have questioned the model given the proliferation of quality enhancing initiatives, automation, and information technology in the health care industry. One wonders whether these evolutionary changes alter or disrupt the originality of the Kissick paradigms themselves. Methods: Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate the Kissick hypothetical relationships among the unobserved constructs of cost, quality, and access in hospitals for the year 2018. Hospital data were obtained from Definitive Healthcare a subscription site which contains Medicare data as well as non-Medicare data for networks, hospitals, and clinics (final n= 2,766). Results: Reporting significant net effects as defined by our chosen study variables, we find that as quality increases costs increase, as access increases quality increases, and as access increases, costs increase. Policy and Practice Implications: Our findings lend continued relevance to a balanced approach to health care policy reform efforts. Simultaneously bending the health care cost curve, increasing access to care, and advancing quality of care is as challenging now as it was when the Kissick model was originally conceived.

Background: Severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) represents a substantial global health burden. Benralizumab has been shown to restore good control of asthma. Robust data on benralizumab effectiveness over periods longer than 2 years are still scarce. Methods: This retrospective multicentric study was conducted on 108 Italian SEA patients treated with benralizumab for up to 36 months. Clinical outcomes were evaluated at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. Partial and complete clinical remission (CR) were also assessed. Data were analysed either with descriptive statistics or using linear, logistic, and negative binomial mixed-effect regression models. Results: Benralizumab induced a persistent reduction in exacerbation rates (p

Cenobamate is approved by the European Medicine Agency for the treatment of adult patients with epilepsy (PWEs) who suffer from ongoing focal-onset seizures despite appropriate treatment with at least two established antiseizure medications. Pivotal trials and post-marketing real-world observational studies have suggested a high efficacy with unusually high seizure-free rates. We sought to investigate the serum trough levels of cenobamate under steady-state conditions in seizure-free versus non-responding PWEs, and in PWEs who experienced adverse events versus those who did not. We analyzed samples from 101 PWEs treated with adjunct cenobamate under steady-state conditions. In all, 36 PWEs were seizure-free and 65 were non-responders. In 31 PWEs, adverse events were apparent, whereas in the remaining 70, no tolerability issues were reported. We found a linear correlation between the daily doses (range: 100 mg – 400 mg) and the plasma levels (3.8 mg/l – 54.6 mg/l). Neither the daily doses nor the plasma levels differed significantly between seizure-free and non-responding PWEs or between PWEs with a satisfactory tolerability and those who experienced adverse events. The main reason for this result was that the individual therapeutic ranges varied widely: seizure freedom and adverse effects were observed alongside low doses and plasma levels in some PWEs. Conversely, there were examples of PWEs who did not respond or who reported no tolerability issues at high doses or plasma levels. Still, to evaluate the individual therapeutic range and to better understand the influence of other drugs in cases where concomitant medications are used, the therapeutic drug monitoring of cenobamate may be useful.

Background: To describe the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccine in a series of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Retrospective single-center study of RA patients, fulfilling the ACR 1987 or ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria, that received first COVID-19 vaccine between December 2020 and October 2021, had post-vaccination serology and subsequent follow-up of at least 6 months in a university hospital. Vaccine effectiveness was evaluated by the serological response and the incidence of post-vaccine COVID-19, and safety by the incidence of adverse events (AE) and RA flares. Adjusted logistic and linear multivariate regression analyses were carried out with Stata® to identify factors associated with vaccine response. Results: We included 118 patients with RA (87.2% women, age 65.4±11.6 years, evolution 12.0±9.6 years). 95.8% received complete vaccination schedule. Most patients (88.1%) developed adequate humoral immunogenicity, and the degree of serological response was significantly related to younger age and previous COVID-19 infection. After vaccination, 18.6% presented mild SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaccine AE (19.5%) were mostly mild and inversely associated with age (OR 0.95). RA flares were anecdotal (1.7%) and inversely related to age (OR 0.95). Conclusion: Our results suggest that COVID-19 vaccine induces adequate humoral immunogenicity, with an acceptable safety profile in RA patients.

(1) Background: Aim was to investigate real-world effectiveness (hypothesizing non-inferiority) and safety profile of risdiplam in paediatric and adult nusinersen-risdiplam spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) switch cohort. (2) Methods: A retrospective and anonymous collection of relevant demographic and clinical data for all Croatian SMA patients switched from nusinersen to risdiplam up to September 2023 (reimbursed by Croatian Health Insurance Fund – CHIF) was performed using CHIF database and associated reimbursement documentation. Patients were included in effectiveness and safety analysis if they met the following inclusion criteria: i) risdiplam reimbursed by CHIF; ii) patient received at least 6 doses of nusinersen before switch to risdiplam; iii) no relevant pause between the latter disease modifying drugs (DMDs); iv) availability of all prespecified studied data and parameters. (3) Results: 17 patients met inclusion criteria [58.9% female; median age 12.75 (3.0-44.5) yr.]. In our ‘switch’ cohort, we have demonstrated a non-inferiority of risdiplam to nusinersen, in SMA 1 (+1.0 in CHOP INTEND; p=0.067), SMA 3p (+0.7 in HFMSE; p=0.897) and SMA 3a (+0.8 in RHS; p=0.463) subpopulations, during a one-year follow-up period. There were no reports on respiratory function worsening, feeding worsening, and no lethal events. No new safety concerns were identified, except of the weight gain that arose as a new potential adverse drug reaction ‘signal’ in two patients. (4) Conclusions: We have reported a pivotal real-world findings on switching SMA patients from nusinersen to risdiplam and demonstrated its effectiveness (non-inferiority), safety and tolerability in a heterogenous paediatric and adult ‘switch’ cohort, which will further increase the quality and standards of care as well as safety of a notable portion of SMA patients; especially for those who demand switch from nusinersen to other DMDs from clinical or personal reasons.

Product assembly is usually one of the last steps in the entire production process. This activity is typically entrusted to assembly workers because it is generally not possible to automate every type of product. For complex products, assembly can take a long time until the fitter learns the procedure and is able to assemble the product on his own. This contribution presents a cus-tom-developed system that enables controlled assembly of the extruder and can be used for complex and diverse products. The system serves to guide the fitter precisely and shows him which part to use at which time. The proposed system will show and describe on the display all necessary assembly steps and parts. Two-step verification is used to ensure that the correct part is picked from the stack. The contribution is supported by the implementation of a case study in a small company with a sample of 30 employees, which demonstrates that the proposed system shortens the extruder assembly time and significantly reduces the error rate. The presented solution is scalable and flexible, as it can be easily adapted to display the assembly steps of another product.

