Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Stochastic Programming And Agent-Based Simulation Approaches For Epidemics Control And Logistics Planning, Xuecheng Yin

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the resource allocation challenges of fighting against infectious disease outbreaks. The goal of this dissertation is to formulate multi-stage stochastic programming and agent-based models to address the limitations of former literature in optimizing resource allocation for preventing and controlling epidemics and pandemics. In the first study, a multi-stage stochastic programming compartmental model is presented to integrate the uncertain disease progression and the logistics of resource allocation to control a highly contagious infectious disease. The proposed multi-stage stochastic program, which involves various disease growth scenarios, optimizes the distribution of treatment centers and resources while minimizing the total expected …

Optimization Of Vaccine Supply Chains In Low- And Middle-Income Countries Utilizing Drones, Maximilian Kolter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite tremendous efforts from governments and humanitarian organizations, millions of children in low- and low-middle-income countries (LICs and LMICs) are still excluded from the benefits of immunization. The vaccine distribution in LICs and LMICs is challenging for several reasons, such as limited cold chain capacities, vaccine wastage, uncertain demand, and lack of access to immunization services. A promising avenue to address these issues is the utilization of drones for vaccine delivery. Drones can fly at high speed on direct paths and could enable on-demand deliveries to mitigate limited storage capacities. Further, their independence of road networks could allow them reaching …

Analysis And Modeling Of Strategic Interactions In Health Systems To Improve Patient Care Access, Jorge A. Acuña Melo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Affordable health care access that provides well-coordinated and high-quality services on time is a goal that governments and health organizations strive for. Regrettably, most countries deal with access problems that affect the population's health, such as long waiting lists for specialized medical services, overcrowding of emergency departments, and high health prices. In the present doctoral dissertation, I model and analyze the strategic interactions that inhabit the health system machinery to uncover possible structural problems that led to the aforementioned issues. The study involves operation research, data science, and game theory techniques to address the health care access predicament.

Each research …

Strategies For Achieving The United States Health System's Quadruple Aim By Enhancing The Primary Care Level, Jennifer L. Mendoza-Alonzo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The quadruple aim is an approach to optimize the performance of the health system in the United States and consists of four dimensions. The main objective is to improve the population's health, followed by reducing cost, improving patients' experience, and increasing providers' satisfaction. In the present doctoral dissertation, I explore three strategies that help accomplish the quadruple aim at the primary care level. The analysis combines data science and operation research principles to address health system engineering questions.

Each strategy proposed in this document emphasizes one objective more than another; however, all of them in conjunction serve to attain the …

Regression Analysis Of Pacing When Running A Marathon, Hawkin Starke

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Regression analysis can be an effective way of examining performance in the marathon event. By splitting up the race into segments or in runner terminology “splits” the significance of each segment as it relates to the total finish time can be explored. Because the idea of splits is already ingrained into the minds of runners, it makes intuitive sense to use these as the metrics to define a race. Additionally, marathons generally make participant age and gender date publicly available which can then be used to find trends within specific demographics. This tailors trends to smaller groups of people, making …

Engineering Controls For Bioaerosols In Non-Industrial/Non-Healthcare Settings, David Krause, Cheri Marcham, Bill Mele, Jack Springston, Rob Strode, Donald Weekes, Neil J. Zimmerman

Publications

The list of disease pathogens that can be transmitted in the air is extensive. This list includes the common cold, SARS, measles, Hansen’s disease (leprosy), polio, influenza, Legionella (Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever), and tuberculosis (TB). TB, SARS-CoV-1, avian influenza, varicella, and now SARS-CoV-2 all have received public notice due not only to their known or assumed ability to be transmitted in the air rapidly from one individual to another, but also for their virulence. Other bioaerosols that can be transmitted through the air include bacteria, fungal spores and fragments, dust mites, and pollen. This document was developed to address …

