Mass scale screening of common arboviral infections by an affordable,cost effective RT-PCR method

Objective:To develop a rapid,cost effective RT-PCR method for the mass scale diagnosis of such diseases at the vireraia stage to find out the actual disease burden in that area.Methods:For this purpose,cases with the history of only short febrile illness were considered.Thus 157 samples with the history of dengue/chikungunya like illness and only 58 samples with a history of acute encephalitis syndrome(AES)were selected.Results:Out of 157 samples,42 and 74 were detected as dengue and chikungunya,respectively and out of 58 AES cases only 23 could be detected as Japanese encephalitis by this RT-PCR method.Conclusions:This cost effective RT-PCR method can detect the total positive cases that remain undetected by EL1SA method.Moreover,this method is capable to detect the viral RNA from patients'sera even after the appearance of IgM antibody at one fifth costs as compared with the other commercially available kits.

An ideal point method adopting grey relational entropy to estimate life cycle cost with effectiveness of torpedo

To making the decision of the developing blue prints,ideal point method was selected to estimate the life cycle cost with effectiveness of torpedo.At the same time,the concept of grey relational entropy of the grey system theory was adopted to compute the distance between each blue print and the ideal point(or negative ideal point).The blue print,nearest to the ideal point and farthest to the negative ideal point,is the best one.As an example,four blue prints of torpedo were estimated.The result indicates the practical value of this method.

A Review of Deepwater Pipeline Construction in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico-Contracts, Cost, and Installation Methods

The offshore pipeline network in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is the largest and most transparent system in the world. A review of deepwater projects in the region provides insight into construction cost and installation methods and the evolution of contract strategies. Pipeline projects are identified as export systems, infield flowline systems, and combined export and infield systems, and three dozen deepwater pipeline installations from 1980–2014 are described based on Offshore Technology Conference(OTC) and Society of Petroleum Engineers(SPE) industry publications and press release data. Export lines and infield flowlines are equally represented and many projects used a combination of J-lay, S-lay and reel methods with rigid steel, flexible line, and pipe-in-pipe systems. The average 2014 inflation-adjusted cost for pipeline projects based on OTC/SPE publications was $2.76 million/mi and ranged from $520 000/mi to $12.94 million/mi. High cost pipelines tend to be short segments or specialized pipeline. Excluding the two cost endpoints, the majority of projects ranged from $1 to $6 million/mi. The average inflation-adjusted cost to install deepwater pipelines in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico based on available public data is estimated at $3.1 million/mi.

Analysis of Appraising Agricultural Intangible Asset Value by Cost Method

On the basis of describing the connotation of agricultural intangible asset and cost method,the technical ideas of appraising by cost method are introduced.The article analyzes the advantages(simple appraisal principle and easy to understand and grasp;overall consideration of various factors related to appraisal result value) and disadvantages(high appraisal cost;difficult to appraise and grasp various appraisal factors) of appraising by cost method.The article also summarizes the precondition of appraising by cost method:it is applicable to appraise the agricultural intangible asset which can be reproduced and afresh developed.Based on the cognition of agricultural intangible asset and the relevant rules of Ministry of Finance on appraisal of intangible asset by using cost method,the model of appraising agricultural intangible asset by cost method is constructed.That is:agricultural intangible asset value = replacement cost of agricultural intangible asset ×newness rate + opportunity cost of agricultural intangible asset.Determine and analyze parameters of the model,in order to offer references for appraisers to appraise agricultural intangible asset value more reasonably.

Natural Monopoly and Mixed Ownership Reform--Based on Natural Experiment and Cost Function Analysis Method

Despite a multitude of theoretical discussions on China's mixed ownership reform, very few studies have addressed realistic questions concerning the implementation of the reform. The Resolutions of the Third Plenum of the 18 th CPC Central Committee and other reform strategies have outlined the reform of sectors with natural monopoly, including urban public utility sectors. The question is how mixed ownership reform should be carried out in sectors of natural monopoly, or which public utilities sectors should enjoy priority of mixed ownership reform. To answer this question, this paper employs data of large public utility enterprises in China from 1998 to 2008, and estimates the natural monopoly attribute at the industry level and corporate total factor productivity(TFP) using cost function analysis method excluding the impact of product price factor. Based on the difference-indifferences-in-differences(DDD) method of natural experiment, an empirical test is carried out for the relationship among natural monopoly, mixed ownership reform and corporate productivity. Our results suggest that:(1) Statistically, mixed ownership reform cannot significantly increase corporate TFP in sectors with natural monopoly;(2) mixed ownership reform should not be carried out indiscriminately on a nationwide basis and for all public utilities sectors. Such an attempt of reform without distinguishing natural monopoly and the level of competitiveness is fraught with policy uncertainties;(3) relative to sectors with natural monopoly, corporate productivity in competitive sectors after mixed ownership reform will improve more significantly and enjoy greater "policy dividends" of institutional reform. Therefore, mixed ownership reform should be carried out first in competitive sectors.