School-aged children may benefit from education interventions focused on healthy eating and physical activity to improve their quality of life. This article aims to review scientific evidence on food and nutrition education (FNE) in Spanish-speaking countries for the prevention of overweight and obesity in school-aged children (6-12 y). Articles were searched between April and August 2021. The searches were conducted using MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and SciELO. The primary search for articles focused on the experience of FNE interventions in Spanish-speaking countries. Overall, 518 articles were found and 33 studies were eligible for data extraction. Forty-two percent of the studies had a focus on FNE and 64% were focused on describing the eating habits of schoolchildren. Nutritional assessments (anthropometric) were found frequently with 91% and 30% of the studies focused on physical activity. All interventions focused on preventing or reducing overweight and obesity in school-age children. Educational, cognitive, dietary, and physical activity practices were described, whit being educational the most frequent intervention. Interventions reported positive effects of FNE interventions to improve knowledge and practices of healthy lifestyles in school-age children.

The reason for this dissertation is to establish the effects of vaccination on the elderly (>65 years old) in Hong Kong in reducing flu infection. Influenza vaccine uptake in the elderly (˃65 years old) in Hong Kong significantly increased in 2003 after the SARS epidemic. The exact impacts of influenza vaccine among the elderly in Hong Kong are a subject of contention. The effectiveness of the influenza vaccine comes from observed studies which may be prejudiced since it is difficult to identify and justify the evidence. A review of various literatures has shown that influenza causes serious illness and death particularly highly vulnerable groups such as adults aged 65 years and above. Therefore, more efforts should be initiated to reduce mortality caused by influenza among the elderly. According to the WHO (2005), vaccination is among the most effective approach for preventing death associated with influenza to vulnerable groups such as the elderly.

Seasonal influenza is a common cause of hospital admission, especially in older people and those with comorbidities. The objective of this study was to determine influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in preventing intensive care admissions and shortening the length of stay (LOS) in hospitalized laboratory-confirmed influenza cases (HLCI) in Catalonia (Spain).A retrospective cohort study was carried out during the 2017-2018 season in HLCI aged ≥ 18 years from 14 public hospitals. Differences in means and proportions were assessed using a t-test or a chi-square test as necessary and the differences were quantified using standardized effect measures; Cohen’s d for quantitative and Cohen’s w for categorical variables. Adjusted influenza vaccine effectiveness in preventing severity was estimated by multivariate logistic regression where the adjusted VE = (1-adjusted odds ratio) ·100%; adjustment was also made using the propensity score.We analyzed 1414 HLCI aged ≥ 18 years; 465 (33%) were vaccinated, of whom 437 (94%) were aged ≥ 60 years, 269 (57.8%) were male and 295 (63.4%) were positive for influenza type B. ICU admission was required in 214 (15.1%) cases. There were 141/1118 (12.6%) ICU admissions in patients aged ≥ 60 years and 73/296 (24.7%) in those aged < 60 years (p<0.001). The mean LOS and ICU LOS did not differ significantly between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. There were 52/465 (11.2%) in vaccinated cases) ICU admissions in vaccinated cases vs. 162/949 (17.1%) in unvaccinated cases. Patients admitted to the ICU had a longer hospital LOS (mean: 22.4 [SD 20.3] days) than those who were not (mean: 11.1 [SD14.4] days); p<0.001. Overall, vaccination was associated with a lower risk of ICU admission. Taking virus types A and B together, the estimated adjusted VE in preventing ICU admission was 31% (95% CI 1-52; p=0.04). When stratified by viral type, the aVE was 40% for type A (95% CI -11-68; p = 0.09) and 25% for type B (95% CI -18-52; p = 0.21). Annual influenza vaccination may prevent ICU admission in cases of HLCI. A non-significantly shorter mean hospital stay was observed in vaccinated cases. Our results support the need to increase vaccination uptake and public perception of the benefits of influenza vaccination in groups at a higher risk of hospitalization and severe outcomes.

The experimental determination of the relative biological effectiveness of thermal neutron factors is fundamental in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy. Present values have been obtained using mixed beams consisting of both neutrons and photons of various energies. A common weighting factor has been used for both thermal and fast neutron doses, although such an approach has been questioned. At the nuclear reactor of the Institut Laue-Langevin a pure low-energy neutron beam has been used to determine thermal neutron relative biological effectiveness factors. Different tumor cell lines, corresponding to glioblastoma, melanoma, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and non-tumor cell lines (lung fibroblast and embryonic kidney) have been irradiated using an experimental arrangement designed to minimise neutron-induced secondary gamma radiation. Additionally, the cells were irradiated with photons at a medical linear accelerator, providing reference data for comparison with that from neutron irradiation. Survival and proliferation were studied after irradiation, yielding the Relative Biological Effectiveness corresponding to the damage of thermal neutrons for the different tissue types.

On the eve of the Brexit process, in the context of a rising Euroscepticism that fuels the modest confidence of European citizens in their national and European institutions, the article assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of the European Parliament within the framework of the ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision). After defining and formulating the main indicators, the paper analyses the micro- and macro-performance of the European Parliament within the decision-making process from a quantitative-qualitative and a qualitative-quantitative perspective, highlighting the relativizing factors and the responsiveness of the European decision-making process to the Europeans’ needs.

