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- Title
- PARTICIPATION: A MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS.
- Creator
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Neidhart, Michael, Lawther, Wendell, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This study sought to identify the key determinants that lead individuals to participate in the transportation planning process. Two models of participation, one for the short-term and another for the long-term, were developed to test whether the key internal and external determinants are responsible for influencing a person's willingness to participate. The data for this study came from a mail-back survey that was administered to a random sample of 570 individuals throughout the State of...
Show moreThis study sought to identify the key determinants that lead individuals to participate in the transportation planning process. Two models of participation, one for the short-term and another for the long-term, were developed to test whether the key internal and external determinants are responsible for influencing a person's willingness to participate. The data for this study came from a mail-back survey that was administered to a random sample of 570 individuals throughout the State of Florida for a response rate of 37.37 percent. The results indicate that the internal motivational determinants exert more influence on a person's short-term willingness to participate as compared to a person's long-term willingness to participate. In addition, the external social capital determinants exert more influence on a person's long-term willingness to participate as compared to a person's short-term willingness to participate. However, only one of the three external citizenship orientation variables, participatory citizenship orientation, was found to be influential in determining a person's short-term willingness to participate. Recommendations were made for public managers to work collaboratively with the public as a participative facilitator, thereby opening up the decision-making process to the general public. One suggested course of action is for public managers to use existing civic organizations as a base for widening an agency's long-term planning outreach programs. In addition, suggestions for future research propose that qualitative studies delve in-depth into the positive/negative feelings related to participation, as well as look at how different public participation techniques may affect a person's willingness to participate, especially as it relates to different time frames.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000452, ucf:46400
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000452
- Title
- A DIRECT COMPENSATOR PROFILE OPTIMIZATION APPROACH FOR INTENSITY MODULATED RADIATION TREATMENT PLANNING.
- Creator
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Erhart, Kevin, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Radiation therapy accounts for treatment of over one million cancer patients each year in the United States alone, and its use will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Recently, many important advancements have been developed that greatly improve the outcomes and effectiveness of this treatment technique, the most notable being Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a sophisticated treatment technique where the radiation dose is conformed to the tumor volume, thereby...
Show moreRadiation therapy accounts for treatment of over one million cancer patients each year in the United States alone, and its use will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Recently, many important advancements have been developed that greatly improve the outcomes and effectiveness of this treatment technique, the most notable being Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a sophisticated treatment technique where the radiation dose is conformed to the tumor volume, thereby sparing nearby healthy tissue from excessive radiation dose. While IMRT is a valuable tool in the planning of radiation treatments, it is not without its difficulties. This research has created, developed, and tested an innovative approach to IMRT treatment planning, coined Direct Compensator Profile Optimization (DCPO), which is shown to eliminate many of the difficulties typically associated with IMRT planning and delivery using solid compensator based treatment. The major innovation of this technique is that it is a direct delivery parameter optimization approach which has adopted a parameterized surface representation using Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBs) to replace the conventional beamlet weight optimization approach. This new approach brings with it three key advantages: 1) a reduced number of parameters to optimize, reducing the difficulty of numerical optimization; 2) the ability to ensure complete equivalence of planned and actual manufactured compensators; and 3) direct inclusion of delivery device effects during planning with no performance penalties, eliminating the degrading fluence-to-delivery parameter conversion process. Detailed research into the affects of the DCPO approach on IMRT planning has been completed and a thorough analysis of the developments is provided herein. This research includes a complete description of the DCPO surface representation scheme, inverse planning process, as well as quantification of the manufacturing constraint control procedure. Results are presented which demonstrate the performance and innovation offered by this new approach and show that the resulting compensator shapes can be manufactured to nearly 100 percent of the designed shape.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- Identifier
- CFE0002800, ucf:48099
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002800
- Title
- Organizational Complexity, Emergency Management Plan Adequacy, and Nursing Home Resiliency: A Contingency Perspective.
- Creator
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Boyce, Cherie, Wan, Thomas, Zhang, Ning, Oetjen, Reid, Rivera, Fernando, Kapucu, Naim, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Some social and organizational behavior scientists measure resiliency through anecdotal qualitative research, i.e. personality analyses and stories of life experience. Empirical evidence remains limited for identifying measurable indicators of resiliency. Therefore, a testable contingency model was needed to clarify resiliency factors pertinent to organizational performance. Two essential resiliency factors were: 1) a written plan and 2) affiliation with a disaster network.This contingency...
Show moreSome social and organizational behavior scientists measure resiliency through anecdotal qualitative research, i.e. personality analyses and stories of life experience. Empirical evidence remains limited for identifying measurable indicators of resiliency. Therefore, a testable contingency model was needed to clarify resiliency factors pertinent to organizational performance. Two essential resiliency factors were: 1) a written plan and 2) affiliation with a disaster network.This contingency study demonstrated a quantifiable, correlational effect between organizational complexity, disaster plan adequacy and organizational resiliency. The unit of analysis, the skilled nursing facility proved vulnerable, therefore justifying the need for a written emergency management plan and affiliation with a disaster network. The main purpose of this research was to verify the significance of emergency management plans within a contingency framework of complexity theory, resource dependency, systems theory, and network theory. Distinct sample moments quantified causal relationships between organizational complexity (A), plan adequacy (B) and resiliency (C). Primary and secondary research data were collected from within the context of public health and emergency management sectors within the State of Florida.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005929, ucf:50842
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005929
- Title
- Florida Local Government Conservation Planning: Variability, Drivers, and Policy Implications.
