Engineering Commons^™

Modeling And Analysis Of Pca Workflow, Ewing Tiong

Masters Theses

Nursing shortage has been reported as a major problem faced not only by the United States but also by many other countries. One of the many interventions that has been used to curb nursing shortage is the increase in employment of Unlicensed Assistive Personnels (UAPs) as an alternative care delivery model. There are many types of UAP and one of them are Patient Care Assistants (PCAs). This research proposes a methodology to model and analyze the work ow of a PCA in terms of completing assigned tasks in a timely manner. The specific objectives of this research are to model …

Oxidized Phospholipids Regulation Of The Monocyte Recruitment Parthway In Human Aortic Endothelial Cells, Piao Jian Tan

Masters Theses

Low-density lipoprotein particles in blood plasma invade the endothelium and become oxidized, creating risk of CHD associated with atherosclerosis, the main underlying condition in coronary heart disease. Oxidation products of the phospholipid 1-palmitoyl- 2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphatidylcholine (PAPC) are bioactive components of minimally oxidized LDL that stimulate endothelial cells that line the artery, leading to monocyte binding and atherosclerosis. It is hypothesized that the regulation of the monocyte recruitment pathway by these oxidized phospholipids is mediated by the binding of OxPAPC to one or more mediating proteins. Human recombinant VEGFR2, GRP78, and EP2bind to OxPNB, a biotinylated analog of OxPAPC, demonstrated using Western …

Evaluation Of The Safety Effectiveness Of Clearview Font And Fluorescent Yellow Sheeting On Michigan Freeways And Non-Freeways, Lusanni Mercedes Acosta Rodrieuez

Masters Theses

Halation or irradiation makes guide sign fonts difficult to read. Missing the necessary guide sign information causes anxiety and confusion to drivers, and hence may lead to crashes. In order to avoid or mitigate the situation a newer font, Clearview, is used to provide better readability at long distances. In a similar context the lack of brightness in sheeting material for warning signs reduces conspicuity of sings. Installation of fluorescent yellow sheeting has been done to provide signs with more noticeable and brighter materials. This observational before and after study is an evaluation of the safety and economic benefits of …

The Design Of Nanostructures From The Blending Of Flowing Agents Influencing Critical Properties Of A Pharmaceutical Formulation, Casey F. Kick

Masters Theses

In the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, it is well known that flowing agents such as MgSt and Cab-O-Sil widely affect critical flow properties that influence the finished product performance of oral dosage tablets. Though the effects of flowing agents are beneficial to some extent, the sensitivity of the pharmaceutical formulation to process shearing of flowing agents during blending can be catastrophic which often results in product and batch failures. Hence it is essential to study the concentration of flowing agents and chemical nature of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) with respect to applied process shear on formulations. Previous studies have shown that …

Impact Of Calendering And Silver Addition To Carbon Nanotube-Based Electrodes Used In Printed Multi-Layer Capacitors, Ramea Awni Al-Mubarak

Masters Theses

As the demand for global energy increases, the need for development of alternative clean and sustainable energy technology increases. Creating advanced energy devices with a large storage capacity plays a significant role in this development. This research focused on investigating the performance of capacitor devices used as energy storage cells by optimizing and determining the impact of silver percentage and structure (nano-wires or silver flake) added to CNT ink on the conductivity of printed layers, and studying the influence of calendering the multi-layer capacitor electrodes. Multi-layer capacitors were fabricated by screen printing three alternative layers of conductive and dielectric inks …

Development And Verification Of A Method To Determine The Long Term Load Carrying Performance Of A Double Sided Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Tape, Rahal Rasheed

Masters Theses

Acrylic foam pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes are used in various applications as an alternative of mechanical fasteners, especially in areas like structural bonding which requires demanding bond strength and durability.

This research focuses on comparing design values of acrylic foam PSA using static shear test method and dynamic shear test method in accordance of J0MP0164 standard specification. Static shear test has lots of disadvantages; but on the other hand it is the test that mimics the real life usage of a tape in a real life application. Dynamic shear test is a faster way of testing and gives a …

Low Melting Glass Frit As An Adhesion And Resistivity Promotor To Silver Nanoparticle Ink Photonically Sintered On Indium Tin Oxide Coated Glass, Jason J. Kleiner

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was the fabrication of a printed circuit resulting from the photonic drying/sintering of conductive circuits, printed using silver nano ink layered on a film of low melting glass frit onto indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate through the flexographic printing method. The fabrication process flow included material preparation, printing, and photonic drying/sintering in that order.