Potential Production Of Theranostic Boron Nitride Nanotubes (64cu-Bnnts) Radiolabeled By Neutron Capture, Wellington Marcos Silva, Helio Ribeiro, Jaime Taha-Tijerina

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

In this work, the radioisotope 64Cu was obtained from copper (II) chloride dihydrate in a nuclear research reactor by neutron capture, (63Cu(n, )64Cu), and incorporated into boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) using a solvothermal process. The produced 64Cu-BNNTs were analyzed by TEM, MEV, FTIR, XDR, XPS and gamma spectrometry, with which it was possible to observe the formation of64Cu nanoparticles, with sizes of up to 16 nm, distributed through nanotubes. The synthesized of 64Cu nanostructures showed a pure photoemission peak of 511 keV, which is characteristic of gamma radiation. This type of emission is desirable for Photon Emission Tomography (PET scan) …

Physicians And Their Patience: Redefining Healthcare Relationships Through Readability Optimization, Rachel V. Ball

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The present study takes legibility research and extends it to the medical setting. Internal Medicine Physicians from UCF developed six passages of medical text detailing a History of Present Illness (HPI) Report from an emergency department as well as comprehension questions for the purpose of our study. In our study, we first presented non-medical passages and comprehension questions in six common fonts to identify participants' individual fastest and slowest fonts. We then gave participants medical passages in both their best and worst fonts while measuring reading speed and comprehension. This study was delivered to a population of Amazon Mechanical Turk …

Safety In The Quebec Construction Industry: An Overview Of And Possible Improvements In Hazardous Energy Control Using Lockout On Construction Sites By Electricians, Pipefitters, Refrigeration Mechanics And Construction Millwrights, Damien Burlet-Vienney, Yuvin Chinniah, Ayoub Nokra, Abdallah Ben Mosbah

Études primaires

Lack of proper energy control on construction sites leads to numerous worker fatalities every year. Energy control refers to the concept of lockout and other methods used in particular in North America. The aim of this exploratory research project was to achieve a better understanding of energy control practices in the Quebec construction industry for four trades: electricians, pipefitters, refrigeration mechanics and construction millwrights. For each trade, 10 or so semistructured interviews were conducted by means of an open-ended questionnaire, developed with reference to the current provincial regulatory requirements. The 95 experiences described by the 38 participants were compiled by …

Smart Environments For Assisted Living: A Multidisciplinary Collaboration In Engineering And Architecture Education, Adriana Rios-Santiago, Anabel Pineda-Briseno, Jesus A. Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Uriel Saul Huerta

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a description of a collaborative project based on the integration of technology development in the built environment for assisted living. The multidisciplinary collaboration is developed as a cooperative commitment to provide support for cross-border, collective projects. It was initiated as a project-based learning setting between undergraduate engineering students, and four years later the program shifted to include undergraduate architecture students and engineering master’s students. The learning experience opens the gate to a completely new collaborative setting, yet to be established, independent from its predecessor setting of project-based learning, focusing now towards an interdisciplinarity setting in cross-border collaboration. …

Identification Of Patterns And Disruptions In Ambient Sensor Data From Private Homes, Yan Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The world’s population is rapidly aging and the increasing demand for home and health care services from this aging population brings unprecedented challenges to the economy and society. Ambient-assisted smart homes, residences equipped with ambient sensors to monitor the resident’s daily activities in a continuous and unobtrusive way, present great potential to manage the growing care service needs of this older population segment, and enable them to age-in-place.