Derivatives products have become essential in portfolio diversification, price discovery and risk hedging. Derivatives are complex instruments; their role is twofold, risk management and speculation, and their actual Impact on the underlying assets’ behaviours are not well understood. Little is documented empirically on how these instruments’ two-edged roles influence firms’ financing decisions, firm risk exposures, and stability. Given the growing interest in using derivatives in risk management and portfolio engineering, this study examines the practical impact of derivatives usage on the underlying firm’s financing policy and stability. The paper uses data from South African listed non-financial firms for the period 2000 to 2019. The study employs a dynamic panel model estimated with System Generalised Methods of Moments (GMM). The initial analysis shows that derivatives use reduces the cost of capital and increases firm stability. However, further in-depth analysis provides evidence that extensive use of derivatives increases firms’ capital costs and negatively impacts financial stability. These findings imply that the risk embedded in derivatives’ speculation dominates their risk management function. The results are subjected to numerous controls for robustness, including financial leverage, firm size, cashflows and asset tangibility.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) infection, has caused millions of infections and fatalities worldwide. Extensive SARS-CoV-2 research has been conducted to develop therapeutic drugs and prophylactic vaccines, and even though some drugs have been approved to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection, treatment efficacy remains limited. Therefore, preventive vaccination has been implemented on a global scale and represents the primary approach to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Approved vaccines vary in composition, although vaccine design has been based on either the key viral structural (spike) protein or viral components carrying this protein. Therefore, mutations of the virus, particularly mutations in the S protein, severely compromise effectiveness of current vaccines and the ability to control COVID-19 infection. This review begins by describing the SARS-CoV-2 viral composition, mechanism of infection, role of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, host defense responses against infection and the most common vaccine designs. Next, this review summarizes the common mutations of SARS-CoV-2 and how these mutations change viral properties, confer immune escape and influence vaccine efficacy. Finally, this review discusses global strategies that have been employed to mitigate the decreases in vaccine efficacy encountered against new variants.

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the literature on school effectiveness, with a focus on identifying the main factors that contribute to successful educational outcomes. The research question that this paper aims to address is: What are the main factors of school effectiveness? The research was interested in several descriptors such as school, effectiveness/efficiency theories, effectiveness/efficiency research, and factors. Studies were reviewed through two databases: JSTOR and ERIC (published within the 2016-2022 period). The paper defines several categories that are exposed within school effectiveness research. Within these categories, various factors that affect the students’ outcomes and the defined effectiveness at school are listed. As the results show, the issue of school effectiveness is a multifaced challenge as the effectiveness of schools is a complex concept that can be measured through various indicators such as academic achievement, student engagement and teacher satisfaction. The review of school effectiveness has revealed that several factors contribute to effective schools, such as strong leadership, effective teaching practices, a positive school culture and parental involvement. Additionally, school resources, such as funding and facilities, can impact school effectiveness, particularly in under-resourced communities.

Introduction: The need for therapeutic regimens for non-critically ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic remains unmet. Previous work has shown that a combination of three aromatic plants’ essential oil (CAPeo) (Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav., Origanum dictamnus L., Salvia fruticosa Mill.) has remarkable in vitro antiviral activity. Given its properties, it was urgent to explore its potential in treating mild COVID-19 patients in primary care. Methods: 69 adult patients were included in a clinical, Proof-of-Concept (PoC) intervention study. Family physicians implemented the observational study in two arms (intervention and control group) during three study periods (IG2020, n=13, IG2021/22, n=25 and CG2021/22, n=31). The SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed by real-time PCR. The CAPeo mixture, was administered daily for 14 days, per os in the intervention group, while the control group received usual care. Results: The PoC study, found that the number and frequency of general symptoms, including general fatigue, weakness, fever and myalgia, decreased following CAPeo administration. The average presence (number) of symptoms decreased in IG (4.7 to 1.4) as well as in CG (4.0 to 3.1) by Day 7 compared to Day 1, representing a significant decrease in cumulative presence in IC (-3.3 vs. -0.9, p<0.001; η2=0.20) on Day 7 and on Day 14 (-4.2 vs. -2.9, p=0.027; η2=0.08). Discussion/Conclusion: Our findings suggest that CAPeo, possesses potent antiviral activity, in addition tο the Influenza A and B and the human rhinovirus HRV14 strains against SARS-CoV-2. The early and effective impact in alleviating key symptoms of COVID-19 may suggest this mixture can act as a complementary natural agent for mild COVID-19 patients

The nursing process in clinical practice can be assessed using standardized language systems. The purpose is to find evidence on the effectiveness of the nursing process with standardized terminology using NANDA International, Nursing Interventions Classification, and Nursing Outcome Classification improving diag-nostic accuracy, nursing interventions, health outcomes, and people’s satisfaction. A systematic review was carried out in Medline and PreMedline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, SCI-EXPANDED, SSCI and Scielo and LILACS including randomized clinical trials, quasi-experimental, cohort and case-control studies. Selection and critical appraisal were conducted by two independent reviewers. The certainty of the evidence was assessed with Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation Methodology. 17 studies were included with variability in the level and certainty of evidence. According to outcomes, 6 evaluated improvements in diagnostic accuracy and 11 evaluated improvements in individual health outcomes. No studies evaluated improvements in intervention efficacy or population satisfaction. There is a need to increase studies with rigorous methodologies that address diagnostic accuracy and indi-viduals’ health outcomes using NANDA International, Nursing Interventions Classification, and Nursing Outcome Classification; as well as implementing studies that evaluate the use of these terminologies for improvements in the efficacy of nurses' interventions and population satisfaction with the nursing process.

This paper aims to explore the effect of humble leadership on project success by integrating the mediating role of employee creativity. Top management support moderates the direct relationship (humble leadership and project management effectiveness) and indirect relationships through employee creativity. Time-lagged data were obtained from 332 persons working in the matrix organization across the information technology. The results showed that humble leadership enhance project management effectiveness by mediating and moderating processes. This study provides a solution to an underlying research question that has gone unanswered in prior studies. What are the strategies proposed for humble leadership in fostering the effectiveness of the project?

The widely spread CoronaVirus Disease (COVID)- 19 is one of the worst infectious disease outbreaks in history and has become an emergency of primary international concern. As the pandemic evolves, academic communities have been actively involved in various capacities, including accurate epidemic estimation, fast clinical diagnosis, policy effectiveness evaluation and development of contract tracing technologies. There are more than 23,000 academic papers on the COVID-19 outbreak, and this number is doubling every 20 days while the pandemic is still on-going [1]. The literature, however, at its early stage, lacks a comprehensive survey from a data analytics perspective. In this paper, we review the latest models for analyzing COVID19 related data, conduct post-publication model evaluations and cross-model comparisons, and collect data sources from different projects.