Modem Cost Management in the Transport Company Through the Activity-Based Costing （ABC） Method

Road transport is a flexible mode of transport and its importance in era of globalization increases. Management of road transport companies is, in this turbulent environment, exposed to many technical, legislative, and economic problems. Especially, the growing economic pressure leads to an urgent requirement of the manager and control system improvement. Activity-based costing （ABC） method is a very powerful tool to improve products, services, processes, and market strategies. ABC allows company management to understand what causes costs and how to manage them. Company under this scheme may get a glimpse of how efficiently a company converts the source value. The main objective of our research was to assess the possibility of application of the ABC method in a transport undertaking. ABC method as a fundamentally different view on the cost in the transport business helps to find the reasons of cost and thereby influences their levels to make better use of resources.. New managerial accounting methods aim to show management what information is needed, how and where this information can be obtained, and how they can be useful for the management of the company＇s proper planning, decision-making, and control. Information provided by management accounting is often a key factor in the analysis of alternative ways of solving problems. This article focuses on the transport enterprise management and helps to decide on the use of this method in business practice.

Distribution Network Equipment Location and Capacity Planning Method Considering Energy Internet Attribute from the Perspective of Life Cycle Cost

For facing the challenges brought by large-scale renewable energy having access to the system and considering the key technologies of energy Internet,it is very necessary to put forward the location method of distribution network equipment and capacity from the perspective of life cycle cost.Compared with the traditional energy network,the equipment capacity problem of energy interconnected distribution network which involves in electricity network,thermal energy network and natural gas network is comprehensively considered in this paper.On this basis,firstly,the operation architecture of energy interconnected distribution network is designed.Secondly,taking the grid connection location and configuration capacity of key equipment in the system as the control variables and the operation cost of system comprehensive planning in the whole life cycle as the goal,the equipment location and capacity optimization model of energy interconnected distribution network is established.Finally,an IEEE 33 bus energy mutual distribution grid system is taken for example analysis,and the improved chaotic particle swarmoptimization algorithm is used to solve it.The simulation results show that the method proposed in this paper is suitable for the equipment location and capacity planning of energy interconnected distribution network,and it can effectively improve the social and economic benefits of system operation.

Application of Earned Value Method in Project Cost Management and Schedule Management

At present,with the rapid development of China's economy,the development of the construction industry has made a new breakthrough.Project management requires the construction industry to continuously play its role and value in improving the ability of project management.Earned value method,which is an important way in the field of project management,enables whole project management to rise to a new height.The specific principle of earned value method will be elaborated by fully introducing the specific role of earned value method in engineering projects to provide a reference and basis for practitioners to improve their management ability.

Delay-independent robust guaranteed-cost control for uncertain linear neutral systems

This article concerns the delay-independent guaranteed-cost control problem via memoryless state feedback for a class of neutral-type systems with structural uncertainty and a given quadratic cost function. New delay-independent conditions for the existence of the guaranteed-cost controller are presented in the term of LMIs. An algorithm involving optimization is proposed to design a controller achieving an optimal guaranteed-cost, such that, the system can be stabilized for all admissible uncertainties. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method.

Recreational value of glacier tourism resources：A travel cost analysis for Yulong Snow Mountain

Glaciers, with their unique and spectacular appearances and rich and varied terrain, have received widespread attention and become important tourist attractions. This paper uses the travel cost method to estimate the recreational value of the glacier tourism resources of Yulong Snow Mountain(also called Jade Dragon Snow Mountain), which is the most developed glacier tourist attraction in China. First-hand information was obtained through field surveys, and the travel costs of visitors visiting the Yulong Snow Mountain glacier were calculated before the method was applied to evaluate the recreational value of the focal glacier resource. The results show that the Yulong Snow Mountain consumer surplus associated with its glacier resources in 2016 ranged from 645.59-3439.10 million CNY, and the total recreational value ranged from 1.97-8.17 billion CNY. Approaches allocating travel costs across multiple recreational sites, however, can vary, and there is large difference in estimated results depending on used approaches. Nevertheless, the results of the analysis can help understand the socio-economic value of glacier resources and provide a reference for their development and protection.

