• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.253-260
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• 2022

Existing web-based cost databases have proved invaluable for construction cost estimating. These databases have been utilized to compute approximate cost estimates using assembly rates, unit rates, and etc. These web-based databases can be used independently with traditional cost estimation methods (manual methods) or used to support BIM-based cost estimating platforms. However, these databases are rigid, costly, and require a lot of manual inputs to reflect recent trends in prices or prices relative to a construction project's location. To address this gap, this study integrated deep learning techniques with web-based price analysis to develop a database that incorporates a project's location cost estimating standards and current cost trends in generating a cost estimate. The proposed method was tested in a case study project in Lagos, Nigeria. A cost estimate was successfully generated. Comparison of the experimental results with results using current industry standards showed that the proposed method achieved a 98.16% accuracy. The results showed that the proposed method was successful in generating approximate cost estimates irrespective of project's location.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.72-76
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• 2015

Capital project benchmarking requires an effective cost normalization process to compare cost performance of projects accomplished in different time and location. Existing cost normalization approaches have been established based on the assumption that all required information for cost normalization is fully identified once a project is completed. Cost normalization, however, is sometimes required to evaluate phase-level outcomes of an ongoing project where the required information is not fully available. This paper aims to provide a cost normalization procedure for phase-based performance assessment. The procedure consists of three normalization steps: currency conversion, location adjustment, and time adjustment considering various scenarios where the required information is not fully identified. This paper also presents how the cost normalization procedure has been applied to the 10-10 Performance Assessment Program, which is a phase-based performance assessment system developed by the Construction Industry Institute (CII). Both researchers and industrial professionals can apply the cost normalization procedure to studies and practices regarding to cost estimation, feasibility analysis, and performance assessment.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.88-109
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• 1998

The main purpose of this study is to compare the traditional cost system and ABC(Activity Based Cost) system of clinical laboratory department in a hospital. The study subject was 296 services in clinical laboratory from March, 1997 to August, 1997. In a new costing system, cost for a lab test consist of direct cost element, activity based cost element, and allocated common cost element. In a traditional cost system, cost elements included direct cost element and indirect cost allocated based on test volumes The major findings of this research were as follows. 1. In the application of ABC system, total cost was analyzed as follows. Direct cost was 39.3% of total cost. Activity cost and allocation were 20.9% and 39.8%, respectively. The results of analysis to use traditional cost system were as follows. Direct cost was 39.3% and it was as same as the result of direct cost of ABC system. Indirect cost was 60.7%. 2. Activities of clinical laboratory of subject hospital were registration, pre-test operation, test, test result handling, delivery, culture, post-test operation, technical support, management support, and educational support. 3. The differences of the case of higher number of test case being carried out, the cost of ABC system was lower than the cost of traditional cost system. Otherwise in the case of lower number of test case being carried out, the rests have not been appropriately evaluated, and effective management were needed in clinical laboratory.

• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.36-43
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• 2016

The transformation time among queries in the database management system (DBMS) is responsible for the execution time of users' queries, because a conventional DBMS does not consider the transformation cost when queries are transformed for execution. To reduce the transformation time (cost reduction) during execution, we propose an optimal query transformation method by exploring queries from a cost-based point of view. This cost-based point of view means considering the cost whenever queries are transformed for execution. Toward that end, we explore and compare set off heuristic, linear, and exhaustive cost-based transformations. Further, we describe practical methods of cost-based transformation integration and some query transformation problems. Our results show that, some cost-based transformations significantly improve query execution time. For instance, linear and heuristic transformed queries work 43% and 74% better than exhaustive queries.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.133-144
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was conducted to verify the effectiveness of a cost management education program, focusing on the differences between a web-based group and a mobile-based group. Method: This was a quasi-experimental study using a two-group pretest-posttest design. Participants were 74 nurses in a web-based group and 69 nurses in a mobile-based group. Data were collected between January 2 and February 10. The cost management education program was configured such that the participants studied eight modules over four weeks. The after-program post-test was conducted for one week. Results: Both the web-based group and the mobile-based group showed significantly higher values for cost management knowledge (S=5.98, p<.001 and S=2.76, p=.006, respectively). The web-based group had statistically significantly higher values for cost management knowledge (S=4,461.50, p<.001) than the mobile group. Conclusion: The cost management education program showed improvement in knowledge in both the web-based and mobile-based groups; however, the web-based approach was more effective for nurses. A cost management education program which can be implemented effectively across all range of nurses is recommended.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.182-186
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• 2011

