Industrial Engineering Commons^™

A Decision Support Model For Personalized Cancer Treatment, Florentino Antonio Rico-Fontalvo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work is motivated by the need of providing patients with a decision support system that facilitates the selection of the most appropriate treatment strategy in cancer treatment. Treatment options are currently subject to predetermined clinical pathways and medical expertise, but generally, do not consider the individual patient characteristics or preferences. Although genomic patient data are available, this information is rarely used in the clinical setting for real-life patient care. In the area of personalized medicine, the advancement in the fundamental understanding of cancer biology and clinical oncology can promote the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer diseases.

The objectives …

Designing A Sustainable And Transferable Inventory Management System For Small Healthcare Facilities, Shree Frazier

Open Access Theses

Managing the costs of supplies within healthcare facilities has been a task that has plagued the health industry for many years. Many facilities are accustomed to using a par system approach. This involves bringing an inventory item to an amount sufficient for daily operation. This method often requires daily inspection by a healthcare worker, which reduces his/her time spent performing value added tasks. Employees at small healthcare facilities have multiple responsibilities, therefore they cannot afford to spend much time on inventory management. A proposed approach is the Kanban method, which allows for strict monitoring of inventory items without the need …

Wear Characteristics Of Wright State University Total Ankle Replacement Under Shear And Torsion Loads, Tarun Goswami, Dinesh Gundapaneni

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Introduction: Total ankle replacement (TAR) involves replacement of the damaged bone with prosthetic components and is usually performed in patients suffering with arthritis to relieve pain and maintain motion. There are several different factors that contribute to failure of TARs but aseptic loosening is the primary method of failure in total ankle replacements. Because of its superior mechanical properties UHMWPE is used as a liner material in TARs. Wear generated from the liner due to high contact stresses during gait causes osteolysis resulting in early loosening of the prostheses.

Most of the earlier studies have focused on wear due to …

Effect Of Anthropometric Adjustments On Bmd And Bmc Z-Scores In A Population Of Prader-Willi Syndrome Pediatric Patients, Amanda E. Marker, David F. Short, Talia Eldar-Geva, Harry J. Hirsch, Varda Gross-Tsur, Maayan Tiomkin, Ari Zimran, Thomas N. Hangartner

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Two adjustment models were applied to a dataset of bone-mineral density (BMD) and bone-mineral content (BMC) from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements of pediatric patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). One model used weight, height and % body fat (WHF) in the calculation of Z-scores in addition to race, sex and age already included in the standard model. As percent body fat is not always available, a second model with only weight and height was also examined (WH).

Emergency Diesel-Electric Generator Set Maintenance And Test Periodicity, Stephen John Fehr

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Manufacturer and industry recommendations vary considerably for maintenance and tests of emergency diesel-electric generator sets supporting critical operations power systems facilities. There is little consistency among sets of similar technology, and manufacturers and their representatives often provide contradictory guidance. As a result, periodicity of emergency diesel-electric generator set maintenance and tests varies considerably in practice. This work proposes and tests a research and analysis framework to develop parametric regression survival models of modern diesel-electric generator sets in emergency standby duty as a function of maintenance periodicity, test periodicity, and other predictors. Within this framework, predictors are developed from common maintenance …

Application Of Bayesian Networks In Consumer Service Industry, Yuan Gao

Open Access Theses

Gao, Yuan. M.S.I.E., Purdue University. December 2014. Application of Bayesian Networks in Consumer Service Industry. Major professor: Vincent G. Duffy The purpose of the present study is to explore the application of Bayesian networks in the consumer service industry to model causal relationships within complex risk factor structures using aggregate data. An analysis of the Hawaii tourism market was conducted to find out how visitor characteristics affect their behavior and experience as consumers during the trips, and influence the tourism market outcomes represented by measurable factors. Two hypotheses were proposed regarding the use of aggregate data and the influence of …

Designing Sustainable Mentoring Programs: Examining The Role Of Social Community In The Stem College Student Experience, Joi-Lynn Mondisa

