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Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Clemson University

2014

Articles 1 - 16 of 16

Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

A Comprehensive Assessment Methodology Based On Life Cycle Analysis For On-Board Photovoltaic Solar Modules In Vehicles, Mahmoud Abdelhamid Dec 2014

A Comprehensive Assessment Methodology Based On Life Cycle Analysis For On-Board Photovoltaic Solar Modules In Vehicles, Mahmoud Abdelhamid

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This dissertation presents a novel comprehensive assessment methodology for using on-board photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies in vehicle applications. A well-to-wheels life cycle analysis based on a unique energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and economic perspective is carried out in the context of meeting corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards through 2025 along with providing an alternative energy path for the purpose of sustainable transportation. The study includes 14 different vehicles, 3 different travel patterns, in 12 U.S. states and 16 nations using 19 different cost analysis scenarios for determining the challenges and benefits of using on-board photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies …

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Modeling Sustainability In Renewable Energy Supply Chain Systems, Fei Xie Dec 2014

Modeling Sustainability In Renewable Energy Supply Chain Systems, Fei Xie

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This dissertation aims at modeling sustainability of renewable fuel supply chain systems against emerging challenges. In particular, the dissertation focuses on the biofuel supply chain system design, and manages to develop advanced modeling framework and corresponding solution methods in tackling challenges in sustaining biofuel supply chain systems. These challenges include: (1) to integrate 'environmental thinking' into the long-term biofuel supply chain planning; (2) to adopt multimodal transportation to mitigate seasonality in biofuel supply chain operations; (3) to provide strategies in hedging against uncertainty from conversion technology; and (4) to develop methodologies in long-term sequential planning of the biofuel supply chain …

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Characterizing Navigational Tools In A Virtual Search Task, Austin Riggs Dec 2014

Characterizing Navigational Tools In A Virtual Search Task, Austin Riggs

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The goal of this thesis is to characterize and empirically compare navigational tools in the context of a virtual inspection task. The framework considers both directional-cue navigational tools (e.g., GPS navigation arrows) and trail navigational tools (e.g.,footprints) in comparison to a control condition. Characterizing the tools allows for documented relationships between specific navigational tool-performance combinations. It is intended that by characterizing and comparing the tools a more advantageous use of navigational tools will emerge to increase the benefit provided to both the users and implementers of virtual environments. The focus of the metrics in the paper were distance traveled, speed …

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Design Of A Mobile Web-Based Dashboard To Improve Work Practices Of Crna Board Runners, Mahesh Sreedharan Dec 2014

Design Of A Mobile Web-Based Dashboard To Improve Work Practices Of Crna Board Runners, Mahesh Sreedharan

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Traditional artifacts such as whiteboards serve as key tools in helping healthcare professionals keep track of frequently changing information and managing their work schedule. The simplicity of these tools has made them easy to adopt into the work culture and since these artifacts are not usually electronic, they need no external technical support or maintenance. However, these artifacts present unique challenges to their users, the primary one being lack of mobility offered. The whiteboards are usually stationary and the users will have to assemble near them to update or gather information. In a hospital, this adds significant overhead to the …

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Studies Of Imbalance Difference Theory In Modeling Conversion Between Differential Mode And Common Mode Signals, Li Niu Dec 2014

Studies Of Imbalance Difference Theory In Modeling Conversion Between Differential Mode And Common Mode Signals, Li Niu

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This dissertation describes three related studies regarding the imbalance difference theory in modeling the conversion between differential mode and common mode/antenna mode signals. The topics covered are: rigorous derivation of imbalance difference theory for modeling radiated emission problems, modeling the conversion between differential mode and common mode propagation in transmission lines, and modeling the loading impedance on differential mode signals due to radiated emissions. The imbalance difference theory describes a method for calculating the coupling between differential mode signals and common mode signals due to changes in electrical balance on a transmission line. It provides both physical insight and a …

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Integrating Visual Mnemonics And Input Feedback With Passphrases To Improve The Usability And Security Of Digital Authentication, Kevin Juang Aug 2014

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

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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 …

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Two-Stage Methodology For Managing And Controlling Material Flow Between Multiple Construction Projects, Fatmah Almazkoor Aug 2014

Two-Stage Methodology For Managing And Controlling Material Flow Between Multiple Construction Projects, Fatmah Almazkoor

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There is a strong connection between managing and controlling material flow in a supply chain and its performance. While this is true in all supply chains, it is particularly true in the construction supply chain (CSC) where the total demand for parts is finite, the storage space available can be small, and the variability in consumption is high. On the other hand, effectively controlling the CSC can have a significant impact on controlling risk and buffering their impact so that projects stay on schedule and within budget. Currently, a common control of the CSC is with a push-based material ordering …

