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Transferability And Calibration Of The Highway Safety Manual Performance Functions And Development Of New Models For Urban Four-Lane Divided Roads, Kaaf, Khalid Al Jan 2014

Transferability And Calibration Of The Highway Safety Manual Performance Functions And Development Of New Models For Urban Four-Lane Divided Roads, Kaaf, Khalid Al

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many developing countries have witnessed fast and rapid growth in the last two decades due to the high development rate of economic activity in these countries. Many transportation projects have been constructed. In the same time both population growth and vehicle ownership rate increased; resulting in increasing levels of road crashes. Road traffic crashes in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is considered a serious problem that has deep effects on GCC's population as well as on the national productivity through the loss of lives, injuries, property damage and the loss of valuable resources. From a recent statistical study of traffic crashes …


A Curricula Assessment And Improvement Quantitative Model For Higher Education: A Design For Six Sigma Methodology, Abdullah Halawany Jan 2014

A Curricula Assessment And Improvement Quantitative Model For Higher Education: A Design For Six Sigma Methodology, Abdullah Halawany

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Curricula assessment is an integrated process to assist higher education institutions in addressing the challenges in a designated field of study and in exploring the opportunities to better educate and prepare their students for an increasingly complex world. Although assessment as a topic has been researched extensively, there has been a lack of quantitative tools that address the requirements of many of the stakeholders that may be critical to the curriculum design and assessment processes. This research proposes the utilization of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) to develop a quantitative model for curriculum assessment and improvement for higher education institutions. …


Cost-Sensitive Learning-Based Methods For Imbalanced Classification Problems With Applications, Talayeh Razzaghi Jan 2014

Cost-Sensitive Learning-Based Methods For Imbalanced Classification Problems With Applications, Talayeh Razzaghi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Analysis and predictive modeling of massive datasets is an extremely significant problem that arises in many practical applications. The task of predictive modeling becomes even more challenging when data are imperfect or uncertain. The real data are frequently affected by outliers, uncertain labels, and uneven distribution of classes (imbalanced data). Such uncertainties create bias and make predictive modeling an even more difficult task. In the present work, we introduce a cost-sensitive learning method (CSL) to deal with the classification of imperfect data. Typically, most traditional approaches for classification demonstrate poor performance in an environment with imperfect data. We propose the …


A Holistic Framework For Transitional Management, Ahmed Elattar Jan 2014

A Holistic Framework For Transitional Management, Ahmed Elattar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For all business organizations, there comes a time when a change must take place within their eco-system. It consumes a great deal of thought and planning to ensure that the right decision is made as it could alter the entire course of their business for a number of years to come. This change may appear in the form of a brilliant CEO reaching the age of retirement, or an unsuccessful Managing Director being asked to leave before fulfilling the term of her contract. Regardless of the cause, a transition must occur in which a suitable successor is chosen and put …


Beneficial Utilization Of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Ashes As Sustainable Road Construction Materials, Kazi Tasneem Jan 2014

Beneficial Utilization Of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Ashes As Sustainable Road Construction Materials, Kazi Tasneem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) is common for energy recovery, and management of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ashes has received a growing attention around the world. In the U.S., generation of MSW has increased up to 65% since 1980, to the current level of 251 million tons per year with 53.8% landfilled, 34.5% recycled and composted, and 11.7% incinerated with energy recovery. In the process of incineration, MSWI ash is being produced as byproducts; about 80 to 90% of the MSWI ash is bottom ash (BA) and 10 to 20% is fly ash (FA) by weight. The current …


Exploring Stereotype Threat In The Workplace With Sexual Minorities, Elizabeth Sanz Jan 2014

