Engineering Commons^™

Mining High Impact Combinations Of Conditions From The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Arjun Mohan

Masters Theses

The condition of multimorbidity — the presence of two or more medical conditions in an individual — is a growing phenomenon worldwide. In the United States, multimorbid patients represent more than a third of the population and the trend is steadily increasing in an already aging population. There is thus a pressing need to understand the patterns in which multimorbidity occurs, and to better understand the nature of the care that is required to be provided to such patients.

In this thesis, we use data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) from the years 2011 to 2015 to identify …

A Machine Learning Approach For Predicting Clinical Trial Patient Enrollment In Drug Development Portfolio Demand Planning, Ahmed Shoieb

Masters Theses

One of the biggest challenges the clinical research industry currently faces is the accurate forecasting of patient enrollment (namely if and when a clinical trial will achieve full enrollment), as the stochastic behavior of enrollment can significantly contribute to delays in the development of new drugs, increases in duration and costs of clinical trials, and the over- or under- estimation of clinical supply. This study proposes a Machine Learning model using a Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) that is trained on a dataset of 100,000 patient enrollment data points including patient age, patient gender, patient disease, investigational product, study phase, blinded …

A Study Of The Link Between Poor Quality And Poor Performance Of Various Health Care Indicators, Lamara L. Glass

Masters Theses

Abstract

Purpose of the Research

The purpose of present research investigation is to explore the correlation between poor performance indicators and poor quality in the Health care industry and to present an idea on improving the quality of the outcome in health care services by altering the KPIs.

The Nature of the Problem

The quality of healthcare may be evaluated using a variety of parameters, including safety, efficacy, and person-centeredness. For example, the former relates to the degree of precision with which procedures may produce desired results. External comparisons between different health care facilities, as well as KPIs specified for …

Implementation Of The Plan For Every Part (Pfep) Tool And Additional Methodologies For Operational Improvement., Bernardo Luis Borges Pedroso

Masters Theses

The work focused on the inventory management of Dimplex Thermal Solutions, which had a profoundly overstocked warehouse and was suffering from significant operating expenses, due to the absence of a grounded ordering policy and the need to rent external storage space, respectively.

The main objective of the thesis was to solve the primarily mentioned problems, by constructing a Plan For Every Part (PFEP) tool, followed by the application of an inventory policy and the proposal of a redesigned warehouse layout, to compute ideal stock values and calculate the footprint requirements for Dimplex’s updated inventory levels, respectively. The execution step concerned …

A Two-Phase Multicommodity Flow Approach For Classroom Assignment, Hannah Smith

Masters Theses

A common problem faced by universities is the assignment of courses to campus-hosted spaces. An optimal solution is difficult to reach, given the number of constraints present. Increasing student enrollment across campus leads to a need for a model that optimally assigns courses to spaces that maximizes the total number of courses taught in person. This paper poses a solution to this problem by generating a two-phase model to allocate courses to campus-hosted spaces. The two-phase approach to classroom assignment consists of a minimum-weighted bipartite matching for priority assignment and a multicommodity flow model to assign remaining courses. The optimal …

Decomposition Approach To Parametric Nonconvex Regression; Nuclear Resonance Analysis, Jordan L. Armstrong

Masters Theses

Parameterized nonconvex regression is a difficult problem for any optimization solver packages, often resulting in approximations and linearizations of the problem in order to be able to arrive a solution, if the problem is even solvable at all. These changes to the initial problem are largely dependent upon having appropriate domain knowledge and still often times result in a sizable gap between the achieved solution and the best true solution. We propose a novel method of decomposing the global problem into small, overlapping windows. Thus, the independent windows are now solvable. Subsequently, we offer a novel, sequential method of parameter …

Comparing And Improving The Design Of Physical Activity Data Visualizations, Peter M. Frackleton

Masters Theses

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, and older adults are at highest risk of being diagnosed with heart disease. Consistent physical exercise is an effective means of deterring onset of heart disease, and physical activity tracking devices can inspire greater activity in older adults. However, physical activity tracking device abandonment is quite common due to limitations on what can be learned from the activity data that is collected. Better data visualization of physical data presents an opportunity to surpass these limitations. In this thesis, a task-based human subject study was performed with three different …

Uht Milk: Supply Chain Based Shelf Life Assessment And Risk Mitigation, Sagar Rameshwar Padghan

Masters Theses

Transportation and storage conditions in the perishable food supply chain play a vital role in product shelf life. This study focuses on UHT milk, a variant of milk that has a shelf life of up to 12 months in ideal conditions. However, poor transportation and storage practices can diminish its shelf life and result in quality losses resulting from milk spoilage. UHT milk literature focuses on chemical and physical analysis of changes in milk. There have been limited number of studies that characterize supply chain effects on the shelf life of milk and other perishable products.

