Engineering Commons^™

Effective Elution Of Rdx And Tnt From Particles Of Comp B In Surface Soil, John S. Furey, Herbert L. Fredrickson, Margaret J. Richmond, Michael Michel

United States Army: Publications

During live fire training exercises, large amounts of explosives are consumed. Low order detonations of high explosive payloads result in the patchy dispersal of particles of high explosive formulations over large areas of firing range soils. Dissolution of explosives from explosive formulation particles into soil pore water is a controlling factor for transport, fate, and effects of explosive compounds. We developed an empirical method to evaluate soils based on functionally defined effective dissolution rates. An automated Accelerated Solvent Extractor was used to determine the effective elution rates under controlled conditions of RDX and TNT from soil columns containing particles of …

Detection Of The Superoxide Radical Anion Using Various Alkanethiol Monolayers And Immobilized Cytochrome C, Xiaojun J. Chen, Alan C. West, Donald M. Cropek, Scott Banta

United States Army: Publications

The superoxide radical anion (SO) is a critical biomarker for monitoring cellular stress responses. Electrochemical SO biosensors are frequently constructed through the covalent immobilization of cytochrome c (Cyt c) onto self-assembled monolayers (SAMs); however, a detailed comparison of these systems as well as configuration influence on SO detection is needed to enable robust applications. Two reaction pathways, oxidation of SO by the SAM-modified gold electrode or electron transfer through a protein and monolayer relay, may be involved during the electrochemical detection of SO with Cyt c, depending on the SAM that is used. Although electrodes with SAMs alone can exhibit …

Phase 2a Trial Of 0, 1, And 3 Month And 0, 7, And 28 Day Immunization Schedules Of Malaria Vaccine Rts,S/As02 In Malaria-Naive Adults At The Walter Reed Army Institute Of Research, Kent E. Kester, James F. Cummings, Christian F. Ockenhouse, Robin Nielsen, B. Ted Hall, Daniel M. Gordon, Robert J. Schwenk, Urszula Krzych, Carolyn A. Holland, Gregory Richmond, Megan G. Dowler, Jackie Williams, Robert A. Wirtz, Nadia Tornieporth, Laurence Vigneron, Martine Delchambre, Marie-Ange Demoitie, W. Ripley Ballou, Joe Cohen, D. Gray Heppner Jr.

United States Army: Publications

Background: Immunization with RTS,S/AS02 consistently protects some vaccinees against malaria infection in experimental challenges and in field trials. A brief immunization schedule against falciparum malaria would be compatible with the Expanded Programme on Immunization, or in combination with other prevention measures, interrupt epidemic malaria or protect individuals upon sudden travel to an endemic area.
Methods: We conducted an open label, Phase 2a trial of two different full dose schedules of RTS,S/AS02 in 40 healthy malaria-naıve adults. Cohort 1 (n = 20) was immunized on a 0, 1, and 3 month schedule and Cohort 2 (n = 20) on a 0, …

Vietnam: Historians At War, Mark Moyar

United States Army: Publications

By the early 1990s, when I began studying the Vietnam War, the American public had largely lost interest in the history of that conflict. The Civil War and World War II were the wars that historians were advised to cover if they wanted to reach the public. Among government officials, military officers, and political scientists, Vietnam was considered irrelevant, because the United States would never get caught in protracted counterinsurgency warfare again. Iraq changed all that. Ever since the outbreak of insurgency in the former empire of Saddam Hussein, people of all persuasions have been mining the history of Vietnam …

Influenza Immunization And Subsequent Diagnoses Of Group A Streptococcus-Illnesses Among U.S. Army Trainees, 2002–2006, Seung-Eun Lee, Angelia Eick, Michael S. Bloom, John F. Brundage

United States Army: Publications

To assess the association between influenza immunization and subsequent diagnosis of group A streptococcus (GAS)-illness in Army recruits during influenza seasons 2002–2006. A case–control study was employed with cases as trainees with outpatient GAS diagnosis (ICD-9-CM codes: 034.0, 035, 038.0, 041.01, 320.2, 390–392, 482.31) during the influenza season, and controls as trainees with no outpatient GAS diagnosis during the influenza season. Primary exposure was influenza immunization during 1st September to 30th April of each season. Estimated protective effects of influenza immunization against GAS-illness ranged from 50% to 77%. A strong protective effect was suggested for Army trainee influenza immunization on …

Utility Of Lipid Biomarkers In Support Of Bioremediation Efforts At Army Sites, D. Ringelberg, M. Richmond, K. Foley, C. Reynolds

United States Army: Publications

Lipid biomarker analysis has proven valuable in testing the hypothesis that attributes of the extant microbiota can directly reflect the occurrence of contaminant biodegradation. Two past research efforts have demonstrated this utility and are described here.
A 4.5 m vertical core was obtained from a diesel fuel oil contamination plume. Core material was assayed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and bacterial membrane phospholipids (PLFA) via a single solvent extraction. Microbial viable biomass and the relative abundance of Gram-negative bacterial PLFA biomarkers were found to be significantly correlated with TPH concentration. The core TPH profile also revealed two distinct areas where …

"Making It Fresh - Your Choice For Performance", The Army's Hospital Foodservice Program, S. Spielmann, M. Worley, R. Harris

United States Army: Publications

To describe the Army’s new foodservice design and concept, “Making it Fresh—Your Choice for Performance” and its application for customer and patient feeding in a fixed medical treatment facility.

