Quality control

Many quality control problems are multivariate in nature since multiple process or product variables are measured and monitored in modern industry. Occasionally a multiple population, multi-variable scenario is encountered in parallel line manufacturing system. This work deals with the analysis of such system using multivariate techniques such as Canonical Analysis, MANOVA and Mahalanobis Distance. Using such techniques, the significant differences between the populations and the magnitude and directions of the variations within and between the populations were determined. Also, elimination/reduction of such variations using multivariate techniques led to a drastic improvement of the production system. A methodology for application of such multivariate techniques for the purpose of quality assurance and improvement was developed here. The application of this methodology was performed on a pager production line and the results obtained show the benefits and the feasibility of the use of multivariate techniques for on-line monitoring and quality control.

In last few years there has been significant growth in the area of wireless communication. Quality of Service (QoS) has become an important consideration for supporting variety of applications that utilize the network resources. These applications include voice over IP, multimedia services, like, video streaming, video conferencing etc. IEEE 802.16/WiMAX is a new network which is designed with quality of service in mind. This thesis focuses on analysis of quality of service as implemented by the WiMAX networks. First, it presents the details of the quality of service architecture in WiMAX network. In the analysis, a WiMAX module developed based on popular network simulator ns-2, is used. Various real life scenarios like voice call, video streaming are setup in the simulation environment. Parameters that indicate quality of service, such as, throughput, packet loss, average jitter and average delay, are analyzed for different types of service flows as defined in WiMAX. Results indicate that better quality of service is achieved by using service flows designed for specific applications.

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite, which is used by major Internet applications such as World Wide Web, email, remote administration and file transfer. TCP implements scalable and distributed end-to-end congestion control algorithms to share network resources among competing users. TCP was originally designed primarily for wired networks, and it has performed remarkably well as the Internet scaled up by six orders of magnitude in the past decade. However, many studies have shown that the unmodified standard TCP performs poorly in networks with large bandwidth-delay products and/or lossy wireless links. In this thesis, we analyze the problems TCP exhibits in the wireless communication environment, and develop joint TCP congestion control and wireless-link scheduling schemes for mobile applications. ... Different from the existing solutions, the proposed schemes can be asynchronously implemented without message passing among network nodes; thus they are readily deployable with current infrastructure. Moreover, global convergence/stability of the proposed schemes to optimal equilibrium is established using the Lyapunov method in the network fluid model. Simulation results are provided to evaluate the proposed schemes in practical networks.

This investigation presents results of the temperature effect on durability properties (resistivity and diffusivity) and compressive strength of concrete with pozzolans, and the effect of pozzolanic admixtures on microstructure and chemical compositions of concrete pore solution. ... Temperature dependence of electrical resistivity and chloride diffusivity was studied by dynamic temperature tests. Accelerated curing regimes involving curing concrete specimens in 35À C lime water with different durations were tested. Compressive strength test, resisivity measurement and rapid chloride migration (RCM) tests were performed. A leaching method was used to measure pH and conductivity of concrete pore solution. ... The accelerated curing regimes were found to increase the compressive strength and resistance to chloride ion penetration at short-term and long-term. With the developed correlation between resistivity and migration coefficients, it is possible to employ the resistivity measurement as an alternative or replacement of the RCM test to evaluate resistance of chloride ion penetration of concrete. Pozzolanic admixtures were found to decrease both pH and conductivity of concrete pore solution as the replacement ratio increased. Moreover, the migration coefficients were found to be greatly correlated to the microstructure properties of concrete, such as porosity, formation factor and tortuosity.

atisfaction with diabetes care, perceived feelings of empowerment to participate in self-care management, and glycemic control in a sample of older African American men and women with diabetes. A descriptive correlational quantitative design was used. The participants in this study were 73 men and women of African descent who were at least 50 years, English speaking, and diagnosed with diabetes for at least one year. The participants were asked to complete three survey instruments: the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-18 (PSQ-18), which measured how satisfied the participants were with their medical care; the Diabetes Empowerment Scale-Short Form (DES-SF), which measured attitudes towards diabetes and self-management of diabetes; and a demographic form, which collected data on the demographics of each participant. The most recent hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of each participant was obtained from the medical records. The correlations between HbA1c, DES, and the PSQ-18 subscales were exam ined. The study data indicated all correlations were statistically significant and negative with one exception. There was no correlation between HbA1c and time spent, a satisfaction subscale. Approximately half the participants were high school graduates, married, and reported being born in the Caribbean. Most had primary care physicians, but less than half reported attending a diabetes education program. The average BMI was 33.0. The findings of this study indicated older African adults who reported higher satisfaction with the care provided by their health care provider reported feeling more empowered to participate in diabetes self-care and reported lower HbA1c levels, suggesting better glycemic control (R2 = .39; P=<.001).

