Digital Commons Network^™

Primary Flexion Axis Selection In Total Knee Replacements Using Computational Analysis, Nicholas Marais

All Theses

Total knee replacements (TKR) are one of the most frequently implanted medical devices, with over 600,000 procedures performed in the United States in 2012. In order to ensure TKR longevity, wear tests are frequently conducted on these implants prior to patient implantation. Variations in implant geometry, material, and surface treatments are all tested, however, TKR alignment may also play a role in the long-term success of the knee implant. When testing knee designs with complex tibial and femoral geometries it is essential that the implant be aligned as the implant manufacturers intended so as to best represent the function of …

Polygon Distances With Applications To High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Vito Capuano

All Theses

Analytical chemistry uses high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate desired macromolecules from a fluid. This thesis is concerned with monolithic column environments used in HPLC separations. The monolithic column environment under consideration consists of many long polymer fibers suspended in a tube. Between the fibers are voids (interstices) which regulate the separation process. The goal of this thesis is both to identify interstices of a size such that the interstice contributes to the separation process, and to identify the boundaries of the fibers along such interstices. We model the cross section of the column environment with a collection of …

The Effect Of Procedural Changes On The Rate Of Clinical Alarms In The Intensive Care Unit, Puneeth Kalavagunta

All Theses

Clinical alarms have become an indispensable part of medical environment, but issues related to alarm artifacts, false alarms, and alarm fatigue have been identified. A national online survey administered to hospitals stated healthcare workers determined that 81% of respondents agreed that alarms occur frequently, 77% agreed that excessive clinical alarms disrupt patient care, and 78% agreed that reduced trust in alarms cause caregivers to disable them (Korniewicz, Clark, & David, 2008). Studies have suggested that preparation of skin of the patient improves electrode-skin contact, thereby resulting in fewer artifacts (Hermens, Freriks, Disselhorst-Klug, & Rau, 2000). Additionally, clinical studies have shown …

Evaluation Of Shiryaev-Roberts Procedure For On-Line Environmental Radiation Monitoring, Mara Watson

All Theses

An on-line radiation monitoring system that simultaneously concentrates and detects radioactivity is needed to detect an accidental leakage from a nuclear waste disposal facility or clandestine nuclear activity. Previous studies have shown that classical control chart methods can be applied to on-line radiation monitoring data to quickly detect these events as they occur; however, Bayesian control chart methods were not included in these studies. This work will evaluate the performance of a Bayesian control chart method, the Shiryaev-Roberts (SR) procedure, compared to classical control chart methods, Shewhart 3-σ and cumulative sum (CUSUM), for use in on-line radiation monitoring of 99Tc …

Comparison Gmm And Svm Classifier For Automatic Speaker Verification, Shamama Afnan

All Theses

The objective of this thesis is to develop automatic text-independent speaker verification systems using unconstrained telephone conversational speech. We began by performing a Gaussian Mixture Model Likelihood ratio verification task in speaker independent system as described by MIT Lincoln Lab. We next introduced a speaker dependent verification system based on speaker dependent thresholds. We then implemented the same system applying Support Vector Machine. In SVM, we used polynomial kernels and radial basis function kernels and compared the performance. For training and testing the system, we used low-level spectral features. Finally, we provided a performance assessment of these systems using the …

Acoustic Performance Of Reiterated Hierarchical Honeycomb Structures, Naveen Nainar

All Theses

Sandwich panels constructed from honeycomb structures have been found to reduce sound transmission and improve vibration isolation. In this work, reiterated hierarchical honeycomb structures have been modeled for the core in sandwich panels and studied for sound transmission properties using finite element analysis. Several honeycomb unit cell geometries are considered, including, regular hexagonal, auxetic with properties of negative Poisson’s ratio, and different reiterated hierarchical structures. Previous studies have shown that auxetic honeycomb structures exhibit improved sound transmission loss compared to regular honeycomb sandwich panels. Two different orientations of the honeycomb unit cell geometry have been studied, namely, the zigzag and …

Integrated Batching And Lot Streaming With Variable Sublots And Sequence-Dependent Setups In A Two-Stage Hybrid Flow Shop, Shasha Wang

All Theses

Consider a paint manufacturing firm whose customers typically place orders for two or more products simultaneously: liquid primer, top coat paint, and/or undercoat paint. Each product belongs to an associated product family that can be batched together during the manufacturing process. Meanwhile, each product can be split into several sublots so that overlapping production is possible in a two-stage hybrid flow shop. Various numbers of identical capacitated machines operate in parallel at each stage. We present a mixed-integer programming (MIP) to analyze this novel integrated batching and lot streaming problem with variable sublots, incompatible job families, and sequence-dependent setup times. …