Moderate Zinc Restriction Affects Intestinal Health And Immune Function In Lipopolysaccharide-Challenged Mice, Daniel G. Peterson, Angus G. Scrimgeour, James P. Mcclung, Elizabeth A. Koutsos

United States Army: Publications

Zinc (Zn) is an essential nutrient that affects immune function, especially within the digestive system, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This study examined the effects of short-term moderate Zn restriction on intestinal health and immune function in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged mice through plasma cytokine profiling and histological evaluation of intestinal tissue sections. Adult male mice were fed with a Zn-adequate (40 ppm) or a Zn-marginal (4 ppm) diet for 4 weeks, and then a bacterial challenge was simulated by intraperitoneal injection of LPS (10 μg/g body weight [BW]) or saline (control). BW was recorded weekly, and feed intake …

Why Divide By (N-1) For Sample Standard Deviation?, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

In statistics, the sample standard deviation is a widely used measure of the variability or dispersion of a data set. The standard deviation of a data set is the square root of its variance. In calculating the sample standard deviation, the divisor is the number of samples in the data set minus one (n-1) rather than n. This often confuses students. This paper offers a quick overview of why the divisor is (n-1) for calculating the sample standard deviation.

Historical Perspective And Contribution Of Us Researchers Into The Field Of Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis (Shs)/Combustion Synthesis (Cs): Personal Reflections, J. W. Mccauley, J. A. Puszynski

United States Army: Publications

In 1967, Merzhanov, Skhiro, and Borovinskaya published the first comprehensive paper describing self-sustaining character of reactions in a condensed phase, which could be utilized for synthesis of many ceramic and intermetallic materials [1]. In this paper, the authors demonstrated the principle of the so called “solid flame” using reactions between transition metals and boron, carbon or nitrogen. The world-wide combustion synthesis community considers this comprehensive paper and subsequent integrated experimental and theoretical research effort conducted in the former Soviet Union as the beginning of a new approach and method of synthesizing advanced high temperature materials. The main research was conducted …

Anaerobic Treatment Of Army Ammunition Production Wastewater Containing Perchlorate And Rdx, Emina Atikovic, Makram T. Suidan, Stephen W. Maloney

United States Army: Publications

Perchlorate is an oxidizer that has been routinely used in solid rocket motors by the Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX) is a major component of military high explosives and is used in a wide variety of munitions. Perchlorate bearing wastewater typically results from production of solid rocket motors, while RDX is transferred to Army industrial wastewaters during load, assemble and pack operations for new munitions, and hot water or steam washout for disposal and deactivation of old munitions (commonly referred to as demilitarization, or simply demil).
Biological degradation in Anaerobic Fluidized Bed …

Differences In The Performance Of Knowledge Transfer Across Projects: A Study Of Gender And Role Of Key Project Stakeholders, Rafael E. Landaeta, Catherine Vergopia, Rey N. Diaz

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This investigation contributes empirical results of differences identified in key project stakeholders with respect to their use of knowledge transferred across projects. Gender and role were the two individual characteristics investigated. Project managers and members of project teams were the key stakeholders analyzed. Data was collected from 71 closed projects using a survey composed of closed-ended questions. The data collected was cross tabulated and statistically analyzed using Friedman's test and Spearman's correlation. The results provide evidence of the association of the performance of knowledge transfer across projects with (a) the individual factors of gender and role of key project stakeholders …

Design Stability For Concept Selection, Vivek K. Jikar, Kenneth M. Ragsdell

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper re-visits the concept of Design Stability proposed earlier. It further develops a new metric called the Design Stability Coefficient for use in the concept selection stage during early phases of new product development. Design Stability Coefficient is analyzed qualitatively as well as quantitatively and developed as an objective criterion for selecting the best alternative for realizing high value for the end-user of a product. a Wheatstone Bridge is used as an example to indicate a procedure for computing the Design Stability Coefficient. Calculated values are compared with the Nominal the Best signal to noise ratio. Copyright © 2008 …

Implementing An Architectural Framework To Define And Deliver Net-Centric Capability To Legacy Military Air Assets Operating Within A System Of Systems, Mark S. Anderson, S. M. Martin, Cihan H. Dagli, Ann K. Miller