Despite growing research, using ambient sensor data from private homes to monitor daily activities, health and wellness still faces significant challenges. To study ambient sensor data from private homes where annotated data …

Characterizing Statin Use Among Prediabetic Patients With Predictive Analytics, Alexandra Gentile

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and can cause severe impairments to those diagnosed. Prediabetes is a state when a patient has higher fasting plasma glucose levels than a non-diabetic person but is not quite high enough to be considered diabetes. Both diabetic and prediabetic patients are at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which is the leading cause of death in the United States. The primary form for prevention and treatment of CVD is through statin therapy. Statins are a class of medications used to treat and prevent CVD by limiting cholesterol …

Mobile Health Technology To Enhance Healthcare Service Delivery In Developing Nations (Saudi Arabia), Nawaf Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Saudi Arabia is among the countries that have very high prevalence rates of diabetes and hypertension, with prevalence rates of almost 18% and 25%, respectively. The majority of patients with diabetes and hypertension fail to manage their diseases and to show up for their follow up appointments. Mhealth technology is among the interventions that have been recently adopted to overcome these issues and improve the quality of healthcare services. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile phone application named diabetes and hypertension application (DHA Tracking) to promote adherence for patients with diabetes and hypertension in Mecca, Saudi …

Performance Study Of Five Different Cabin Air Filters In The Laboratory And On-Road Drive, Fahad Alqahtani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One of the aims of installing ventilation filters in a car is to prevent vehicle occupants from inhaling potentially harmful aerosols emanating from the environment. Vehicle cabin filters are essential in ensuring that a vehicle's air conditioning system provides clean air to its occupants. The purpose of the cabin filter is to improve air quality inside the car to provide better comfort and better protect occupants from experiencing unwanted respiratory problems. Using cabin filters in air conditioning systems is a common practice in modern vehicle manufacturing. Scientists and engineers are continually seeking new ways of improving the efficiency and effectiveness …

Extracting Patterns In Medical Claims Data For Predicting Opioid Overdose, Ryan Sanders

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project is to develop an efficient methodology for extracting features from time-dependent variables in transaction data. Transaction data is collected at varying time intervals making feature extraction more difficult. Unsupervised representational learning techniques are investigated, and the results compared with those from other feature engineering techniques. A successful methodology provides features that improve the accuracy of any machine learning technique. This methodology is then applied to insurance claims data in order to find features to predict whether a patient is at risk of overdosing on opioids. This data covers prescription, inpatient, and outpatient transactions. Features created …

Systems Approach To Evaluating Mih-Cp (Mobile Integrated Healthcare – Community Paramedicine): A Case Study Of East Baton Rouge Parish (Ebrp) Emergency Medical Services (Ems) Community Paramedicine Program Initiative, Oluwakemi Aiyedun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study applied a holistic method of healthcare program assessment, known as systems approach, to evaluate the efficacy of the East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP) EMS Community-integrated Health Program (CIHP). The author developed assessment metrics following the Quadruple Aim Framework: IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) Triple Aim + Provider Experience.

Results showed that the CP program in this study delivers high ratings on patient experience and provided a 51% return on investment (ROI) through reduced emergency service utilization, ED visits and inpatient hospital admissions. However, findings did not demonstrate meaningful improvement in patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and self-efficacy …

Simulating Alternative Tuberculosis Diagnosis Methods In Underdeveloped Countries, Luke Turner

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tuberculosis is the deadliest infectious disease in the world; it is especially rampant in underdeveloped countries because they do not have the infrastructure, technology, or funding to properly combat the infection. However, the development of portable point-of-care diagnosis machines can reverse this epidemic as they far surpass conventional laboratory identification. The question now is where to place these machines, which is a difficult decision with a lack of data. Therefore, a flexible simulation model is created to test the implementation of these machines with different countries and configurations. The simulation tests the baseline model and three proposed implementations of the …

Data Visualization Of Treatment Outcomes For Tuberculosis Patients, Joy Jenkins

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease, and different treatments have been discovered over the years. However, patients may develop various drug resistance levels that affect the likelihood of becoming cured or dying. In this study, we sought to employ data visualization to explore the relationship between treatment trajectory, as indicated by smear and culture results in the follow-up tests and patient outcomes. A large sample of patients have been broken down by demographics including age, gender, and drug resistance status. Sankey diagrams were used to visualize the pathway progression of the patients over time split between two time periods- months 0-6 …