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Pharmacists' And Patients' Perceptions Of Role Of Pharmacist In Discharge Process, Ravi Teja Vempati Aug 2014

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

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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 …

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The Impact Of Block Scheduling And Release Time On Operating Room Efficiency, Rebecca Weiss Aug 2014

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

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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 …

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Investigating The Non-Adoption Of Electronic Health Records In Primary Care, Saravanan Ramdoss Aug 2014

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

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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 …

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Design Of A Sign-Out Process To Improve Surgical Safety, Sumonthip Chompoodang Gmitro Aug 2014

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

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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 …

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Strategies To Improve The Efficiency Of Emergency Medical Service (Ems) Systems Under More Realistic Conditions, Kanchala Sudtachat May 2014

Strategies To Improve The Efficiency Of Emergency Medical Service (Ems) Systems Under More Realistic Conditions, Kanchala Sudtachat

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Emergency medical service (EMS) systems provide medical care to pre-hospital patients who need rapid response and transportation. This dissertation proposes a new realistic approach for EMS systems in two major focuses: multiple unit dispatching and relocation strategies. This work makes recommendations for multiple-unit dispatch to multiple call priorities based on simulation optimization and heuristics. The objective is to maximize the expected survival rate. Simulation models are proposed to determine the optimization. A heuristic algorithm is developed for large-scale problems. Numerical results show that dispatching while considering call priorities, rather than always dispatching the closest medical units, could improve the effectiveness …

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Design Of A Custom Software Application To Monitor And Communicate Cnc Machining Process Information To Aid In Chatter Identification, Valerie Pezzullo May 2014

Design Of A Custom Software Application To Monitor And Communicate Cnc Machining Process Information To Aid In Chatter Identification, Valerie Pezzullo

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In any manufacturing environment, it is important to be able to monitor the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining process so that high quality parts can be produced in the least amount of time in order to be profitable. This involves acquiring the proper parameters needed from the machine's controller, which can prove to be difficult with proprietary machine tools that tend to limit access to the internal data collected by the controller. This closed approach to controller design also means that many technological advances that have recently become prevalent in society are not being adopted in the manufacturing industry, preventing …

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Monitoring Hospital Safety Climate Using Control Charts Of Non-Harm Events In Reporting Systems, Susan Robinson May 2014

Monitoring Hospital Safety Climate Using Control Charts Of Non-Harm Events In Reporting Systems, Susan Robinson

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The primary aim of this thesis is to design an approach and demonstrate a methodology to supplement safety culture assessment efforts. The framework affords an enhanced understanding of hospital safety climate, specifically reporting culture, through the use of control charts to monitor non-harm patient safety events documented in reporting systems. Assessing safety culture and climate remains difficult. One of the most common methods to assess safety culture is a self-report survey administered annually. Surveys assess safety climate, because they are a snapshot of the management's and front-line staff's perceptions of safety within their settings. One component of safety culture is …

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Improved Mixed-Integer Models Of A Two-Dimensional Cutting Stock Problem, William Lassiter May 2014

Improved Mixed-Integer Models Of A Two-Dimensional Cutting Stock Problem, William Lassiter

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This paper is concerned with a family of two-dimensional cutting stock problems that seeks to cut rectangular regions from a finite collection of sheets in such a manner that the minimum number of sheets is used. A fixed number of rectangles are to be cut, with each rectangle having a known length and width. All sheets are rectangular, and have the same dimension. We review two known mixed-integer mathematical formulations, and then provide new representations that both economize on the number of discrete variables and tighten the continuous relaxations. A key consideration that arises repeatedly in all models is the …

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Lateral Dynamics Of Multiple Trailer Trucks In Windy Environments, David Wafer May 2014

Lateral Dynamics Of Multiple Trailer Trucks In Windy Environments, David Wafer

All Theses

The lateral response of three-trailer commercial vehicles has been assessed using the simulation package TruckSimTM. Aerodynamic and mechanical characterizations for the vehicle were developed for this investigation. Simulations were carried out with various aerodynamic and load configurations with several different arbitrarily defined crosswinds. The aerodynamic configurations were tested in constant and random crosswinds. The load configurations were tested only in random crosswinds. Each aerodynamic configuration differed by the aerodynamic side-force coefficient for the trailers. Each load configuration consisted of reducing the payload in a single trailer. The tractor was identically defined for each load and aerodynamic configuration. Increasing …

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