Exploring Stereotype Threat In The Workplace With Sexual Minorities, Elizabeth Sanz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minorities are the target of numerous negative stereotypes in the United States, and are sometimes perceived as deviant and devalued as compared to heterosexuals. Stereotype threat, the anxiety of confirming a negative stereotype about oneself or one's group, has been linked to perceived stress; and stress has been linked to low job satisfaction. Sexual minorities provide a unique test of stereotype threat theory because they may choose to conceal their minority status at work. Thus, this study also examines whether the visibility of the stigma is a necessary precursor to the experience of stereotype threat. Given the uniqueness of …


Group Differences In Perceived Workplace Mistreatment: A Meta-Analysis, Mallory Mccord Jan 2014

Group Differences In Perceived Workplace Mistreatment: A Meta-Analysis, Mallory Mccord

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Workplace mistreatment, such as discrimination, bullying, and incivility, affect thousands of individuals annually and cost U.S. organizations up into the billions of dollars each year in settlement costs, lost employee productivity, and poor employee health. Given the pervasive cost and prevalence of workplace mistreatment, research on this subject remains important. The purpose of the current research is to provide academics, practitioners, and policy makers with a comprehensive understanding of the nature of perceived workplace mistreatment by determining if subgroups (e.g. men versus women) within individual difference groups (sex, race, age, and organizational tenure) differ in magnitude of perceived workplace mistreatment. …


Decentralized Power Management And Transient Control In Hybrid Fuel Cell Ultra-Capacitor System, Seyed Omid Madani Jan 2014

Decentralized Power Management And Transient Control In Hybrid Fuel Cell Ultra-Capacitor System, Seyed Omid Madani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are considered suitable for alternative energy solutions due to advantages such as high efficiency, fuel flexibility, tolerance to impurities, and potential for combined cycle operations. One of the main operating constraints of SOFCs is fuel starvation, which can occur under fluctuating power demands. It leads to voltage loss and detrimental effects on cell integrity and longevity. In addition, reformer based SOFCs require sufficient steam for fuel reforming to avoid carbon deposition and catalyst degradation. Steam to carbon ratio (STCR) is an index indicating availability of the steam in the reformer. This work takes a holistic …


Assessing Safety Culture Among Pilots In Saudi Airlines: A Quantitative Study Approach, Mohammad Alsowayigh Jan 2014

Assessing Safety Culture Among Pilots In Saudi Airlines: A Quantitative Study Approach, Mohammad Alsowayigh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In high- risk industries, such as aviation, safety is a key for organization survivor. Most accidents involve human losses and bring substantial cost to organizations. Accidents can devastate the reputation and profitability of any organization. In aviation, more than 80% of aircraft accidents are related to human errors. Safety culture has substantial impact on the success of any organization. Employees' performance and behaviors are influenced by their perception of safety culture within their organization. In the aviation industry, pilots are considered the last resort to prevent accidents or mishaps in the air or ground. The focus on pilots' perception of …


Evaluation Of Iron And Manganese Control For A Volcanic Surface Water Supply Treated With Conventional Coagulation, Sedimentation And Filtration Processes, Christine Hall Jan 2014

Evaluation Of Iron And Manganese Control For A Volcanic Surface Water Supply Treated With Conventional Coagulation, Sedimentation And Filtration Processes, Christine Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A research project assessing the effectiveness of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) for the treatment of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) has been conducted by the University of Central Florida (UCF) on behalf of the United States Navy with regards to the water supply on the island of Guam, located in the Marianas Islands. The study consisted of three basic investigative components: one that examined the use of potassium permanganate for iron and manganese control for Fena Lake, a second that examined the existing unit operations that comprised the Navy's water treatment plant (NWTP), and a third that examined iron and manganese …


Dishwashing Water Recycling System And Related Water Quality Standards For Military Use, Jared Church Jan 2014

Dishwashing Water Recycling System And Related Water Quality Standards For Military Use, Jared Church

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the demand for reliable and safe water supplies increases, both water quality and available quantity are being challenged by population growth and climate change. Greywater reuse is becoming a common practice worldwide; however, in remote locations of limited water supply, such as those encountered in military installations, it is desirable to expand its classification to include dishwashing water to maximize the conservation of fresh water. Given that no standards for dishwashing greywater reuse by the military are currently available, the current study determined a specific set of water quality standards for dishwater recycling systems for U.S military field operations. …