Legacy risks from infrastructures and industrial installations often reveal themselves when a potential for failure has been discovered much later than at the stage of the design and construction of a structure. In which case, there might already be a problem with the legacy installation, or even a crisis, without having had an accident. When the hazard cannot be taken away, the question arises as to how much effort, if any, should be spent on improving the situation. The usefulness of the three archetypical approaches to this problem: setting a standard, the As Low As Reasonably Practicable approach and a case-by-case discourse approach are discussed for their applicability for these legacy risks. Although it would be desirable to retrofit legacy risks to previously set legal requirements as is the case when acceptability limits are set in law or demonstration of ALARP is demanded, it may be impossible to reduce the residual risk to an otherwise acceptable level without taking away or replacing the infrastructure, which is not acceptable either. Therefor in conclusion the only available solution to persistent legacy risk problems seems to be to have a thorough discussion with all relevant stakeholders until an agreement is in some way found.

Estimation of the worth of continuity of electricity supply is of interest of industry, authorities and research society. There are numerous methods to calculate the Customer Interruption Costs (CICs). Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. This paper approaches the problem from Distribution System Operators’ (DSOs) point of view and adopts two existing analytical models. One model is used by the Finnish Energy Market Authority and the second one was proposed by the authors at a previous study. The model suggested by the authors as an alternative to the one used by the Finnish Energy Market Authority proposes a simple and straightforward methodology which will provide credible and objective estimations by only utilizing publicly available analytical data. We made use of cost and reliability indices data of 78 DSOs in Finland from the year 2016. In addition to cost estimations, this paper highlights regional differences in CIC estimations in different parts of Finland and critically overviews the existing standard customer compensation scheme in Finland.

The objective of this paper was to give an overview of the expressed preference (EP) techniques of environmental valuation. These methods offer estimation of the value of a resource not necessarily willingness to pay (WTP) or willingness to Accept (WTA) compensation rather upper and lower values. The method of measuring individuals’ willingness to pay is usually based on contingent valuation method (CVM). This research focuses on defining, categorizing, and applicability of various environmental valuation techniques that have been and can be applied in attaching value to a given resource using expressed/Revealed preference methods. The study serves as a supplementary synthesis and discussion to the board of knowledge of resource valuation methods. More specifically, selected methods to discussed herein include; contingent valuation method, hedonic pricing model, travel cost method, trade-off game method, the costless-choice method, Delphi method, Replacement Cost Method, Relocation Cost Method, Opportunity cost method, and Cost-benefit Method. In the last part, applicability of the methods is fully illustrated to support future studies on resource valuation.

Green and low-carbon development has become an important embodiment of China's path to becoming a strong agricultural country. How to enable agricultural enterprises to better adopt green technologies and conduct production and operation with the concept of sustainable development has become a key link. This article utilizes a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the role paths and mediating effects of organizational learning ability and policy orientation in agricultural enterprises' market orientation and willingness to adopt green technologies[ The definition of green technology in this paper refers to Guo Kesha, Tian Xiaoxiao. Green technology and green transformation of industrial development mode [J]. Tianjin Social Sciences, 2024 (02) :99-107, including green manufacturing (production) technology and green service technology.]. The results show that market orientation, organizational learning ability, and policy effectiveness have significant direct positive impacts on the willingness to adopt; market orientation has a significant positive impact on agricultural enterprises' organizational learning ability, organizational learning ability has a significant positive impact on policy orientation, and market orientation has a significant positive impact on policy effectiveness; the results of mediation analysis also indicate that learning ability has a significant mediating effect between market orientation and willingness to adopt, and policy effectiveness has a significant mediating effect between market orientation and willingness to adopt. Through difference analysis, it is believed that the mediating effects of the three paths are equally important, and organizational learning ability and policy effectiveness play a partial mediating role in agricultural enterprises' willingness to adopt green technologies. Based on this, policy suggestions are proposed to improve enterprises' own organizational learning ability, increase the promotion of policies related to green technologies, improve relevant policies for the application of green technologies, and increase research and development efforts for green technologies.

In Switzerland, psychomotor therapy (PMT) is a standard treatment for children with graphomotor impairments, but scientific evidence of its effectiveness is rare. To investigate the effectiveness of PMT, we conducted a randomized field trial (RFT). The sample consisted of 121 first and second graders with graphomotor impairments, some of whom met the criteria of developmental coordination disorder, while the remaining suffered from developmental dysgraphia. The treatments lasted over 5 months. Handwriting fluency and consistency were measured five times on a digitizing tablet. All participating children completed a self-concept interview, and a standardized fine motor performance test twice. Psychomotor therapy significantly improved the fine motor skills of the therapy group compared to those of the waiting group. However, there was no evidence that the treated children improved more than the waiting children in terms of their graphomotor skills such as frequency, automaticity, and consistency of forming letters. Finally, the children of the therapy group showed partial improvements in their handwriting self-concept, while those of the waiting group children remained stable. This short-term RFT demonstrated the effectiveness of PMT in terms of fine motor skills and some aspects of the handwriting self-concept but showed no effects on handwriting fluency and consistency.

This paper studied the combined influences of the hot streak and swirl on the cooling performances of the NASA C3X guide vane coated with or without TBCs. The results show that: (1) Even under uniform velocity inlet conditions, the hot streak core can be stretched as it impinges the leading edge which causes higher heat load on the suction side of the forward portion. (2) The swirl significantly affects circumferential and radial migration of the hot streak core in the NGV passage. On the passage inlet plane, positive swirl leads to a hotter tip region on the suction side. In comparison, negative swirl leads to a hotter hub region on the pressure side. (3) Under the influence of swirl, migration of coolant improve the coverage of film cooling close to the midspan, while in the regions close to the hub and tip end-wall, the overall cooling performance decrease simultaneously. (4) In the regions with enough internal cooling, the cooling effectiveness increment is always larger than that in other regions. Besides, the overall cooling effectiveness increment decreases on the region covered by film cooling for the coated vane, especially in the region with negative local heat flux.

