Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Emission

This study determined an initial estimate of the Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions caused by the travel of WPI faculty, staff, and students. The collection of data on transportation-related Scope 3 carbon emissions of Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s students, faculty, and staff, in order to calculate WPI’s carbon footprint, is important to making the university sustainable. We estimated and recorded WPI’s Scope 3 emissions for the first time in WPI’s sustainability projects.Using the results of this paper which is 26,500 tonnes of CO2 and comparing it with other emission sources, WPI will be able to set reduction goals on its greenhouse gas emissions and become a more sustainable institution

Cortex-driven cytoplasmic flows in elongated cells: fluid mechanics and application to nuclear transport in Drosophila embryos

The Drosophila melanogaster embryo, an elongated multi-nucleated cell, is a classical model system for eukaryotic development and morphogenesis. Recent work has shown that bulk cytoplasmic flows, driven by cortical contractions along the walls of the embryo, enable the uniform spreading of nuclei along the anterior-posterior (AP) axis necessary for proper embryonic development. Here we propose two mathematical models to characterise cytoplasmic flows driven by tangential cortical contractions in elongated cells. Assuming Newtonian fluid flow at low Reynolds number in a spheroidal cell, we first compute the flow field exactly, thereby bypassing the need for numerical computations. We then apply our results to recent experiments on nuclear transport in cell cycles 4-6 of Drosophila embryo development. By fitting the cortical contractions in our model to measurements, we reveal that experimental cortical flows enable near-optimal axial spreading of nuclei. A second mathematical approach, applicable to general elongated cell geometries, exploits a long-wavelength approximation to produce an even simpler solution, with errors below 5% compared to the full model. An application of this long-wavelength result to transport leads to fully analytical solutions for the nuclear concentration that capture the essential physics of the system, including optimal axial spreading of nuclei.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Development of Shaking Table for Educational Purposes

When civil structures are subjected to earthquake excitations, components of the infrastructure may become damaged. Knowledge of structural dynamics is required to understand and assess the state of a structure after it has experienced dynamic loading. The goal of this project is to develop a cost-efficient, bi-directional shaking table to be used as a practical tool by students and researchers to study the dynamic behavior of structures when they are subjected to earthquake excitations

Hyperglycaemia-related visual seizure

Introduction: Visual seizure is one of the rare complications of poorly controlled chronic hyperglycaemia. This condition can be debilitating for patients. Early recognition and careful control of hyperglycaemia is vital. Case description: A middle-aged female was found collapsed at her home after missing insulin for several days. She was found to have diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) and she was started on treatment for DKA. She reported visual hallucinations in the right side of her visual field for a week. Further assessment with EEG and brain MRI suggested an occipital seizure consistent with metabolic disturbances. She was initially started on antiepileptic medication. After strict diabetes control, her symptoms resolved, and she no longer needed antiepileptic treatment. Conclusion: Experiencing diabetes-related seizures can be terrifying both for patients and their family. Early recognition and quick control of hyperglycaemia is important in treating these patients

Visual Management Implementation at Primetals Technologies

Our project goal was to produce a visual management system for the MMD-2 and VMC-5 machines at Primetals. We defined the relevant key process indicators (KPIs), produced a specification detailing the importance of specific KPIs and relevant data. We produced a visual design which was then modeled using python to make a functioning application. We then performed market research and a business analysis to compare alternative software for Primetals. Our MQP deliverables are: KPI specification of important KPIs, a visual design of a screen, an application mockup, market analysis of alternative software options, and a business analysis of selected companies. After conducting qualitative, quantitative and business analysis we concluded that Predator MDC is the preferred software alternative

A Static Assignment Algorithm of Uniform Jobs to Workers in a User-PC Computing System Using Simultaneous Linear Equations

Currently, the User-PC computingsystem (UPC) has been studied as a low-cost and high-performance distributed computing platform. It uses idling resources of personal computers (PCs) in a group. The job-worker assignment for minimizing makespan is critical to determine the performance of the UPC system. Some applications need to execute a lot of uniform jobs that use the identical program but with slightly different data, where they take the similar CPU time on a PC. Then, the total CPU time of a worker is almost linear to the number of assigned jobs. In this paper, we propose a static assignment algorithm of uniform jobs to workers in the UPC system, using simultaneous linear equations to find the lower bound on makespan, where every worker requires the same CPU time to complete the assigned jobs. For the evaluations of the proposal, we consider the uniform jobs in three applications. In OpenPose, the CNN-based keypoint estimation program runs with various images of human bodies. In OpenFOAM, the physics simulation program runs with various parameter sets. In code testing, two open-source programs run with various source codes from students for the Android programming learning assistance system (APLAS). Using the proposal, we assigned the jobs to six workers in the testbed UPC system and measured the CPU time. The results show that makespan was reduced by 10% on average, which confirms the effectiveness of the proposal

Malaria epidemiology in central Myanmar: identification of a multi-species asymptomatic reservoir of infection.

