Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2006. / "Major Subject: Industrial Engineering" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Feb. 23, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. S.)--Texas A&M University, 2005. / "Major Subject: Industrial Engineering" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Feb. 23, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2005. / "Major Subject: Industrial Engineering" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Feb. 23, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

The objective of this study was to document the changes in posture and the number of wrist and forearm repetitions among violin/viola players during an experiment session to attempt to understand the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Also, the perception of discomfort and pain felt by the violin/viola players in the past and the number that had been diagnosed with a disorder was documented. Finally, possible correlations were calculated between pain/discomfort with variables like the number of years playing the violin, hours of practice/day, frequency of pain, gender, and dominant hand and among different pain/discomfort variables (pain/discomfort before the experiment, after the experiment and the change in pain/discomfort throughout the experiment) and ultimately possible relationships were determined between posture and repetition with pain/discomfort. Playing a musical instrument places the highest of demands on the musculoskeletal system of musicians and is considered one of the most complex tasks the human body can perform (Steinmetz, Seidel, & Muche, 2010). This places musicians at a high risk for the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Studies have shown how musicians are at high risk for developing PRMDs ranging in prevalence from approximately 30% to almost 90% (Zaza, 1998). These high statistics was the rationale for using musicians as the focus group. This studys population was violin/viola players (students and professionals) above the age of 18. Electrogoniometers were used to measure the postural changes and the software used with the equipment provided a count of the repetitions. The independent variables accounted for pain and discomfort while the dependent variables accounted for the demographics as well as posture and repetition. Descriptive statistics were computed for the postural changes and averages for the number of repetitions. Left Radial, Left Flexion and Left Supination displayed the most extreme postural changes, while the right hand repetitions in the radial/ulnar plane had the highest number of repetitions. Ratings for the level of pain/discomfort were averaged and a paired t-test showed that there was a significant difference between the level of pain before and after the experiment session. Correlation analyses confirmed that extreme postures of the left hand and high number of repetitions on the right hand are associated with a higher change in discomfort. Finally, predictors in the regression models for the number of pain days in a year, the level of discomfort after the experiment and the change in discomfort included repetitions of the right hand in radial/ulnar plane and gender indicating that repetitive motions and being a female could lead to increased discomfort. Future research should focus on other physical risk factors (i.e. force) as well as psychosocial factors. Future studies could also look at the differences in postural changes and repetition between genders as well as differences in how forces are applied. Other studies could focus on the difference in how both genders report pain/discomfort and which are the most affected body parts. Studies can also attempt to document postural changes in different instrument cohorts to determine which instrument could lead to higher displacements, or which postures cause more strain. In summary, this study helped conclude that more extreme postural deviations, higher number of repetitions, more hours of practice per day are and even shorter periods of practice can lead to an increase in discomfort or pain.

The healthcare industry involves a significant level of health and safety risks in various work processes, and healthcare professionals are at risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders and other health problems. In recent years, Lean has been introduced in healthcare with the goal of eliminating waste and improving efficiency. Lean is also believed to affect the health and safety of workers. The present research studies the effects of Lean (5S) implementation in an acute care pharmacy of a health center. A version of the Dutch Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (DMQ) was used to record the perceived musculoskeletal workload and perceived hazardous working conditions. There were twelve participants from the two participating pharmacies and they were divided into two groups, study and control. The study group underwent Lean transformation in the form of a 5S event. Work sampling was conducted to determine any changes in the existing process in terms of percentage of value added and non-value added activities over the course of the study. Work sampling results did not indicate any significant changes in the percentage of value added and non-value added activities post 5S. The pharmacists and the pharmacy technicians reported a significant reduction in perceived musculoskeletal workload on the wrist after the 5S event. Perceived hazardous working conditions were not reduced after the 5S for either the pharmacists or the pharmacy technicians.

The market is varying from minute to minute nowadays. Increase cooperation and pursue the optimal interest of the integrated supply chain become a more effective way than act alone in the competition. In this research, an integrated inventory policy between singleproducer and multi-buyer is developed and two inventory models are built. The first model extends the research of Lin and Lin (2007) by changing the single-buyer system to the multibuyers one. Both backorder of buyers and deteriorating items of each party (producers level, buyers level, and during transport) are considered herein. The second model is based on the research of Woo et al.(2001) and Model 1 by takes raw material cost and remanufacturing proceeds into account additional. In both model, the producer and buyers collaboratively work at minimizing their total operation cost and the problems are solved under an assumption of equal replenishments and production cycles. The algorithms to find the optimal solutions are given, and numerical examples are presented. Sensitivity for systems parameters is also analyzed and all calculations are completed by software Matlab and Maple.