- Creator
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Pannozzo, Pamela, Noss, Reed, Quintana-Ascencio, Pedro, Hinkle, Charles, Knox, Claire, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This study examined the quality of Florida county government conservation planning. To assess conservation planning quality, a theoretical model of conservation planning as prescribed by the conservation science literature was first developed. A plan evaluation coding protocol was applied to local comprehensive plan Conservation Elements to determine the extent to which county-level conservation planning met the theoretical model. A high degree of variability in conservation planning quality...
Show moreThis study examined the quality of Florida county government conservation planning. To assess conservation planning quality, a theoretical model of conservation planning as prescribed by the conservation science literature was first developed. A plan evaluation coding protocol was applied to local comprehensive plan Conservation Elements to determine the extent to which county-level conservation planning met the theoretical model. A high degree of variability in conservation planning quality was found. Highest quality conservation planning occurred in the Gulf coast counties of southwest Florida. Lowest conservation planning quality occurred in the Florida Panhandle counties. The quality of conservation planning of coastal counties was significantly higher than that of inland counties. Significant regional differences were also found, where conservation planning quality in South Florida counties was significantly higher than conservation planning quality in Panhandle counties. Geographic differences in conservation planning quality were likely attributable to significant differences in socioeconomic variables among counties, including differences in education, wealth, and urbanization. Multiple regression analysis using an information theoretic approach was employed to develop a predictive model of conservation planning quality of Florida local governments. The two most plausible predictors in the model were education level of the public and total resources. Local and global spatial autocorrelation analysis were next applied to county conservation planning scores to investigate spatial patterns of conservation planning quality, which were found to be related to the policy process of diffusion. Lastly, current local government conservation planning policy was analyzed for effectiveness and policy recommendations were made. Improving the effectiveness of local conservation planning will require changes in statutory provisions of the state Florida Forever and Growth Management statutes. It will also require a greater commitment on the part of the state of Florida to protect the state's biological resources over the long term.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005041, ucf:49971
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005041
- Title
- REAL-TIME TRAJECTORY PLANNING FOR GROUNDAND AERIAL VEHICLES IN A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT.
- Creator
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Yang, Jian, Qu, Zhihua, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In this dissertation, a novel and generic solution of trajectory generation is developed and evaluated for ground and aerial vehicles in a dynamic environment. By explicitly considering a kinematic model of the ground vehicles, the family of feasible trajectories and their corresponding steering controls are derived in a closed form and are expressed in terms of one adjustable parameter for the purpose of collision avoidance. A collision-avoidance condition is developed for the dynamically...
Show moreIn this dissertation, a novel and generic solution of trajectory generation is developed and evaluated for ground and aerial vehicles in a dynamic environment. By explicitly considering a kinematic model of the ground vehicles, the family of feasible trajectories and their corresponding steering controls are derived in a closed form and are expressed in terms of one adjustable parameter for the purpose of collision avoidance. A collision-avoidance condition is developed for the dynamically changing environment, which consists of a time criterion and a geometrical criterion. By imposing this condition, one can determine a family of collision-free paths in a closed form. Then, optimization problems with respect to different performance indices are setup to obtain optimal solutions from the feasible trajectories. Among these solutions, one with respect to the near-shortest distance and another with respect to the near-minimal control energy are analytical and simple. These properties make them good choices for real-time trajectory planning. Such optimal paths meet all boundary conditions, are twice differentiable, and can be updated in real time once a change in the environment is detected. Then this novel method is extended to 3D space to find a real-time optimal path for aerial vehicles. After that, to reflect the real applications, obstacles are classified to two types: "hard" obstacles that must be avoided, and "soft" obstacles that can be run over/through. Moreover, without losing generality, avoidance criteria are extended to obstacles with any geometric shapes. This dissertation also points out that the emphases of the future work are to consider other constraints such as the bounded velocity and so on. The proposed method is illustrated by computer simulations.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002031, ucf:47594
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002031
- Title
- Impact of Cancer-Specific Advance Care Planning on Anxiety, Decisional Conflict, and Surrogate Understanding of Patient Treatment Preferences.
- Creator
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Waser, Lynn, Aroian, Karen, Chase, Susan, Norris, Anne, Loerzel, Victoria, Buckey, Julia, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
ABSTRACTPatients with life-limiting cancer and their families face unique challenges that interfere with their ability to make decisions or adequately express their health care preferences about end of life (EOL) treatment. As a result, patients at EOL often receive aggressive unwanted treatment that nationally costs billions of dollars and results in surrogate distress about not honoring patient wishes. Respecting Choices(&)#174; DS-ACP is a disease-specific Advance Care Planning (ACP)...