Investigation of the breakthrough photonic drying/sintering method was studied by varying sintering parameters, specifically the amount of heat energy applied to each specimen, and the speed at which it was applied. Additionally, the adhesion promoting properties of a never …

Optical Tracking System To Monitor Laparoscopic Training, William D. Rytlewski

Masters Theses

Laparoscopic Surgery, also known as Minimally Invasive Surgery, is a surgical technique where surgeons perform surgery through small incisions in the patient’s abdomen using a camera to monitor the movements of the instruments inside the patient. In order for the surgery to be performed, the surgeon must possess a unique set of skills obtained through training using a variety of techniques. Simulators are the preferred method of training for laparoscopic surgery since they provide medical residents with real world scenarios as well as a tremendous amount of feedback on what he/she did wrong or right. However, due to the high …

Human Intracranial High Frequency Oscillation Detection Using Time Frequency Analysis And Its Relation To The Seizure Onset Zone, Riazul Islam

Masters Theses

One third of the patients diagnosed with focal epilepsy do not respond to antiepileptic drugs. For these patients the possible diagnosis options to give seizure freedom or at least reduce seizure frequencies significantly would be surgical resection or seizure interrupting implantable devices. The success of these procedures depends on accurate detection of the region causing seizure also known as epileptic zone. This requires detail pre-surgical evaluation including Invasive Video Electroencephalographic Monitoring (IVEM). The resulting great volume of intracranial Electroencephalography (iEEG) signal is visually examined by an expert epileptologist which can be time consuming, extremely complex, and not always effective. We …

Computer Simulations Of Propulsion Of Self-Propelled Flexible Nanobody, Ye Luo

Masters Theses

Swimming bodies such as flagellum and fishes are found everywhere in liquid environment. The research of simulation of swimmers is one of the most important branches among the field of biophysics. This study focus on the direct computer simulation of self-propelled flexible nanobody in fluid field. Two new objectives is studied based on the previous research of Tai-hsien Wu and Dewei ai (2014)[1]. ln Wu's article, the front end of micro swimming body is fixed and the migration of swimmers is neglected. For a further study, one of new targets is to release the head in 3-D simulation fluid area. …

A Microscopic Simulation Approach To Performance Evaluation Of Intelligent Transportation System Corridors: A Case In Michigan, Matthew Levi Clark

Masters Theses

A cost and benefit evaluation of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is performed through integration of analytical techniques and microscopic traffic microsimulation. Observed freeway corridor incident logs and characteristics are studied to determine representative incident management patterns on choice study corridors. The Quadstone Paramics microsimulation traffic package is used to model the selected corridors during various analysis scenarios and investigate the effects of ITS on freeway incident management performance.

Design And Analysis Of Speed Control Using Hybrid Pid-Fuzzy Controller For Induction Motors, Ahmed Fattah

Masters Theses

This thesis presents a hybrid PID-Fuzzy control system for the speed control of a three-phase squirrel cage induction motor. The proposed method incorporates fuzzy logic and conventional controllers with utilization of vector control technique. This method combines the advantages of fuzzy logic controller and conventional controllers to improve the speed response of the induction motor. The design of fuzzy system consists of 9 fuzzy variables and 49 IF-THEN rules that define the behavior of the system. The FLC observes the loop error signal and correspondingly control the PID input error signal so that the actual speed signal matches the reference …

Performance Analysis Of Magnetic Indoor Local Positioning System, Kyle Wroble

Masters Theses

As of the writing of this paper, there is no standard technique for implementing Indoor Position Systems (IPS) in one building or another, as each technique has its own advantages and drawbacks. The best IPS implementations often employ the use of multiple techniques within a building in order to maximize precision. This paper explores the most popular IPS techniques in use today, and highlights their strengths and weaknesses. After analyzing the pros and cons of each approach, it becomes clear that magnetic positioning is a useful tool for creating an accurate, reliable positioning system. Throughout this paper, the feasibility of …

Wind Oscillator For Power Genration, Rs Vewen Ramasamy

Masters Theses

This thesis describes in detail the design, mechanical, electrical and software considerations in developing a working model for the non-conventional wind power converter called Wind Oscillator. This was based on the concept developed and patented by Tianshu Liu in the paper “Wind Oscillator and Rotor for Power Generation”[1]. In order to verify the practicality of this idea, a working model of the Wind Oscillator was designed, built and tested in the Western Michigan University wind tunnel facility. LabVIEW data acquisition and photogrammetry was performed on the model so as to evaluate the power generated by the Wind Oscillator and to …

Simulation Of Drainage Rates Of A Flexible Fiber Network On Wire Screen, Yihsin Tang

Masters Theses

A forming process of a fiber mat over a filter or wire net/screen, which can move horizontally, is numerically simulated. A lattice Boltzmann equation is used to simulate fluid velocity, vorticity and structures and a lattice spring model is employed to mimic the collective motion of up to 750 flexible fibers, with aspect ratio of 20.