Open Access Theses

In order to begin to understand how to design programs that promote community development and produce beneficial outcomes for community members, we must first define the elements and functions of such a community. In this thesis, I define social community as an environment where like-minded individuals engage indynamic, multidirectional interactions that facilitate social support . Using a human-integrated systems approach, I propose a social community model for STEM minority mentoring programs to understand how a community's design plays a role in the learning and enrichment of its members. The social community model is comprised of three main components: program …

Evaluating Intensity As A Controller Function For Nextgen Scenarios With Increased Capacity, Caitlin Anne Surakitbanharn

Open Access Theses

Automated separation assurance is the most mature concept to handle increasing airspace traffic and capacity needs, yet the system lacks a way to pre-emptively identify aircraft separation problems. The intensity control measure looks to find situations where if an aircraft pair makes an unplanned change in heading or altitude at the wrong moment, an unrecoverable situation arises. This research analyzes static, open loop air traffic data in an en-route sector to determine how many high intensity aircraft pairs (HIP) exist per minute, and if the intensity measure is a safely manageable function for air traffic controllers. It is found that …

Dissolution Rate And Mechanism Of Metals In Molten Aluminum Alloy A380, Hengyu Zhu

Open Access Theses

Shot sleeve is a very easily worn out part in a high-pressure die-casting machine due to serious dissolution of the area underneath the pouring hole. It is because during a normal pouring process, the high temperature molten aluminum will impact and dissolve that area of the shot sleeve by complex chemical and physical process. Rotation experiment was carried out to H13 and four kinds of refractory metal samples. SEM and EDS pictures were taken in order to investigate the microstructure and the dissolution mechanism of these materials. This suggests a high strength niobium is an ideal material for that area …

Embodied Interaction With Visualization And Spatial Navigation In Time-Sensitive Scenarios, Yu-Ting Li

Open Access Dissertations

Paraphrasing the theory of embodied cognition, all aspects of our cognition are determined primarily by the contextual information and the means of physical interaction with data and information. In hybrid human-machine systems involving complex decision making, continuously maintaining a high level of attention while employing a deep understanding concerning the task performed as well as its context are essential. Utilizing embodied interaction to interact with machines has the potential to promote thinking and learning according to the theory of embodied cognition proposed by Lakoff. Additionally, the hybrid human-machine system utilizing natural and intuitive communication channels (e.g., gestures, speech, and body …

Acquisition, Retention And Transfer Of Heavy Equipment Operator Skills Through Simulator Training, Chung Yin So

Open Access Dissertations

Initiatives and collaborations among heavy construction equipment manufacturing companies and training technology firms to develop and employ simulators for varied training purposes are becoming commonplace. However, human factors research on simulator training for operators of construction equipment is still sparse. For simulator training to be effective, it is necessary to understand how skills are learned using the simulator, how those skills are transferred to other tasks, devices, and real scenarios, and how well skills are retained after simulator training. ^ This research is on skill development, specifically as it applies to operator training for two specific types of heavy construction …

A Control-Chart Based Method For Solder Joint Crack Detection, Jianbiao Pan

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Many researchers have used different failure criteria in published solder joint reliability studies. Since the reported timeto-failure would be different if different failure criteria were used, it would be difficult to compare the reported reliability life of solder joints from one study to another. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of failure criteria on the reported thermal fatigue life and determine which failure criterion could detect failure sooner. First, the application of the control-chart-based method in a thermal cycling reliability study is described. The reported time-to-failure data were then compared based on four different failure criteria: …

Dynamic Surgical Tool Tracking And Delivery System Using Baxter Robot, Sthitapragyan Parida, Juan Pablo Wachs, Maria Eugenia Cabrera

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Several hospitals face nurse staffing shortages for surgeries. This research focuses on building a system with Baxter robot capable of identifying surgical tools using computer vision and delivering them to the surgeon on demand. This would deal with the issue of nurse unavailability during simple surgical procedures. The key aspects of the project were: testing the accuracies of various Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) in classifying surgical instruments, and programming Baxter to implement a surgical tool delivery system using magnets at the tip of its 7-DOF robotic arms. The methodology consisted of, first, implementing algorithms to enable Baxter to do pick …

Local Buckling Behavior Of Round Steel Tubes Subjected To Compressive Loads, Joseph Moore, Ben Fell