Show moreABSTRACTPatients with life-limiting cancer and their families face unique challenges that interfere with their ability to make decisions or adequately express their health care preferences about end of life (EOL) treatment. As a result, patients at EOL often receive aggressive unwanted treatment that nationally costs billions of dollars and results in surrogate distress about not honoring patient wishes. Respecting Choices(&)#174; DS-ACP is a disease-specific Advance Care Planning (ACP) intervention that is designed to overcome barriers associated with ACP and potentially decrease the incidence of unwanted, overly aggressive treatments at EOL. The intervention is delivered to patient-surrogate dyads by a trained facilitator who provides an opportunity for patients to identify values and goals that support their EOL choices and communicate these values and goals to their surrogates before they are in a medical crisis. Although Respecting Choices(&)#174; DS-ACP has been effective with other populations, it has not been evaluated for patients with life-limiting cancer. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the Respecting Choices(&)#174; DS-ACP intervention with patients with life-limiting cancer to determine if the intervention increases patient-surrogate congruence about the patient's EOL wishes and reduces decisional conflict without causing anxiety.Study design was a Phase I clinical trial. A volunteer sample of 15 patients with a diagnosis of life limiting cancer and their matched surrogates participated in the study. The Statement of Treatment Preferences for Life-Limiting Cancer Form, the Spielberger State-anxiety Scale Form Y-1 (STAI) and the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) were administered pre- and post-intervention. The Quality of Communication about End of Life Care Form was administered at post test. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample. McNemar Chi-square and Binomial tests were conducted to investigate whether the intervention increased congruence for five different situations on the Statement of Treatment Preferences for Life-Limiting Cancer Form. The Zar's Multiple Comparison Test of Differences was conducted to investigate the proportion of congruence observed across the five situations. A paired-sample t test was conducted to evaluate post-intervention changes in anxiety (STAI) and decisional conflict (DCS). Frequencies and percentages were conducted for the five items on the Quality of Communication about End of Life Care Form to evaluate patients' and surrogates' satisfaction with the intervention. Anecdotal comments about timing were content analyzed and summarized.Congruence between patients and surrogates improved significantly in all five situations (range of p =.001 to .031), decisional conflict lessened significantly (t (14) =4.49, p (<) .001), and anxiety did not change (t (14) = 1.75, p = .102) pre- and post-intervention. Participants reported satisfaction with the intervention, including its delivery and timing.Findings from this study provide guidance on how to assist patients with life limiting cancer and their surrogates with EOL decision making. Study findings also support making the Respecting Choices ACP intervention part of usual care for patients with life limiting cancer and timing the intervention so that it is delivered before a medical crisis occurs. The lack of change in post-intervention anxiety scores suggests that ACP does not add to patient distress when ACP is conducted by a trained facilitator. This finding can be used to persuade health professionals to refer their patients for ACP. Additional research is needed to determine if increased patient-surrogate congruence leads to patients' wishes being followed and reduces surrogate decisional conflict and distress at EOL. Future research is also needed to determine if the Respecting Choices DS-ACP intervention is equally effective with racial and ethnic groups whose reluctance to engage in EOL discussion has been documented in the literature or if the intervention needs to be culturally adapted.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004615, ucf:49944
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004615
- Title
- RIGHTS OF OWNERSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES AS IDENTIFIED THROUGH DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN CONVERSION.
- Creator
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Burke, Richard, Klintworth, Nancy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Employer provided Qualified Plans ("Qualified Plans") are the most efficient supplement to Social Security savings and benefits. Given the significance of the benefits provided as well as the short-term Revenue constraints upon the Federal government in the form of substantially protracted tax deferrals, Qualified Plan legislation should maintain a conservative disposition. Incremental legislative action in the right direction will steadily graduate ERISA to its intended purpose....
Show moreEmployer provided Qualified Plans ("Qualified Plans") are the most efficient supplement to Social Security savings and benefits. Given the significance of the benefits provided as well as the short-term Revenue constraints upon the Federal government in the form of substantially protracted tax deferrals, Qualified Plan legislation should maintain a conservative disposition. Incremental legislative action in the right direction will steadily graduate ERISA to its intended purpose. Unfortunately ERISA is a convoluted maze of formalities, definitions, and regulation that are only substantially understood by an expert and have yet to be adequately explained to the public at large. Recent publications such as Retirement Heist rouse the public's consciousness of retirement Plans by enumerating perceived abuses by large corporations. These alleged abuses certainly reflect innovative manipulations within the constraints of Qualified Plans. However, my thesis will prove that these "abuses" reflect the United States' disposition toward the rights of proprietorship regarding the Qualified Plan. The intent of the thesis is to illustrate this disposition through a study of the Amara v. Cigna Corp. case as well as a review of an actual LLC's defined benefit plan conversion to a cash balance plan. I will compare and contrast the different approaches taken by these two employers and justify the varied success they each experienced in converting their plans. Through this process, the thesis shall draw conclusions on the United States' dispositions toward ownership of the qualified plan.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004164, ucf:44852
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004164
- Title
- FACULTY DEVELOPMENT IN MEMBER INSTITUTIONS OF THE FLORIDA FACULTY DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM: STRATEGIC PLANS, EVALUATION MODELS, ORGANIZATION, AND FUNDING.
