Search results for "Cost reduction"
showing 10 items of 20 documents
On the Convergence of Affective and Persuasive Technologies in Computer-Mediated Health-Care Systems
2015
This paper offers a portrayal of how affective computing and persuasive technologies can converge into an effective tool for interfacing biomedical engineering with behavioral sciences and medicine. We describe the characteristics, features, applications, present state of the art, perspectives, and trends of both streams of research. In particular, these streams are analyzed in light of the potential contribution of their convergence for improving computer-mediated health-care systems, by facilitating the modification of patients’ attitudes and behaviors, such as engagement and compliance. We propose a framework for future research in this emerging area, highlighting how key constructs and …
Allocating cost reducing investments over competing divisions
2007
This paper examines a three-stage model of divisionalization where, first, two parent firms create independent units, second, the parent firms allocate cost reduction levels over these units, and third, the resulting units compete in a Cournot market given their current costs of production. The introduction of the cost reduction phase is shown to reduce the incentives toward divisionalization severely, relative to other existing models. Namely, the scope for divisionalization in equilibrium reduces as the marginal cost of the cost reducing investment decreases, and eventually vanishes. A second-best welfare analysis shows that, for any given market structure, the equilibrium investment deci…
Optimal design of cogeneration plants for seawater desalination
2004
Multi-stage flash (MSF) and reverse osmosis (RO) are the most common techniques for seawater desalination. A significant difference between these methodologies consists of their different energy requirements, i.e., thermal energy for MSF and mechanical energy for RO plants. The presence of both desalination systems (MSF and RO) appears to be suitable for cogeneration plants. The reject heat from the power cycle can feed an MSF section, while some power feeds the RO section and the MSF auxiliary equipment; the rest is sold to the grid. A criterion for the optimal design of such tri-functional cogeneration plants is proposed, based on exergo-economics and on profit maximization. In particular…
Smart grid-aware scheduling in data centres
2015
In several countries the expansion and establishment of renewable energies result in widely scattered and often weather-dependent energy production, decoupled from energy demand. Large, fossil-fuelled power plants are gradually replaced by many small power stations that transform wind, solar and water power into electrical power. This leads to changes in the historically evolved power grid that favours top-down energy distribution from a backbone of large power plants to widespread consumers. Now, with the increase of energy production in lower layers of the grid, there is also a bottom-up flow of the grid infrastructure compromising its stability. In order to locally adapt the energy deman…
Radiation Shielding Study of Advanced Data and Power Management Systems (ADPMS) Housing Using Geant4
2008
The tendency to reduce the spacecraft mass covers nowadays all components of the spacecraft. One potential target is to reduce the mass of electronics and its housings. The use of composite materials, especially CFRP is a well known and vastly used approach to mass reduction. In cost reduction the use of standard (non-space qualified) electronics has increased. These commercial circuits and other components cannot tolerate as high radiation levels as space qualified components. Therefore the use of standard electronics components poses challenge in terms of the radiation protection capability of the ADPMS housings. The main goal of this study is to give an insight on the radiation shielding…
A Novel Operating Strategy for Customer-Side Energy Storages in Presence of Dynamic Electricity Prices
2015
In the wholesale energy market, electricity prices are determined by the balance between supply and demand. Normally, customers are not exposed to these variations but pay a constant electricity price. In an attempt to reduce demand peaks, several utilities are moving from a conventional fixed-rate pricing scheme to a new market-based model, based on time-of-use or real-time pricing, able to closely reflect the wholesale energy price. Electricity customers can thus take profit from the installation of storage systems, shifting their energy consumption from on-peak to off-peak periods. This paper presents a novel charging strategy to manage customer storage systems in presence of hourly elec…
Economic Aspects in the Treatment of Schizophrenia in Italy: Cost Consequences of an Early Long-acting Injectable Anti-Psychotics (lais) Approach
2017
PurposeThe aim of this analysis was to evaluate the economic consequences of a new treatment approach in the treatment of schizophrenia in the Italian setting. In terms of direct costs, in Italy was estimated that the main driver were represented by hospitalization and residential cost (71% of total direct cost per patient), followed by semi-residential services (13%), anti-psychotic and other drugs (8%) and ambulatory services (8).MethodsA probabilistic cost consequence model was developed to estimate the potential cost reductions derived from an early treatment with atypical long-acting injectable anti-psychotics (aLAIs) drugs. A systematic literature review was carried out to identify di…
Optimization of BESS Capacity Under a Peak Load Shaving Strategy
2018
Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are becoming increasingly competitive in the global energy landscape, thanks to the strong cost reduction that has taken place in recent years and it is expected to continue in the next future. Among the many benefits BESSs can provide, time shifting can be exploited by electricity consumers to save on the electricity bill, charging the storage during the off-peak hours and discharging when the cost of electricity is high. This paper describes a simple procedure to optimize the BESS capacity under a peak load shaving strategy, in presence of a time-of-use (TOU) electricity rate, able to guarantee, at the same time, the flattest daily power diagram and …
An Information system design product theory for the abstract class of integrated requirements and delivery management systems
2014
Information and Communications Technology-enabled international sourcing of software-intensive systems and services (eSourcing) is increasingly used as a means of adding value, reducing costs, sharing risks, and achieving strategic aims. To maximally reap the benefits from eSourcing and to mitigate the risks, providers and clients have to be aware of and build capabilities for the eSourcing life-cycle. China is in a position to become a superpower for eSourcing service provisioning, but most Chinese eSourcing service providers are small or medium-sized and typically work for larger intermediaries instead of end-clients, limiting their business and capabilities development. The extant litera…
Method and Practical Guidelines for Overcoming Enterprise Architecture Adoption Challenges
2017
During the last few years, interest towards Enterprise Architecture (EA) has increased, not least due to anticipated benefits resulting from adopting it. For instance, EA has been argued to provide cost reduction, technology standardisation, process improvement, and strategic differentiation. Despite these benefits, the EA adoption rate and maturity are still low. Consequently, EA benefits are not realised. A major reason hindering the adoption is that EA is not understood correctly. This paper aims for minimising the effect of the lack of understanding EA to adopting EA. Based on the research conducted in Finnish public sector, we propose an improved Enterprise Architecture Adoption Method…