Hasil untuk "Costs"

Sigyel Delma, Don Gilmour, Francis E. Putz et al.

Abstract The Bhutan Government is exploring ways to generate revenue from its forest carbon. Community Forestry can contribute to this goal because of the presence of functioning Community Forest Management Groups (CFMGs) that can exercise effective local authority to ensure the adoption of management practices aimed at increasing carbon sequestration. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the issues associated with forgoing timber harvests in community forests as a potential forest-based carbon pathway. Assuming 50% leakage and transaction costs of $US 7 MgCO2 −1, the carbon break-even price needed to compensate a sample of 20 CFMGs for forgoing legally permitted timber harvests averaged $35 MgCO2 −1 (95% confidence interval 27–42). Under this scenario, an estimated $5 million ($45 ha−1) annually would be required to compensate CFMGs for an additional carbon sequestration benefit of 151,012 MgCO2, but this value is sensitive to factors such as leakage rates, transaction costs, and market conditions. Stakeholder perceptions about the trade-offs involved in managing community forests for carbon revealed a mix of positive and negative views across different stakeholder groups, highlighting both commonalties and differences. Before Bhutan engages in forest-based carbon markets, clarity is needed on issues such as carbon ownership, additionality, transaction costs, leakage, regulation of carbon sales and benefit distribution. By exploring the carbon pathway of forgoing timber harvesting and identifying the major information needs to engage in carbon markets, we provide the key elements of a framework for discussion of this and other forest carbon pathways (e.g., thinning and reforestation) to inform policy decision making.

Zhe Yu, Yiwei Lu, Hao Zhan et al.

One of the key expectations of AI product manufacturers for their products is the ability to scale to larger markets, especially across legal systems, with fewer prototypes and lower adaptation costs. This paper focuses on the increasingly dynamic legal compliance challenges faced by designers of AI products in achieving this goal. Based on non-monotonic reasoning, we design an automated reasoning tool to help them better understand the legal implications of their designs in a transnational context and, ultimately, adjust the design of AI products more flexibly. This tool supports the quantitative representation of the strength of legal significance to help designers better understand the reasons for their decisions from their own perspective. To illustrate this functionality, a case study on traffic regulations across the UK, France, and Japan demonstrates the system’s ability to resolve legal conflicts—such as driving-side mandates and speed radar detector prohibitions—through quantitative evaluation.

Adewunmi Akingbola, Olajumoke Adewole, Toluwalashe Soyemi et al.

Abstract Background Cholera continues to be a major public health threat, especially in regions with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water. Accurate prediction and management of cholera outbreaks are essential to reduce mortality and morbidity. This review focuses on the potential of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cycle threshold (Ct) values as an innovative tool for early detection and control of cholera outbreaks, specifically highlighting its utility in predicting outbreaks and guiding public health responses. Main body of abstract PCR Ct values offer a significant advantage in the early detection of Vibrio cholerae, the pathogen responsible for cholera, in both clinical and environmental samples. By providing quantitative data on bacterial load, lower Ct values indicate a higher concentration of the pathogen, signaling the potential for increased disease transmission. These values allow for more precise, real-time monitoring of cholera outbreaks and aid in targeting intervention strategies such as water sanitation improvements, vaccination campaigns, and antibiotic treatments. Moreover, the application of Ct values in environmental surveillance, particularly in monitoring water sources, offers a proactive approach to prevent the spread of cholera by identifying contamination risks before human cases arise. However, the implementation of PCR in low-resource settings faces significant challenges, including high costs, the need for advanced laboratory infrastructure, and a lack of technical expertise. Addressing these barriers through cost-effective innovations and capacity building initiatives is crucial for optimizing the use of PCR Ct values in cholera management. Conclusion PCR Ct values hold great promise for improving cholera outbreak prediction and control. Despite challenges in adopting this technology in resource-limited settings, the integration of Ct value monitoring into public health frameworks can enhance early detection efforts and contribute to more effective cholera management strategies.

Babangida Modu, Md Pauzi Abdullah, Abdulrahman Alkassem et al.