Humanity will soon define a new era for nature – one that seeks to correct decades of underwhelming responses to the global biodiversity crisis. Area-based conservation efforts, which include both protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, are likely to extend and diversify. But persistent shortfalls in ecological representation, management effectiveness and measurable biodiversity outcomes diminish the potential role of area-based conservation in stemming biodiversity loss. Here we show how protected area expansion by governments since 2010 has had limited success in increasing biodiversity coverage, and identify four emergent issues that –if addressed – will enhance the performance of area-based conservation post-2020. We close with recommendations for a broad biodiversity agenda that maximises the potential of area-based conservation. Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity must recognise that area-based conservation primarily focuses on local threats to species and ecosystems, and needs enhanced emphasis on biodiversity outcomes to better track and fund its contribution to global conservation efforts.

Tropical rock lobsters (Panulirus ornatus) are a highly cannibalistic species with intermoult animals predominantly attacking animals during ecdysis (moulting). Rapid, positive characterisation of pre-ecdysis lobsters may open a pathway to disrupt cannibalism. Ecdysial suture line development is considered for pre-ecdysis recognition with suture line definition compared for lobsters emerged and immerged, using white, near ultraviolet (365 nm), near infrared (850 nm) and spe-cialty Osram SFH 4737 broadband IR LEDs against a reference of intermoult lobsters with no suture line development. An alternative pre-ecdysis recognition strategy used a novel low-cost spectral camera composed of the Sony IMX219, AMS AS7265x spectral sensors and Osram SFH 4737 broadband infrared LEDs. Images and data using the novel low-cost spectral camera was acquired from intermoult, pre-ecdysis, and post-ecdysis lobsters. Compared with the white light appear-ance, suture line definition was enhanced under 850 nm, 365 nm, and SFH 4737 LEDs for immerged lobsters, while the 850 nm LED achieved the best suture line definition of emerged lobsters. The spectral camera was unable to characterise pre-ecdysis. A least squares regression for binary classification decision boundary successfully separated 86.7% of post-moult lobsters. Achieving post-moult characterisation validated the speculative exploratory approach in developing this novel low-cost spectroscopy tool.

GNSS is nowadays a standard tool for monitoring and studying the Earth’s dynamic environment. However, the development of dense GNSS measurements remains limited in many experiments by the cost of geodetic-class equipments allowing to achieve the high precision required by many applications. Recently, multi-constellation, multi-frequency, low-power and, above all, less expensive GNSS electronic chips have become available. We present a prototype of a low-cost, open-source multi-GNSS station. Our prototype comprises a dual-frequency GNSS chip, a calibrated antenna, a Raspberry Pi card and a 4G key for data transmission. The system is easy to deploy in the field and allows precise positioning in real time and post-processing. We assess the performance of our prototype in terms of raw data quality, and quality of the obtained high rate and daily position one-year-long time series. Our results demonstrate a quality equivalent to geodetic-class equipment and better quality than other low-cost systems proposed so far.

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), a highly contagious viral disease, causes significant economic losses in sheep and goats. Laboratory diagnosis is crucial to disease control and eradication. Since PPRVs have recently adopted new hosts, genetic diversity within isolates of the same lineage is more likely than if they were host-specific, sheep and goats most often. ELISA detects antibodies and antigens in serology. However, mishandling, environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), storage, and sensitivity issues of commercially available ELISA kits prevent rapid PPR virus detection in third-world countries like Pakistan. In the 2020-21 outbreaks in Pakistan, 325 blood samples, 19 swabs, and 6 virus tissue samples of sheep and goats were collected from Gilgit, Islamabad, and Fateh Jang. These virus isolates were submitted to NCBI for partial N gene sequencing. Antigen was prepared from indigenous virus Using semi-purified antigen from PPRV, an indirect ELISA for the detection of PPR antibodies in goat and sheep serum was developed using MW600922 grown in Vero cells. Dilutions of 1:200 serums and 1:32 antigens improve antibody detection. The N-gene-based analysis revealed a better understanding of PPRV genetic characterization. This study develops an RT-PCR assay to detect PPRV by targeting the N-protein gene. This assay offers an accurate and affordable diagnostic tool for PPRV and partial genome sequencing. Results described that PPRV isolates from the current study have 99.73% and 99.4% similarity to previously published Lahore and Faisalabad isolates from Pakistan, respectively. Compared to previous isolates from NCBI data, the virus showed high divergence rates with the Turkish strain. The comparative analysis between Commercial kit (c-ELISA) and I-ELISA revealed that the former had a high sensitivity of 90.60% and specificity of 85.23% compared with the cELISA kit. By comparing I-ELISA and VNT, we find that the current assay is 100% specific and 82.14 % sensitive. Based on these results, serological surveys for PPR antibodies, on a larger scale, in small ruminants can be conducted with indirect ELISA rather than competitive ELISA. Furthermore, the cost and storage efficiency was highly significant because the currently developed method has a low production cost, which is much lesser than the commercially available kit. Our findings demonstrated a significant breakthrough in terms of cost-effectiveness and storage efficiency, and they are highly recommended for developing countries.

This paper presents high-resolution digital measurements at low cost, combining oversample and averaging. Experiments of processing data between samples and between multiple temperature sensors in the same environment are conducted. They provide results with effective increase in the analog to digital converter bits, in correspondence with the minimization on the effects of noise. It is shown that averaging a set of small, low-cost sensors at a small microcontroller can give flexible access to improved measurement accuracy.

We review some semantical aspects of probability bounds from Boole’s “conditions on possible experience” violated by quantum mechanics. We also speculate about emerging space-time categories as an epiphenomenon of quantization and the resulting breakdown of relativity theory by non-unitary and non-linear processes.

The domain of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education has garnered significant consideration in recent times. However, several challenges are inherent to this area of study, including monetary expense, temporal factors, pedagogical environment, teacher training programs, incentive, syllabus design, and health-related concerns. This paper presents an analysis of the difficulties encountered in the realm of ICT education in Japan, taking into account ten different perspectives.

The aim of this article is to propose a core game theory model of transaction costs wherein it is indicated how direct costs determine the probability of loss and subsequent transaction costs. The existence of optimum is proven, and the way in which exposure influences the location of the optimum is demonstrated. The decisions are described as a two-player game and it is discussed how the transaction cost sharing rule determines whether the optimum point of transaction costs is the same as the equilibrium of the game. The dispute between actors regarding changing the share of transaction costs to be paid by each party is modeled by a non-cooperative bargaining game. Requirements of efficient transaction cost sharing rules are defined, and it is posited that solution exists which is not unique. Policy conclusions are also devised based on principles of design of institutions to influence the nature of transaction costs.