- Creator
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Ross, Laura, Taylor, Rosemarye, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine strategic plans and evaluation models in light of organizational structures and funding to determine if member institutions in the Florida Faculty Development Consortium were investing in faculty development based on strategic and measurable criteria. Data were gathered through a mixed method survey mailed electronically to the individuals responsible for faculty development at 31 member institutions of the Florida Faculty Development...
Show moreABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine strategic plans and evaluation models in light of organizational structures and funding to determine if member institutions in the Florida Faculty Development Consortium were investing in faculty development based on strategic and measurable criteria. Data were gathered through a mixed method survey mailed electronically to the individuals responsible for faculty development at 31 member institutions of the Florida Faculty Development Consortium. Even though the Consortium was comprised of public and private four-year institutions and public two-year institutions, faculty development programs in these institutions had similarities. Most programs had strategic plans, centralized faculty development units with dedicated staff, and institutional funding. In addition, most faculty development programs had evaluation models in which they collected reactionary responses, but little evidence existed that programs were measuring impact on faculty learning, faculty behavior change, or student success. It was concluded that member institutions in the Florida Faculty Development Consortium were investing in faculty development and providing faculty developers with dedicated time to attend to faculty development responsibilities. Member institutions were evaluating their efforts on strategic, goal-based criteria, but little evidence existed that they were evaluating based on measurable criteria.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001398, ucf:46956
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001398
- Title
- A CASE STUDY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF PRINCIPALS OF VOUCHER ELIGIBLE HIGH SCHOOLS IN FLORIDA.
- Creator
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Bolen, Robert, Taylor, Rosemarye, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 has prompted a series of attempts to revise the educational system's outcomes. Legislative and executive reform bills have resulted in Educational Vouchers being a prime source of reform. A case study of the perceptions of public high school principals in Florida that are at Voucher Eligible high schools to those perceptions of principals at schools graded 'A' as of the 2002-03 academic school year was the focus of this study. Four...
Show moreThe publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 has prompted a series of attempts to revise the educational system's outcomes. Legislative and executive reform bills have resulted in Educational Vouchers being a prime source of reform. A case study of the perceptions of public high school principals in Florida that are at Voucher Eligible high schools to those perceptions of principals at schools graded 'A' as of the 2002-03 academic school year was the focus of this study. Four public high school principals from two Florida districts were used in this study. Two schools were identified as Voucher Eligible and graded "F" and two were examples of best practices or graded "A" or "B". Analyzed data identified recurring patterns between the four schools.Both advocates and detractors view of vouchers would be given a full historical review. Included in the research were the four major educational criteria of educational vouchers that were used in voucher development policy. The three major components of Florida's Voucher Programs, along with the No Child Left Behind Act were examined along with accountability measures and parent/student rights. The data revealed that there was a positive relationship between the minority rate of a school and the school's grade. Data also revealed that it would be beneficial for all schools and communities to work together to address the reading level issue as these programs have shown a positive relationship between the overall reading level and the school's grade.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001565, ucf:47152
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001565
- Title
- ENHANCING IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM THROUGH 11 IMPOSSIBLE CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND RELATED LESSON PLANS.
- Creator
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Rankine, Karlee L, Spalding, Lee-Anne, Foresyth, Lenora, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Not too long ago we believed that it was impossible to send men outside our planets gravitational force, let alone send them to the moon. As adults, we live in a world that believes in two possibilities, those goals that are possible as long as they believe in themselves and find new ways to accomplish each goal they are given. Slowly this thought process is leaving the students minds to make room for the latest information for best practices in formal test taking. There has been a huge...
Show moreNot too long ago we believed that it was impossible to send men outside our planets gravitational force, let alone send them to the moon. As adults, we live in a world that believes in two possibilities, those goals that are possible as long as they believe in themselves and find new ways to accomplish each goal they are given. Slowly this thought process is leaving the students minds to make room for the latest information for best practices in formal test taking. There has been a huge decline in our imaginative and creative thinkers due to this overwhelming need as a nation to "raise our test scores." I agree that our students need to obtain as much information as possible, but I believe in the impossible. I believe that there is a way to incorporate imaginative and creative thinking into our classrooms today to allow for students to build this idea that their impossible ideas can become possible. I want to challenge our students to be those who believe that it is not so impossible to land on the moon, as long as they can use their imagination, and creativity to solve their problems. To do this, I have used this thesis as a basis for 6 lesson plans based on 11 impossible children's book. This is to provide teachers with resources that match the standards they are already using and create lifelong imaginers and creative thinkers who can turn the most impossible idea into a reality.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFH2000390, ucf:45731
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000390
- Title
- PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: FLORIDA COMMUNITY COLLEGES' PREPARATIONS FOR THE ADVENT OF HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION.
- Creator
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Wyly, Sharon, Tubbs, LeVester, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Throughout the literature, researchers reported on the problems that post-secondary institutions have had with technology (Birchard, 2001; Green, 2003; Starrett & Rogers, 2003;). Given limited budgets and the need to train faculty and staff, many colleges have struggled to find a way to use technology to enhance, not hinder, pedagogy (Cuban, 2001; Oppenheimer, 2003). This study was conducted to examine the impact of the federally mandated change in the television standard to high definition...
