Can government-sponsored sustainable agricultural farming practices reduce land decay through crop biodiversity conservation under production uncertainties?

Under income uncertainties, agricultural farmers might be influenced by government-sponsored programs that might lead to higher income opportunities by focusing on monoculture at the expense of crop diversification strategy. However, the latter strategy is likely to reduce production uncertainties for agricultural farmers and hence, ensuring sustainable agricultural development in the targeted area. A theoretical model is proposed to understand such possible economic trade-offs between high income-lower crop diversification and lower income-higher crop diversification outcomes resulting from government-sponsored programs and institutions

Connected and Automated Vehicles in Urban Transportation Cyber-Physical Systems

Understanding the components of Transportation Cyber-Physical Systems (TCPS), and inter-relation and interactions among these components are key factors to leverage the full potentials of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs). In a connected environment, CAVs can communicate with other components of TCPS, which include other CAVs, other connected road users, and digital infrastructure. Deploying supporting infrastructure for TCPS, and developing and testing CAV-specific applications in a TCPS environment are mandatory to achieve the CAV potentials. This dissertation specifically focuses on the study of current TCPS infrastructure (Part 1), and the development and verification of CAV applications for an urban TCPS environment (Part 2). Among the TCPS components, digital infrastructure bears sheer importance as without connected infrastructure, the Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) applications cannot be implemented. While focusing on the V2I applications in Part 1, this dissertation evaluates the current digital roadway infrastructure status. The dissertation presents a set of recommendations, based on a review of current practices and future needs. In Part 2, To synergize the digital infrastructure deployment with CAV deployments, two V2I applications are developed for CAVs for an urban TCPS environment. At first, a real-time adaptive traffic signal control algorithm is developed, which utilizes CAV data to compute the signal timing parameters for an urban arterial in the near-congested traffic condition. The analysis reveals that the CAV-based adaptive signal control provides operational benefits to both CVs and non-CVs with limited data from 5% CVs, with 5.6% average speed increase, and 66.7% and 32.4% average maximum queue length and stopped delay reduction, respectively, on a corridor compared to the actuated coordinated scenario. The second application includes the development of a situation-aware left-turning CAV controller module, which optimizes CAV speed based on the follower driver\u27s aggressiveness. Existing autonomous vehicle controllers do not consider the surrounding driver\u27s behavior, which may lead to road rage, and rear-end crashes. The analysis shows that the average travel time reduction for the scenarios with 600, 800 and 1000 veh/hr/lane opposite traffic stream are 61%, 23%, and 41%, respectively, for the follower vehicles, if the follower driver\u27s behavior is considered by CAVs

Consequences of public programs and private transfers on household’s investment in protection from natural disasters

Considering the issues of households’ accessibility to public programs and private inward remittances, there is a need to better understand the linkages through which households’ decision to pursue private defensive strategies (or private protection activities) might be influenced. This has significant policy implications especially for low-and-middle income countries vulnerable to natural disasters. We introduce a theoretical model of household private investment in protection against damages from a natural disaster event given the presence of public programs and the possibility of receiving inward remittances from members of the household

Situation-Aware Left-Turning Connected and Automated Vehicle Operation at Signalized Intersections

One challenging aspect of the Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) operation in mixed traffic is the development of a situation-awareness module for CAVs. While operating on public roads, CAVs need to assess their surroundings, especially the intentions of non-CAVs. Generally, CAVs demonstrate a defensive driving behavior, and CAVs expect other non-autonomous entities on the road will follow the traffic rules or common driving behavior. However, the presence of aggressive human drivers in the surrounding environment, who may not follow traffic rules and behave abruptly, can lead to serious safety consequences. In this paper, we have addressed the CAV and non-CAV interaction by evaluating a situation-awareness module for left-turning CAV operations in an urban area. Existing literature does not consider the intent of the following vehicle for a CAVs left-turning movement, and existing CAV controllers do not assess the following non-CAVs intents. Based on our simulation study, the situation-aware CAV controller module reduces up to 27% of the abrupt braking of the following non-CAVs for scenarios with different opposing through movement compared to the base scenario with the autonomous vehicle, without considering the following vehicles intent. The analysis shows that the average travel time reductions for the opposite through traffic volumes of 600, 800, and 1000 vehicle/hour/lane are 58%, 52%, and 62%, respectively, for the aggressive human driver following the CAV if the following vehicles intent is considered by a CAV in making a left turn at an intersection