The interaction between the fluid and fibers is handled by an immersed boundary method. The fiber motion is driven by the hydrodynamic forces and the gravity of both fluid and solid fibers and disturbed by the horizontal shear force between the fluid and the …

Performance Analysis Of Distance Relay On Shunt/Series Facts-Compensated Transmission Line, Ahmed Kareem Lafta Al-Behadili

Masters Theses

Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) are increasingly being used to enhance the efficiency and reliability of power system networks. FACTS devices can influence the performance of existing protective system components (specifically distance relays) due to the fact that FACTS change power system quantities such as line impedances, voltages, and currents. Distance relay may mal-operate when FACTS devices are connected since they cause some of the tripping characteristics to change. This thesis investigates the impact on distance relay performance due to compensations using two types of FACTS controllers: Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) and Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC). Analytical study …

Fragility Assessment Of High-Rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings, Hezha Sadraddin

Masters Theses

This research presents a probabilistic seismic responses analysis of high-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings using fragility assessment method. Three RC buildings, having the same plan dimension and height (12 story each) but different in structural configurations, were designed and their seismic responses were compared. First building is a Moment Resisting Frame (MRF), second is a MRF with exterior shear walls, and the third building consists most shear walls. Buildings were designed for high-seismic activity zone (i.e. Los Anglos) using the Equivalent Lateral Force (ELF) for seismic loading calculation. Sixteen real ground motion pairs were selected and scaled, then applied orthogonally …

Hybrid Fuzzy-Pid Controller For Buck-Boost Converter In Solar Energy-Battery Systems, Karime Farhood Hussein

Masters Theses

In the present work, we propose a hybrid fuzzy PID control system to prevent overshoot and oscillations in DC-DC buck-boost converter for solar-battery system. We design and simulate a PID, a Fuzzy logic controller, and hybrid fuzzy PID control system to stabilize the output voltage of the buck-boost converter. The performance results using dynamic response of all of these controllers in terms of rise time, overshoot, peak time, and voltage oscillation are presented. The simulation results support the validity and advantages of the hybrid method.

Analysis Of Mobility Impact For Implementing Complete Streets, Marino Esteban Calderón Díaz

Masters Theses

Traffic simulation of the Western Michigan University campus and Downtown Kalamazoo to propose changes in the traffic flow and urban design are described. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the traffic mobility impact when incorporating the concept of Complete Streets in Downtown Kalamazoo. This project analyzes alternatives to improve traffic mobility for Stadium Drive, which includes new road geometry and roundabout. It also proposes wider sidewalks for pedestrians, bicycle lanes, and a designed landscape that enhances the genius loci. Bicycles are an ecofriendly means of transportation and the city of Kalamazoo lacks a safe path for bicyclists …

Zinc Oxide Based Inks For Semiconductor Applications, Shreyas Pathak

Masters Theses

Conventional printing methods are gaining popularity in the manufacturing of electronic components hence being termed as Printed Electronics (PE). IDTechEx has predicted that the total market size of flexible electronics by 2024 would be $70.4 billion. Their report predicts that majority of applications would consume conductive inks. (1)

The main challenge in PE is developing suitable inks for the different printing processes being used to manufacture these electronic components. The experiments in this work mainly involved selecting suitable components for formulating solvent based, semiconductive ZnO inks and then sintering using the NovaCentrix® PulseForge® 1200. ZnO inks were also doped with …

Loss On Ignition Using Infrared Heating, Benjamin J. Binoniemi

Masters Theses

The focus of this study is a proof of concept that infrared heating can be used to produce a reliable and rapid method of performing the loss on ignition test. The loss on ignition test is a foundry industry standard test that requires all moisture and volatile organic compounds be vaporized from a sample of foundry sand. The standard test as recommended by the American Foundry Society uses a muffle oven and requires nearly four hours to perform. This new concept performs the same test in approximately ten minutes. The biggest issues with the loss on ignition test are time …

Comparison Of Sutures And Devices Used In Closure Following Partial Nephrectomy Suturing, Bikal Paka

Masters Theses

Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is an effective surgical procedure to remove a small renal tumor, while preserving the remainder of the kidney. However, it is a technically challenging procedure to maintain hemostatic condition on the kidney during LPN suturing. Three different experiments were conducted to explore the characteristics and limitations of the current mechanism for tissue approximation during LPN procedures.

During the first experiment, a standard suture anchor Hem-o-lok device, a standard stop knot, and three prototype devices were compared to each other based on the amount of tension that could be placed on a suture before there was a …

High Level Synthesis, A Use Case Comparison With Hardware Description Language, Michael D. Zwagerman

Masters Theses

This paper compares Vivado High-Level Synthesis (HLS), a new mainstream technology offered by Xilinx Inc., against the typical Hardware Description Language (HDL) design approach. An example video filter application was implemented via both methods and compared for differences in performance and Non-Reoccurring Engineering (NRE). Lessons learned using HLS are also provided. The objective of this paper is to provide actual comparison data on the current state of mainstream HLS to enable informed decision making for designs considering HLS.