Show moreThroughout the literature, researchers reported on the problems that post-secondary institutions have had with technology (Birchard, 2001; Green, 2003; Starrett & Rogers, 2003;). Given limited budgets and the need to train faculty and staff, many colleges have struggled to find a way to use technology to enhance, not hinder, pedagogy (Cuban, 2001; Oppenheimer, 2003). This study was conducted to examine the impact of the federally mandated change in the television standard to high definition television (HDTV) on Florida's community colleges. Surveys were sent to the chief technology officers of the 28 community colleges in Florida. Additionally, eight interviews were conducted in five of the institutions. From both the qualitative data and the quantitative data, a picture emerged of the institutions and the conversion status. Of the 17 survey respondents, 11 reported no plans for conversion. Of those that did have plans for conversion, few concrete details were reported. Instead, the representatives of the institutions seemed to believe that it was not necessary to make plans for the change to HDTV. Costs represented the major concern of the survey respondents with implementation and training listed as the second and third most important issues. Many participants from the community colleges had some thoughts about HDTV, but these were more on the departmental level rather than college-wide. HDTV was projected to become the television standard in February 2009. The long lead time on this innovation should have provided community colleges with time to plan. As revealed, however, community colleges in Florida failed to plan for change.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002005, ucf:47629
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002005
- Title
- Community Participation and Travel Choice: An Analysis of Central Florida New Urban and Conventional Suburban Residents.
- Creator
-
Mikovsky, Laura, Korosec, Ronnie, Hawkins, Christopher, Knox, Claire, Beitsch, Owen, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between the built environment and social and transportation outcomes when comparing traditional and conventional suburban neighborhoods, but much remains to be learned about whether New Urbanism can produce similar results. Among studies where new urban neighborhoods have been assessed, most have centered on regions with highly-utilized public transit systems and with climates that are amenable to utilitarian physical activity. This research...
Show morePrevious research has demonstrated a relationship between the built environment and social and transportation outcomes when comparing traditional and conventional suburban neighborhoods, but much remains to be learned about whether New Urbanism can produce similar results. Among studies where new urban neighborhoods have been assessed, most have centered on regions with highly-utilized public transit systems and with climates that are amenable to utilitarian physical activity. This research sought to build on the existing research base through direct comparison of new urban and conventional suburban neighborhoods in central Florida, a region with an under-developed transit system and a climate that renders utilitarian physical activity impractical. Further, this research sought to lend greater insights into neighborhood selection factors across neighborhood types.(<)p(>)(<)p(>)A mixed-methods, single-case design was utilized to evaluate one new urban and one conventional suburban neighborhood in the central Florida region. Regional new urban neighborhoods were subjectively rated for adherence to tenets of the Charter of the New Urbanism, with the neighborhood (Celebration, in Osceola County, FL) found to most closely adhere to these tenets selected as the experimental group for the study. A socio-demographically comparable conventional suburban neighborhood (Sweetwater, in Seminole County, FL) was selected as the control group. Quantitative methods consisted of a household survey issued to 250 randomly- and convenience-sampled addresses in each neighborhood, followed by regression analysis to evaluate study hypotheses. Qualitative methods employed analysis of open-ended survey responses, detailed case studies of selected neighborhoods, and resident interviews. The household survey yielded net response rates of 15.79 percent and 25.50 percent for experimental and control neighborhoods, respectively, and a mean cross-neighborhood response rate of 20.64 percent. Twenty resident interviews (10 per neighborhood) were conducted. Quantitative and qualitative findings were compared to collectively address research questions.(<)p(>)(<)p(>)Regression results indicated no statistically significant difference between neighborhoods in attitudinal and behavioral components of community participation, in vehicle miles driven per week, or utilitarian physical activity frequency. However, results indicated that new urban residents had more positive attitudes toward utilitarian physical activity than conventional suburban residents and that attitudes toward community participation and utilitarian physical activity were positively correlated with associated behaviors. Qualitative findings provided substantial individual- and environmental-level insights to factors impacting evaluated attitudes and behaviors, and supported some quantitative findings while not aligning with others. Neighborhood selection factors were found to be quite different across neighborhoods: Celebration residents identified neighborhood social atmosphere and connection to the Walt Disney Company brand as top contributors to their selection decision, while Sweetwater residents expressed that access to quality schools was the most important factor in their selection decision. Qualitative findings indicated that car culture and climate within the central Florida region diminished both attitudinal and behavioral components of utilitarian physical activity across neighborhood types.(<)p(>)(<)p(>)This research expanded the understanding of the social and transportation outcomes of New Urbanism, particularly with respect to the central Florida region. While case and quantitative limitations may have impeded the ability of this study to draw decisive conclusions about research questions, distinctive themes regarding social and transportation outcomes were identified. Findings of this research supported those of some prior studies while contradicting others, indicating that further exploration is needed to establish a firm understanding of the capabilities of new urban development to achieve desired outcomes, and of regional characteristics that may influence these outcomes.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004413, ucf:49376
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004413
- Title
- A Triangulation Based Coverage Path Planning For a Mobile Robot With Circular Sensing Range.