The present work studies the concept of productivity in shipbuilding and how it should be measured. The existing metrics, shipbuilding process and shipyard organization were studies in order to choose the most adequate metrics which would allow the measuring of a shipyard productivity in a systematic and holistic way. This is achieved by gathering the man-hours spent in each ship organized by cost centre and using Compensated Gross Tonnages as the measure of output from the shipyard. Data was gathered for thirty ships built in the same European yard organized by cost centre. From the data collected it was found that the ratio of hours spent in outfitting to the hours spent in structures is proportional to the complexity of the ship. There was also opportunity to study the work reduction resulting from building ships in series and the shares of labour for ships series and across ship types.

The present work aimed to validate a low-cost passive monitoring procedure. For its validation, the monitoring of atmospheric organic pollutants - polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) was carried out in a capital of the central-western region of Brazil. The sensors were fixed on poles intended for electrification during the dry season. After 15 days, samples were extracted by solvent extraction and analysed by High-Resolution Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detector (HRGC-FID). For the validation of the procedure, PAHs monitored and standardised by the American Environmental Agency (EPA), a benchmark for environmental monitoring of air quality by several countries, were analysed. The results demonstrated that the low-cost passive monitoring method was effective in the quantification of PAH in the environment-air, capable of being used by countries that do not have many resources for monitoring air quality.

This academic article examines the effectiveness of international humanitarian intervention in conflict zones. Humanitarian intervention refers to the use of military, diplomatic, or economic measures by external actors to protect civilians, promote human rights, and alleviate suffering in areas affected by armed conflict. The research employs a comprehensive approach, incorporating content analysis, case study, and historical analysis in its methodology. It explores the key challenges faced by international actors in implementing humanitarian interventions and evaluates their impact on conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. Through this thorough analysis of case studies and scholarly literature, this article contributes to the ongoing debate surrounding the efficacy of international humanitarian intervention.

The number of entrepreneurship education programs (EEP) has increased exponentially over the past two decades. However, a systematic review has not yet been carried out to confirm the effectiveness of EEPs and their presence in the current global world. The main objective of this study was to provide a systematic synthesis of EEP, exploring their characteristics and effectiveness. The search was carried out in the following databases: Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest and ERIC. Twenty-nine articles were included, with programs developed mainly in European (n=15), Asian (n=6) and American (n=5) countries. The programs were mainly aimed at higher education students (n=17), addressing the development of business plans and entrepreneurial skills. However, greater attention is paid to the entrepreneurial skills in both basic and secondary education. The development of the programs under analysis varied between one week and two years. The results of the studies showed the effectiveness of most of these programs in promoting entrepreneurial skills at all levels of education. In turn, there was not a verified increase in the intention to start a business, since this intention is determined by predisposition, namely socio-cultural and family aspects. This systematic review of the EEP points to the need for this type of program to be preferentially developed since the early school years, since it is at that time that predispositions are created for the development of entrepreneurial skills and intentions. This condition is corroborated by the global geography of the EEP, which demonstrates that, where there is currently an entrepreneurial culture, countries have made a long educational journey, with strategic options from the perspective of educational policies defending entrepreneurship among the younger generations.

Social media has become part and parcel of the world of today. These days, it’s still the most talked about thing. It cannot be overlooked because it plays a key role in our business functions such as marketing and advertising. Social Media is all about collaboration on files, ideas and projects that help users and stakeholders to successfully complete the project. It influences how people communicate, develop relationship, build trust, increase transparency and provide cultural context. The fundamental aim of this research is to investigate the capacity for project management in social media. This paper explains how social media is used for project management knowledge areas and process groups. Also this research aims to identify SM tools that can be suitable for project management processes. Two studies Delphi Study of three rounds and structured case study interview are used to investigate the impact on the performance of the project team and process robustness. These studies support social media use by accessing the contribution to relationship building, trusts, coordination and cohesion.

Thailand has formulated her climate change policy and updated relevant plans and policies to align with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality and net zero GHG emissions. This study investigates the optimal level of GHG mitigation in Thailand, taking into account the marginal abatement cost (MAC) and social cost of carbon (SCC). It evaluates how energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies influence GHG reduction in the power and industrial sector and illustrates policy recommendations that align with the 2020 to 2050 policy and plan period. The findings indicate that there may be instances where GHG mitigation potential is insufficient to reach the national mile-stone. In such cases, it becomes imperative to leverage all technologies within the marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) and also utilization of the social cost of carbon for policy decision making and meeting the desired goals. In certain scenarios, the adoption of additional technologies or measures may be necessary, such as flexible power generation and deploying carbon capture and storage or hydrogen which are high-cost technologies. Furthermore, preparations should be made for multiple levels of climate change policies and plans beyond 2030.

This paper aims at trying to answer the question of whether a low cost drone equipped with a regular camera can serve as a simple device to estimate the size of objects. Ad-ditionally, it assesses if the accuracy of measurement is good enough for using a drone for measurements, relying solely on GPS position and camera. A review of the literature pertaining to ground object measurements was conducted. The availability of such in-struments was evaluated in terms of purchase and rental costs, the number of instru-ments on the market, and the time to obtain them. The most common measurement methods were considered and their unit costs were reviewed. The cost of professional surveying and measuring equipment was compared to the possibility of using low-cost, non-commercial drones to measure objects and surfaces. The quality of the images ob-tained was compared with high-resolution satellite systems. Is an ordinary drone with a standard camera suitable for length measurement without professional measuring equipment? Should the results be considered only in the category of size estimation?

This review examines the quality of capital investment. It explores the essential components and analysis involved in financially assessing an engineering project, including an assessment of various associated risks. Additionally, the review delves into the historical progression of current capital budgeting practices and surveys academic research in the field. The evaluation of investments has been a recognized challenge for the past thirty years, but it has recently gained renewed attention from both management and scholars. Investments constitute a significant and growing portion of organizations’ capital expenditures. However, assessing the impact of investments on pursued goals is challenging. Consequently, there is a strong demand for methods and techniques that can aid in evaluating investments during the proposal stage. This paper explores several investment strategies and Examines the criteria for investment.

Background: The clinical impact of withdrawal of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) on the all-cause readmission in patients with heart failure remains unknown. Methods: Consecutive 212 patients who were hospitalized for heart failure and received SGLT2i during the index hospitalization between February 2016 and July 2022 were evaluated. Of these, 51 patients terminated SGLT2i during or after their index hospitalization. The primary outcome was defined as an all-cause readmission rates/times. Results: Over a median of 23.2 months, an all-cause readmission occurred in 38 of 51 patients (74.5%) withdrawn from SGLT2i and 93 of 161 patients (57.8%) with continuation of SGLT2i (p = 0.099). The total number of all-cause readmissions per year was 0.97 [0-1.50] in patients withdrawn from SGLT2i and 0.50 [0-1.03] in patients with continuation of SGLT2i (p = 0.030). There was no significant difference in total medical cost (62,906 [502-187,246] versus 29,236 [7,920-180,305] JPY per month, p = 0.866) between both patient groups. Conclusions: Termination of SGLT2i may be associated with incremental all-cause readmission and no benefit in reducing total medical costs.

Background: Alopecia areata is a skin disease that affects patients’ quality of life and social participation. Objective: To quantify the economic burden of alopecia areata and to map health services utilization among patients with alopecia areata.Materials and methods: Prospective and retrospective data sources, using both top-down and bottom-up approaches to estimate direct and indirect costs and to map health service utilization associated with alopecia areata in Romania in 2022.Results: In our study, the total cost of alopecia areata in Romania for 2022 was estimated at 46.289 million EUR for adult patients and 1.89 million EUR for pediatric patients, encompassing both mild and severe cases. The breakdown reveals that both mild and severe cases incurred the highest costs due to associated expenses, medical services, and treatment. As for children, the highest alopecia-related expenses were represented by associated expenses and treatment costs (for both severity levels).Conclusion: This is the first study to quantify the burden of alopecia areata in Romania. Additional studies are needed due to a low sample size. However, considering our estimations based on external data sources, alopecia areata should be considered when planning health service distribution.

With the global supply of LNG experiencing unprecedented growth, the industry is on the brink of a programmed glut, further exacerbated by the challenges posed by weaker energy pricing. In light of this, it is expected that marginal programs will be deferred temporarily, yet continuously assessed to enhance their economic potential in the future. Moreover, recent setbacks in LNG programs, such as cost overruns and delays, highlight the critical need for a unique conceptual design master plan. This plan will serve as a powerful tool to evaluate and optimize new programs, ensuring improved economic viability and boosting rates of return. By leveraging advanced analytical frameworks, innovative technologies, and comprehensive risk assessments, this study aims to develop a transformative approach that drives sustainable growth and profitability in the dynamic landscape of LNG program development." "This paper centers around the development of a comprehensive conceptual design master plan aimed at optimizing the total program economics across various areas, including sub-sea, offshore, and onshore advancements. The master plan serves as a crucial framework for identifying opportunities to reduce costs and enhance program definition, drawing insights from selective benchmarks derived from recent successful LNG programs. The ultimate objective is to boost the program rate of return while improving overall program definition, thereby mitigating the risks of cost overruns and schedule delays that have plagued the industry. By implementing this master plan, marginal programs stand a greater chance of becoming economically viable, fostering sustainable growth and enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions in the highly dynamic LNG landscape.

Forest harvesting generates variable amounts of residue that represent a fire hazard and a hindrance to regeneration and must be managed accordingly. In South Africa, burning is the most common residue management method, but there is an interest in introducing safer and more effective techniques, such as mulching. For that reason, a productivity study was conducted in the Eastern Cape province to gather information on the productivity, cost, and work quality of the three main alternatives: manual broadcasting, manual broadcasting followed by mulching with an adapted farm tractor and mulching with a purpose-built mulcher. Manual broadcasting required 16 h/ha, mulching with a farm tractor 3.6 h/ha, and mulching with a purpose-built mulcher 0.9 h/ha (one pass). Manual broadcasting was the cheapest option, at a cost of 400 ZAR/ha. Mulching with a farm tractor and a purpose-built mulcher incurred a cost of 3 267 ZAR/ha and 4 083 ZAR/ha, respectively. Manual broadcasting achieved a minimal reduction of residue size, with 50% of the slash (branches and stem wood) having a mean length above 40 cm. When mulching with a farm tractor was applied, 49% of the slash (branches and stem wood) length reduced to about 30 cm. When a purpose-built mulcher was used, only 10% of the slash elements exceeded 40 cm length.

Regulatory monitoring networks are often too sparse to support community-scale PM2.5 exposure assessment while emerging low-cost sensors have the potential to fill in the gaps. Recent advances in air quality monitoring have produced portable, easy-to use, low-cost, sensor-based monitors, which has given a new dimension to the air pollutant monitoring and has democratized the air quality monitoring process by making monitors and results directly available at community level. This study used PurpleAir(c) sensors for PM2.5 assessment in California, USA. Evaluation of PM2.5 from sensors included Quality Assurance &amp; Quality Control (QAQC) procedures, assessment with respect to reference monitored PM2.5 concentrations, and formulation of a decision support system integrating these observations using geostatistical techniques. The hourly and daily average observed PM2.5 concentrations from PurpleAir monitors followed the trends of observed PM2.5 at regulatory monitors. PurpleAir monitored PM2.5 also captured the peak PM2.5 concentrations due to incidents like forest fire. In comparison with reference monitored PM2.5 levels, it was found that PurpleAir PM2.5 concentrations were mostly higher. The most important reason for PurpleAir higher PM2.5 concentrations was the inclusion of moisture or water vapor as aerosol in contrast to measurements of PM2.5 excluding water content in FEM/FRM and non-FEM/FRM monitors. On long term assessment (2016-2020), R2 was between 0.54 and 0.86 at selected collocated PurpleAir and regulatory monitors for hourly PM2.5 concentrations. Past research studies have been conducted for mostly shorter time periods (&lt;3-4 months) that resulted in higher R2 values between 0.80 to 0.98. This study aims to provide reasonable estimations of PM2.5 concentrations with high spatiotemporal resolutions based on statistical models using PurpleAir measurements. The methods of Kriging and IDW, geostatistical interpolation techniques, showed similar spatio-temporal patterns. Overall, this study revealed that low-cost, sensor based PurpleAir sensors could be effective and reliable tools for episodic and long-term ambient air quality monitoring.