The Xilinx Zync System on a Chip (SoC) offering is used as a platform for both the traditional HDL methods and HLS. …

Durability Of Sutures Used In Partial Nephrectomy: Tested Across Commonly Used Diameters And Materials Stopped With Lapra-Ty® Suture Clips And Hem-O-Lok® Ligation Systems Under A Given Tension, Nadia Sunny

Masters Theses

The primary healing of soft tissue incision advances in the first fourteen days after surgery. Sutures used to close the incision are terminated with knots to last over this period under tension inside the tissue. However, knots significantly reduce the tensile strength of the sutures, and make the surgery closing time longer and tedious. Suture clips are used to overcome these limitations. It was found in prior researches that sutures slip out of the suture clips, although the manufacturer of the LAPRA-TY® suture clips claims endurance of this product under tension for at least fourteen days. Use of suture clips …

Experimental And Computational Analysis Of Thermosyphon Based Water Heaters, Siddarth Ashokkumar

Masters Theses

"Storage type electric water heaters are one of the most commonly found type of heaters in households today. Due to energy costs and limited generation capacity, there is a need for improving the efficiency of such water heaters. The efficiency of water heating systems have impact both at the household and at the national level, because of their sheer numbers. Efficient water heaters lead to lower utility bills for the consumer and also reduced demand on the grid supplying electrical power to such households. This leads to a reduction in the amount of fuel used in generating electrical power and …

Computer Aided Diagnosis Of Oral Cancer: Using Time-Step Ct Images, Jonathan T. Scott

Masters Theses

"In medical imaging it is a very common practice to use a technique known as Time-Step imaging in patients who might develop cancer. Time-Step imaging it a very powerful technique, however it can lead to unmanageable amounts of image data. Previously the only way to search all of this data was to manually look through all of the files. This had to be done by trained professionals who knew what to look for within the images and make a judgment about the patient based on the images. This paper discusses the development of an algorithm to have a computer search …

3d Numerical Modelling Of Micropiles Interaction With Soil & Rock, Audai Kamal Theinat

Masters Theses

"A 5-span bridge along the Foothills Parkway of the Great Smoky Mountains, TN, was recently completed. Two out of the four piers were instrumented to measure the load transfer in the foundations. The foundations consisted of twenty 10-inch micropiles under the pile cap for each pier. Strain gages were installed and monitored at the different stages of construction. The objective of this research is to examine the interaction between the ground and micropiles using the field data performance and numerical modelling. The 3D computer model consists of the micropile foundation within the steep rock bedding planes and overburden soils. The …

Generation And Validation Of Optimal Topologies For Solid Freeform Fabrication, Purnajyoti Bhaumik

Masters Theses

"The study of fabricating topologically optimized parts is presented hereafter. The mapping of topology optimization results for Standard Tessellation Language (STL) writing would enable the solid freeform fabrication of lightweight mechanisms. Aerospace leaders such as NASA, Boeing, Airbus, European Aeronautic Defense And Space Company (EADS), and GE Aero invest in topology optimization research for the production of lightweight materials. Certain concepts such as microstructural homogenization, discretization, and mapping are reviewed and presented in the context of topology optimization. Future biomedical applications of solid freeform fabrication such as organ printing stand to save millions of lives through the robust development of …

Freeform Extrusion Fabrication Of Titanium Fiber Reinforced 13-93 Bioactive Glass Scaffolds, Albin Thomas

Masters Theses

"Although implants made with bioactive glass have shown promising results for bone repair, their application in repairing load-bearing long bones is limited due to their poor mechanical properties as compared to human bones. This thesis study is on freeform extrusion fabrication of silicate based 13-93 bioactive glass scaffolds reinforced with titanium fibers. A composite paste was prepared with 13-93 bioactive glass filled with titanium fibers (~16 µm in diameter and aspect ratio of ~250) having 0.1 to 0.4 vol. % of the bioactive glass scaffold. This paste was then filled into a syringe manually, and then extruded through a nozzle …

Emi Analysis Of Dvi Link Connectors, Abhishek Patnaik

Masters Theses

"EMI problems are not uncommon in high speed communication systems. As the system clock frequencies increases, so does the challenges in controlling the EMI in such systems. A connector is a very important part of a high speed communication system. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is found to be tightly correlated to mode conversion: from differential-mode (DM) signals to common-mode (CM) currents and further to antenna-mode (AM) currents on the outside of cables or enclosures. Moreover, in such high speed systems, coupling to an adjacent cable-connector system is not uncommon. It is essential to understand and quantify this coupling path in order …