UCO (Ultra Clean Oil) module, an innovative adaption of existing used rolling oil treatment in the Aluminum industry, is being studied for its potential market in China. In this article, conventional used rolling oil treatment process in China has been evaluated and compared with the UCO module in technical and economic aspects. This article also discusses the effect of these two processes on the environment. The UCO module presented in this article, has the potential to significantly reduce the impurities in the used rolling oil and also save the cost for the raw materials, manpower, maintenance and operation for more than 1,600,000 Kr a year. With the new ― state of art‖ equipment, the UCO module has less negative effect on the environment. The UCO module appears to be more efficient but profitability was found to be lower than the conventional process in China.

Interest in the use of medical cannabis for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy in children has grown over the last decade; however, little is known about its potential benefits and harms, cost-effectiveness, or the perspectives of key stakeholders. In this thesis, a health technology assessment approach was adopted to assess the intended and unintended consequences of medical cannabis use in the treatment of pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy. This thesis comprises three main sections: (1) a living systematic review of the benefits and harms of medical cannabis for the treatment of pediatric epilepsy, including drug-resistant forms; (2) an economic evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of medical cannabis for the treatment of pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy, and (3) qualitative exploration of the perspectives of neurologists and parents of children with drug-resistant epilepsy about the use of medical cannabis in this population. While neurologists generally perceived medical cannabis as a viable treatment option for drug-resistant epilepsy in children, particularly after other treatments have failed, they identified several gaps in the evidence base, including a lack of long-term studies and a lack of evidence related to cannabinoids other than cannabidiol. This is in keeping with the findings of the living systematic review, which support a beneficial role for medical cannabis in reducing seizures associated with drug-resistant epilepsy, although the certainty of the evidence was moderate at best. Parents described experiencing many barriers to accessing medical cannabis for their children, primarily related to finding a health care provider to authorize its use, the high cost of cannabis-based treatments, and a lack of reimbursement through public or private insurance programs. However, cannabinoid oil may be a more cost-effective treatment for some types of pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy compared with antiepileptic drugs currently reimbursed by some provincial insurance programs. These findings suggest that medical cannabis is a potentially effective and cost-effective treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy that may addresses an unmet need. However, additional studies are needed to address uncertainty related to the long-term benefits and harms of cannabis-based products, particularly with respect to products available in Canada.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第19977号 / 工博第4221号 / 新制||工||1653(附属図書館) / 33073 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科社会基盤工学専攻 / (主査)教授 川﨑 雅史, 教授 中川 大, 准教授 久保田 善明 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

This degree project was carried out at the transport design office Setec International, in Paris, from August 3rd to December 18th, 2020. I was part of the team in charge of the post-evaluation of the A150 highway.Permanent observatories are organizations that bring together public and private actors in order to collect early and systematically data to analyze the effects of a transport infrastructure. They have been set up since the 1980s, mainly on French highways. In particular, they contribute to the production of a posteriori assessments known as "LOTI". The objective of this project is to qualitatively evaluate the contribution of these observatories to socio-economic evaluations, both for "classic" and "wider economic" effects. The methods used are the "practical" experience of carrying out the LOTI assessment of the A150, the study of reports describing the results of the A39 and A71 observatories, and the analysis of reports from the State services on the quality of LOTI assessments.The permanent observatories limit some of the pitfalls of ex-post assessments linked to the measurement of classic effects, especially traffic and journey times. They also highlight the effects of a construction site and the strategies of the economic actors. However, they retain certain limitations of ex-post assessments such as the spatial and temporal scale, or the concessionaire's willingness not to disclose certain data. Thanks to early and regular data collection, permanent observatories seem to contribute significantly to the analysis of classic and wider economic effects, they limit the risk of poor quality analyses. Nevertheless, they do not seem indispensable for the production of studies of satisfactory quality.The rare data available on the cost of the observatories suggest that it is very low compared to the amounts invested in construction. Thus, in comparison with these costs, this end-of-study project gives a positive qualitative assessment of the contribution of permanent highway observatories to socio-economic studies. However, this study is limited by the amount of data available due to the non-mandatory nature of setting up permanent observatories.