This study develops and tests a computational approach for determining optimal inventory policies for single company. The computational approach generally comprises of two major components: a meta-heuristic optimizer and an event-driven inventory evaluation module. Meta-heuristic is a powerful search technique, under the intelligent computational paradigm. The approach is capable of determining optimal inventory policy under various demand patterns regardless their distribution for a variety of inventory items. Two prototypes of perishability are considered: (1) sudden deaths due to disasters and (2) outdating due to expirations. Since every theoretical model is specially designed for a certain type of inventory problem while the real world inventory problems are numerous, it is desirable for the newly proposed computational approach to cover as many inventory problems/models as possible. In a way, the proposed meta-heuristic based approach unifies many theoretical models into one and beyond. Experimental results showed that the proposed approach provides comparable results to the theoretical model when demand follows their assumption. For demands not well conformed to the assumption, the proposed approaches are able to handle it but the theoretical approaches do not. This makes the proposed computational approach advantageous in that it can handle various types of real world demand data without the need to derive new models. The main motivation for this work is to bridge the gap between theory and practice so as to deliver a user-friendly and flexible computational approach for rationalizing the inventory control system for single company.

ABSTRACT Recent studies in the literature have demonstrated the ability of self-healing processes to be effective in enhancing the overall life of concrete. The main goal of this project is to evaluate and to control specific parameters for the production of an effective self-healing matrix that can be utilized within the application of self-healing concrete. Therefore, the project objective is to synthesize microcapsules using dicyclopentadine and sodium silicate and to evaluate the effects of pH, temperature, and agitation rate on microcapsule morphology. The microcapsule diameter, yield analysis, and shell thickness were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. During the experimental analysis, it was determined that temperature possesses a direct relationship with the pH for both sodium silicate and DCDP. As the temperature increased during the trials, the pH decreased. Temperature had a direct impact on the forming of the wall and core during the interfacial polymerization phase. Although the ability to maintain this consistency with the pH is important and essential, agitation rate is the key factor that controls the microcapsule capsule diameter size. As the agitation rate is increased, the microcapsule diameter size will decrease. If the agitation rate decreases, the microcapsules will become larger. Sodium silicate, however, was not consistent with the normal parameter matrix, due to its alkaline nature. As the agitation rate increased, the size remained normal and consistent. This was due to the attempt to stabilize the sodium silicate solution for the micro-encapsulation procedure of Urea-Formaldehyde. Nevertheless, both sodium silicate and DCDP trials were successful in meeting the overall objective of this thesis, which was to control the performance parameters of the two self-healing methods.

Hutchinson, Francis Williams, B.G.S., Louisiana State University, 1989 Master of Science in Industrial Engineering, Summer Commencement, 2012 Major: Industrial Engineering Evaluation Of Methods To Operate Gate Valves Using Elapsed Time, Rating Of Perceived Exertion, And Electromyography Thesis directed by Professor Fereydoun Aghazadeh, Ph.D., PE Pages in thesis, 86. Words in abstract, 253. ABSTRACT Industrial valve handwheels are in common use in many industries to block, allow, or regulate the flow of materials within a system. Significant numbers of musculoskeletal disorders have been attributed to turning valve handwheels. The torques encountered to break and/or turn these handwheels often exceeds 100 Nm and therefore necessitate the use of special wrenches or other aids. The literature reveals that most of the research has been done to determine the operators capabilities for developing the breaking forces. After breaking, the continuous muscular effort for as much as five to fifteen minutes required to fully open or close some valves is believed to place greater demands physically and physiologically on the operator than the initial breaking torque requirement. This study used electromyographic data taken from two different locations, the elapsed time to fully open a valve, and Borgs subjective Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) obtained from the participants to determine the optimum method for opening the valve. The data was obtained from a group of 10 participants who fully opened the valve by using their hands only, using a conventional valve wrench, and using a modified valve wrench. The tasks were repeated with the valve wheel set at two different torque requirements: 25Nm and 50Nm. The data gathered was then analyzed and evaluated to determine if the modified wrench was the optimum method to open the valve. Although the modified wrench was demonstrated to be the most efficient under some conditions, advantages from further testing and modifications to the wrench were indicated.

The occupational injury rate in the manufacturing sector is higher than the average of all private industries, necessitating safety studies. Occupational safety can be measured through different approaches. Safety climate, a predictive measure of safety, studies the workers perceptions of safety of the workplace. This measure includes several dimensions of safety like management commitment, involvement and work place hazard evaluation and was chosen as a method of evaluation in this study. Even though occupational safety is an important concern, management often prioritizes reducing waste and cost. So, there is a necessity for some technique which reduces waste and simultaneously improves safety. Lean has been effective in reducing waste and costs. Researchers have shown that lean might improve occupational safety too. Nevertheless, empirical evidence to prove the relationship between the two is insufficient. In this study, 5S, a lean technique, was implemented in a manufacturing company and its impact on safety climate of the workers was studied to show the relationship between lean and safety climate of the workers. Case and control groups took the Safety Climate Assessment Toolkit, a safety climate questionnaire, both before and after the 5S event. The effectiveness of the 5S event was determined through three productivity measures (cycle time, floor space utilized, ratio between inventory and units produced). Statistical analysis showed that the safety climate of the manufacturing workers increased after the 5S event (p value = 0.0085). The 5S event was also shown to be effective. The cycle time was reduced by 16.6% and floor space utilization decreased by 22.2%. 5S not only improved the processes by reducing waste and costs, but also improved the safety climate of workers.