Improving Tennis Player Performance Using System Development Interpretations Methodology

This research demonstrates a unique analytical approach to improving a player\u27s performance in the game of tennis. We introduce a system development interpretations (SDI) methodology for associating player characteristics and factors in a hierarchical structure. We then show how this tool is applied in a human performance environment such as tennis. This approach was developed as a multi-disciplinary quality tool for process improvement that identifies factor dependencies and depicts their impact on the resulting player performance. From the implementation of the SDI methodology, the research was able to define the tennis player\u27s difficulties and it has allowed the researchers to build an entire team profile of the Clemson University tennis program as well as to introduce important conceptual foundations in this field

Human Performance Engineering

Ph.D. students are challenged to discover new ideas, invent new products or break through barriers on existing problems. As a Ph.D. student I am leading a new area of research in the STEM discipline. As an industrial engineer, I am attempting to extend the reach of engineering methods and tools traditionally applied in manufacturing and service-related settings to the area of human performance. Human Performance Engineering, IE 402 008, is a new creative inquiry class that Dr. Kevin Taaffe and I have created. The research includes many focus areas such as quality, decision making, perception, game theory, biology, simulation, and disciplines from engineering to psychology to management and the sciences can all potentially play a role. For the last two semesters I have guided undergraduate students in investigating the cause and effect relationships in human performance in individual or team sports. As a research group, we are challenged to learn materials that are beyond our current knowledge base and to examine psychological and biological factors that affect decisions people make in a competitive environment. Moreover, we aim to quantify the extent to which changes to our mental and physical abilities translate into an increased performance during the sporting event

Improving Volunteer Productivity and Retention during Humanitarian Relief Efforts

In the aftermath of a disaster, humanitarian organizations quickly assemble a workforce that can immediately serve a community's needs. However, these needs change over time, and the volunteer base (and their skill sets) also changes over time. In this paper, a mathematical programming model is formulated to solve a volunteer assignment problem in which beneficiaries' needs are addressed based on how many volunteers are assigned to each of the levels of needs. In addition, we also examine the changes in these volunteer assignments based on several key cost parameters, need likelihood scenarios, and volunteer training opportunities. Under various demand scenarios, the optimum decision is to begin training some unskilled volunteers early in the response period even when the short-term, unskilled task demands are still high, in preparation for the more skilled, long-term task demands that are yet to come. Humanitarian relief organization managers who generally feel as though a peak of long-term/skilled volunteer task demands will come at some point during the disaster response should strongly consider allowing volunteer training assignments

Reducing Perioperative Phases of Care Durations through Improved Efficiency

This study used a patient-level dataset with over 32,000 surgical cases, where timestamps recorded specific start and end times of key activities. Time durations of each step within the pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative phases are analyzed to identify patterns to improve perioperative efficiency, and reduce phases of care durations

Minor flow disruptions, traffic-related factors and their effect on major flow disruptions in the operating room

Background Studies in operating rooms (OR) show that minor disruptions tend to group together to result in serious adverse events such as surgical errors. Understanding the characteristics of these minor flow disruptions (FD) that impact major events is important in order to proactively design safer systems. Objective The purpose of this study is to use a systems approach to investigate the aetiology of minor and major FDs in ORs in terms of the people involved, tasks performed and OR traffic, as well as the location of FDs and other environmental characteristics of the OR that may contribute to these disruptions. Methods Using direct observation and classification of FDs via video recordings of 28 surgical procedures, this study modelled the impact of a range of system factors—location of minor FDs, roles of staff members involved in FDs, type of staff activities as well as OR traffic-related factors—on major FDs in the OR. Results The rate of major FDs increases as the rate of minor FDs increases, especially in the context of equipment-related FDs, and specific physical locations in the OR. Circulating nurse-related minor FDs and minor FDs that took place in the transitional zone 2, near the foot of the surgical table, were also related to an increase in the rate of major FDs. This study also found that more major and minor FDs took place in the anaesthesia zone compared with all other OR zones. Layout-related disruptions comprised more than half of all observed FDs. Conclusion Room design and layout issues may create barriers to task performance, potentially contributing to the escalation of FDs in the OR

Feasibility and efficacy of a multicomponent exercise medicine programme in patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy (the EXPAN trial): Study protocol of a dual-centre, two-armed phase I randomised controlled trial

Introduction Exercise is emerging as a therapy in oncology for its physical and psychosocial benefits and potential effects on chemotherapy tolerability and efficacy. However, evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) supporting exercise in patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced pancreatic cancer (PanCa) undergoing neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) are lacking. Methods and analysis The EXPAN trial is a dual-centre, two-armed, phase I RCT. Forty patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced PanCa undergoing NAT will be randomised equally to an exercise intervention group (individualised exercise+standard NAT) or a usual care control group (standard NAT). The exercise intervention will be supervised and consist of moderate to vigorous intensity resistance and aerobic-based training undertaken two times a week for 45-60 min per session for a maximum period of 6 months. The primary outcome is feasibility. Secondary outcomes are patient-related and treatment-related endpoints, objectively measured physical function, body composition, psychological health and quality of life. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, prior to potential alteration of treatment (∼4 months postbaseline), at completion of the intervention (maximum 6 months postbaseline) and 3-month and 6-month postintervention (maximum 9 and 12 months postbaseline). Ethics and dissemination The EXPAN trial has been approved by Edith Cowan University (reference no.: 2020-02011-LUO), Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (reference no.: RGS 03956) and St John of God Subiaco Hospital (reference no.: 1726). The study results will be presented at national/international conferences and submitted for publications in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number ACTRN12620001081909

A primate model of severe malarial anaemia: a comparative pathogenesis study.