- Creator
-
An, Vatana, Qu, Zhihua, Haralambous, Michael, Mikhael, Wasfy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In this dissertation, two coverage path planning (CPP) approaches for a nonholonomic mobile robot are proposed. The first approach is the Local Coverage Path Planning (LCPP) approach which is designed for all sensing ranges. The second approach is the Global Coverage Path Planning (GCPP) approach which is designed for sufficient sensing range that can observe all points of interests in the target region (TR). The LCPP approach constructs CP after finding observer points for all local regions...
Show moreIn this dissertation, two coverage path planning (CPP) approaches for a nonholonomic mobile robot are proposed. The first approach is the Local Coverage Path Planning (LCPP) approach which is designed for all sensing ranges. The second approach is the Global Coverage Path Planning (GCPP) approach which is designed for sufficient sensing range that can observe all points of interests in the target region (TR). The LCPP approach constructs CP after finding observer points for all local regions in the TR. The GCPP approach computes observer points after CP construction. Beginning with the sample TR, the LCPP approach requires 8 algorithms to find a smooth CP and sufficient number of observers for complete coverage. The Global Coverage Path Planning approach requires 17 algorithms to find the smooth CP with sufficient number of observers for completed coverage. The worst case running time for both approaches are quadratic which is consider to be very fast as compared to previous works reported in the literature. The main technical contributions of both approaches are to provide a holistic solution that segments any TR, uses triangulation to determine the line of sights and observation points, and then compute the smooth and collision-free CP. Both approaches provide localization, speed control, curvature control, CP length control, and smooth CP control. The first approach has applications in automate vacuum cleaning, search and rescue mission, spray painting, and etc. The second approach is best used in military and space applications as it requires infinite sensing range which only resource rich organizations can afford. At the very least, the second approach provides simulation opportunity and upper bound cost estimate for CPP. Both approaches will lead to a search strategy that provides the shortest CP with the minimum number of observer and with the shortest running time for any sensing range.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006853, ucf:51745
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006853
- Title
- A VIRTUAL REALITY VISUALIZATION OFAN ANALYTICAL SOLUTION TOMOBILE ROBOT TRAJECTORY GENERATIONIN THE PRESENCE OF MOVING OBSTACLES.
- Creator
-
Elias, Ricardo, Qu, Zhihua, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Virtual visualization of mobile robot analytical trajectories while avoiding moving obstacles is presented in this thesis as a very helpful technique to properly display and communicate simulation results. Analytical solutions to the path planning problem of mobile robots in the presence of obstacles and a dynamically changing environment have been presented in the current robotics and controls literature. These techniques have been demonstrated using two-dimensional graphical representation...
Show moreVirtual visualization of mobile robot analytical trajectories while avoiding moving obstacles is presented in this thesis as a very helpful technique to properly display and communicate simulation results. Analytical solutions to the path planning problem of mobile robots in the presence of obstacles and a dynamically changing environment have been presented in the current robotics and controls literature. These techniques have been demonstrated using two-dimensional graphical representation of simulation results. In this thesis, the analytical solution published by Dr. Zhihua Qu in December 2004 is used and simulated using a virtual visualization tool called VRML.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001575, ucf:47118
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001575
- Title
- ON ADVANCED TEMPLATE-BASED INTERPRETATION AS APPLIED TO INTENTION RECOGNITION IN A STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT.
- Creator
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Akridge, Cameron, Gonzalez, Avelino, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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An area of study that has received much attention over the past few decades is simulations involving threat assessment in military scenarios. Recently, much research has emerged concerning the recognition of troop movements and formations in non-combat simulations. Additionally, there have been efforts towards the detection and assessment of various types of malicious intentions. One such work by Akridge addressed the issue of Strategic Intention Recognition, but fell short in the detection...
Show moreAn area of study that has received much attention over the past few decades is simulations involving threat assessment in military scenarios. Recently, much research has emerged concerning the recognition of troop movements and formations in non-combat simulations. Additionally, there have been efforts towards the detection and assessment of various types of malicious intentions. One such work by Akridge addressed the issue of Strategic Intention Recognition, but fell short in the detection of tactics that it could not detect without somehow manipulating the environment. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to address the problem of recognizing an opponent's intent in a strategic environment where the system can think ahead in time to see the agent's plan. To approach the problem, a structured form of knowledge called Template-Based Interpretation is borrowed from the work of others and enhanced to reason in a temporally dynamic simulation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001517, ucf:47146
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001517
- Title
- OPTIMIZATION MODELS FOR EMERGENCY RELIEF SHELTER PLANNING FOR ANTICIPATED HURRICANE EVENTS.
- Creator
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Sharawi, Abeer, Geiger, Christopher, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Natural disasters, specifically hurricanes, can cause catastrophic loss of life and property. In recent years, the United States has endured significant losses due to a series of devastating hurricanes (e.g., Hurricanes Charley and Ivan in 2004, and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005). Several Federal authorities report that there are weaknesses in the emergency and disaster planning and response models that are currently employed in practice, thus creating a need for better decision models...