BACKGROUND: The spread of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum is a global health concern. Myanmar stands at the frontier of artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum. Myanmar also has the highest reported malaria burden in Southeast Asia; it is integral in the World Health Organization's plan to eliminate malaria in Southeast Asia, yet few epidemiological data exist for the general population in Myanmar. METHODS: This cross-sectional, probability household survey was conducted in Phyu township, Bago Region (central Myanmar), during the wet season of 2013. Interviewers collected clinical and behavioural data, recorded tympanic temperature and obtained dried blood spots for malaria PCR and serology. Plasmodium falciparum positive samples were tested for genetic mutations in the K13 region that may confer artemisinin resistance. Estimated type-specific malaria PCR prevalence and seroprevalence were calculated, with regression analysis to identify risk factors for seropositivity to P. falciparum. Data were weighted to account for unequal selection probabilities. RESULTS: 1638 participants were sampled (500 households). Weighted PCR prevalence was low (n = 41, 2.5%) and most cases were afebrile (93%). Plasmodium falciparum was the most common species (n = 19. 1.1%) and five (26%) P. falciparum samples harboured K13 mutations. Plasmodium knowlesi was detected in 1.0% (n = 16) and Plasmodium vivax was detected in 0.4% (n = 7). Seroprevalence was 9.4% for P. falciparum and 3.1% for P. vivax. Seroconversion to P. falciparum was 0.003/year in the whole population, but 16-fold higher in men over 23 years old (LR test p = 0.016). DISCUSSION: This is the first population-based seroprevalence study from central Myanmar. Low overall prevalence was discovered. However, these data suggest endemic transmission continues, probably associated with behavioural risk factors amongst working-age men. Genetic mutations associated with P. falciparum artemisinin resistance, the presence of P. knowlesi and discrete demographic risk groups present opportunities and challenges for malaria control. Responses targeted to working-age men, capable of detecting sub-clinical infections, and considering all species will facilitate malaria elimination in this setting

EFFECT OF MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN TRISTAR TYRE FACTORY

This study examines the effect of motivational factors on employee performance in Tristar Tyre factory with emphasis on identifying motivational factors such as payment, job security, promotion, employee welfare, work condition and training. For this study, 200 respondents from Tristar Tyre factory were selected and interviewed during the month of June and September, 2019. In this study, descriptive statistics method and regression method were used. According to the regression analysis, there are two significant relationships between motivational factors and employee performance and effect of job satisfaction also found having a positive effect on employee performance. According to the result of analysis, the motivational factors such as training and work environment motivate the employees in Tristar Tyre factory. Therefore, responsible persons should provide a lot of trainings and good working environment to the employees. In the case of working environment, this study recommends the responsible persons should provide update with the fire extinguisher and no expire date. Then, the responsible persons should provide the more safety training for every worker. Thus, employees become more satisfaction and increase their performance. In the case of training, the responsible persons should provide effective training programs for all level of employees. Then, the responsible persons should provide the training with every technical change in factory. Thus, the employees become more satisfaction and increase their performance. And the result of mediating analysis, the responsible persons should provide to increase satisfaction of employees in factory. It is because; if the level of job satisfaction increased, the level of employee performance will be increase. Then, the factory should provide internal promotion, safety job security, pay for incentives and supporting the households to increase the employee performance, it is because; motivation positively effects on job satisfaction and employee performance

Cloud security

Cloud computing is becoming popular due to its convenience and no initial capital cost to buy the physical resources. Users can conveniently use resources in the cloud such as computing resources or storage resources, in a minimum setup time. Moreover, they only need to pay for only what they use, which is analogous to using electricity. However, the security concerns for the data is high as the cloud technology is relatively new and security holes exist in this new technology. OpenStack is a cloud computing platform, which is open-source, and supported by big industry players. It is a new platform and growing rapidly due to the strong support from the community. However, it still has security issues such as data security. It does not offer the ability to encrypt the block and object storage at the time this project is proposed. The objective of this project is to strengthen the security of data when storing on public cloud servers compatible with OpenStack such as Amazon EC2 or S3. In this project, we have designed an encryption architecture for OpenStack using a gateway system between the clients and storage server. We have also implemented a proof-of-concept prototype by modifying OpenStack and its dashboard. Although our solution address the one of the issues regarding data security, there are other issues in OpenStack that can affect the security of the data, such as using clear text in network API or authentication issues. Further research on the issues to remediate the security holes is recommended to achieve the strong data security in cloud storage and computing.Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering