Engineering Commons^™

Managing Patient Test Data In Primary Care: Developing And Evaluating A System For Test Tracking To Enhance Processes, Safety, And Understanding Of Performance, Jennifer M. Cloud-Buckner

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Patient testing is vital for primary care and serves as a gateway to specialty healthcare. Patient safety is worsened when testing orders (e.g., laboratory, imaging orders) are not tracked, results are lost, or abnormal results lack patient notification and follow-up. Non-standardized testing management reduces resilience; affects clinical outcomes; and increases errors, costs, workload, and delays.

To address the need for testing management improvements, this research followed four phases in six objectives: (1) In Phase I initial survey, assess perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of practicing healthcare clinicians and administrators about testing, safety, and technology; (2) In Phase II system design, design …

An Evaluation Of Discharge Policies At A Generic Acute Care Hospital, Elizabeth A. Crawford

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One of the main issues faced within the U.S. healthcare continuum is ineffective care transition. Ineffective transitions from one area of care to the next can lead to a reduction in quality of care, an increased risk of readmission, and an increase in healthcare costs. According to the National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC), as many as 42% of the hospitals surveyed reported that care transitions during coordinated care delivery do not go as planned. One of the primary reasons for ineffective care transition is poor discharge planning. The purpose of this research is to analyze the effect of various …

Adaptive Noise Reduction Techniques For Airborne Acoustic Sensors, Ryan Michael Fuller

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Ground and marine based acoustic arrays are currently employed in a variety of military and civilian applications for the purpose of locating and identifying sources of interest. An airborne acoustic array could perform an identical role, while providing the ability to cover a larger area and pursue a target. In order to implement such a system, steps must be taken to attenuate environmental noise that interferes with the signal of interest. In this thesis, we discuss the noise sources present in an airborne environment, present currently available methods for mitigation of these sources, and propose the use of adaptive noise …

Statistical Methods For Image Change Detection With Uncertainty, Andrew James Lingg

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Sensors capable of collecting wide area motion imagery (WAMI), video synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and other high frame rate sensor modalities provide massive amounts of high-resolution data. Such data allows for the use of multiple images in exploitation tasks which may have traditionally used single images or single pairs of images. One such task is change detection. This dissertation presents new statistical methods for change detection that provide for the exploitation of multiple images per pass. Uncertainty in image registration can degrade change detection performance. Registration accuracy is analyzed, and the impact of registration uncertainty is propagated to the registered …

Knowledge Acquisition In A System, Christopher J. Thomas

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I present a method for growing the amount of knowledge available on the Web using a hermeneutic method that involves background knowledge, Information Extraction techniques and validation through discourse and use of the extracted information.

I present the metaphor of the "Circle of Knowledge on the Web". In this context, knowledge acquisition on the web is seen as analogous to the way scientific disciplines gradually increase the knowledge available in their field.

Here, formal models of interest domains are created automatically or manually and then validated by implicit and explicit validation methods before the statements in the created models can …

Abstraction Driven Application And Data Portability In Cloud Computing, Ajith Harshana Ranabahu

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Cloud computing has changed the way organizations create, manage, and evolve their applications. While many organizations are eager to use the cloud, tempted by substantial cost savings and convenience, the implications of using clouds are still not well understood. One of the major concerns in cloud adoption is the vendor lock-in of applications, caused by the heterogeneity of the numerous cloud service offerings. Vendor locked applications are difficult, if not impossible to port from one cloud system to another, forcing cloud service consumers to use undesired or suboptimal solutions. This dissertation investigates a complete and comprehensive solution to address the …

Evaluation Of Interpolation And Registration Techniques In Magnetic Resonance Image For Orthogonal Plane Super Resolution Reconstruction, Amir Pasha Mahmoudzadeh

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Super resolution reconstruction (SRR) combines several perspectives of an image (typically low resolution) in order to reconstruct a more complete and comprehensive (higher resolution) image. The aim is to use this concept on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, for which the standard is to scan in several-plane orientation in a 2D fashion. As a result, clinical MRI, functional MRI (FMRI), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)/diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and MR angiography (MRA) tend to have high in- plane resolution but low resolution in the slice-select direction. By combining the 2 scans of the orthogonal plane, new 3D images can be reconstructed. …

Stead-State And Small-Signal Modeling Of Power-Stage Of Pwm Z-Source Converter, Veda Prakash Nagabhushana Galigekere

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Pulse-width modulated (PWM) Z-source converter plays an important role in industrial/power electronic systems. Steady-state and dynamic modeling of the power-stage of PWM converters is essential for envisaging a closed-loop regulated power supply.

Steady-state analysis of pulse-width modulated (PWM) Z-source dc-dc converter operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM) is presented. Voltage and current waveforms, and their corresponding expressions describing the steady-state operation of the PWM Z-source dc-dc converter have been presented. The input-to-output dc voltage transfer functions, both for ideal and non-ideal PWM Z-source dc-dc converter have been derived. The minimum Z-network inductance required to ensure CCM operation is derived. The …

The Role Of Ca2+ In Central Respiratory Control Neurons Of The Locus Coeruleus: Development Of The Chemosensitive Brake, Ann Nicole Imber

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Chemosensitive LC neurons increase their firing rate in response to increased CO₂ (hypercapnia) in part via inhibition of K⁺ channels. This increase gets smaller during the first two postnatal weeks (neonatal rats aged P3-P16). Alterations of this "accelerating" pathway may account for the developmental changes in the magnitude of the chemosensitive response in LC neurons. Alternatively, Ca²⁺ and Ca²⁺ channels may play a role in the response to hypercapnia, but little is known about the role of Ca²⁺ in central chemosensitivity. Whole cell patch clamp and fluorescence imaging microscopy were used to study a different …

Steady-State And Small-Signal Modeling Of A Pwm Dc-Dc Switched-Inductor Buck-Boost Converter In Ccm, Julie Joann Lee

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Pulse-width modulated (PWM) buck-boost converters have a significant role in power electronic systems for renewable energy applications. A new hybrid, the switched-inductor buck-boost converter, is superior to the conventional buck-boost because it uses less energy in the magnetic field, has smaller component size of inductors, and produces less current stresses in the switching elements. Steady-state and dynamic modeling of the switched-inductor buck-boost converter is essential to design and implement of a feed-back network. The objective of this work is to present the steady-state analysis of a PWM switched-inductor buck-boost dc-dc converter operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). The idealized voltage …

Nanostructured Columnar Thin Films Using Oblique Angle Deposition: Growth, Sers Characterization And Lithographic Processing, Piyush J. Shah

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Oblique angle physical vapor deposition technique has led to the evolution of new class of nanostructured thin films. These films posses' novel anisotropic electrical, magnetic, optical, properties which could be potentially engineered based on the growth conditions and the deposition parameters. The technique is based on the atomistic level self-shadowing principle. In the oblique angle deposition (OAD) technique, the substrate is held at an oblique angle with respect to the incoming vapor flux. As the vapor atoms condense and nucleate on the substrate, the shadowed regions behind each site stop receiving the subsequent vapor atoms. Instead, they land on the …

Application Of Auto-Tracking To The Study Of Insect Body Kinematics In Maneuver Flight, Shreyas Vathul Subramanian

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There is a need to explain the complex phenomena that underlies the seemingly effortless flight modes of the dragonfly (Infra -order Anisoptera). However, measuring the body kinematics during flight is labor intensive. Thus a robust system was developed that automatically tracks and quantifies the body kinematics of a dragonfly during voluntary and escape take-offs, as well as maneuvers. Ultimately, the tool, which was developed using a custom code in C++ using the open source library OpenCV (Open Computer Vision), would be used to analyze bulk samples of high speed videos providing raw images at the rate of approximately 1000 frames …

Extension Of Polar Format Scene Size Limits To Squinted Geometries, Matthew Steven Horvath

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The Polar Format Algorithm (PFA) is an often used algorithm to image synthetic aperture radar (SAR) phase history data. The algorithm relies on a far-field approximation wherein the curved wavefront of the transmitted pulses is approximated as a planar wavefront, introducing spatially variant phase errors in the phase history. While allowing for faster image formation compared to more exact imaging algorithms such as convolution backprojection, these phase errors lead to the distortion and defocus of point targets, degrading the quality of the resulting imaged scene.

Historically, a Taylor expansion has been used to approximate the phase errors leading to distortion …

Use Of Exploratory Data-Mining Techniques To Analyze Associations Between Bone-Mineral Density And Relevant Clinical Parameters Of Gaucher Disease, Tingting Fu

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Gaucher disease (GD) is a monogenic disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance, which results from an acid lysosomal hydrolase, the beta-glucocerebrosidase deficiency. Clinical manifestations of the disease include anemia, thrombocytopenia, hepatosplenomegaly, and skeletal complications. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) has been used to treat type 1 GD for more than a decade, and many patients have shown remarkable clinical responses to the treatment, with normalization of blood counts, reduction in liver and spleen size, and improvement in bone symptoms. Many researchers have tried to study the effectiveness of ERT, but previous research has been mainly based on some predetermined hypotheses and traditional …

A Mechanism-Based Model To Describe Gabaa Receptor Trafficking And Benzodiazepine Pharmacoresistance During Status Epilepticus, Elaine Alice Merrill

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Status epilepticus (SE) is a perplexing pathology involving a sudden and long disruption of the brain's normal electrical activity. The study of relevant cellular processes has been useful in identifying therapeutic targets. As a result, many novel drugs are being studied which target receptor systems involved in neuronal membrane excitability. Yet, the standard treatment for SE remains benzodiazepines (BZs), a class of GABAA agonist drugs. Unfortunately, the targeted receptors undergo a desensitization mechanism via enhanced endocytosis (receptor trafficking), leading to rapidly reduced BZ efficacy (pharmacoresistance) within minutes of seizure onset. A comprehensive understanding of the complex interplay between the anticonvulsant's …

Winding Resistance And Winding Power Loss Of High-Frequency Power Inductors, Rafal P. Wojda

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The scope of this research is concentrated on analytical winding size optimization (thickness or diameter) of high-frequency power inductors wound with foil, solid-round wire, multi-strand wire, and litz-wire conductors.

The first part of this research concerns analytical optimization of the winding size (thickness or diameter) for the inductors conducting a sinusoidal current. Estimation of winding resistance in individual inductor layers made of foil, taking into account the skin and proximity effects is performed. Approximated equations for the winding power loss in each layer are given and the optimal values of foil thickness for each layer are derived.

A low- and …

Quantification Of Multiple Types Of Uncertainty In Physics-Based Simulation, Inseok Park

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In general, more than one simulation model can be created to analyze and design engineering systems. Uncertainty is inevitably involved in selecting a single best approximating model from among a set of simulation models. Uncertainty in model selection (called model-form uncertainty in the present research) cannot be ignored, especially when the differences between the predictions by plausible models are significant. Also, each simulation model involves uncertainty in its input parameters and unknown errors in its predictions of system responses. A methodology is developed to quantify model-form uncertainty using the differences between experimental data measured from an engineering system and model …

Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave Radar And Video Fusion For Simultaneous Localization And Mapping, Andrew Stephen Kondrath

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There has been a push recently to develop technology to enable the use of UAVs in GPS-denied environments. As UAVs become smaller, there is a need to reduce the number and sizes of sensor systems on board. A video camera on a UAV can serve multiple purposes. It can return imagery for processing by human users. The highly accurate bearing information provided by video makes it a useful tool to be incorporated into a navigation and tracking system. Radars can provide information about the types of objects in a scene and can operate in adverse weather conditions. The range and …

Regulation Of The Dna Unwinding Element Binding Protein Due-B In The Cell, Yanzhe Gao

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Eukaryotic cells have evolved tightly controlled processes that make sure the entire genome gets replicated accurately, once per cell cycle. This tight control is fulfilled by degrading replication proteins after their function is carried out, changing their cellular location or by post-translational modification of replication factors to regulate their function. Phosphorylation events carried out by CDKs (cyclin dependent kinases) and DDKs (Dbf4 dependent kinases) play crucial roles in this regulation.

The DNA unwinding element binding protein (DUE-B) is an essential replication protein that binds to the human c-myc DNA replication origin. In this study, I find that DUE-B is also …

Inventory Systems With Transshipments And Quantity Discounts, Gregory Daniel Noble

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This research advances knowledge in the area of inventory systems and the relationship between competing retailers and suppliers of goods. This dissertation studies retailers that face uncertainty in the demand for goods and who purchase the goods from a single supplier. A game theoretic methodology is developed to analyze supplier pricing decisions and retailer quantity decisions and interactions in a competitive transshipment system where quantity discounts are offered. The system studied differs from previous work in the subject by introducing quantity discounts from supplier to retailer into a system of competitive retailers that transship stock. Analysis of these systems focuses …

Uhf-Sar And Lidar Complementary Sensor Fusion For Unexploded Buried Munitions Detection, Randy S. Depoy Jr.

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Given the UHF bands properties of foliage and round penetration, a UHF-SAR image contains both above- and below-surface scatterers. The problem of detecting sub-surface objects is problematic due to the presence of above-surface scatterers in the detection images. In case of a single-pass anomaly image or a two-pass change image, the resulting anomalies or changes are due to scatterers above and below the surface, where the above surface anomalies/changes act as confusers. LIDAR digital elevation models (DEM) provide georegistered information about the above-surface objects present in the UHF-SAR scene. Detection of the above-surface objects in the LIDAR domain is used …

Compact Leaky Wave Antenna Using Ferroelectric Materials, Hyung Min Jeon

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Leaky wave antenna continuously attracts a lot interests for tuning the radiation direction over a large angle. Various types of leaky wave antenna have been developed since 1940. However, most of these leaky wave antennas suffered from their excessive volume and the required wide range of operating frequency (bandwidth) to achieve a large tuning angle. To circumvent these challenges, research in this thesis is focused on implementation of material (like PZT) with high dielectric constant (k) in a rectangular waveguide leaky wave antenna. Due to the high dielectric constant of PZT ~ 1,900, the propagation wavelength in the waveguide can …

