There are two key challenges to creating the next generation applications: assembly and differentiation. Robust, inexpensive assembly is required at the very lowest levels (assembling nanoscale low-power economical computing devices) and the highest levels (assembling distributed applications from reusable low-cost software components). Differentiation is less obvious, but in some sense a more ...

Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of mortality among firefighters. We sought to develop a valid method for determining the costs of a workplace prevention program for firefighters. In 2012, we developed a draft framework using human resource accounting and in-depth interviews with experts in the firefighting and insurance industries. The interviews produced a draft cost model with 6 components ...

This review aims to evaluate the current literature on the procedural costs of bariatric surgery for the treatment of severe obesity. Using a published framework for the conduct of micro-costing studies for surgical interventions, existing cost estimates from the literature are assessed for their accuracy, reliability and comprehensiveness based on their consideration of seven 'important' cost ...

Software testing and maintenance account for as much as two-thirds of the cost of software production. Program analysis techniques ooer the potential to automate testing and maintenance tasks, and thereby reduce the cost of these tasks. An emerging paradigm of software development that promises to enhance software productivity and quality composes software from independently-developed component...

Information systems require strategic planning in order to adapt their functionality and quality to the needs of health care organizations. Next to effectivity, cost efficiency in supplying and operating information systems is a particular objective. Hospital information systems with their technical infrastructure, their application systems and the hereby supported business functions can be des...

Cost optimization will be essential to the economic viability of future many-robot systems. Unfortunately, cost-optimal design will often depend sensitively on the performance and costs of candidate sensor and other components, and on both explicit mission-specific and implicit common sense application requirements. The development of a standardized integration architecture providing multi-leve...

This paper presents time proven methods and strategies for creating, managing, and accessing a library of reusable software components and also software engineering strategies for designing and building reusable components with proper planning and execution, these methodologies will bring significant cost saving. In addition, cost-benefit guidelines are developed to help an organization decide ...

In some data envelopment analysis (DEA) applications, some inputs of DMUs have negative values with positive cost. This paper generalizes the global cost Malmquist productivity index to compare the productivity of different DMUs with negative inputs in any two periods of times under variable returns to scale (VRS) technology, and then the generalized index is decomposed to several components. T...