A Scalable And Low-Cost Interactive Shape-Changing Display, Amith Mysore Vijaykumar

All Theses

Research in new display technologies has garnered great interest in the recent years. Curved screens and foldable displays have already been commercialized. However a relatively new field of research is in dynamic shape-changing or shape-shifting displays. These displays utilize the ability to change their shape dynamically as another dimension of representing visual data. These displays potentially augmented with colors, can help visualize three dimensional data such as terrains, city and building plans, and medical data. They can also be used in new ways of Human-Computer Interaction by developing user interfaces that transform physically based on the scenario. While there is …

Mathematical Properties That Influence Least Significant Change Of Body Composition And Bone Mineral Density Measured By Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry, Nadia Marie Ghassan Najm

All Theses

Introduction: Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans are the gold standard method for measuring bone mineral density (BMD) calculations for the assessment and measurement of bone health. More recently, DXA scans have become the common method for body composition assessments among clinicians and researchers alike, particularly for its ability to separate soft tissue into and lean mass. This study was designed to calculate the percent coefficient variation (%CV) to determine the least significant change (LSC), or the variability considered significant when measuring BMD, fat mass, and lean mass with a DXA scan. Methods: Thirty-six female and 6 male, aged 50.07 …

Clemson Trustees Minutes, 2015 July 17, Clemson University Board Of Trustees

Minutes

No abstract provided.

Technical And Economic Assessment Of Perovskite Solar Cells For Large Scale Manufacturing, Amir A. Asif, Rajendra Singh, Githin F. Alapatt

Publications

In this paper, we have carried out detailed technical and economic assessment of perovskite solar cells for large scale manufacturing. For ultra-small area of the order of 0.1 cm², efficiency of 20% or so are reported. However, for area of 25 cm², the efficiency is about 10%. Based on the photovoltaic module manufacturing requirements of no constraint on the supply of raw materials, low variability of every key process and process-induced defects, low cost of manufacturing, prospects for further cost reduction in the future, green manufacturing, and long-term reliability, there are absolutely no prospects of manufacturing …

Toric Partial Orders, Mike Develin, Matthew Macauley, Victor Reiner

Publications

We define toric partial orders, corresponding to regions of graphic toric hyperplane arrangements, just as ordinary partial orders correspond to regions of graphic hyperplane arrangements. Combinatorially, toric posets correspond to finite posets under the equivalence relation generated by converting minimal elements into maximal elements, or sources into sinks. We derive toric analogues for several features of ordinary partial orders, such as chains, antichains, transitivity, Hasse diagrams, linear extensions, and total orders.

Playing Hell In Charleston - Daniel Payne, Clementa Pinckney And The Fight Against White Supremacy, Susanna Ashton

Publications

The men and women massacred while studying the Bible the other night in the Emanuel A. M. E. Church were, in their own way, raising hell.

That phrase might seem ill conceived or even disrespectful but it can be invoked here to honor their courage and the A. M. E Church’s long tradition of challenging white supremacy. Their private prayer this week was political simply because their mere existence challenged racial power. There is a long contextual history of race violence in America which gives us tools to see this event clearly but even more than that, there is a …

Promoting Your Scholarship Through Open Access, Andrew Wesolek

Presentations

Many academic librarians are required to publish as part of the promotion and tenure process. And if they are not, they surely consult with faculty who are. Often, it is not enough to simply have published works, but one must also demonstrate the impact of those works. Luckily, there are strategies you can use to bolster the visibility and impact of your work. This presentation will cover author's rights, negotiating publication agreements, open access publishing, and free resources you can use to boost the visibility of your work.

Estimation Of Pcb Contamination In The Twelve Mile Creek Arm Of Lake Hartwell Using Gis And Statistical Techniques, Arjun Bharadwaj

All Theses

The Lake Hartwell and its Twelve Mile Creek watershed were contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mainly Aroclor 1016 and 1254, which resulted in a designation as a Superfund site. The Twelve Mile Creek arm is the most heavily contaminated portion of the lake. The Twelve Mile Creek arm of Lake Hartwell was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in the year 1990. In the Record of Decision (ROD) by the EPA in 1994, natural attenuation, primarily through burial by uncontaminated sediment, was declared as the chosen remedy to reach the EPA recommended level of 1 µg/g. Several studies have …

Clemson Commencement Program, May 2015, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Watershed-Based Plan Georges Creek In The Saluda River Basin, South Carolina, Charly Mcconnell