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[pt] Desastres variam em diferentes aspectos, como intensidade, impactos, tipo, duração, início e consequências. É um grande desafio buscar uma metodologia de avaliação de custos econômicos de desastres, sejam de pequenas ou grandes proporções, de início súbito ou lento, bem como para gerenciar seus respectivos custos (diretos, indiretos, interrupção de serviços, intangíveis). Dentro deste contexto, as mídias sociais, por serem uma fonte de dados com informações públicas, disponíveis em tempo real e com baixo custo de coleta, tornam-se fontes de dados importantes neste processo. Desta forma, o objetivo principal desta tese é propor uma metodologia de avaliação econômica de desastres baseada nas informações coletadas através das mídias sociais. Para atingir este objetivo, revisões sistemáticas da literatura (RSL) foram realizadas para compreender o estado da arte das metodologias de avaliação existentes e analisar como as mídias sociais podem ser utilizadas para suportar a avaliação econômica de desastres. Os resultados das RSL fornecem uma taxonomia, um framework e uma agenda de pesquisa que servem de base para criação de uma inédita metodologia de avaliação de custos econômicos de desastres, denominada AVECODE. Composta por três fases (Pré-evento, Desastre, Pós-evento) e duas áreas transversais (Coordenação e Tecnologia), a AVECODE é aplicada em um estudo de caso ocorrido no Rio de Janeiro em 2019, através do desenvolvimento de um protótipo e de dados coletados do Twitter. Os resultados desta aplicação são, então, comparados e analisados com a avaliação realizada pelo governo local. A AVECODE mostra-se uma importante ferramenta para concepção e implementação de políticas públicas, onde os resultados obtidos permitem a rastreabilidade das informações coletadas, a identificação de custos não contabilizados e averiguações nos quantitativos e custos gerados pelo governo local. Finalmente, a aplicação da metodologia em um estudo de caso permite ratificar a correlação da metodologia proposta com a prática. / [en] Disasters vary in different aspects, such as intensity, impacts, type, duration, onset, and consequences. Therefore, it is a great challenge to seek an economical cost assessment methodology to deal with disasters, whether small or large, of sudden or slow onset, as well as to manage their costs (direct, indirect, service interruption, intangibles). Within this context, social media, as a source of data with public information, available in real-time and with a low cost of collection, become a crucial data source in this process. Thus, the main objective of this thesis is to propose a methodology for the economic assessment of disasters based on information collected through social media. For that purpose, a systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out to understand the state of the art of existing assessment methodologies and to analyze how social media can be applied to support economic disaster assessment. The results of the SLR provide a taxonomy, a framework, and a research agenda that serve as a basis for creating an original methodology for assessing economic costs of disasters, named AVECODE. Comprised of three phases (Pre-event, Disaster, Post-event) and two transversal areas (Coordination and Technology), AVECODE is applied in a case study that took place in Rio de Janeiro in 2019, through the development of a prototype and data collected from Twitter. The results of this application are compared and analyzed with the disaster evaluation carried out by the local government. AVECODE proves to be a valuable tool for the design and implementation of public policies, where the results obtained allow the traceability of the collected information, the identification of unaccounted costs, and inquiries in the amounts and costs estimated by the local government. Finally, the application of the methodology in a case study allows us to confirm the correlation between the proposed methodology and practice.