The dynamic economic evaluation method of shale gas resources

At present, most shale gas exploration and development areas in China are difficult to provide sufficient and effective production data to support economic evaluation, since they are still in the initial stage of low exploration level. In addition, ecological and environmental factors are not taken into account in the evaluation process, which does not meet the needs of green energy development of China. Aiming at above problems, the dynamic economic evaluation method of shale gas resources based on calculus principle is proposed. The Arps hyperbolic decreasing curve model will be used in the evaluation of single shale gas well production, which can evaluate single well production of shale gas by fitting the existing dynamic production data to generate the production decreasing curve. Therefore, the variation regularity of the cumulative production of single well shale gas within the study area can be obtained by the model mentioned above. According to the variation regularity of the cumulative production obtained from the Arps hyperbolic decreasing curve model, the recovery period of single well cost, ultimate economic life and the ultimate economic resource can be evaluated dynamically by analyzing the variation regularity of the cumulative sales revenue and cumulative input cost of single shale gas well. Then the evaluation result can be further extend to the whole evaluation areas, in order to analyze shale gas resources ’ economic value in evaluation regions under different shale gas price conditions. The results of the above evaluation methods are not only conducive to improving the economic benefits of relative shale gas development enterprises, but also provide a basis for the national energy strategy deployment.

VPLS Based Quality and Cost Control for Tennessee Eastman Process

Product quality and operation cost control obtain increasing emphases in modern chemical system engineering. To improve the fault detection power of the partial least square (PLS) method for quality control, a new QRPV statistic is proposed in terms of the VP (variable importance in projection) indices of monitored process variables, which is significantly advanced over and different from the conventional Q statistic. QRPV is calculated only by the residuals of the remarkable process variables (RPVs). Therefore, it is the dominant relation between quality and RPV not all process variables (as in the case of the conventional PLS) that is monitored by this new VP-PLS (VPLS) method. The combination of QRPV and T2 statistics is applied to the quality and cost control of the Tennessee Eastman (TE) process, and weak faults can be detected as quickly as possible. Consequently, the product quality of TE process is guaranteed and operation costs are reduced.

超超临界火电站用COST-FB2转子钢控氮工艺研究

利用30 kg真空感应炉进行不同氮分压和渗氮时间条件下的气相渗氮实验和热力学计算,研究COST-FB2钢的气相渗氮工艺.使用ARL4460直读光谱仪、TC-500气体分析仪、HIR-944B红外分析仪等对冶炼铸锭中部成分进行分析.结果表明:渗氮压力≤20 kPa时,计算值和实验值吻合较好;气相渗氮是一级反应,渗氮时间为15 min时,钢中氮含量达到平衡值;氮分压为1.5~6 kPa时,COST-FB2钢中氮的质量分数可控制在0.015%~0.03%;为了避免浇铸过程中铸锭内部形成气孔缺陷,宜采用加压浇铸,压力至少为20 kPa;为避免钢中大颗粒BN的形成,钢中氮的质量分数应控制在0.015%~0.02%,冶炼时,氮分压应控制为1.5~3 kPa.

Cost control for real estate development projects in China - Part 1: Literature review

The background and purpose, and the current situation of the cost control theory of real estate development project are disscussed in the paper. Problems of cost control for real estate development projects in China are analyzed and summarized. According to the real estate development project cost control problems and related factors, a cost control index system of real estate development enterprise, and a cost control factors index system of real estate projects are constructed respectively. Cost control in the five stages of a real estate development project is introduced and summarized respectively. The five stages include: the investment decision-making, planning and design stage, the bidding phase, project implementation stage, and rental or sale.