This study analyzes supply …

Periodic Replenish And Recount Policy To Address Record Inaccuracy From Stock Loss, Colton K. Ku

Masters Theses

Inventory record inaccuracy (IRI) often arises in retail environments due to unaccounted stock loss. Theft, misplacement, spoilage, and transaction errors will reduce the true inventory values without changing the inventory record. As previous inventory replenishment policies assume perfect record accuracy, increasing IRI can cause unexpected stockout events, mistimed reorders and replenishment freezes. Solutions to rectifying IRI vary from the use of improved tracking technologies to prevent it initially occurring at all to recounting programs which estimate true inventory value. Unfortunately, in retail environments, high‑tracking technology is unsuitable and continuous counting programs are too costly. To address the limitations of current …

Examining The Empirical Relationship Between Subjective Fatigue And Employee Work Engagement In A Heavy Workload Manufacturing Environment, Prashanth Balasubramanian

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the empirical relationship between Subjective Fatigue and Employee work engagement among employees working under heavy workload conditions in Tennessee, USA. The questionnaire was developed by reviewing extant literature and the factors that were chosen were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Post elimination of the weakly loaded factors, a questionnaire based on the selected factors was designed to measure the subjective levels of fatigue. The data was collected from two manufacturing company sites from East Tennessee and was subjected to analysis using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS softwares. As a part of the SEM …

The Effects Of Rigid Polyurethane Foam As A Confinement Material On Breaching Charge Detonations, Nathan Franz Paerschke-O'Brien

Masters Theses

"The effects of a rigid polyurethane foam used as a confinement material on four types of breaching explosives were tested, focusing on the changes in shockwave peak pressures, detonation load compression forces, and brisance cratering abilities. The Plate Dent testing procedure was modified to incorporate a load cell force sensor, and two air overpressure sensors were included adjacent to the blast to quantify each test result. The testing variables focused on the polyurethane foam cure times and thickness volumes around the breaching explosives to determine the breaching charges' optimal energy output capabilities when confined by the foam material. The rigid …

Optimal Mammography Schedule Estimates Under Varying Disease Burden, Infrastructure Availability, And Other Cause Mortality: A Comparative Analyses Of Six Low- And Middle- Income Countries, Shifali Shifali

Masters Theses

Low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) have a higher mortality-to-incidence ratio for breast cancer compared to high-income countries (HICs) because of late-stage diagnosis. Mammography screening is recommended for early diagnosis, however, current screening guidelines are only generalized by economic disparities, and are based on extrapolation of data from randomized controlled trials in HICs, which have different disease burdens and all-cause mortality compared to LMICs. Moreover, the infrastructure capacity in LMICs is far below that needed for adopting current screening guidelines. This study analyzes the impact of disease burden, infrastructure availability, and other cause mortality on optimal mammography screening schedules for LMICs. Further, these …

Modeling Of Electrical Grid Systems To Evaluate Sustainable Electricity Generation In Pakistan, Muhammad Mustafa Amjad

Masters Theses

Pakistan has always had a history of severe energy shortfalls, which rose up to an alarming 33% in 2013. This situation was countered by investments in the energy sector through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which were unfortunately largely based on brown fuels. Although beneficial in the short term, these investments do not bode well for the climate scenario of Pakistan, with various parts of the country already having experienced temperatures rise of 1-3°C. To ensure that the current situation doesn’t exacerbate and is tackled in a timely manner, this research aims to examine how the untapped potential of …

Topology Network Optimization Of Facility Planning And Design Problems, Ravi Ratan Raj Monga

Masters Theses

The research attempts to provide a graphical theory-based approach to solve the facility layout problem. Which has generally been approached using Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) in the past, an algebraic method. It is a very complex problem and is part of the NP-Hard optimization class, because of the nonlinear quadratic objective function and (0,1) binary variables. The research is divided into three phases which together provide an optimal facility layout, block plan solution consisting of MHS (material handling solution) projected onto the block plan. In phase one, we solve for the position of departments in a facility based on flow …

A Computational Simulation Model For Predicting Infectious Disease Spread Using The Evolving Contact Network Algorithm, Buyannemekh Munkhbat

Masters Theses

Commonly used simulation models for predicting outbreaks of re-emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) take an individual-level or a population-level approach to modeling contact dynamics. These approaches are a trade-off between the ability to incorporate individual-level dynamics and computational efficiency. Agent-based network models (ABNM) use an individual-level approach by simulating the entire population and its contact structure, which increases the ability of adding detailed individual-level characteristics. However, as this method is computationally expensive, ABNMs use scaled-down versions of the full population, which are unsuitable for low prevalence diseases as the number of infected cases would become negligible during scaling-down. Compartmental models use …

