In this paper, design and optimization procedures are developed for a conventional extractive distillation sequence and a thermally coupled extractive distillation scheme. The proposedmethodologies detect the optimal values of the design variables in order to guarantee theminimumenergy consumption. It was found that the optimumenergy consumption can be related to the minimum total annual operat...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and propose a fuzzy extended economic production quantity model based on an elaboratively modeled unit cost structure. This unit cost structure consists of the various lot-size correlative components such as on-line setups, off-line setups, initial production defectives, direct material, labor, and depreciation in addition to lot-size noncorrelative i...

BACKGROUND Rapid changes in lifestyle have led to a global obesity epidemic. Understanding the economic burden associated with the obesity epidemic is essential to decision making of cost-effective interventions. This study reviewed costs of obesity and intervention programs in Canada, assessed the scope and quality of existing cost analyses, and identified implications for economic evaluations...

This paper presents a three-level supply chain model which includes single supplier, several distribution centers and sets of retailers. For this purpose, by adopting the queuing approach, a mixed nonlinear integer programming model is formulated. The proposed model follows minimizing the total cost of the system by determining: 1) the number and location of distribution centers between candida...

Between 2006 and 2012 India reported an annual average of 20,474 dengue cases. Although dengue has been notifiable since 1996, regional comparisons suggest that reported numbers substantially underrepresent the full impact of the disease. Adjustment for underreporting from a case study in Madurai district and an expert Delphi panel yielded an annual average of 5,778,406 clinically diagnosed den...

In the UK, hospitals with annual platelet use of less than 500 pools, like our institution, usually do not store platelets on-site and these are only ordered from the national blood service (NBS) when a transfusion is required. In 2016, we piloted routine on-site storage of one pool of A RhD negative PLT. Data were collected retrospectively on units of PLTs ordered from NBS, units transfused to...

BACKGROUND Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for 6 months is the recommended form of infant feeding. Support of mothers through individual peer counselling has been proved to be effective in increasing exclusive breastfeeding prevalence. We present a costing study of an individual peer support intervention in Uganda, whose objective was to raise exclusive breastfeeding rates at 3 months of age. M...

despite the numerous advantages of large dams, there is still a deep suspicion about the real,long-term benefits and costs of their construction. land use change on a vast scale, displacement of a largepopulation of indigenous people, loss of biodiversity and production of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as environmental, socioeconomic and cultural consequences resulting therefrom, indicate c...

OBJECTIVE To compare the treatment costs of insulin glargine (IG; Lantus) to detemir (ID; Levemir), both combined with bolus insulin aspart (NovoRapid) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Germany. METHODS Cost comparison was based on data of a 1-year randomised controlled trial. IG was administered once daily and ID once (57% of patients) or twice daily (43%) according to treatment response. At the e...

BACKGROUND Modern drug therapy accounts for a major share of health expenditure and challenges public provider resources. The objective of our study was to compare drug expenditure trends for ten major drug classes over 16 years at Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), the 2(nd) largest healthcare organization in Israel. METHODS A retrospective analysis of drug expenditure per HMO beneficiary be...