Techniques for Determining the Treatment Costs of Cervical Cancer: A Systematic Review

Background: Uterine cervical cancer (UCC) represents a public health problem in many part of the world. The use of new technologies is leading to increased treatment costs, resulting in a substantial economic impact worldwide. Standardization of economic evaluation methods is needed to improve comparisons between jurisdictions. Objective: To identify the methods used to measure the cost of treating invasive UCC, and to search for correlations between cancer treatment expenditures and local economies. Methods: We searched articles in MEDLINE, LILACS, and SciELO with no language restrictions, and included publications from January 01, 2007 to December 31, 2016. Studies were included if they described the annual direct cost of invasive cervical cancer and detailed the costing method. Complete economic evaluations were excluded. Results were described in 2016 international dollars. Results: Of 1581 studies initially reviewed, 13 articles were included in the analysis. Six articles used a bottom-up;six used a top-down approach and one used both. Annual cost per patient varied from I$ 2146.22 (Poland) to 34,351.54 (Sweden). Middle-income countries (MIC) spent median 72.52% of its GDP per capita on the treatment of invasive cervical cancer, while high-income countries (HIC) spent median 30.12% (p = 0.032). No significant difference was found when separated by costing method. Conclusions: We found that, for the treatment costs of invasive UCC, the percentages of GDP per capita were statistically higher in MIC than in HIC. However, no significant difference was found between costing methods, and the top-down approach could be used.

A TRUST REGION ALGORITHM VIA BILEVEL LINEAR PROGRAMMING FOR SOLVING THE GENERAL MULTICOMMODITY MINIMAL COST FLOW PROBLEMS

This paper proposes a nonmonotonic backtracking trust region algorithm via bilevel linear programming for solving the general multicommodity minimal cost flow problems.Using the duality theory of the linear programming and convex theory,the generalized directional derivative of the general multicommodity minimal cost flow problems is derived.The global convergence and superlinear convergence rate of the proposed algorithm are established under some mild conditions.

An Improved Method of Joint Inversion Using GPS and Gravity Observation Data

On the basis of the dislocation theory and gravity observation, a joint inversion model is presented with a fitting factor A scaling amplitudes between the gravity and GPS observation data. The test results show that the new joint model is better than that taking the scale factor ）, as a constant from the inversion result of MSE （mean square error）. In addition, the random cost method used in the inversion algorithm is revised and improved, which shows that the improved random cost method can easily get the local minimum value and greatly decrease the iteration steps.

The Combined Application of WTP and WTA in Contingent Valuation Methods

The In most contingent valuation (CV) studies, WTP (Willingness to pay) and WTA (Willingness to accept) were often used separately, so protesting or no response or even babbling answers are increasing, and the debate persists over the reliability of CV in economic policy analysis. In order to improve the reliability of CV, WTP and WTA is used syn-chronously to estimate the restoration cost of Maqu grassland ecosystem. Data were partly from questionnaire survey, and partly from interviews and authorities. Before conclusions were derived, we assumed these data that came from interviews and authorities were right. The main result is: If we assumed that the degraded grassland of Maqu needs 10 years to be restored, and divided the restoring period into two stages, then the restoration cost was 0.85 × 108 RMB per year in former 4 years, 0.022 × 108 RMB per year in latter 6 years. The total cost of Maqu grassland restoration was 3.62 × 108 RMB. For all the costs of restoration, WTA occupied 94% and WTP only occupied 6%, suggesting that local grassland degradation was mainly caused by overgrazing and that the overloading livestock must be eliminated in order to achieve restoration successfully. Our research also showed that combining WTP and WTA in contingent valuation is very useful in estimating the cost of environmental improvement projects. Of course, whether these results are right or not, further researches are needed in the future, especially for the actual number of livestock in Maqu grassland.

Applying the Travel Cost Approach for Valuing Recreation Benefits of Fthiotida Coastal Zone

Recreation and beach use constitute core aspects of coastal tourism development since they incorporate various stakeholders at different levels and diverse activities. This research investigates the economical recreational value of the coastal zone between Molos and Arkitsa, in prefecture of Fthiotida, in Sterea Ellada region, in Greece. The study area provides substantial benefits to host community and remains an advantageous natural setting for tourism sustainable development. An economic valuation of the benefits largely assists the efforts of the local authorities to establish viable tourism products and preferred destination attributes. The travel cost method was used to estimate recreation demand. Based on personal and on site interviews 1,433 questionnaires were collected. The consumer surplus per day enjoyed by the visitors is 22,352.28 （Euros）. The analysis assigned a considerable value to the coastal zone. Results shed light on core issues such as environmental management and proper resource allocation in view of finding areas for further improvement so as to increase consumer surplus by satisfying the needs and wants of coastal visitors.