The study addresses the integration of hybrid hydrogen (H2) and battery (BT) energy storage systems into a renewable energy microgrid comprising solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbine (WT) systems. The research problem focuses on improving the effectiveness and computational efficiency of energy management systems (EMS) while ensuring high system reliability. Despite the existing optimization methods for hybrid microgrids, challenges remain in optimizing energy storage and capacity planning in grid-connected microgrids. To solve this, we propose the use of the Levy Flight Algorithm (LFA) to optimize the capacities of PV, WT, H2 tanks, electrolyzers (EL), fuel cells (FC), and BT, which presents a complex nonlinear optimization challenge. The novelty of this study lies in integrating the LFA with a rule-based EMS, enhancing system reliability and efficiency. The proposed approach significantly reduces the annualized system cost (ASC) and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). The result demonstrate that the LFA outperforms methods like the Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA), yielding cost savings of $3,309, $5,297, $4,484, and $5,129 respectively. The LFA achieves the lowest LCOE at $0.275/kWh, compared to $0.278/kWh with SSA, $0.289/kWh with GA, $0.280/kWh with PSO and $0.283/kWh with GWO. This research contributes to the broader scientific community by providing a more efficient approach to optimizing renewable energy microgrids with hybrid storage systems, thus promoting eco-friendly and cost-effective energy solutions. The proposed system design offers a pathway to future energy systems with high renewable integration, especially as technology advances and costs continue to decrease.

Damien R. Farine, Julia Penndorf, Sofia Bolcato et al.

Abstract Animal tracking has opened the door to address many fundamental questions in ecology and conservation. Whilst historically animals have been tracked as a means to understand their large‐scale movements, such as migration, there is now a greater focus on using tracking to study movements over smaller scales, individual variation in movement or how movements shape social network structure. With this shift in focus also comes different tracking needs, including the need to track larger numbers of individuals. Tracking studies all face some technological limitations. For example, GPS and other active tracking solutions can collect fine‐scale movement data, but have a high cost per tag, limiting the number of individuals that can be followed. They also have high low‐energy costs of data acquisition and download, limiting time periods over which data can be collected. Low‐energy passive (e.g. PIT) or active (e.g. reverse GPS) tags can overcome these limitations, but instead require animals to remain within a bounded study area or to come into close proximity to detectors. Here we describe one solution that can overcome many current limitations by employing the massive global network of personal mobile phones as gateways for tracking animals using Bluetooth low‐energy (BLE) beacons. In areas with medium to high density of people, these simple‐to‐make beacons can provide regular updates of position over long time periods (battery life 1–3 years). We describe how to use off‐the‐shelf components to produce BLE beacons that weigh c. 5–6 g and cost <$7USD. Using field‐testing, we then show that beacons are capable of producing high‐frequency tracking data that can be used to build home ranges or to detect spatiotemporal co‐occurrences among individuals. BLE beacons are a low cost, low‐energy solution for studying organisms (e.g. birds, mammals and reptiles) living and moving in urban landscapes. Their low weight and small size makes them particularly well‐suited for tracking smaller species. When combined with fixed gateways, their use can also be extended to non‐urban habitats. Their high accessibility is likely to make them an attractive solution for many research projects.

Mohammadhossein Karimizarchi, Davood Shishebori

Coronavirus disease 2019 or Covid-19, which is also called acute respiratory disease NCAV-2019 or commonly called corona, is a respiratory disease caused by acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. Forecasting the number of new cases and deaths during todays can be a useful step in predicting the costs and facilities needed in the future. This study aims to model and predict new cases and deaths efficiently in the future. Nine popular forecasting techniques are tested on the data of Covid-19 in Yazd city as a case study. Using the evaluation criteria of mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and the mean absolute percentage of error (MAPE) of the models are compared. According to the selected evaluation criteria, the results of the comprehensive analysis emphasize that the most efficient models are the ARIMA model for predicting the cumulative cases of hospitalization of Covid-19 and the Theta model for the cumulative cases of death. Also, the autoregressive neural network model has the worst performance among other models for both hospitalization and death cases.