Traffic Safety Assessment Of Different Toll Collection Systems On Expressways Using Multiple Analytical Techniques, Muamer Abuzwidah Jan 2014

Traffic Safety Assessment Of Different Toll Collection Systems On Expressways Using Multiple Analytical Techniques, Muamer Abuzwidah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traffic safety has been considered one of the most important issues in the transportation field. Crashes have caused extensive human and economic losses. With the objective of reducing crash occurrence and alleviating crash injury severity, major efforts have been dedicated to reveal the hazardous factors that affect crash occurrence. With these consistent efforts, both fatalities and fatality rates from road traffic crashes in many countries have been steadily declining over the last ten years. Nevertheless, according to the World Health Organization, the world still lost 1.24 million lives from road traffic crashes in the year of 2013. And without action, …


Nondestructive Analysis Of Advanced Aerospace Materials Via Spectroscopy And Synchrotron Radiation, Albert Manero Jan 2014

Nondestructive Analysis Of Advanced Aerospace Materials Via Spectroscopy And Synchrotron Radiation, Albert Manero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Advanced aerospace materials require extensive testing and characterization to anticipate and ensure their integrity under hostile environments. Characterization methods utilizing synchrotron X-Ray diffraction and spectroscopy can decrease the time required to determine an emerging material's readiness for application through intrinsic information on the material response and failure mechanisms. In this study, thermal barrier coating samples applicable to turbine blades of jet engines were studied using Raman and Photoluminescence spectroscopy as well as Synchrotron X-ray diffraction while Kevlar based fiber composites applicable to ballistic resistant armor were studied using Raman spectroscopy to investigate the mechanical state and corresponding damage and failure …


Nanocomposite Coating Mechanics Via Piezospectroscopy, Gregory Freihofer Jan 2014

Nanocomposite Coating Mechanics Via Piezospectroscopy, Gregory Freihofer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coatings utilizing the piezospectroscopic (PS) effect of alpha alumina could enable on the fly stress sensing for structural health monitoring applications. While the PS effect has been historically utilized in several applications, here by distributing the photo-luminescent material in nanoparticle form within a matrix, a stress sensing coating is created. Parallel to developing PS coatings for stress sensing, the multi-scale mechanics associated with the observed PS response of nanocomposites and their coatings has been applied to give material property measurements, providing an understanding of particle reinforced composite behavior. Understanding the nanoparticle-coating-substrate mechanics is essential to interpreting the spectral shifts for …


Institutional Repository, Ucf Libraries Jan 2014

Institutional Repository, Ucf Libraries

Technology Fee Funded Projects

The UCF Libraries seeks $240,077 in funding to purchase a 3 year license for Digital Commons, a digital repository platform for UCF-produced digital scholarship.


Home Nowhere: Assorted Prose, Rebecca Fortes Jan 2014

Home Nowhere: Assorted Prose, Rebecca Fortes

HIM 1990-2015

Oftentimes, the children of immigrants find themselves straddling two worlds. As Americanized minorities, we navigate torn psychological landscapes in which uneasy dichotomies are formed: living up to our parents' expectations, or fulfilling our own; embracing tradition, or birthing a new culture; admiring the lives of our family, but wanting different for ourselves. These tough decisions are further compounded by identifiers such as age, race, and gender. My creative thesis, a collection of fiction and nonfiction, examines these issues through three central characters. In fiction, they are the Latina sisters Mel and Nena; in nonfiction, it is myself. Through these stories, …