What Works Best to Motivate Students in a General Education Introductory Economics Course

Considering the research gaps on student motivation of treating economics as an interesting subject matter, the learning goal of my research is to find what works best to engender positive learning experience for students dealing with serious motivational issues. My research design is based on the convergent parallel mixed methods using the quantitative pre-and-post anonymous online questionnaire surveys and the qualitative short reflection notes. Preliminary results show that there are convergences between the two sources of information regarding the student motivational factors. By the end of the semester, divergences between the two sources of information become more prominent. Regarding preferred student-learning techniques, active learning based on in-class discussion and exercises, group project, and pair-wise homework assignments are considered to be most effective in motivating students. Quizzes or exams became the most effective motivational factor at the end of the semester. This could be associated with students concern about their expected final grade, which is evident from student self-reported short reflection note

Estimating Mixing Parameters Using Ocean Buoyancy Glider Hydrography and Vehicle Dynamics: Applications to Gulf Loop Current Structure

This dissertation has combined observations from four Slocum glider missions in the deep Gulf of Mexico to quantify the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rates (ϵ) and diffusive mixing processes in the basin. The Thorpe scale (TM) method is used to estimate ϵ and then used to construct depth ϵ profiles (surface to 1000 m) using the Large Eddy Method (LEM). The accuracy of the TM-LEM estimates are compared and quantified against direct estimates from a simultaneous /co-located MicroRider deployment in the Gulf of Mexico (i.e., a glider equipped with MicroRider). Survey-averaged profiles of the three methods are compared and found to be within the range of expected error, i.e., within a factor of 2. Profile to profile comparison of ϵ reveals that LEM overestimates when the magnitude of ϵ is small. The overestimation is attributed to the stratification-dependent detection limits of the LEM and is mostly observed in deep water, where ϵ falls close to the noise level of LEM. Spectral comparison of dissipation rates from the three methods (using histograms of occurrence) confirms that the LEM and TM are able to capture dissipation rate variability greater than 1 × 10−9 Wkg−1; however, less than this limit, only the direct measurement of TKE dissipation rate (in regions of weak vertical density gradients) are robust. Despite this limitation, the TM -LEM-derived dissipation rate estimates are able to provide structures that are interpretable as associated with the underlying physical processes of the deep ocean. Maps showing the temporal and spatial variability of ϵ are able to reveal the well-defined turbu-lence structure of LCE and LC. Eddy-induced elevated ϵ are observed around the core of LC and LCE, but the interior of the eddy core is relatively quiescent when compared to the oceanic frontal regions of the eddy. Diapycnal mixing around the eddy cores is suppressed due to the presence of stronger stratification. Away from the eddy cores, where stratification is less, diapycnal mixing is enhanced. The analysis quantifying the relative strength of the diffusion processes, using Turner Angle and density ratio, concluded that salt-fingering is the dominant double-diffusive process in the GoM and is related to proximity to the LC and to depth of observation influence the strength of the salt-fingering in the water column. The potential for fine-structure thermohaline staircases is quantified and observations of irregular shape staircases in the deep GoM are reported for the first time. The glider-based measurements provide an economical option to estimate ocean turbulence and has the potential to fill the gaps between the direct microstructure measurements provides opportunity to obtain mixing parameters of the world ocean in the absence of direct microstructure observations

Parents’ decision-making on the consumption of private tutoring of school-going children: A game theoretic approach

By applying a three-stage behavioral game theoretical set up, we develop private tutoring game models using the key stakeholders comprising the higher authority of both public and private schools, teachers involved with private tutoring, and the parents. Our preliminary results reveal that teachers’ dutifulness increases with salary but with professional development, the result is ambiguous