The COVID-19 pandemic has expanded globally and caused serious consequence in both health system and the economy. MPV is one of two oral antivirals for COVID-19 with mild-to-moderate symptoms that have received FDA approval so far. This study aims to evaluate the cost-utility of using MPV in COVID-19 treatment. To compare the utility costs of MPV and non-MPV treatments for COVID-19 patients, we used a decision tree model. Data on clinical efficacy, cost, and quality of life were gathered from previous studies. The incremental effective cost ratio (ICER) calculated based on costs incurred and quality-adjusted life years (QALY), was considered as primary out-come. The total cost of MPV treatment and not using MPV was 15,362,516 VND (618 USD) and 15,771,262 VND (634 USD), respectively. The estimated QALY with using-MPV was 28.33, while without MPV was 19.72. The ICER was dominant, resulting in savings of 47,453 VND/QALY (1.9 USD). MPV is a cost-effective medication used to treat COVID-19. In mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients, MPV considerably lowers costs and improves quality of life. However, several clinical factors of the drug still need to be taken into account.

The paper explores the potential of a low-cost advanced video-based technique for the assessment of structural damage induced to buildings by seismic loading. A low-cost high-speed video camera was utilized for motion magnification (MM) processing of footages of a two-story reinforced concrete frame building subjected to shaking table tests. The damage after seismic loading was estimated by analyzing the dynamic behavior (i.e. in terms of modal parameters) and the structural deformations of the building in the MM videos. The results by MM were compared for method validation to damage assessment obtained by the analyses of conventional accelerometers and high-precision optical markers tracked by a passive 3D motion capture system. Also, 3D laser scanning to obtain an accurate survey of the building geometry before and after the seismic tests was carried out. In particular, accelerometers were also processed and analyzed by using several stationary and non-stationary techniques with the aim to analyze the linear behavior of the undamaged structure and the nonlinear structural behavior during damaging shaking table tests. The proposed MM-based procedure provided accurate estimate of the main modal frequency and the damage location through the analysis of modal shapes, which were confirmed by advanced analyses of accelerometric data.

Species dispersal from a territorial zone is a complex process. The reasons for species dispersal are determined by both natural and human factors. The purpose of this study is to develop a cost surface for a hypothetical landscape that accounts for various species dispersion features. With tigers (Panthera Tigris Tigris) as the focal species, a model for a hypothetical landscape has been built to predict the dispersion patterns of the species' individuals from one habitat patch to another. Initially, four major factors influencing tiger dispersal are explored. Following that, Game Theory assigns a score to each grid in the landscape matrix based on the landscape features in the focal landscape. Specific predefined ratings are also utilized for scenarios that are very complex and may change depending on variables, such as the interaction of the dispersing tiger with co-predators. The two scores mentioned above are combined to create a cost matrix that is shown across a landscape complex to estimate the impact of each landscape component on tiger dispersal. This approach helps wildlife managers develop conservation plans by recognizing important characteristics in the landscape. The results of the model like the one described in this work might be beneficial for a wide range of wildlife management activities such as corridor management, smart patrols, and so on. A cost surface over any focal landscape may serve as a basis for policy and purpose design based on current landscape conditions.

A disaster wrecks those affected. It spares many in the affected areas, yet those spared may be indirectly impacted. Specific risks are often inherent within a social system or physical location, but they can also be created due to unavoidable natural or technological hazards. The consequences, however, can be similar in that they wreak havoc in communities and destroy economic systems. The analytical framework of deterrence and coping has ascertained beneficial in many circumstances, but a cost benefit calculation is a must to infer the feasibility of planning strategy and resource allocation. This study points to the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of flood management by District Disaster Management Kulgam. The assessment is established on secondary pooled data collected from administration offices, NGOs, published Journals, and local and national newspapers. It also characterised the strategy, the technique adopted, and the sources of flood damage cost information. The totalled benefits report for 78686.18 lakh of rupees, and that of total costs account for 2218.75lakh of rupees. The Benefit-Cost ratio greater than one (>1) indicates that Flood Management in District Kulgam was economically feasible and successfully governed. The State of Jammu and Kashmir put up with necessary prevention and administration measures to break the spell of devastation due to floods to significant status.

The object of this work is to report some preliminary results on the mechanical harvesting of blueberry fruits of cv. Cargo® in the Piedmont region, one of the most productive areas of Italy that is specialized for fresh blueberry production. The automatization of harvesting operations could represent a competitive advantage for the investigated area’s blueberries supply chain, but could act as a limitation to maintaining the quality of fresh berries. A prototype machine and a commercial harvester (Easy Harvester®) were compared to manual picking, considering harvest efficiency (share of loss), labor productivity and harvesting cost. In the indicated context, the cost of labor exceeds 2.00 euros per kg of sellable product. The use of the prototype allowed a 37% re-duction of this cost, and the use of the Easy Harvester® allowed a reduction of about two thirds. It should be emphasized that these positive performances do not consider two other aspects: the re-duction in the marketable volume (attributable to losses in the harvest and post-harvest phase), and the reduction in the net sale price by 0.30 euros due to the sorting/selection costs in the ware-house. In this study, we highlight how the transition to mechanical harvesting requires the trans-formation of several farming and warehouse operations, such as new crop varieties, new field configurations, and new packaging processes. However, a possible technical improvement of the Easy Harvester® machine could represent an opportunity for Italian companies in the planning of the production and marketing of berries, involving all actors of the supply chain. Further research on the use of mechanization in the sector must still be continued and supported.

Three Dimensional Variational data assimilation or analysis (3DVAR) is one of most classical methods for providing the initial values for numerical models. In this method, the dimensions of the background error covariance and the observational error covariance matrices are large. Therefore, it is difficult to get the inverse of the covariance matrices and to reduce the orders of these matrices without information loss. With the use of the Sylvester Equation, on the basis of a new linear regression, a new cost function for 3DVAR was given. For the first-guess m×n field, there is an approximate 1−(m²+n²)/(mn×mn) reduction with m>1 & n>1 by using the cost function. The results of the numerical experiments show that the effect of this algorithm is no worse than that of the old cost function for 3DVAR.