Show moreNatural disasters, specifically hurricanes, can cause catastrophic loss of life and property. In recent years, the United States has endured significant losses due to a series of devastating hurricanes (e.g., Hurricanes Charley and Ivan in 2004, and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005). Several Federal authorities report that there are weaknesses in the emergency and disaster planning and response models that are currently employed in practice, thus creating a need for better decision models in emergency situations. The current models not only lack fast communication with emergency responders and the public, but are also inadequate for advising the pre-positioning of supplies at emergency shelters before the storm's impact. The problem of emergency evacuation relief shelter planning during anticipated hurricane events is addressed in this research. The shelter planning problem is modeled as a joint location-allocation-inventory problem, where the number and location of shelter facilities must be identified. In addition, the evacuating citizens must be assigned to the designated shelter facilities, and the amount of emergency supply inventory to pre-position at each facility must be determined. The objective is to minimize total emergency evacuation costs, which is equal to the combined facility opening and preparation cost, evacuee transportation cost and emergency supply inventory cost. A review of the emergency evacuation planning literature reveals that this class of problems has not been largely addressed to date. First, the emergency evacuation relief sheltering problem is formulated under deterministic conditions as a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model. For three different evacuation scenarios, the proposed MINLP model yields a plan that identifies the locations of relief shelters for evacuees, the assignment of evacuees to those shelters and the amount of emergency supplies to stockpile in advance of an anticipated hurricane. The MINLP model is then used (with minor modifications) to explore the idea of equally distributing the evacuees across the open shelters. The results for the three different scenarios indicate that a balanced utilization of the open shelters is achieved with little increase in the total evacuation cost. Next, the MINLP is enhanced to consider the stochastic characteristics of both hurricane strength and projected trajectory, which can directly influence the storm's behavior. The hurricane's strength is based on its hurricane category according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Its trajectory is represented as a Markov chain, where the storm's path is modeled as transitions among states (i.e., coordinate locations) within a spherical coordinate system. A specific hurricane that made landfall in the state of Florida is used as a test case for the model. Finally, the stochastic model is employed within a robust optimization strategy, where several probable hurricane behavioral scenarios are solved. Then, a single, robust evacuation sheltering plan that provides the best results, not only in terms of maximum deviation of total evacuation cost across the likely scenarios, but also in terms of maximum deviation of unmet evacuee demand at the shelter locations, is generated. The practical value of this robust plan is quite significant. This plan should accommodate unexpected changes in the behavior of an approaching storm to a reasonable degree with minimal negative impact to the total evacuation cost and the fulfillment of evacuee demand at the shelter locations. Most importantly, the re-allocation and re-mobilization of emergency personnel and supplies are not required, which can cause confusion and potentially increase the response time of responders to the hurricane emergency. The computational results show the promise of this research and usefulness of the proposed models. This work is an initial step in addressing the simultaneous identification of shelter locations, assignment of citizens to those shelters, and determination of a policy for stockpiling emergency supplies in advance of a hurricane. Both the location-allocation problem and the inventory problem have been extensively and individually studied by researchers as well as practitioners. However, this joint location-allocation-inventory problem is a difficult problem to solve, especially in the presence of stochastic storm behavior. The proposed models, even in the deterministic case, are a significant step beyond the current state-of-the-art in the area of emergency and disaster planning.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001938, ucf:47446
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001938
- Title
- PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN TRANSPORTATION: AN EMPERICAL TEST FOR AUTHENTIC PARTICIPATION.
- Creator
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Figueredo, Jorge, Wang, Xiaohu, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation examines the public participation activities of State Departments of Transportation (SDOTs) in the United States. A review of existing literature and legal frameworks suggests that an "authentic" public participation results when dimensions of representativeness, use of public inputs, interactiveness, and quality of citizen inputs have been achieved. The study sought to identify conditions that serve as measurements that must presumably be satisfied for authenticity to exist...
Show moreThis dissertation examines the public participation activities of State Departments of Transportation (SDOTs) in the United States. A review of existing literature and legal frameworks suggests that an "authentic" public participation results when dimensions of representativeness, use of public inputs, interactiveness, and quality of citizen inputs have been achieved. The study sought to identify conditions that serve as measurements that must presumably be satisfied for authenticity to exist in public participation. The result was a Model of Authentic Public Participation that served as the basis for creation of a new four-tiered methodology to assess the performance of these districts relative to authenticity requirements. This study also sought to identify the key determinants that lead districts to achieve Authentic Public Participation in District public involvement programs. A Predictor Model for Authentic Public Participation was created to test whether the key internal and external determinants are responsible for districts achieving authenticity in their public participation programs. The data for this study came from a mail-back survey that was administered to senior district administrators in 380 State Departments of Transportation districts in the United States. A total of 233 surveys were returned for a response rate of 61.3 percent. The results of the study suggest that most SDOT districts struggle to implement public participation programs that achieve high levels of authenticity. The increased use of public participation tools, specifically those active tools that allow for increased interaction between district staff and the public, can assist districts in achieving higher levels of authenticity in their programs. Of key importance to achievement of authenticity is the willingness of district staff to adopt new ideas and innovation learned from dealings with the public. District public participation programs benefit from training that increases the individual's acceptance of public participation as a valid mechanism for serving the public. Recommendations were made for SDOTs to work toward: • The creation of increased opportunities for the occurrence of Authentic Public Participation • The creation of individual ownership of authenticity in public participation • The creation of community partnerships to foster authenticity in public participation
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000585, ucf:46479
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000585
- Title
- PLANNING AND SCHEDULING FOR LARGE-SCALEDISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS.