This thesis research was funded by the Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC) at Florida Atlantic University. Its objective is the development of Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms for the wireless communications architecture used by the Prognosis and Health Monitoring (PHM) subsystem. There are numerous technical challenges that the PHM Communications Subsystem tries to solve. Due to ocean platform mobility from waves, currents, and other environmental factors, signal quality can vary significantly. As a result, the wireless link between the electric generator platform and shore systems will have variable quality in terms of data rate, delay, and availability. In addition, the data traffic that flows from generator sensors and PHM applications to the shore systems consists of numerous types of messages that have different QoS demands (e.g. delay) and priority that depends on the message type, user ID, sensor location, and application-dependent parameters. The PHM Communications subsystem must handle effectively high priority messages, such as alarms, alerts, and remote control commands from shore systems. It also performs QoS in the application layer, so it can read the contents of every message to prioritize them. In order to perform QoS in the application layer the PHM subsystem relies on Java Servlet multithreaded technology and different queuing techniques to control message transmission order. Furthermore, it compresses all traffic that comes from the ocean-based electric generator/turbine platform to reduce the load on the wireless link. The PHM Communications subsystem consists of three components: the wireless link, the Link Manager, and the Web Services Network Proxy. We present experimental results for the Web Services Network Proxy and demonstrate the effectiveness of XML data compression and semantic-based message scheduling over a link with variable capacity.

Health care systems consist of various individuals and organizations that aim to meet the health care needs of people and provide a complete and responsive health care solution. One of the important aspects of a health care delivery system is nursing. The use of technology is a vital aspect for delivering an optimum and complete nursing care to individuals; and also for improving the quality and delivery mechanism of nursing care. The model proposed in this thesis for Nursing Knowledge Management System is a novel knowledge-based decision support system for nurses to capture and manage nursing practice, and further, to monitor nursing care quality, as well as to test aspects of an electronic health record for recording and reporting nursing practice. As a part of a collaborative research of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Department of Computer Science, a prototype toolset was developed to capture and manage nursing practice in order to improve the quality of care. This thesis focuses on implementing a web based SOA solution for Automated Classification of Nursing Care Categories, based on the knowledge gained from the prototype for nursing care practice.

The relationship between Public Administration and the people is one that requires legitimacy and compromise in order to solve complex problems. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families during the last fifty years have put forth an agenda that calls for the advancement of rights for the disabled and more integration into the larger society. In this arena, government, with post civil rights legislation like the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), plays a huge role in promoting social awareness and bringing down barriers of stigmatization, understanding, and access. This struggle is fought on many fronts. A significant part of the effort focuses on moving the locus of long-term care of the disabled, including the IDD population, from an institutional setting to the least restrictive setting that will foster social ties and integration. Since the early 1980s as part of this effort to deinstitutionalize the disabled, legislation at both the federal and state level has supported and incentivized the creation of Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) programs. HCBS waivers, as they are typically called, are also promoted as a means of containing government expenditures for long-term care. However, the effectiveness of these waivers is poorly understood. The critical questions being - Do HCBS waivers promote and create an environment that increases awareness of the needs of IDD individuals? Do the programs help reduce stigmatization, promote understanding, and increase access to services and activities that foster social interaction? Or, do HCBS waivers create a new "iron cage" where the intellectually or developmentally disabled are once again relegated to existing as second class citizens? In this research, programs are mapped and then evaluated to paint a better picture of how HCBS waivers change long-term care.

The construction industry is increasingly turning to the use of environmentally friendly materials in order to meet the sustainable aspect required by modern infrastructures. Consequently, for the last two decades, the expansion of this concept, and the increasing global warming have raised concerns on the extensive use of Portland cement due to the high amount of carbon dioxide gas associated with its production. The development of geopolymer concretes offers promising signs for a change in the way of producing concrete. However, to seriously consider geopolymer binders as an alternative to ordinary Portland cement, the durability of this new material should be evaluated in any comparative analysis. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the durability characteristics of low calcium fly ash-based geopolymer concretes subjected to the marine environment, compared to ordinary Portland cement concrete with similar exposure. To achieve this goal, 8 molar geopolymer, 14 molar geopolymer and ordinary Portland cement concrete mixes were prepared and tested for exposure in seawater. Compressive strengths in the range of 2900 to 8700 psi (20-60 MPa) were obtained. The corrosion resistance performance of steel-reinforced concrete beams, made of these mixes, was also studied, using an accelerated electrochemical method, with submergence in salt water. The test results indicated that the geopolymer concrete showed excellent resistance to chloride attack, with longer time to corrosion cracking, compared to ordinary Portland cement concrete.

In order to improve the quality of care, there is urgent need to involve patients in their own healthcare. So to make patient centered health care system Personal Health Records are proposed as viable solution. This research discusses the importance of a Patient Centric Health Record system. Such systems can empower patients to participate in improving health care quality. It would also provide an economically viable solution to the need for better healthcare without escalating costs by avoiding duplication. The proposed system is Web-based; therefore it has high accessibility and availability. The cloud computing based architecture is used which will allow consumers to address the challenge of sharing medical data. PHR would provide a complete and accurate summary of the health and medical history of an individual by gathering data from many sources. This would make information accessible online to anyone who has the necessary electronic credentials to view the information.