Yunxiang Yang, Jidong J. Yang

Traffic sensors play a pivotal role in monitoring and assessing network-wide traffic conditions. However, the substantial costs associated with deploying an extensive sensor network across real-world highway systems can often prove prohibitive. Thus, the strategic selection of optimal sensor locations within budget and resource constraints becomes imperative, leading to the well-known Traffic Sensor Location Problem (TSLP). In this study, we introduce a novel framework to address the TSLP for large-scale highway networks, focusing on maximizing information gain in a joint vector space that comprehensively captures both network topology and segment-level features. To solve this optimization problem, we devised a genetic algorithm (GA) with penalty handling. Additionally, we developed a physics-guided random walk algorithm, which not only significantly reduces the search space but offers remarkable flexibility in striking a practical balance between computational load and the confidence of achieving global optimality. For illustration purposes, the proposed framework was applied to the Savannah highway network in Georgia. The results from our GA method align well with those from exhaustive research, but with significantly reduced computational time. By leveraging information theory and maximizing information gain in a low-dimensional vector space, the proposed framework permits parallel, scalable computation and offers considerable potential in the strategic planning and deployment of various sensors for expansive, real-world highway networks.

R. Brian Lowry, Tanya Bedard, Xin Grevers et al.

IntroductionCurrent published long-term provincial or territorial congenital anomaly data are lacking for Canada. We report on prevalence (per 1000 total births) and trends in 1997–2019, in Alberta, Canada, for selected congenital anomalies. Associated risk factors are also discussed. MethodsWe used data from the Alberta Congenital Anomalies Surveillance System (ACASS) to calculate the prevalence and perform chi-square linear trend analyses. ResultsFrom 1997 to 2019, the overall prevalence of neural tube defects was stable, at 0.74 per 1000 total births. The same was true for spina bifida (0.38), orofacial clefts (1.99), more severe CHDs (transposition of the great arteries, 0.38; tetralogy of Fallot, 0.33; and hypoplastic left heart syndrome, 0.32); and gastroschisis (0.38). Anencephaly, cleft palate and anorectal malformation significantly decreased with a prevalence of 0.23, 0.75 and 0.54 per 1000 total births, respectively. Significantly increasing trends were reported for anotia/microtia (0.24), limb reduction anomalies (0.73), omphalocele (0.36) and Down syndrome (2.21) and for hypospadias and undescended testes (4.68 and 5.29, respectively, per 1000 male births). ConclusionCongenital anomalies are an important public health concern with significant social and societal costs. Surveillance data gathered by ACASS for over 40 years can be used for planning and policy decisions and the evaluation of prevention strategies. Contributing genetic and environmental factors are discussed as is the need for continued surveillance and research.

Mateus Neri Oliveira Reis, Luciana Cristina Vitorino, Lucas Loram Lourenço et al.

Considering a scenario where there is a low availability and increasing costs of fertilizers in the global agricultural market, as well as a finitude of important natural resources, such as phosphorus (P), this study tested the effect of the inoculation of rhizospheric or endophytic microorganisms isolated from <i>Hymenaea courbaril</i> and <i>Butia purpurascens</i> on the growth promotion of <i>Glycine max</i> (L.) Merr. The tests were conducted in a controlled greenhouse system, and the effects of biofertilization were evaluated using the following parameters: dry biomass, nutritional content, and photochemical and photosynthetic performance of plants. Seed biopriming was performed with four bacterial and four fungal isolates, and the results were compared to those of seeds treated with the commercial product Biomaphos^®. Overall, microbial inoculation had a positive effect on biomass accumulation in <i>G. max</i>, especially in strains PA12 (<i>Paenibacillus alvei</i>), SC5 (<i>Bacillus cereus</i>), and SC15 (<i>Penicillium sheari</i>). The non-inoculated control plants accumulated less nutrients, both in the whole plant and aerial part, and had reduced chlorophyll index and low photosynthetic rate (<i>A</i>) and photochemical efficiency. Strains PA12 (<i>P. alvei</i>), SC5 (<i>B. cereus</i>), and 328EF (<i>Codinaeopsis</i> sp.) stood out in the optimization of nutrient concentration, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance. Plants inoculated with the bacterial strains PA12 (<i>P. alvei</i>) and SC5 (<i>B. cereus</i>) and with the fungal strains 328EF (<i>Codinaeopsis</i> sp.) and SC15 (<i>P. sheari</i>) showed the closest pattern to that observed in plants treated with Biomaphos^®, with the same trend of direction of the means associated with chlorophyll index, (<i>A</i>), dry mass, and concentration of important nutrients such as N, P, and Mg. We recommend the use of these isolates in field tests to validate these strains for the production of biological inoculants as part of the portfolio of bioinputs available for <i>G. max</i>.