Characterization, Stability, And Transport Through Defects In Graphene Nanoribbons, Sri Krishna Divya Pemmaraju

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Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) constitute a new class of nanostructured materials with unique properties and significant potential for applications. During production of GNRs, defects are generally introduced within the lattice. Assessment of defects' stability and characterization of their effects on GNRs are therefore very important for predicting GNRs performance under realistic circumstances. Here we consider various possible defects, namely the ones caused by removal/addition of carbon atoms from/to the lattice as well as those caused by bond rotation/rearrangement. Our study is based on ab initio geometry optimization and electronic structure calculations. We determine which defects can be stable in graphene nanoflakes …

Optimization Of Spectrum Allocation In Cognitive Radio And Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks, Tao Zhang

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Spectrum has become a treasured commodity. However, many licensed frequency bands exclusively assigned to the primary license holders (also called primary users) remain relatively unused or under-utilized for most of the time. Allowing other users (also called secondary users) without a license to operate in these bands with no interference becomes a promising way to satisfy the fast growing needs for frequency spectrum resources. A cognitive radio adapts to the environment it operates in by sensing the spectrum and quickly decides on appropriate frequency bands and transmission parameters to use in order to achieve certain performance goals. One of the …

The Effect Of Thermal Hydrolysis Pretreatment On The Anaerobic Degradation Of Nonylphenol And Short-Chain Nonylphenol Ethoxylates In Digested Biosolids, Patrick J. Mcnamara, C. A. Wilson, M. T. Wogen, S. N. Murthy, J. T. Novak, Paige J. Novak

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The presence of micropollutants can be a concern for land application of biosolids. Of particular interest are nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP₂EO), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP₁EO), and nonylphenol (NP), collectively referred to as NPE, which accumulate in anaerobically digested biosolids and are subject to regulation based on the environmental risks associated with them. Because biosolids are a valuable nutrient resource, it is essential that we understand how various treatment processes impact the fate of NPE in biosolids. Thermal hydrolysis (TH) coupled with mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) is an advanced digestion process that destroys pathogens in biosolids and increases methane …

Characteristics Of Laterally Vibrating Resonant Microcantilevers In Viscous Liquid Media, Russell Cox, Fabien Josse, Stephen M. Heinrich, Oliver Brand, Isabelle Dufour

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The characteristics of microcantilevers vibrating laterally in viscous liquid media are investigated and compared to those of similar microcantilevers vibrating in the out-of-plane direction. The hydrodynamic loading on the vibrating beam is first determined using a numerical model. A semi-analytical expression for the hydrodynamic forces in terms of the Reynolds number and the aspect ratio (beam thickness over beam width) is obtained by introducing a correction factor to Stokes’ solution for a vibrating plate of infinite area to account for the effects of the thickness. The results enable the effects of fluid damping and effective fluid mass on the resonant …

Capstone Design Hub: Building The Capstone Design Community, Marie C. Paretti, Susannah Howe, Steve Blair, Peter Rogers, Junichi Kanai, R. Keith Stanfill, Glen A. Livesay

Engineering: Faculty Publications

Capstone design courses are common across engineering programs nationwide. Yet, many departments and programs rely on one faculty member or a small handful of faculty members to teach their capstone design course. As a result these faculty members find themselves isolated, with limited mechanisms for sharing ideas and networking with peers who have similar responsibilities and concerns. This paper reports on the ongoing efforts to support the broader capstone design community through the development of the Capstone Design Hub (CDHub) as a web resource for capstone design programs. The features and structure of the CDHub are being developed through capstone …

Creating A Learning Environment That Supports Innovation And Deep Learning In Geotechnical Engineering, Glenn W. Ellis

Engineering: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Deep Levels In N-Type And Semi-Insulating 4h-Sic Epitaxial Layers By Thermally Stimulated Current Spectroscopy, P. G. Muzykov, Ramesh Madhu Krishna, K. C. Mandal

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Metallic Patterning Using An Atomic Force Microscope Tip And Laser-Induced Liquid Deposition, Carlos Andrés Jarro Sanabria

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

The development of nanoscale patterns has a vast variety of applications going from biology to solid state devices. In this research we present a new direct patterning technique in which laser photoreduction of silver from a liquid is controlled by a scanning atomic force microscope tip. While pursuing the formation of patterns using the plasmonic field enhancement of an electromagnetic wave incident on a metallic Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tip, our group discovered that contrary to expectations, the tip suppresses, rather than enhances, deposition on the underlying substrate, and this suppression persists in the absence of the tip. Experiments presented …