Non-Thesis Terminal Projects

Water quality of streams, rivers, and lakes is a critical environmental health issue and must be protected in order to prevent pollution. Watershed-­‐based plans are one way to define and address current and potential water quality issues within a given watershed. This watershed-­‐based plan will take a detailed look at the Georges Creek watershed. This subwatershed located within the Upper Saluda River Basin has sites listed on the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) 303(d) and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) lists, making it a prime location to evaluate. The watershed-­‐based plan will prioritize areas and …

Ph Sensing And Imaging With Nanoparticles And Implantable Films, Fenglin Wang

All Dissertations

pH is a very important parameter in biological systems. Monitoring pH in situ may provide useful information for studying pH regulated cellular events, diagnosing diseases and assessing treatment efficacy. Various strategies have been introduced for developing pH sensors. However, it is still challenging to monitor pH in biological systems with high specificity, especially through thick tissue. In this dissertation, we describe three types of pH sensors which are used to noninvasively monitor pH in living cells, monitor and map bacterial growth caused pH variation through thick tissue with minimal autofluorescence background. In Chapter 2, a pH nanosensor with high specificity …

Design Of Reliable And Sustainable Wireless Sensor Networks: Challenges, Protocols And Case Studies, Fan Yang

All Dissertations

Integrated with the function of sensing, processing, and wireless communication, wireless sensors are attracting strong interest for a variety of monitoring and control applications. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been deployed for industrial and remote monitoring purposes. As energy shortage is a worldwide problem, more attention has been placed on incorporating energy harvesting devices in WSNs. The main objective of this research is to systematically study the design principles and technical approaches to address three key challenges in designing reliable and sustainable WSNs; namely, communication reliability, operation with extremely low and dynamic power sources, and multi-tier network architecture. Mathematical throughput …

Administrative Relationships, Agency Theory, And The Summer Work Travel Program: 2012-2013, Mark Reardon

All Dissertations

This study discusses the ability of the Summer Work Travel Program (SWTP) to meet the objectives outlined in its authorizing legislation, the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. These goals include educational exchange between participants and the U.S. community, cultural exchange between participants and the U.S. community, and the promotion of peace exemplified by SWTP operators and the U.S. community. The study adopts agency and transaction cost theory to guide its discussion of the administrative relationship between the U.S. State Department and those designated as Summer Work Travel Sponsors. This study's findings include instances of informational and preference …

Applications Of Algebraic Geometric Codes To Polar Coding, Sarah E. Anderson

All Dissertations

In recent groundbreaking work, Arikan developed polar codes as an explicit construction of symmetric capacity achieving codes for binary discrete memoryless channels with low encoding and decoding complexities. In this construction, a specific kernel matrix G is considered and is used to encode a block of channels. As the number of channels grows, each channel becomes either a noiseless channel or a pure-noise channel, and the rate of this polarization is related to the kernel matrix used. Since Arikan's original construction, polar codes have been generalized to q-ary discrete memoryless channels, where q is a power of a prime, and …

Development And Fabrication Of Novel Woven Meshes As Bone Graft Substitutes For Critical Sized Defects, Jordan Anthony Stowe Gilmore

All Dissertations

With more than $2.5 billion spent per year, and over 2.2 million procedures conducted annually worldwide, bone grafting continues to be a large part of the treatment strategy for large non-healing bone defects (critical-sized defects). However, complication rates (>20%), donor shortage, and donor site morbidity have led to the promotion of bone tissue engineering as an important option in these cases. This work explored the use of a novel bio-loom to make woven polymeric meshes as viable bone tissue engineering scaffolds. Melt-spun poly-l-lactide and poly-l-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone fibers were used to produce mesh with varying porosity, pore size, and cellular affinity. …

An Optimization-Based Approach To Decoupling Fluid-Structure Interaction, Paul Allen Kuberry

All Dissertations

Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is ubiquitous in both manufacturing and nature. At the same time, models describing this phenomenon are highly sensitive and nonlinear. Providing an analytical solution to these models for a realistic set of initial and boundary conditions has proven to be intractable.

Within the domain of computational simulation, significant effort has been invested in de-veloping numerical methods to approximate solutions using these models. Current efforts to date have included monolithic and partitioned schemes.