- Creator
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Yu, Han, Marinescu, Dan, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Many applications require computing resources well beyond those available on any single system. Simulations of atomic and subatomic systems with application to material science, computations related to study of natural sciences, and computer-aided design are examples of applications that can benefit from the resource-rich environment provided by a large collection of autonomous systems interconnected by high-speed networks. To transform such a collection of systems into a user's virtual...
Show moreMany applications require computing resources well beyond those available on any single system. Simulations of atomic and subatomic systems with application to material science, computations related to study of natural sciences, and computer-aided design are examples of applications that can benefit from the resource-rich environment provided by a large collection of autonomous systems interconnected by high-speed networks. To transform such a collection of systems into a user's virtual machine, we have to develop new algorithms for coordination, planning, scheduling, resource discovery, and other functions that can be automated. Then we can develop societal services based upon these algorithms, which hide the complexity of the computing system for users. In this dissertation, we address the problem of planning and scheduling for large-scale distributed systems. We discuss a model of the system, analyze the need for planning, scheduling, and plan switching to cope with a dynamically changing environment, present algorithms for the three functions, report the simulation results to study the performance of the algorithms, and introduce an architecture for an intelligent large-scale distributed system.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000781, ucf:46595
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000781
- Title
- COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY.
- Creator
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Van Dusen, Laurie, Bozeman, William, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The purpose of this study was to explore with community college presidents of 292 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Level 1 institutions their perceptions as to the extent to which selected leadership styles presently required in the performance of presidential duties may be required in the future. Also investigated were leadership succession planning and professional development initiatives aimed at identifying and developing future leaders. A total of 209 (71.6%) presidents...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to explore with community college presidents of 292 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Level 1 institutions their perceptions as to the extent to which selected leadership styles presently required in the performance of presidential duties may be required in the future. Also investigated were leadership succession planning and professional development initiatives aimed at identifying and developing future leaders. A total of 209 (71.6%) presidents completed a researcher designed survey. Data analysis resulted in the following major findings. The presidents indicated a high level of support for each of the five leadership styles for current presidents as well as for future leaders. A consultative style of leadership was deemed to be the most important form of leadership for current leaders and increasing in importance for future leaders. Participative leadership was ranked second and could be considered as a transitional alternative for new presidents. The delegative and negotiative leadership styles were cited as the third and fourth most important forms of leadership for current and future leaders. Fifth ranked was the directive or autocratic style of leadership. Three-fourths of community college presidents indicated that they were actively engaged in the identification and development of potential leaders. Presidents were highly supportive of six developmental areas (budgeting, financial management, fund raising, governing boards, internal governance, and politics/relationships) but perceived politics and relationships as being the most critical area of development for future presidents. Presidents, with less than 10 years of service, were more actively engaged in identifying potential future leaders than their longer tenured counterparts. Those planning to retire within the next 6 years indicated the highest level of engagement. Institutional leaders who had been identified for advancement in a succession plan during their careers were more likely to have a succession plan in place in their institution; however, succession planning was largely informal.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000850, ucf:46664
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000850
- Title
- STRENGTHS AND TALENTS OF POTENTIAL ADMINISTRATORS IN ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, FLORIDA.
- Creator
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Anderson, Arthur, Taylor, Rosemarye, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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With the increased demands on principals and a shortage of qualified, acceptable candidates, school districts that have to replace principals are in a difficult position. These factors, combined with the importance that the principal role has in relation to student achievement, make the identification of potential administrators and the hiring process for new administrators a top priority for all school districts. This study answered the following two major questions; a) what characteristics...
Show moreWith the increased demands on principals and a shortage of qualified, acceptable candidates, school districts that have to replace principals are in a difficult position. These factors, combined with the importance that the principal role has in relation to student achievement, make the identification of potential administrators and the hiring process for new administrators a top priority for all school districts. This study answered the following two major questions; a) what characteristics or talents, as identified by the StrengthsFinder profile, did Orange County Public School principals in 2007 look for in identifying potential school administrators and b) what differences, if any, exist within the existing variables (school level, certification, gender, and prior experiences). The Clifton StrengthsFinder Profile was utilized to identify the strengths or talents of a group of 61 teachers within Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) who were identified by their principals as potential school based administrators. Of those 61 participants in the Aspiring Leader Academy, the following five strengths were most commonly identified: a) Relator (45.9%), b) Achiever (37.8%), c) Responsibility (37.7%), d) Learner (36.1%) and e) Maximizer (25.9%). In comparing talents across demographic data, the talents identified for participants at all levels (elementary, middle, and high) were not statistically different, supporting the notion that talents principals looked for in identifying potential administrators were relatively the same at all three levels.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- Identifier
- CFE0002412, ucf:47768
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002412