STAR Program Research Presentations

This project will investigate the local buckling induced fracture behavior of round steel tubes subjected to axial compressive loads, representative of observed failures in buried pipelines during seismic events. Nine initial tests will be conducted across three lengths of round steel tube: 8”, 12”, and 20”. Another twelve tests will be conducted on the lengths of 12” and 20” to test varying initial compressive force upon the round steel tubes. Three D/t ratios will be considered for each length of round steel tube: 52.6, 78.9, and 121.2. To verify the material properties of the test specimens an ancillary tensile coupon …

Design Of A Sign-Out Process To Improve Surgical Safety, Sumonthip Chompoodang Gmitro

All Theses

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the surgical safety checklist consists of three parts; sign-in, time-out and sign-out. It has been observed that the sign-out process is the least frequently completed. In this study, because of a concern for the risk of adverse events occurring in the OR, the sign-out process used in a local hospital was redesigned as a web-based application embedded on a desktop computer and on a mobile device. Both web-based platforms were tested along with the current sign-out process on a computer. Eighteen circulating nurses in the operating rooms of Greenville Memorial Hospital used each …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The Global Nuclear Detection Architecture Using Multiple-Objective Decision Analysis, Holly Hilliard

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The National Academy of Sciences has recently completed a study of the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture (GNDA) Metrics for the Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. This research uses the reports strategic framework and notional metrics (and additional information) to develop one overall measure of GNDA effectiveness. The potential benefit of one effectiveness measure would be ability to assess and communicate progress over time to the diverse group of national and international stakeholders and decision makers. This thesis uses the mathematics of multiple objective decision analysis to develop the effectiveness measure. A notional model was developed and it …

Pharmacists' And Patients' Perceptions Of Role Of Pharmacist In Discharge Process, Ravi Teja Vempati

All Theses

The objective of this study was to identify the perceptions of both patients and pharmacists about the pharmacist's role in the hospital discharge process. In order to do this, observations were conducted with the patients and interviews were conducted with both patients and pharmacists. During the interviews, both the patients and pharmacists were asked about the pharmacist's role in the hospital discharge process. The interviews were qualitatively analyzed using the in vivo technique. Four high-level themes emerged from this study: Current role of a pharmacist in the hospital, Ideal role of a pharmacist in the discharge process, Pharmacists' perceptions of …

The Impact Of Block Scheduling And Release Time On Operating Room Efficiency, Rebecca Weiss

All Theses

Planning for sufficient surgical capacity at a hospital requires that many tactical and operational decisions be made before the day of surgery. Typically, blocks of time in operating rooms (ORs) are assigned and specific surgical cases are placed in rooms. The hospital monitors utilization to determine the schedule's effectiveness in balancing the risk of overtime with idle time. In this thesis, we will examine how adjusting schedule risk ratios and penalty values, and providing shared, open posting time affected the hospital's ability to identify an efficient but high quality and low cost block schedule. The proposed schedules were tested by …

Investigating The Non-Adoption Of Electronic Health Records In Primary Care, Saravanan Ramdoss

All Theses

The objective of this study was to investigate the underlying reasons behind primary care centers in the United States not implementing an Electronic Health Record system in spite of looming penalties under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. In order to do this, survey was developed and distributed among healthcare providers who have not yet implemented an EHR system at their practice. The questions for the survey were developed after conducting a literature review of the barriers to EHR implementation. In this review, six themes emerged: technical, cost, productivity, change process, privacy and time. These …

Integrating Visual Mnemonics And Input Feedback With Passphrases To Improve The Usability And Security Of Digital Authentication, Kevin Juang

All Dissertations

The need for both usable and secure authentication is more pronounced than ever before. Security researchers and professionals will need to have a deep understanding of human factors to address these issues. Due to their ubiquity, recoverability, and low barrier of entry, passwords remain the most common means of digital authentication. However, fundamental human nature dictates that it is exceedingly difficult for people to generate secure passwords on their own. System-generated random passwords can be secure but are often unusable, which is why most passwords are still created by humans. We developed a simple system for automatically generating mnemonic phrases …