Jonas Kath, Weijie Du, Alina Pruene et al.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) redirected T cells are potent therapeutic options against hematological malignancies. The current dominant manufacturing approach for CAR T cells depends on retroviral transduction. With the advent of gene editing, insertion of a CD19-CAR into the T cell receptor (TCR) alpha constant (TRAC) locus using adeno-associated viruses for gene transfer was demonstrated, and these CD19-CAR T cells showed improved functionality over their retrovirally transduced counterparts. However, clinical-grade production of viruses is complex and associated with extensive costs. Here, we optimized a virus-free genome-editing method for efficient CAR insertion into the TRAC locus of primary human T cells via nuclease-assisted homology-directed repair (HDR) using CRISPR-Cas and double-stranded template DNA (dsDNA). We evaluated DNA-sensor inhibition and HDR enhancement as two pharmacological interventions to improve cell viability and relative CAR knockin rates, respectively. While the toxicity of transfected dsDNA was not fully prevented, the combination of both interventions significantly increased CAR knockin rates and CAR T cell yield. Resulting TRAC-replaced CD19-CAR T cells showed antigen-specific cytotoxicity and cytokine production in vitro and slowed leukemia progression in a xenograft mouse model. Amplicon sequencing did not reveal significant indel formation at potential off-target sites with or without exposure to DNA-repair-modulating small molecules. With TRAC-integrated CAR+ T cell frequencies exceeding 50%, this study opens new perspectives to exploit pharmacological interventions to improve non-viral gene editing in T cells.

Dragan Djurdjević, Nenad Bjelić, Dražen Popović et al.

In order to increase the efficiency of the order-picking process, warehouses are forced to find ways to adopt to constantly intensifying changes in the assortment and quantities of stored products. Accordingly, we present a methodology that deals with such a problem at a tactical level by defining the optimal size and an allocation of products within the order-picking area of the most typical order-picking setting. The methodology combined two methods, dynamic programming and simulation modelling, with the aim of taking advantages of their positive features. In that sense, the optimal allocation of products for different sizes of the order-picking zone were obtained by the dynamic programming approach. Afterwards, the influence of a demand’s seasonality and variations were treated by the simulation model, so that the more realistic performances of the system were captured for the optimal allocation of products. The methodology was tested on the retailer data with significant week seasonality. The obtained results confirmed the practical applicability of the methodology in real systems, while the sensitivity analysis of results showed that special attention and effort should be given to the determination of costs related to the engagement of order-pikers, storage equipment and unit replenishment during a planning period.

Nan Yao, Yuejun Jia, Kai Tao

Rail weld defects are major threats to railroad transportation. Enormous resources have been required for related maintenance. This paper presents a creative solution to predict weld defects and to classify railroads into different conditions based on the predictions. The results are based on features extracted from manufacturing technologies of welds, from related materials and from influential factors in the environments. Features such as marks for welding engineers are defined. Maintenance can be selectively implemented based on the predicted conditions. Safety is the foundation of the railroad business, and a very strict safety requirement is utilized as one of the main constraints in this research. Additionally, 11 key risk factors leading to rail defects and their risk levels are identified. Extreme learning machine (ELM), random forest, logistic regression, principal component analysis (PCA), support vector machine (SVM) and other data science approaches are utilized. The evaluation results show that the related rail maintenance workload can decrease significantly under high safety standards. Labor costs of weld inspection will be reduced substantially because of the decreased workload for the sections predicted to not have any defects with a 100% recall rate (approximately 30% of the total sections), contributing to a massive cost reduction. Consequently, rail companies are expected to achieve enhanced management and operation.

My-Linh Nguyen Luong, Kim L. Bennell, Michelle Hall et al.

Abstract Background Most adults fail to meet global physical activity guidelines set out by the World Health Organization. In recent years, behavioural economic principles have been used to design novel interventions that increase physical activity. Immediate financial rewards, for instance, can motivate an individual to change physical activity behaviour by lowering the opportunity costs of exercise. This systematic review will summarise the evidence about the effectiveness of financial incentive interventions for improving physical activity in adults. Methods We will search MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, EconLit, SPORTDiscus, the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform from inception using a comprehensive, electronic search strategy. The search strategy will include terms related to ‘financial incentive’ and ‘physical activity’. Only randomised controlled trials that investigate the effect of financial incentives on physical activity in adult populations and that are written in the English language will be included. Two review authors will independently screen abstracts and titles, complete full text reviews and extract data on objective and self-reported physical activity outcomes. The authors will also assess the study quality using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and provide a systematic presentation and synthesis of the included studies’ characteristics and results. If more than two studies are sufficiently similar in population, settings and interventions, we will pool the data to conduct a meta-analysis. If we are unable to perform a meta-analysis, we will conduct a narrative synthesis of the results and produce forest plots for individual studies. Our subgroup analyses will examine the differential effects of an intervention in healthy populations compared to populations with disease pathology and compare the effects of interventions using financial rewards to interventions using financial penalties. Discussion This systematic review will determine the effectiveness of positive and negative financial incentives on physical activity in adults. Findings will help inform the development of public health interventions and research in this field. Systematic review registration PROSPERO 2017: CRD42017068263

Alexandre Antônio Bruno da Silva, Whenry Hawlysson Araújo Silveira

Globalization is a process that has promoted significant changes in the inner workings of global production chains. Moreover, capital, which is embodied in various forms of labor relations, can and in some current cases exploits, even now, its labor force. Furthermore, this research is structured in two segments. The first analyzes how large companies use labor exploitation in order to reduce production costs and maximize profits, dissociating themselves from the responsibilities that they have in relation to their laborers that are an important part of their internal structure. The second investigates whether these companies can be held responsible for the exploitation of their employees – whom are part of their production network. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the context in which public policies fight contemporary slave labor in Brazil, highlighting the complexities of implementing these policies.

Leila Khalighi, Mohsen Shoukat Fadaei

The main purpose of this research was studying the impact of exchange rate on date export as one of the most important and greatest foreign currency income earned horticultural products in agriculture sector in Iran. Selected time period in this study was chosen between 1991 and 2011. For this purpose, ordinary least squares (OLS) method has used to estimate the relationships between the value of date export and the variables taken from stationary tests. Library research method has used for the analysis. In this regard, required data have collected from various scientific and research resources. The results indicated that, exchange rate is a crucial factor for dates export and also for exporters. In addition, other factors specially government policies have been placed in export model. In this field, short-term outsourcing foreign policy has decreased the export value. Results also showed that, applying exchange rate unification policy without an appropriate exchange rate to encourage exporters has negative impact on dates export. Therefore, by applying exchange rate stabilization policy, according to inflation in the country, the potential exporters’ income has reduced and production costs have increased alternately.

Grzegorz Rutkowski

The purpose and scope of this paper is to describe the complexity of the new generation marine propulsion technologies implemented in the shipping industry to promote green ships concept and change the view of sea transportation to a more ecological and environment-friendly. Harnessing wind, waves and solar power in shipping industry can help the ship's owners reduce the operational costs. Reducing fuel consumption results in producing less emissions and provides a clean source of renewable energy. Green shipping technologies can also effectively increase the operating range of vessels and help drive sea transportation towards a greener future and contribute to the global reduction of harmful gas emissions from the world's shipping fleets.

Demet SARIYER, Rahmi KÜÇER

Özet: Yüksek yoğunluklu radyasyon alanlarının oluştuğu hızlandırıcılarda, radyasyon seviyesini izin verilen doz değerlerine zayıflatmak için zırh tasarımı yapılır. Zırhın belirlenmesinde, radyasyon zayıflatma özellikleriyle birlikte kalınlığı, ağırlığı, kurulum ve bakım maliyeti gibi faktörler de göz önünde bulundurulur. Proton hızlandırıcılarında, zırhlama için etkin olan radyasyon nötronlardır ve zırh tasarımı nötronlara göre yapılır. Zırh maddesi olarak genellikle beton, toprak ve çelik kullanılır. Bu çalışmada, hızlandırıcı zırh tasarımında gerekli minimum yan duvar zırh kalınlıklarını belirlemek için farklı yoğunluklarda (toprak, standart beton, demir) zırh maddeleri seçildi. Zırh kalınlıkları, FLUKA Monte Carlo kodu ile belirlendi. Anahtar kelimeler: Proton hızlandırıcı, zırh tasarımı, FLUKA, demir Investigation of Neutron Attenuation Properties for the Different Density Materials Abstract: The generation of high-intensity radiation fields in the accelerators, shield design is made to attenuation permissible levels of radiation dose. For determination of shield material, thicknesses, weight, installation and maintenance costs as well as radiation attenuation properties are taken into consideration such factors. Effective radiation for shielding is neutrons in proton accelerators and shield design is made for neutrons. Concrete, soil and iron are widely used as a shield material. In this paper, the different density of the shielding materials (soil, standard concrete, iron) were selected to determine for the minimum thickness of the side wall for shielding design of proton accelerator. The thickness of the shielding is obtained by a simulation with the Monte Carlo Code FLUKA. Key words: Proton accelerator, shield design, FLUKA, iron.

Pablo Jose Arevalo Chavez MSc., Christopher Seow

Today, the food sector is one of the sectors most vulnerable to intentional contamination by debilitating agents [ 1 ]. Some cases of contaminated food have indicated that product quality risk is one of the vulnerabilities in the global supply chain. A series of company scandals, affecting reputation and causing the recall of products and increasing costs have hit the food industry. The obvious problem is that even a minor incident in one part of the chain can have disastrous effects on other parts of the supply chain. Thus, risks are transmitted through the chain. Even though the dangers from members in the supply chain are small, the cumulative effect becomes significant. The aim of this study is to propose an integrated supply chain risk management framework for practitioners that can provide directions for how to evaluate food quality risk in the global supply chain. For validating the proposed model in-depth, a case study is conducted on a food SME distributor in Central America. The case study investigates how product quality risks are handled according to the proposed framework.

Liubov KAVALIAUSKIENĖ, Rimantas PEČIŪRA, Virginija ADOMAITIENĖ

Background. The costs of depression treatment in Lithuania increase because of high depression relapse rates which indicate the necessity to evaluate first-time depression treatment rationality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of antidepressants according to the opinion of three groups of specialists (family doctors, psychiatrists and pharmacists) in order to assess the possibilities of a more rational use of depression treatment costs rationalizing opportunities. Materials and methods. Data on depression diagnoses were obtained from the Republic Psychiatric Health Centre. In 2009, 361 Lithuanian pharmacist, 317 family doctors and 280 psychiatrists were interviewed. The data were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program. Results. In the study period (2004–2009), the volume of total depression diagnoses grew up by 12% and the number of relapsed depression diagnoses by 27%. Among family doctors, 13% still don’t launch depression treatment by themselves, and 62% of them refer patients to psychiatrists in cases of depression relapse. Those who prescribe a medicine all alone in most cases use sertraline, but even 38% of family doctors mention benzodiazepines. According to family doctors’ answers, 32% of them reevaluate the effect of medications in 4 weeks and 25% do not monitor it at all. More than 50% of pharmacists have noted that every day they are asked by patients for antidepressants without prescription. Conclusions. The abundance of cases of recurrent depression, recorded by family doctors, encourage to revise the preparedness of family doctors to treat this disease. The specialists’ opinion makes us to reevaluate and question the quality of depression treatment and to rationalize the efficiency of depression treatment in Lithuania as regards its both economic and social aspects. Keywords: depression treatment, antidepressants, depression relapse

Kazeem Adeola Oshikoya, Henry Chukwura, Olisamedua Fidelis Njokanma et al.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) may cause prolonged hospital admissions with high treatment costs. The burden of ADRs in children has never been evaluated in Nigeria. The incidence of pediatric ADRs and the estimated cost of treatment over an 18-month period were determined in this study. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective observational study on children admitted to the pediatric wards of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Nigeria, between July 2006 and December 2007. METHODS: Each patient was assessed for ADRs throughout admission. Medical and non-medical costs to the hospital and patient were estimated for each ADR by reviewing the medical and pharmacy bills, medical charts and diagnostic request forms and by interviewing the parents. Cost estimates were performed in 2007 naira (Nigeria currency) from the perspectives of the hospital (government), service users (patients) and society (bearers of the total costs attributable to treating ADRs). The total estimated cost was expressed in 2007 United States dollars (USD). RESULTS: Two thousand and four children were admitted during the study; 12 (0.6%) were admitted because of ADRs and 23 (1.2%) developed ADR(s) during admission. Forty ADRs were suspected in these 35 patients and involved 53 medicines. Antibiotics (50%) were the most suspected medicines. Approximately 1.83 million naira (USD 15,466.60) was expended to manage all the patients admitted due to ADRs. CONCLUSIONS: Treating pediatric ADRs was very expensive. Pediatric drug use policies in Nigeria need to be reviewed so as to discourage self-medication, polypharmacy prescription and sales of prescription medicines without prescription.