Imago Dei: Stories, Benjamin Langevin Jan 2014

Imago Dei: Stories, Benjamin Langevin

HIM 1990-2015

Translated from Latin, Imago Dei means the image of God. In the very beginning of the Torah, the writer says that God created humanity in Their own image. According to the text, woven in the fabric of who we are is God. In a post-secular society, the concept of God brings a lot of weight and baggage. Which God are we talking about? Can God be talked about it? Is God or thinking about God even relevant anymore? Hasn't science taken care of it? What good can discussions on faith bring us? These are the questions explored in Imago Dei: …


Design And Implementation Plan For The "I Am Potential" Financial Literacy Education Program, Tureka Louis Jan 2014

Design And Implementation Plan For The "I Am Potential" Financial Literacy Education Program, Tureka Louis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Financial Literacy Program Model is a proposed solution to the problem of financial illiteracy among the working poor. Over 80 percent of adults in America are not financially literate, yet more than half believe themselves to be (OECD, 2005). No community is more adversely affected by this fallacy than the working poor. Earning income, yet living below the poverty line, this group is as deceived as any other by the misconception that increased income is their sole remedy rather than a small part of the complex equation greatly influenced by financial literacy. Drawing upon a review of related literature, …


Evaluation Of A Secure Laptop Based Testing Program In An Undergraduate Nursing Program, Jinyuan Tao Jan 2014

Evaluation Of A Secure Laptop Based Testing Program In An Undergraduate Nursing Program, Jinyuan Tao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation paper introduced a program evaluation of a secure laptop-based testing (SLBT) program, which was implemented from 2009 to 2014 in an undergraduate nursing program at a private institution in the southeastern region of the United States (US). Computerized testing is an old topic in the educational research field, but the instructor-made, laptop-based secure testing that utilizes learning management systems (LMS) for undergraduate nursing programs is a fairly new topic in the US. Traditionally, testing has been administered with paper and pencil in the undergraduate nursing programs in the US for security reasons. Recently, with different robust LMSs, …


The Conceptual Field Of Proportional Reasoning Researched Through The Lived Experiences Of Nurses, Deana Deichert Jan 2014

The Conceptual Field Of Proportional Reasoning Researched Through The Lived Experiences Of Nurses, Deana Deichert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Proportional reasoning instruction is prevalent in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schooling. The concept of proportional reasoning is used in a variety of contexts for solving real-world problems. One of these contexts is the solving of dosage calculation proportional problems in the healthcare field. On the job, nurses perform drug dosage calculations which carry fatal consequences. As a result, nursing students are required to meet minimum competencies in solving proportion problems. The goal of this research is to describe the lived experiences of nurses in connection to their use of proportional reasoning in order to impact instruction of the procedures used …


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Education And Human Performance, Spring 2014, Terrie Sypolt Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Education And Human Performance, Spring 2014, Terrie Sypolt

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, History, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, History, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Finance & Real Estate, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Finance & Real Estate, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Marketing, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Marketing, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Management, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Management, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Judaic Studies, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Judaic Studies, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Accounting, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Accounting, Spring 2014, Missy Murphey

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Music, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Music, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Communication, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison Jan 2014

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Communication, Spring 2014, Richard Harrison

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.


Hope And Low Level Literacy Of Haitians In Petit-Goave: Implications For Hope Theory And Adult Literacy Education, Donita Grissom Jan 2014

Hope And Low Level Literacy Of Haitians In Petit-Goave: Implications For Hope Theory And Adult Literacy Education, Donita Grissom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional study extended Snyder's Hope Theory (1991) by analyzing the difference in trait hope levels, pathway thinking, and agency thinking of pre-literate (no prior access to literacy) and non-literate (access to literacy, but little or no prior literacy education) Haitian adults. The data were derived from archival records of 135 students enrolled in Haitian-Kreyol adult literacy classes in Petit-Goave, Haiti. Mann-Whitney U results indicated that there were no significant differences in trait hope, pathway thinking, or agency thinking between the pre-literate and non-literate Haitian adults. Both groups reported average trait hope, average pathway thinking, and low agency thinking. Potential …