The tool-less additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing processes (3DP) use incremental consolidation of feed-stock materials to construct part. The layer by layer AM processes can achieve spatial material distribution and desired microstructure pattern with high resolution. This unique characteristics of AM can bring custom-made form and tailored functionality within the same object. However, incorporating form and functionality has their own challenge in both design and manufacturing domain. This research focuses on designing manufacturable topology by marrying form and functionality in additively manufactured part using infill structure. To realize the goal, this thesis presents a systematic design framework that focuses on reducing the gap between design and manufacturing of complex architecture. The objective is to develop a design methodology of lattice infill and thin shell structure suitable for additive manufacturing processes. Particularly, custom algorithmic approaches have been developed to adapt the existing porous structural patterns for both interior and exterior of objects considering application specific functionality requirements. The object segmentation and shell perforation methodology proposed in this work ensures manufacturability of large scale thin shell or hollowed objects and incorporates tailored part functionality. Furthermore, a computational design framework developed for tissue scaffold structures incorporates the actual structural heterogeneity of natural bones obtained from their medical images to facilitate the tissue regeneration process. The manufacturability is considered in the design process and the performances are measured after their fabrication. Thus, the present thesis demonstrates how the form of porous structures can be adapted to mingle with functionality requirements of the application as well as fabrication constraints. Also, this work bridges the design framework (virtual) and the manufacturing platform (realization) through intelligent data management which facilitates smooth transition of information between the two ends. / National Science Foundation #OIA-1355466 / National Science Foundation-DMR- MRI #1625704 / National Institute of Health - COBRE: CDTSPC; Grant # P20GM109024 / US-DOT # 693JK31850009CAAP / Dept. of Commerce Research-ND, Award # 17-08-G-191 / CSMS, NDEPSCoR / NDSU Grand Challenge and Development Foundation

The target of this work is to created balance comparIsion of versions of high speed and standard speed HP parts of steam turbine and for the more suitable version to make optimization. Optimization consists of flow part, choosen profile blades and construction calculations. Control calculations for rotor and pipeline were made in order to draw longitudinal section of HP part.

This diploma thesis deals with issues in machining of thin-walled components. Its first part describes materials used in the aircraft industry. Then it focuses on issues associated with the prediction of deflections of a rib wall during machining. Later on it focuses on different methods and strategies of thin-walled part milling. The diploma thesis also describes an experiment of manufacturing thin-walled components in the form of ribs and evaluation parameters such as roughness, perpendicularity and straightness deviations, width of the rib and force loading of a cutting tool as measured by various gages. The final part is devoted to a calculation of the specific cutting force and its comparison with its theoretical value.

No description available.

Part-time faculty members represent the majority of faculty at public two-year postsecondary institutions. Utilizing part-time faculty enables two-year institutions to control their instructional costs and maintain scheduling flexibility. However, part-time faculty are diverse in regards to their employment preference, some prefer part-time employment while others would prefer a full-time position. Since retaining and attracting qualified and experienced part-time faculty members is essential, it is imperative that their satisfaction be understood. This study uses the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF: 04) to study faculty satisfaction. Faculty was disaggregated according to employment preference into full-time, involuntary part-time, and voluntary part-time in order to study the structure of satisfaction for each group and the factors that influence the satisfaction for each group. The factors studied were perception of equity, partial inclusion, demographic differences and academic discipline. I found that the structure of faculty satisfaction and the influence of variables on faculty satisfaction differ among full-time, involuntary part-time, and voluntary part-time faculty.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The main goal of the submitted thesis is evaluation of the Part-ORA regulations and requirements which are puts on the training organisations. In the first part, the discussion about the organisation responsible for issuing of the Part-ORA regulations is made. There are described particular parts of the regulation. The second part deals with problems which are connected with acceptation of regulations requirements. There is a description of the most significant differences between the JAR-FCL regulations and Part-ORA regulations. Next part describes the scope of the requirements in particular. In the third part there is made a guidance material to creation safety management system of the organisation.

No description available.

<p>In the telecommunications market, firms often give consumers the option of purchasing an individual plan or a family plan. An individual plan gives a certain allowance of usage (e.g., minutes, data) for a single consumer, whereas a family plan allows multiple consumers to share a specific level of usage. The theoretical challenge is to understand how the firm stands to benefit from allowing family plans. In this paper, we use a game-theoretic framework to explore the role of family plans. An obvious way that family plans can be profitable is if it draws in very low-valuation consumers whom the firm would choose not to serve in the absence of a family plan. Interestingly, we find that even when a family plan does not draw any new consumers into the market, a firm can still benefit from offering it. This finding occurs primarily because of the strategic impact of the family plan on the firm's entire product line. By allowing high- and low-valuation consumers to share joint allowance in the family plan, the firm is able to raise the price to extract more surplus from the individual high-valuation consumers by reducing the cannibalization problem. Furthermore, a family obtains a higher allowance compared to the purchase of several individual plans and therefore contributes more profits to the firm. We also observe different types of quantity discounts in the firm's product line. Finally, we identify conditions under which the firm offers a pay-as-you-go plan.</p> / Dissertation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Medicare Part D coverage on medication adherence and health outcomes in dialysis patients. A retrospective analysis (2006-2010) using the United States Renal Data System was conducted for Medicare-eligible dialysis patients. Cardiovascular disease morbidity, healthcare utilization and expenditures, medication adherence, and mortality rates were compared, categorized based on patients’ Part D coverage in 2007 for those who: 1) did not reach the coverage gap (cohort 1); 2) reached the coverage gap but not catastrophic coverage (cohort 2); 3) reached catastrophic coverage (cohort 3); and 4) did not reach the coverage gap but received a low-income subsidy (cohort 4). Cox proportional hazards models, Kaplan-Meier methods, logistic regressions, generalized linear models, and generalized estimating equations were used. A total of 11,732 patients were included as meeting inclusion criteria: 1) cohort 1: 3,678 patients had out-of-pocket drug costs <$799; 2) cohort 2: 4,349 patients had out-of-pocket drug costs between $799 and $3,850; 3) cohort 3: 1,310 patients had out-of-pocket drug costs > $3,850; and 4) cohort 4: the remaining 2,395 patients had out-of-pocket drug costs <$799 but received a low-income subsidy. After adjusting for demographic and clinical factors, patients in cohort 2 and cohort 3 had 42 percent and 36 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease (odds ratio (OR)=1.42, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.20-1.67; OR=1.38, 95% CI:1.10-1.72); and had 36 percent and 37 percent higher death rates compared to those in cohort 4, respectively (hazard ratio (HR)=1.36, 95% CI:1.27-1.44; HR=1.37, 95% CI:1.27-1.48). Patients in cohort 2 were more likely to be nonadherent to medications for diabetes (OR=1.72, 95% CI:1.48-1.99), hypertension (OR=1.69, 95% CI:1.54-1.85), hyperlipidemia (OR=2.01, 95% CI:1.76-2.29), hyperphosphatemia (OR=1.74, 95% CI:1.55-1.95), and hyperparathyroidism (OR=2.08, 95% CI:1.66-2.60) after reaching the coverage gap. These patients had total health care costs that were $2,644 higher due to increased rates of hospitalization and outpatient visits, despite $2,419 lower pharmacy costs compared to patients in cohort 4 after controlling for covariates (p<0.0001). Reaching the Part D coverage gap was associated with decreased medication adherence and unfavorable clinical and economic outcomes in dialysis patients. / text