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The United States Air Force (USAF) is implementing an integrated net-centric system of systems for airborne operations in support of the global war on terror (GWOT). The GWOT demands that a successful architecture framework transforms and delivers net-centric assets to the war-fighter in a timely manner. A critical component of this implementation is the transformation of legacy strategic air platforms into net-centric air power assets operating within a system of systems. The System Architectural (SA) framework, and the Department of Defense Architectural Framework (DoDAF) are ways of managing complexity and organizing information within a system of systems network. This paper …

Value Mapping Framework Involving Stakeholders For Supply Chain Improvement When Implementing Information Technology Projects, Karla Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Successful Supply Chain Management (SCM) depends on how well an organization performs internal and external communications with trading partners, executes the logistics component, and understands/monitors related costs of conducting its business. The use of information technology (IT) is considered a prerequisite for the effective control of today's complex supply chains. Increased communication technology has redefined how businesses work together, raised customer expectations, and placed new demands on supply chain performance. IT components with proven and rapid return-on-investment are favored to support critical supply chain processes such as leaner manufacturing processes, consumer-driven supply chains, and customer responsiveness. The use of IT …

Improving Business Performance Through The Integration Of Human Factors Engineering Into Organizations Using A Systems Engineeri, Monica Philippart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most organizations today understand the valuable contribution employees as people (rather than simply bodies) provide to their overall performance. Although efforts are made to make the most of the human in organizations, there is still much room for improvement. Focus in the reduction of employee injuries such as cumulative trauma disorders rose in the 80 s. Attempts at increasing performance by addressing employee satisfaction through various methods have also been ongoing for several years now. Knowledge Management is one of the most recent attempts at controlling and making the best use of employees knowledge. All of these efforts and more …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Routing With Limited Risk, Siriwat Visoldilokpun

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Due to safety and uninhabitable surrounding environments, long range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become an increasingly popular option in both scientific and military applications. With troubling oil prices, a logistic planner requires an efficient method to identify an optimal routing solution. The solution should not only optimize the bottom line objective but must also control variations in an operation.We study the UAV routing problem with limited risk (URPR) in which the considered risk is a fuel burn variance caused by wind variation. The URPR determines the optimal route that minimizes total expected fuel burn to visit all assigned targets …

A Hybrid System Dynamics-Discrete Event Simulationapproach To Simulating The Manufacturing Enterprise, Magdy Helal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the advances in the information and computing technologies, the ways the manufacturing enterprise systems are being managed are changing. More integration and adoption of the system perspective push further towards a more flattened enterprise. This, in addition to the varying levels of aggregation and details and the presence of the continuous and discrete types of behavior, created serious challenges for the use of the existing simulation tools for simulating the modern manufacturing enterprise system. The commonly used discrete event simulation (DES) techniques face difficulties in modeling such integrated systems due to increased model complexity, the lack of data at …

Project Review Maturity And Project Performance: An Empirical Case Study, Catherine Vergopia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many organizations use project management maturity models to improve their project performance. These systematic and sequential frameworks are designed to help organizations quantify their project management maturity and improve their project management processes. However, these models rarely put enough emphasis on project reviews as tools to improve project performance, because, too often, project reviews are considered as non-productive administrative processes. The lack of emphasis on project reviews in project management maturity models is also illustrated by the limited amount of research published on the relationship between project reviews and project performance. Based on the concept of project management maturity models, …

Dmarc: A Framework For The Integration Of Dmaic And Dmadv, Abhishek Vootukuru

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Lean Six Sigma methodology is being applied extensively to tackle many quality related issues in many processes of today s industries. Various companies have benefited greatly from the adoption of Six Sigma and Lean engineering concepts since their introduction, and continue to do so. The DMAIC method that is traditionally adopted in the implementation of the Lean Six Sigma methodology has proven to yield cost saving results in most cases. Yet, industries have found that just improvement of existent process and products to reduce defects, does not quench the customer s growing thirst for greater quality. In order to …

Data Mining-Driven Approahces For Process Monitoring And Diagnosis, Thuntee Sukchotrat

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The objective of this dissertation is to develop a new set of efficient process monitoring and diagnostic tools through their integration with data mining algorithms. Statistical process control (SPC) is one of the most widely used techniques for quality control. Although traditional SPC tools are effective in simple manufacturing processes that generate a small volume of independent data, these tools falter when confronted by the large streams of complex and correlated data found in modern manufacturing systems. As the limitations of SPC methodology become increasingly obvious in the face of ever more complex manufacturing processes, data mining, because of its …

Functional Data Analysis For Environmental And Biomedical Problems, Chivalai Temiyasathit

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Vast amounts of data are being generated due to the development of sensing technology. Among those, one of the common types of data usually found in various discipline is the functional data. Because the functional data are generally collected in a wide area of interest over a relatively long period, such analyses should take into account both temporal and spatial characteristics. Furthermore, combinations of observations from multiple locations, each with a large number of serially correlated values, lead to a situation that poses a great challenge to analytical and computational capabilities. In contrast, data obtained from medical and biomedical researches …

How Do You Interpret A Confidence Interval?, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

A confidence interval (CI) is an interval estimate of a population parameter. Instead of estimating the parameter by a single value, a point estimate, an interval likely to cover the parameter is developed. Many student incorrectly interpret the meaning of a confidence interval. This paper offers a quick overview of how to correctly interpret a confidence interval.

Speculation And Hedging With Virtuals, Prasenjit Shil

Doctoral Dissertations

"Virtual bid" and "Virtual offer" are purely financial products offered in certain electricity markets. Theoretically, virtual bids and offers can change the electricity price as the bids and offers are stacked along with the demand and supply, respectively. This dissertation discusses how virtuals can be used to hedge and speculate in the electricity market. A statistical simulation model is developed based on the day-ahead (DA) demand and real time (RT) load data from Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator's (MISO) footprint and DA and RT price observed at Cinergy hub. The simulation models are intended to mimic the load and price …

Evaluating The Performance Of Animal Shelters: An Application Of Data Envelopment Analysis, Brandy Heyde

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is the application of data envelopment analysis to understand and evaluate the performance of diverse animal welfare organizations across the United States. The results include identification of the most efficient animal welfare organizations, at least among those that post statistics on their operations, and a discussion of various partnerships that may improve the performance of the more inefficient organizations. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that there are 4000 - 6000 independently-run animal shelters across the United States, with an estimated 6-8 million companion animals entering them each year. Unfortunately, more than half …

Defining Risk Assessment Confidence Levels For Use In Project Management Communications, Gary Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A review of the literature regarding risk management and effective risk communications identified that very few researchers have addressed risk assessment confidence levels when using risk scoring methods. The focus of this research is to develop a definition of risk assessment confidence levels for use in internal project management communications and to evaluate its usefulness. This research defines risk assessment confidence level as "The degree of certainty that the likelihood or consequence score (assigned by the risk assessor) reflects reality." A specific level of confidence is defined based on the types of analyses that were conducted to determine the risk …

Application Of Artificial Neural Networks And Colored Petri Nets On Earthquake Resilient Water Distribution Systems, Nandini Kavanal Balakrishnan

Masters Theses

"Water distribution systems are important lifelines and a critical and complex infrastructure of a country. The performance of this system during unexpected rare events is important as it is one of the lifelines that people directly depend on and other factors indirectly impact the economy of a nation. In this thesis a couple of methods that can be used to predict damage and simulate the restoration process of a water distribution system are presented. Contributing to the effort of applying computational tools to infrastructure systems, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is used to predict the rate of damage in the pipe …

The Influence Of Acidity On Microbial Fuel Cells Containing Shewanella Oneidensis, Justin C. Biffinger, Jeremy Pietron, Orianna Bretschger, Lloyd J. Nadeau, Glenn R. Johnson, Cynthia C. Williams, Kenneth H. Nealson, Bradley R. Ringeisen

United States Navy: Publications

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) traditionally operate at pH values between 6 and 8. However, the effect of pH on the growth and electron transfer abilities of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (wild-type) and DSP10 (spontaneous mutant), bacteria commonly used in MFCs, to electrodes has not been examined. Miniature MFCs using bare graphite felt electrodes and nanoporous polycarbonate membranes with MR-1 or DSP10 cultures generated >8W/m³ and ∼400μA between pH 6–7. The DSP10 strain significantly outperformed MR-1 at neutral pH but underperformed at pH 5. Higher concentrations of DSP10 were sustained at pH 7 relative to that of MR-1, whereas at pH …

The Army Dietetic Mentorship Program: Making The Most Out Of Mentoring, M.A. Worley, M.B. Salgueiro, D.R. Hernandez, C.J. Buck

United States Army: Publications

To describe the Army’s Dietetic Mentorship Program and its effect on personnel and professional development of recent internship graduates.

Wireless Mote-Based In-Process Diagnostics Using Hand-Held Tools In Network Enabled Manufacturing Environments, Reghu Anguswamy

Masters Theses

"When complex manufacturing systems are considered, post process inspection can be a very time consuming and costly. In addition, no inspection data is typically collected unless a major problem is encountered. Real-time monitoring of the manufacturing processes and verification of its product quality are two important factors to reduce the manufacturing lead time and to ensure safety and quality.

In this thesis, a diagnostics and root-cause analysis scheme with a single channel wireless routing protocol for real-time monitoring of process quality of pull-type fastening operations is first presented. The overall architecture has been implemented on a Huck45 pull-type tool, which …