Background: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of motor neurons. Preference-based measures (PBMs) of health-related quality of life (HRQL) can be utilized for cost-effectiveness analyses of interventions in individuals with ALS. However, current measures are generic (GPBMs) and the psychometric properties of these measures have not yet been evaluated in ALS. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the psychometric properties of GPBMs in ALS by 1) conducting a systematic review of the psychometric properties of GPBMs, and 2) assessing the content and convergent validity of GPBMs in ALS. Methods: Two studies were conducted. First, a systematic review was performed, and four databases were searched to identify studies that used and reported on the psychometric properties of GPBMs in ALS. Second, participants were recruited from three clinical sites across Canada and outcome measures were administered through an online or hardcopy survey. Areas of importance to the HRQL of individuals with ALS were identified using the Patient Generated Index (PGI), mapped against GPBMs to determine their coverage and scores were compared to determine convergent validity. Results: For the first study, the EQ-5D-3L was found to be the most commonly used GPBMs in ALS. It demonstrated convergent and known-groups validity however, significant floor effects were observed. For the second study, results indicated that the majority of GPBMs identified approximately half of the areas impacted by ALS. In addition, there were several domains not identified by GPBMs. Conclusion: This thesis highlights the importance of complete psychometric evaluation of measures in ALS. There is the need for the development of an ALS specific preference-based measures that reflects the health concerns of individuals with ALS; as GPBMs used in ALS were evaluated and deemed to be lacking in support for their usage in ALS. / Thesis / Master of Science Rehabilitation Science (MSc) / Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease that causes individuals to lose their strength and eventually the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe. Questionnaires can be used to understand the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of individuals with ALS however these measures do not always reflect the experiences of these individuals. The goal of this dissertation was to identify whether measures truly capture areas important to individuals with ALS. In our studies, we found that there is little proof in the accuracy of measures used. In addition, the measures do not fully capture the areas of life important to individuals with ALS. This is important to help researchers and health care professionals understand the effects of ALS on HRQL. These results will help them determine which treatments are worthwhile and the best to use in practice and provide recommendations for future research.

Yes / Health and care services for patients may improve or harm the wellbeing of their family carers. Formal consideration of these effects (also known as spillovers) in decision-making is advocated, but, to date, little is known about how they occur. This paper presents the first empirical study to determine the mechanisms by which health and care services affect family carers' wellbeing. The study focused on three major health conditions: dementia, stroke, and mental health. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 49 purposefully sampled care professionals and family carers in the UK between December 2016 and September 2017. Transcripts were coded and analysed thematically, using descriptive accounts and an explanatory account. The analysis generated six over-arching mechanisms by which health and care services affect family carers' wellbeing, through: (i) information (degree to which service delivery informs and trains family carers); (ii) management of care (shifts of responsibility for care between formal and family sectors); (iii) patient outcomes (services changing patient outcomes); (iv) alienation (feelings of alienation or inclusion created by service delivery); (v) compliance (barriers to patients complying and engaging with services); and (vi) timing or location (changes in the timing or location of services). Each mechanism was associated with sub-themes relating to both positive and negative spillovers on the family carers. The six mechanisms can be summarised with the mnemonic ‘IMPACT’. The IMPACT mechanisms may be useful in designing and evaluating services to optimise the wellbeing of carers as well as patients. / Hareth Al-Janabi is funded by a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Career Development Fellowship (CDF-2015-08-025) for this research project. Mel Calvert is partially funded by the NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Birmingham. This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

This diploma thesis deals with a cost-benefit analysis of investments in road infrastructure. The thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical part includes a description of the cost-benefit analysis procedure and a deeper description of evaluating investments in road and highway constructions. The practical part deals with the specific investment for the construction of highway. This involves applying information from the theoretical part to this specific investment and evaluating the economic efficiency, including risk analysis. The main indicator of the economic efficiency is the net present value.

This thesis explores the use of observational microdata in cost-effectiveness analysis. The application of econometric methods adjusting for selection bias is first reviewed and critically appraised in the economic evaluation literature using a structured template. Limitations of identified studies include lack of good quality evidence regarding the performance of different analytical approaches; inadequate assessment of the sensitivity of their results to violations of fundamental assumptions or variations to crucial estimator parameters; failure to combine the cost and effectiveness outcomes in a summary measure; and no consideration of stochastic uncertainty for the purpose of evaluating cost-effectiveness. Data from the Birthplace national cohort study are used in an attempt to address these limitations in the context of an empirical comparison of estimators relying on regression, matching, as well as the propensity score. It is argued that although these methods cannot address the potential impact of unobservable confounding, a novel approach to bias-corrected matching, combining entropy balancing with seemingly unrelated regression, still has the potential to offer important advantages in terms of analytical robustness. The net economic benefit is proposed as a straightforward way to exploit the strengths of rigorous econometric methodology in the development of reliable and informative cost-effectiveness analyses.