Estimating confidence intervals for cost-effectiveness ratios: an example from a randomized trial

Cost-effectiveness ratios usually appear as point estimates without confidence intervals, since the numerator and denominator are both stochastic and one cannot estimate the variance of the estimator exactly. The recent literature, however, stresses the importance of presenting confidence intervals for cost-effectiveness ratios in the analysis of health care programmes. This paper compares the use of several methods to obtain confidence intervals for the cost-effectiveness of a randomized intervention to increase the use of Medicaid's Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) programme. Comparisons of the intervals show that methods that account for skewness in the distribution of the ratio estimator may be substantially preferable in practice to methods that assume the cost-effectiveness ratio estimator is normally distributed. We show that non-parametric bootstrap methods that are mathematically less complex but computationally more rigorous result in confidence intervals that are similar to the intervals from a parametric method that adjusts for skewness in the distribution of the ratio. The analyses also show that the modest sample sizes needed to detect statistically significant effects in a randomized trial may result in confidence intervals for estimates of cost-effectiveness that are much wider than the boundaries obtained from deterministic sensitivity analyses.     

A generalized scheme for mapping parallel algorithms

A generalized mapping strategy that uses a combination of graph theory, mathematical programming, and heuristics is proposed. The authors use the knowledge from the given algorithm and the architecture to guide the mapping. The approach begins with a graphical representation of the parallel algorithm (problem graph) and the parallel computer (host graph). Using these representations, the authors generate a new graphical representation (extended host graph) on which the problem graph is mapped. An accurate characterization of the communication overhead is used in the objective functions to evaluate the optimality of the mapping. An efficient mapping scheme is developed which uses two levels of optimization procedures. The objective functions include minimizing the communication overhead and minimizing the total execution time which includes both computation and communication times. The mapping scheme is tested by simulation and further confirmed by mapping a real world application onto actual distributed environments     

Assessment of sperm count in rural population of central India

26 clinician trainees' recollections of experiences in a diagnostic preschool program were analyzed in terms of strength and weaknesses of the program.     

Automated bank cheque verification using image processing and deep learning methods

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Automated bank cheque verification using image processing is an attempt to complement the present cheque truncation system, as well as to provide an alternate...     

Replication-Based Fault Tolerance for MPI Applications

As computational clusters increase in size, their mean time to failure reduces drastically. Typically, checkpointing is used to minimize the loss of computation. Most checkpointing techniques, however, require central storage for storing checkpoints. This results in a bottleneck and severely limits the scalability of checkpointing, while also proving to be too expensive for dedicated checkpointing networks and storage systems. We propose a scalable replication-based MPI checkpointing facility. Our reference implementation is based on LAM/MPI; however, it is directly applicable to any MPI implementation. We extend the existing state of fault-tolerant MPI with asynchronous replication, eliminating the need for central or network storage. We evaluate centralized storage, a Sun-X4500-based solution, an EMC storage area network (SAN), and the Ibrix commercial parallel file system and show that they are not scalable, particularly after 64 CPUs. We demonstrate the low overhead of our checkpointing and replication scheme with the NAS Parallel Benchmarks and the High-Performance LINPACK benchmark with tests up to 256 nodes while demonstrating that checkpointing and replication can be achieved with a much lower overhead than that provided by current techniques. Finally, we show that the monetary cost of our solution is as low as 25 percent of that of a typical SAN/parallel-file-system-equipped storage system.     

Molded electrode test system for evaluating wet electrical performance of flexible poly(vinyl chloride)

The molded electrode test system (METS) test has long been used with flexible poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) electrical insulation. However, there are many questions regarding its precision and accuracy, as there is no industry‐accepted standard regarding this test. This paper aims to answer some of these questions in terms of the measurement precision as well as the ability of the test to predict wet electrical performance on wire. A repeatability study was conducted on flexible PVC compound where 10 samples were produced and tested under identical conditions. The mean insulation resistance was (550 MΩ)/(305 m) with a standard deviation of (120 MΩ)/(305 m). As the thickness of the insulation increased, the insulation resistance decreased. Furthermore, the study showed that there was no correlation between the METS test and wet volume resistivity, while there was some correlation with wet insulation resistance (IR) at high temperature, though the ability to predict wet IR from the METS test was limited. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 18:178–183, 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Preparation and functional evaluation of agarose derivatives

A facile microwave‐assisted one‐pot synthesis of sodium carboxymethylagarose and calcium carboxymethylagarose from Gracilaria dura agarose (Ag) has been described. The process is user friendly, and the highest degree of substitution was obtained within 15 min compared with the conventional method, which requires more than 3 h. Solubility and gelling behavior of the modified Ag products were found to be dependent on degree of substitution of the products. The characterizations were done by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Inductively coupled plasma spectrophotometry (ICP), rheology, conductometer analysis, and DNA gel electrophoresis. These agarose derivatives were easily soluble in water and exhibited low thermal hysteresis, improved conductivity, and improved the DNA resolution ability of the parent G. dura Ag hydrogels. These hydrogels may have potential applications in the areas including electrochemical devices, microbiology, biomedical, and pharmaceuticals fields. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40630.     

Exergy analysis of small DI diesel engine fueled with waste cooking oil biodiesel

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the merits of exergy analysis over energy analysis for small direct injection (DI) diesel engine using the blend of waste cooking oil biodiesel and petroleum diesel. Taguchi’s “L’ 16” orthogonal array has been used for the design of experiment. The engine tested at different engine speeds, load percentages, and blend ratios, using the waste cooking oil biodiesel. Basic performance parameters and fuel input exergy, exergetic efficiency (second law efficiency), exergy associated with heat transfer, exergy associated with the exhaust gas and destruction of exergy are calculated for each blend of waste cooking oil biodiesel and diesel. Results show that the optimum operating conditions for minimum brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and exergy destruction are achieved when engine speed at 1900 rev/min, load percentage is 75%, and the engine is fueled with B40.     

Geosynthetic-sheet pile reinforced foundation for mitigation of earthquake and tsunami induced damage of breakwater

Earthquake and tsunami impose great threats on the stability of a breakwater. Foundation of the breakwater is weakened by these forces, and it may result in collapse of the breakwater. Lateral flow of seabed soils take place beneath the breakwater, and excess pore water pressure is generated in the foundation by an earthquake that precedes tsunami. These factors may lead to excessive settlement and horizontal displacement of the breakwater. Tsunami introduces additional instability to the deformed breakwater. Due to water level difference between seaside and harborside of the breakwater during a tsunami, seepage occurs through its foundation, and it may cause pipping of seabed soils. Tsunami induced scouring of mound is also a big problem for the stability of the breakwater foundation. Finally, these result in failure of the breakwater foundation. Due to failure of its foundation, the breakwater may collapse and cannot block the tsunami. It results in entering of the tsunami in coastal areas. In order to make a breakwater resilient against earthquake and tsunami induced damage, reinforcing countermeasures were developed for foundation of a breakwater. Geogrid, gabions and sheet piles were used for reinforcing a foundation model. The effectiveness of the model is evaluated through physical modeling for mitigating the earthquake and tsunami induced damage. Shaking table tests were performed to determine the effectiveness of the reinforced model under different earthquake loadings. Tsunami overflow test was conducted on the same deformed model in order to see the effects of tsunami on the model. Comparisons were made between the unreinforced and reinforced foundations, and it was observed during the tests that the reinforced foundation performed well in reducing the damage of the breakwater brought by the earthquake and tsunami. Overall, this study is useful for practice engineering, and the reinforced foundation model can be adopted for designing a breakwater foundation to reduce damage triggered by an earthquake and tsunami in the future.