In this dissertation, a novel partitioned approach is detailed in the context of Galerkin finite elements using body fitted meshes. It capitalizes upon the continuity …

Cloud-Based Strategies For Robust Connectivity And Efficient Transmission In Vehicular Networks, Ke Xu

All Dissertations

Leveraging multiple wireless technologies and radio access networks, vehicles on the move have the potential to get ubiquitous broadband Internet connectivity. Many studies have put lots of efforts on vehicle-to-vehicle networks for relaying strategies, popular content distribution, etc. However, in dominant infrastructure-based vehicular networks, supporting continuous and fast data transfer for today's prevalent services, e.g. video streaming, for vehicles anytime and anywhere is still a difficult research problem. By looking into such problem, impacts such as intermittent connectivity, dynamic network topology, fluctuating signal coverage, and inefficient transmissions, all result from two root causes in vehicular network- mobility and limited infrastructure …

Development, Validation, And Application Of Analytical Methods For Characterizing Adsorbed Protein Orientation, Conformation, And Bioactivity, Aby Thyparambil

All Dissertations

The structure and bioactivity of adsorbed proteins are tightly interrelated and play a key role in their interaction with the surrounding environment. These factors are of critical importance in many biotechnological applications. However, because the bioactive state of an adsorbed protein is a function of the orientation, conformation, and accessibility of its bioactive site(s), the isolated determination of just one or two of these factors will typically not be sufficient to understand the structure-function relationships of the adsorbed layer. Rather a combination of methods is needed to address each of these factors in a synergistic manner to provide a complementary …

Values Assigned To National Parks By Hispanics In The United States: Castillo De San Marcos And Fort Matanzas Nm And Great Smoky Mountains Np, Carla Mora-Trejos

All Dissertations

The integrity of Parks and Protected Areas (PPA) depends on management that acknowledges their position as part of the socio-cultural context and demonstrates awareness and attention to ethnic and racial dimensions of the communities adjacent to these areas. The Unites States National Park Service has dedicated resources and effort to determine ways to keep units in the national park service relevant in a changing world. The fastest growing and second largest demographic in the Unites States is the Latino or Hispanic population. Very little has been published about this rapidly growing population of Latin Americans residing in the United States …

Kaleidoscopic View Of Voices Shaping Female And Male Adolescents' Dynamic Mathematics Identity Within Single-Sex And Coeducational Environments, Amber Simpson

All Dissertations

With amendments made to the Title IX legislation in 2006, public schools in the United States were permitted to establish single-sex classes as an option for students to enroll voluntarily. Yet, our understanding of how single-sex mathematics classes affect female and male adolescent students in the United States is sparse. The purpose of this study is to contribute to this limited body of scholarship by gaining insights into the similarities and differences in how middle grade female and male students' narrate their mathematics identity within a single-sex and coeducational mathematics classrooms, as well as how class type may be shaping …

Linear Programming Methods For Identifying Solvable Cases Of The Quadratic Assignment Problem, Lucas Waddell

All Dissertations

This research effort is concerned with identifying and characterizing families of polynomially solvable instances of the celebrated NP-hard quadratic assignment problem (qap). The approach is novel in that it uses polyhedral methods based on an equivalent mixed 0-1 linear reformulation of the problem. The continuous relaxation of this mixed 0-1 form yields a feasible region having extreme points that are both binary and fractional. The solvable instances of concern essentially possess objective function structures that ensure a binary extreme point must be optimal, so that the linear program solves the qap. The ultimate contribution of this work is the unification …

The Contribution Of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge In Conservation Of Enguserosambu Community Forest, Tanzania, Agnes Sirima

All Dissertations

Community managed forests constitute a significant proportion of the world's forests, however, little is known regarding their condition or the details of how they are managed. Documented benefits of community managed forest include poverty alleviation and in some places a decrease in the rate of deforestation. Although some community based forests do not satisfy the IUCN definition of a protected areas, they provide valuable long term sustainability of forest products and many are also rich in biodiversity and support landscape conservation strategies. Forests are also home to many cultures including the indigenous people. Indigenous communities surrounding forest areas and other …

Coulomb Interaction Effects In Semiconductor Heterostructures With Spin-Orbit Interaction, Jeremy Patrick Capps

All Dissertations

In this thesis we analyze two different situations where the interplay between the spin-orbit coupling (SOI) of the Rashba and Dresselhaus type, linear in the elec-tron momentum, and the Coulomb interaction generates a specific macroscopic phe-nomenology that can be experimentally observed. In the first problem, we investigate the Friedel oscillations that can be sustained in in the presence of the Coulomb repul-sion in a two-dimensional lateral superlattice with SOI and analyze the dependence on several system parameters. Then, we are concerned with the properties of a single quantum well in the special regime where the coupling strengths of the Rashba …