Severe malarial anaemia (SMA) is the most common life-threatening complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection in African children. SMA is characterised by haemolysis and inadequate erythropoiesis, and is associated with dysregulated inflammatory responses and reduced complement regulatory protein levels (including CD35). However, a deeper mechanistic understanding of the pathogenesis requires improved animal models. In this comparative study of two closely related macaque species, we interrogated potential causal factors for their differential and temporal relationships to onset of SMA. We found that rhesus macaques inoculated with blood-stage Plasmodium coatneyi developed SMA within 2 weeks, with no other severe outcomes, whereas infected cynomolgus macaques experienced only mild/ moderate anaemia. The abrupt drop in haematocrit in rhesus was accompanied by consumption of haptoglobin (haemolysis) and poor reticulocyte production. Rhesus developed a greater inflammatory response than cynomolgus macaques, and had lower baseline levels of CD35 on red blood cells (RBCs) leading to a significant reduction in the proportion of CD35+ RBCs during infection. Overall, severe anaemia in rhesus macaques infected with P. coatneyi has similar features to SMA in children. Our comparisons are consistent with an association of low baseline CD35 levels on RBCs and of early inflammatory responses with the pathogenesis of SMA

Living anionic polymerization of phospaalkenes : controlled homopolymers and block copolymers with phosphorus atoms in the polymer main chain

In this thesis, the living anionic polymerization of the phosphaalkene MesPCPh₂ is reported. The polymer backbone consists of alternating phosphorus and carbon atoms. Several experiments have been conducted to illustrate the living nature of P=C bond polymerization including: controlling the polymer chain length by varying the concentration of initiator, determining that molecular weight increases linearly with conversion and showing that the polymerization follows pseudo first order kinetics. Investigations into the mechanism of the n-butyllithium initiated MesP=CPh₂ polymerization allowed for the experimental determination of the activation energy of propagation for the growing polymer chain, Ea = 14.0 ± 0.9 kcal mol⁻¹. Several new block copolymer species have been prepared by sequential anionic polymerization including polystyrene-block-poly(methylenephosphine) and polyisoprene-block poly(methylenephosphine). The polyisoprene-block-poly(methylenephosphine) was coordinated to AuCI and dissolved in n-heptane to prepare micellar Au(l) spherical and wormlike nanostructures visible by transmission electron microscopy. Further evidence for the chemical functionality of the poly(methylenephosphine) species is reported in this thesis. Poly(methylenephosphine) was treated with several main group electrophiles to form a polymeric BH₃ coordination complex and a partially methylated phosphonium ionomer. Finally, several P=C compounds bearing functional groups (i.e,C₁₀ H₁₀ Fe, 4-Cl-C₆H₄, 4- NEt₂-C₆H₄)on the carbon substituent have been synthesized. Several of these systems have been investigated as monomers for the anionic polymerization P=C bonds. Not all of the monomers polymerize by anionic methods and studies to better understand this behavior are underway.Science, Faculty ofChemistry, Department ofGraduat

Risk averse demand selection with all-or-nothing orders

Consider a firm that operates in consecutive single selling seasons, delivering its products across several markets with unique revenue and uncertain demands in each market. Using a profit maximization approach based on a newsvendor-type model, the firm may still incur several losses across consecutive periods in the short run. Risk analysis with demand selection has been modeled where customer/market demands follow a normal distribution. Often a firm faces a set of potential unconfirmed orders, where each order will either come in at a predefined level or it will not come in at all. In this paper, we consider these all-or-nothing (AON) demands and provide insights into their effect on expected profit and the frequency of extremely costly procurement policies. Instead of solely identifying the market/demand set and procurement quantity that maximizes expected profit, we use a conditional value-at-risk approach that allows a decision maker to control the number of profitable but risky demands to consider in the overall procurement policy. This approach is compared against an expected profit objective, and several managerial insights are provided.Newsvendor Risk Simulation Inventory control

Healthcare Facility Evacuations: Lessons Learned, Research Activity, and the Need for Engineering Contributions

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in research related to a healthcare facility's role during a disaster. Most of this literature relates to emergencies where the facility is a resource to the affected population, and the facility must make decisions associated with sudden, increased patient demands. Some emergencies, however, may affect the facility's ability to function and may therefore force the need for a complete patient evacuation. This paper provides an overview of the available literature including lessons learned from actual healthcare facility evacuations and research focusing on making improvements. The purpose is to summarize a variety of healthcare evacuation issues and highlight the research in this area. We raise questions for further research and conclude with an example of using engineering techniques to improve healthcare facility evacuations by prioritizing patients for transport