Negative environmental consequences of fossil fuels and concerns about petroleum supplies have spurred the search for renewable transportation biofuels. To be a viable alternative, a biofuel should provide a net energy gain, have environmental benefits, be economically competitive, and be producible in large quantities without reducing food supplies. We use these criteria to evaluate, through l...

The purpose of this study was to describe the patterns of antidiabetic medication use and the cost of testing supplies in Canada using information collected by Saskatchewan's Drug Plan (DP) in 2001. The diabetes cohort (n = 41,630) included individuals who met the National Diabetes Surveillance System (NDSS) case definition. An algorithm was then used to identify subjects as having type 1 or ty...

Supply costs account for more than one-third of the average operating budget and constitute the second largest expenditure in hospitals. As hospitals have sought to reduce these costs, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has emerged as a solution. This study reviews existing literature to gauge the recent and potential impact and direction of the implementation of RFID in the hospi...

Supply costs account for more than one-third of the average operating budget and constitute the second largest expenditure in hospitals. As hospitals have sought to reduce these costs, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has emerged as a solution. This study reviews existing literature to gauge the recent and potential impact and direction of the implementation of RFID in the hospi...

An overview is given on selected cost-drivers within an assisted reproduction technology (ART) laboratory, such as procedural costs; sperm preparations; laboratory supplies including embryo culture media and cryopreservation. Depending on the nature of an ART unit, i.e. private vs. public/tertiary, the structure of the unit will differ with regards to costs, services offered, and general patien...

OBJECTIVE To assess cost and cost-effectiveness of immunization reminder/recall systems in the private sector. METHODS A manual postcard system (mail) was compared with a computer-based telephone system (autodialer) and control. Costs included time costs and the cost of equipment and supplies. The cost per child and the incremental cost of the intervention relative to control were computed. C...

This paper considers a dynamic lot size problem faced by a producer who supplies a single product to multiple customers. Characterized by their backorder costs as well as shipping costs, the customer with a high backorder cost is the one whose need for the product is more critical than the need of a customer with a low backorder cost. We show that the general problem with time-varying, customer...

Among the major costs associated with conducting survey research are the time and money spent recruiting a large and racially representative sample. Contrasted here are the costs of different recruitment strategies (agencies, support groups, snowballs, media, mass mailings) in terms of project time, supplies (e.g., postage, support materials), and staff time as they bear on the costs of recruit...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the health service cost of hemodialysis delivered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in St. Michael, Barbados. METHODS A cost analysis was performed from the viewpoint of the tertiary hospital studied here, using treatment protocols based on current practice for establishing vascular access sites (surgical set-up) and dialysis maintenance. Cost a...