Evaluation And Validation Of Distraction Detection Algorithms On Multiple Data Sources, Shashank Mehrotra

Masters Theses

This study aims to evaluate algorithms designed to detect distracted driving. This includes the comparison of how efficiently they detect the state of distraction and likelihood of a crash. Four algorithms that utilize measures of cumulative glance, past glance behavior, and glance eccentricity were used to understand the distracted state of the driver and were validated on two separate data sources (i.e., simulator and naturalistic data). Additionally, an independent method for distraction detection was designed using data mining methods. This approach utilized measures like steering degree, lane offset, lateral and longitudinal velocity, and acceleration. The results showed a higher likelihood …

The Application Of Usability Engineering Methods To Evaluate And Improve A Clinical Decision Support System, Kristine Desotto

Masters Theses

Delays in the process of diagnosing and treating cancer are common and lead to confusion and undesirable outcomes. Care coordinators are often embedded within the system of care to manage follow-up care. Electronic and real-time reminder systems can be used to support the care coordinator’s work, but electronic health record (EHR) usability is known to be poor. This study, completed in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut Healthcare System, evaluated the Cancer Coordination and Tracking System (CCTS), an EHR-linked, web-based tool for cancer care management.

A set of expert-driven and user-driven usability engineering methods was applied to …

Does The Elicitation Mode Matter? Comparing Different Methods For Eliciting Expert Judgement, Claire Cruickshank

Masters Theses

An expert elicitation is a method of eliciting subjective probability distributions over key parameters from experts. Traditionally an expert elicitation has taken the form of a face-to-face interview; however, interest in using online methods has been growing. This thesis compares two elicitation modes and examines the effectiveness of an interactive online survey compared to a face-to-face interview. Differences in central values, overconfidence, accuracy and satisficing were considered. The results of our analysis indicated that, in instances where the online and face-to-face elicitations were directly comparable, the differences between the modes was not significant. Consequently, a carefully designed online elicitation may …

Aligning Skills In Personnel With The Lean System's Requirements, Anjushree Bangre

Masters Theses

The sustainability of lean systems for long term is a major concern across various organizations implementing lean manufacturing methods. This issue can be attributed to inadequate infrastructure, inefficient process management, unsuitable personnel management methods and strategic tools. There is a strong need for addressing the risks for lean system sustainability. The resolution of the risks from a 'soft side' (people) perspective has not been addressed. The primary focus of this study is on the people-related risks.

The current study elicits a five-phase approach to enhance the implementation of the lean system by accounting for these risks. The first phase classifies …

Developing Leading And Lagging Indicators To Enhance Equipment Reliability In A Lean System, Dhanush Agara Mallesh

Masters Theses

With increasing complexity in equipment, the failure rates are becoming a critical metric due to the unplanned maintenance in a production environment. Unplanned maintenance in manufacturing process is created issues with downtimes and decreasing the reliability of equipment. Failures in equipment have resulted in the loss of revenue to organizations encouraging maintenance practitioners to analyze ways to change unplanned to planned maintenance. Efficient failure prediction models are being developed to learn about the failures in advance. With this information, failures predicted can reduce the downtimes in the system and improve the throughput.

The goal of this thesis is to predict …

Developing A Platform For Integrating Disability Issues Into City Municipality Decisions; Case Study: City Of Knoxville, Sravanthi Pamu

Masters Theses

The People with Disabilities (PWD) & Senior Citizen (SC) are isolated from the mainstream society, and they face several barriers in everyday life. There is no communication platform for them to express their concerns, in turn, participate in the city municipality policy decisions related to PWD- & SC-friendly city development. The purpose of this research is to integrate disability and senior citizen issues in the city of Knoxville to the city council decisions. The comprehensive literature search is done to identify the frequently mentioned disability and age-friendly city factors. An effective survey was designed to identify the issues in collaboration …

Impacts Of The Heterogeneity In Consumer Valuation Of Fuel Economy On Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards Compliance, Nawei Liu

Masters Theses

This study investigated potential impacts of the heterogeneity in consumer valuation of fuel economy on the compliance with fuel economy standards with two analytical approaches. One approach is to provide theoretical analysis of the heterogeneity impacts on the market acceptance of high-efficiency vehicles. The other approach utilizes a consumer choice based simulation method to analyze the heterogeneity impacts on the compliance with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards for the entire light duty vehicle fleet in the U.S. Our findings suggest two possible conditions which are defined based on relative acceptance of high-efficiency vehicles in the market, and they …

Two Multi-Objective Stochastic Models For Project Team Formation Under Uncertainty In Time Requirements, Fahimeh Rahmanniyay