Early cost estimates are important to decision-making for a construction project. Moreover, the possibility of reducing the project cost is getting less as the project is progressed. Case-based reasoning (CBR), which can be viewed as an effective method for early cost estimating, is widely utilized recently. Early cost estimates using CBR have advantages over the traditional ones as they produce reasonable outputs and self-studying is possible by simply adding new cases. Case-based reasoning is composed of a cycle of retrieve, reuse, revise, and retain process. However, in the majority of research cases, they are focused on how to retrieve the similar cases, instead of revising the cases which is expected to increase accuracy results of cost estimation. This research suggests a method of revising retrieved similar cases in a GA-CBR cost model which is widely studied and utilized for early cost estimating recently. To validate the proposed method, case study is conducted based on Korean public apartment projects.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.295-305
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the economic efficiency of a community-based nursing care center to help policy makers determine whether or not to invest in similar facilities. Methods: The subjects were 101 elderly people over 65 years who participated in a health management program from February 1 to July 31, 2007. Direct cost was estimated with center operations cost, medical cost for out-patients and pharmacy cost. Indirect cost was measured by transportation cost. Direct benefit was calculated by saved medical cost for out-patients, saved pharmacy cost, saved transportation cost, and reducing hospital charges. Indirect benefit was estimated with prevention of severe complications. Economic efficiency was evaluated by cost-benefit ratio and net benefit. Results: Operating a community-based nursing care center was found to be cost-effective. Specifically, the cost of operating the center evaluated here was estimated at 135 million won while the benefit was estimated at 187 million won. Benefit-cost ratio was 1.38. Conclusion: The Community-based nursing care center that was described here could be a useful health care delivery system for reducing medical expenditures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Operations and Management Science Society Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.481-484
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• 1996

When logistics system is integrated with production system and marketing system, it takes a very important role of the business management. In general, measurement of logistics cost in logistics system uses the conventional cost assignment method. However the conventional method may result in the incorrect cost because the overhead cost may be incorrectly assigned to the products. Activity-Based Costing(ABC) was proposed as an alternative method which will distribute the overhead cost to each cost obeject more accurately. ABC assigns cost to activities based on the amounts of resources used by resource driver, and assigns cost to cost objects based on the amount of activities driver. This study proposes two heuristic algorithms. The first algorithm selects the best activity driver for each cost object by using correlation analysis. The best activity driver is the one that minimizes the sum of loss cost and measurement cost of activity driver. The second algorithm selects the best number of activities by using correlation analysis. The pair of activities with the highest correlation are combined into one if the saving of measurement cost is no less than the loss due to inaccurate distribution of overhead cost. In order to demonstrate the procedure and validity of the algorithms, Real data of one year from a paper manufacturer are used.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.849-858
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• 2015

This study set the pyroprocess facility at an engineering scale as a cost object, and presented the cost consumed during the unit processes of the pyroprocess. For the cost calculation, the activity based costing (ABC) method was used instead of the engineering cost estimation method, which calculates the cost based on the conceptual design of the pyroprocess facility. The calculation results demonstrate that the pyroprocess facility's unit process cost is $194/kgHM for pretreatment, $298/kgHM for electrochemical reduction, $226/kgHM for electrorefining, and $299/kgHM for electrowinning. An analysis demonstrated that the share of each unit process cost among the total pyroprocess cost is as follows: 19% for pretreatment, 29% for electrochemical reduction, 22% for electrorefining, and 30% for electrowinning. The total unit cost of the pyroprocess was calculated at $1,017/kgHM. In the end, electrochemical reduction and the electrowinning process took up most of the cost, and the individual costs for these two processes was found to be similar. This is because significant raw material cost is required for the electrochemical reduction process, which uses platinum as an anode electrode. In addition, significant raw material costs are required, such as for $Li_3PO_4$, which is used a lot during the salt purification process.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2012

IP-based Wireless Sensor Networks (IP-WSNs) are gaining importance for their broad range of applications in health care, home automation, environmental monitoring, industrial control, vehicle telematics, and agricultural monitoring. In all these applications, a fundamental issue is the mobility in the sensor network, particularly with regards to energy efficiency. Because of the energy inefficiency of network-based mobility management protocols, they can be supported via IP-WSNs. In this paper, we propose a network-based mobility-supported IP-WSN protocol called mSFP, or the mSFP: "Multicasting-supported Inter-Domain Mobility Management Scheme in Sensor-based Fast Proxy Mobile IPv6 Networks". Based on [8,20], we present its network architecture and evaluate its performance by considering the signaling and mobility cost. Our analysis shows that the proposed scheme reduces the signaling cost, total cost, and mobility cost. With respect to the number of IP-WSN nodes, the proposed scheme reduces the signaling cost by 7% and the total cost by 3%. With respect to the number of hops, the proposed scheme reduces the signaling cost by 6.9%, the total cost by 2.5%, and the mobility cost by 1.5%. With respect to the number of IP-WSN nodes, the proposed scheme reduces the mobility cost by 1.6%.