Performance Study Of An Unconventional Breathresponse Papr Against A N95 Ffr And Conventional Paprs, Huihui Yang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are the first responders when infectious pathogens occur. Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are one of the most widely used personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. Currently, few studies have been performed with HCWs in the actual healthcare work environments to assess discomforts, acceptance and protective efficiency towards wearing and use of PAPRs. The main purpose of this dissertation was to introduce and assess a brand new unconventional PAPR (Koken breath-response PAPR). The protection performance and user preferance of this unconventional PAPR were studided and compared to that of a N95 FFR and traditional PAPRs.

Firstly, a laboratory …

Smart Disease Prevention App: Informing The Public In Their Own Geographic Location, Apoorva Sulakhe, Shafali Rana, Zoe Disori, William Nogay, Kyle Plummer, Meredith Shannon, Morgan Young, Alyssa Zielinski, Vincent G. Duffy

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Apoorva Sulakhe and Shefali Rana are graduate students in the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue. They have both been teaching assistants under their coauthor, Dr. Vincent Duffy, while supervising multiple projects. Coauthors Zoe Disori, William Nogay, Kyle Plummer, Meredith Shannon, Morgan Young, and Alyssa Zielinski are listed in alphabetical order. They were all seniors in School of Industrial Engineering at the time of this project in 2017. The purpose of their study, described in this article, was to develop an application to provide users with accurate information about diseases spreading in their geographic locations.

Identifying Key Factors Associated With High Risk Asthma Patients To Reduce The Cost Of Health Resources Utilization, Amani Ahmad

LSU Master's Theses

Asthma is associated with frequent use of primary health services and places a burden on the United States economy. Identifying key factors associated with increased cost of asthma is an essential step to improve practices of asthma management.

The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with over utilization of primary health services and increased cost via claims data and to explore the effectiveness of case management program in reducing overall asthma related cost.

Claims data analysis for Medicaid insured asthma patients in Louisiana was conducted. Asthma patients were identified using their ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, forward variable …

In Vitro Cytocompatibility Of Antibacterial Levels Of Polymer Nitric Oxide Release, Rana Gbyli, Christina Zito, Kagya Amoako

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Although the antibacterial property of nitric oxide (NO) has been well documented in gram positive and gram negative bacteria cultures, its cytotoxic effects are not completely clear. To limit potential in vivo cytotoxicity, our group recently investigated the effects of a range of NO fluxes on S. epidermidis and S. aureus to determine a minimum effective NO level. In this study, we report the antibacterial function of this minimum NO level also on gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as its cytocompatibility effects on lung and kidney cells. Standardized bacterial cultures were treated with NO releasing PDMS substrates followed by …

Design Of A Distributed Real-Time E-Health Cyber Ecosystem With Collective Actions: Diagnosis, Dynamic Queueing, And Decision Making, Yanlin Zhou

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, we develop a framework for E-health Cyber Ecosystems, and look into different involved actors. The three interested parties in the ecosystem including patients, doctors, and healthcare providers are discussed in 3 different phases. In Phase 1, machine-learning based modeling and simulation analysis is performed to remotely predict a patient's risk level of having heart diseases in real time. In Phase 2, an online dynamic queueing model is devised to pair doctors with patients having high risk levels (diagnosed in Phase 1) to confirm the risk, and provide help. In Phase 3, a decision making paradigm is proposed …

Dispensing Medical Countermeasures In Public Health Emergencies Via Home Health Agencies And Points Of Distribution, Anna Hudgeons

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A major concern regarding emergency preparedness on the state government level involves the handling and dispensing of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) of medicinal supplies. Each state is required to update and maintain a plan of action for dispensing SNS materials that would effectively provide care to the state’s population in times of distress. This research evaluates a state’s ability to dispense an adequate amount of medicine to her population in a timely manner, specifically after it has been received by the state government. Although simulation modeling has previously been utilized to replicate the dispensing process at pre-designated points of …