Masters Theses

Team formation is one of the key stages in project management. The cost associated with the individuals who form a team and the quality of the tasks completed by the team are two of the main concerns in team formation problems. In this study, two mathematical models to optimize simultaneously cost and quality in a team formation problem are developed. Because team formation problem arises in uncertain environment, different scenarios are defined for the time requirement of the project. Two-stage stochastic programming and multi-stage stochastic programming are applied to solve the first and the second model respectively. The presented models …

Viability Of Additive Manufacturing For Production And Tooling Applications: A Development Of The Business Case, Christopher Charles Griffin

Masters Theses

As marketplace competition drives industrial innovation to increase product value and decrease production costs, emerging technologies foster a new era through Industry 4.0. One aspect of the movement, additive manufacturing, or 3D [three-dimensional] printing, contains potential to revolutionize traditional manufacturing techniques and approach to design. However, uncertainties within the processes and high investment costs deter corporations from implementing and developing the technology. While several industries are benefitting from additive manufacturing’s current state, as the technology continues to progress, more companies will need to evaluate it for industrial viability and adoption. As such, there exists a need for a framework to …

Revisiting The One-Sided Ewma Control Chart Design, Duy Anh Duong-Tran

Masters Theses

Over the past half-century, Exponential Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) control charts have been widely used in Statistical Process Control to detect small and persistent process shifts. In theory, EWMA control limits monotonically increase over time to account for the continual growth of the EWMA statistic’s variance. These control limits are often assumed constant and are set to their respective asymptotic limits. While not theoretically correct, this simplifies the process of applying and analyzing the EWMA control chart while having little effect on the chart’s performance. One-Sided EWMA charts are often implemented when it is only desirable to detect shifts in …

Explorations Into Machine Learning Techniques For Precipitation Nowcasting, Aditya Nagarajan

Masters Theses

Recent advances in cloud-based big-data technologies now makes data driven solutions feasible for increasing numbers of scientific computing applications. One such data driven solution approach is machine learning where patterns in large data sets are brought to the surface by finding complex mathematical relationships within the data. Nowcasting or short-term prediction of rainfall in a given region is an important problem in meteorology. In this thesis we explore the nowcasting problem through a data driven approach by formulating it as a machine learning problem.

State-of-the-art nowcasting systems today are based on numerical models which describe the physical processes leading to …

A Neural Network For Collaborative Forecasting, Abdulrahman M. Enani

Masters Theses

As the supply chain activities’ backbone, demand forecasting must be accurate. This paper proposes an artificial neural network forecasting model, which integrates and synchronizes shared information, such as sales or consumption rate among different partners, to improve the forecasting’s accuracy. This information sharing is part of the collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) model, which is a supply chain model aiming to enhance the supply chain’s efficiency by jointly planning and forecasting between two or more supply chain partners that will be used as the base for production and replenishment activities. The model is validated using a tuna product sales …

A General Code To Represent The Mathematical Life Cycle Cost Model Of Bridge, Bajel Mohammed Alshadeedi

Masters Theses

There are many factors that play a role in the overall cost of any bridge. The life cycle cost needs deep knowledge of bridge components to calculate its subcategories costs. The bridge life cycle cost is divided into; agency, user cost, and society costs. The agency cost includes the expected value of the final bridge construction cost, the inspection cost, better value of repainting cost, and replacing asphaltic deck cost. The user cost includes traffic delay cost and vehicle operation cost under different traffic conditions, accident cost, and failure cost. The society cost includes aesthetical and environmental impact. All costs …

A Mixed Integer Linear Programming Approach For Developing Salary Administration Systems, Taner Cokyasar

Masters Theses

Determining salary increases of executive personnel is a challenging decision process for many companies. Salary administration policies that aid in the determination of salary increases and other compensation benefits have a wide variety of advantages for both a company and its employees. This thesis develops a mathematical programming approach to create a salary administration system that recognizes the importance of performance and potential of employees for future promotions as major components of a salary increase policy for executive personnel. A number of companies all over the world use salary administration systems that integrate work performance and potential for advancement to …

Aircraft Demand Forecasting, Kayla M. Monahan

Masters Theses

This thesis aims to forecast aircraft demand in the aerospace and defense industry, specifically aircraft orders and deliveries. Orders are often placed by airline companies with aircraft manufacturers, and then suddenly canceled due to changes in plans. Therefore, at some point during the three-year lead time, the number of orders placed and realized deliveries may be quite different. As a result, orders and deliveries are very difficult to predict and are influenced by many different factors. Among these factors are past trends, macroeconomic indicators as well as aircraft sales measures. These predictor variables were analyzed thoroughly, then used with time …