Transportation And Distribution Of Strategic National Stockpile Supplies In A Public Health Emergency, Olivia A. Goss

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the event of a public health emergency in the United States, it is important that public

authorities are equipped to distribute medical supplies to every person in need as quickly as

possible. Federal guidelines state that all persons in an area affected by a public health

emergency should receive their medical countermeasures within 48 hours of the emergency’s

declaration. While the CDC has determined a general dispensing plan for each state and county

to follow, it is ultimately up to the state and county to formalize and implement detailed plans.

A body of academic literature focuses on optimizing the …

Data-Driven Modeling For Decision Support Systems And Treatment Management In Personalized Healthcare, Milad Zafar Nezhad

Wayne State University Dissertations

Massive amount of electronic medical records (EMRs) accumulating from patients and populations motivates clinicians and data scientists to collaborate for the advanced analytics to create knowledge that is essential to address the extensive personalized insights needed for patients, clinicians, providers, scientists, and health policy makers. Learning from large and complicated data is using extensively in marketing and commercial enterprises to generate personalized recommendations. Recently the medical research community focuses to take the benefits of big data analytic approaches and moves to personalized (precision) medicine. So, it is a significant period in healthcare and medicine for transferring to a new paradigm. …

Venous Thromboembolism (Vte) Harm Measurement And Risk Assessment In Real-Time Using Electronic Health Records(Ehr), Seyed Mani Marashi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) is a deadly disease and is considered as one of the top reasons for avoidable hospital deaths in the United States and around the world. Patients who survive this disease often must face life-long complications such as Post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTPH), etc. Therefore, it is important to monitor and reduce the number of VTE instances in hospitals. This study shows how Electronic Health Records (EHRs) can be utilized to achieve this goal.

First, a new near real-time VTE harm measurement model was developed. Not only the developed model can deliver near real-time results, …

The Impact Of Machine Learning Algorithms On Benchmarking Process In Healthcare Service Delivery, Egbe-Etu Emmanuel Etu

Wayne State University Theses

Currently, organizations have adopted and implemented a variety of innovative quality management philosophies, approaches, and techniques to stay competitive in an ever-changing global economy. Benchmarking is one of such techniques deployed by organizations to stay competitive. The motivation for this research stems from a real-world problem being faced by hospitals in the healthcare industry who have amassed a ton of data and want to embark on benchmarking project to assess the performance of the emergency departments due to challenges faced with poor management of operations which has led to high patient boarding rates, high patient wait-times, poor quality service, low …

Achieving Totally Local Anticoagulation On Blood Contacting Devices, Rana Gbyli, Anna Mercaldi, Harihara Sundaram, Kagya Amoako

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The recent years have witnessed an increased activity in biocompatibility research aimed at limiting biomaterial-induced blood coagulation. From 2008 to 2016, a total of $36,946,764.00 USD was awarded in grants to 213 research proposals and as large as 50.4% ($18,627,854.00) of that award monies were distributed to 101 proposals over the fiscal years of FY14 to FY16 alone. However, the complexity in blood responses to biomaterials, variability in blood function between individuals and animal species, and differences in medical device application and test setting all continue to pose difficulties in making a breakthrough in this field. This review focuses on …

Analysis Of A Potential A(H7n9) Influenza Pandemic Outbreak In The U.S., Walter A. Silva Sotillo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a collection of manuscripts that describe development of models and model implementation to analyze impact of potential A(H7N9) pandemic influenza outbreak in the U.S. Though this virus is still only animal-to-human transmittable, it has potential to become human-to-human transmittable and trigger a pandemic. This work is motivated by the negative impact on human lives that this virus has already caused in China, and is intended to support public health officials in preparing to protect U.S. population from a potential outbreak of pandemic scale.

An agent-based (AB) simulation model is used to replicate the social dynamics of the …