The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of skydiving instructors who have shaped the instructional practices of experienced and active accelerated freefall instructors (AFFIs) in Central and Southern Florida. By contributing to the training curriculum, this research attempted to close the experiential gap between novice and senior instructors in a more efficient manner. Due to the complex nature of teaching skydiving and an absence of an opportunity for a skydiving instructor in training to work in freefall with non-certified skydivers, understanding the lived experiences of active AFFIs is of critical importance. This study aimed to answer the following research questions: (a) How do active accelerated freefall training instructors personalize the lessons learned in the AFFI instructor training course, forming their own best practices and instructional style? and (b) What roles do lived skydiving experiences, both significant and critical, play in the development of an active AFFI’s current instructional style and best practices? Sites selected included five dropzones located in Central and Southern Florida, with three of those sites yielding a total of 10 participants. Data were collected regarding basic demographic information as well as about the lived experiences of the active AFFIs through both structured and semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Interviews were conducted either in-person or over the phone based on the preference of the participants. Data analysis took place in three phases: separation of qualitative and quantitative data, open coding, and axial coding following Merriam’s (2009) process of coding. Findings revealed an understanding that accelerated freefall (AFF) instruction has become rooted within the culture and experiences of the skydiving community through the stance “license to learn.” This stance has led to the emergence of an educational model outlining the roles culture and experience play not only in the development of the active AFFIs, but also how those lessons are passed on to the next generation of AFFIs. Findings in this research will play a significant role in the development of future curricular adjustments, highlighting the importance of this stance while also providing a solid foundation for future inquiry. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

In 2010, regulators established new rules for single-family mortgage services that tightened the loan amount consumers could qualify for, restricted fees lenders could charge, and placed numerous financial penalties for improper servicing of loans. Regulatory fee restrictions made it difficult for leaders to offset the compliance costs through the price of services provided. Leaders responsible for mortgage regulatory compliance experienced increased operating costs for single-family mortgage services due to the new regulations, and some leaders found it challenging to comply and remain competitive. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies leaders in the single-family mortgage services industry used to comply with federal regulations and remain competitive. The study population included 5 leaders responsible for single-family mortgage regulatory compliance from the southwestern and northern regions of the United States Porter's 5 forces analysis was the conceptual framework. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and analysis of data from a website hosted by government regulators. Data were analyzed using color-coded transcriptions, methodological triangulation, member checking, and coding software. Themes that emerged from data analysis revealed that costs and control methods for regulatory compliance strategies required leaders to change their infrastructure to remain competitive and profitable. The implication of this study for positive social change relates to competitive pricing for single-family mortgage loans for consumers yielding an increase in home ownership.

Masters of Science / Background: In Africa, traditional medicine (TM) practice has been in existence since time immemorial as the major source of pharmacotherapy. However, unlike orthodox medicines TM policies and regulations are not formalised let alone standardised. African nations have different approaches and regulatory requirements whereas in some states policies are even non-existent. Aim: The aim of the mini thesis was to assess the current policies and guidelines for regulation of TM in five selected sub-Saharan African countries relative to the WHO recommendations on traditional medicine policy. Method: The mini thesis was a desk review of current policy frameworks and guidelines for regulation of traditional medicines relative to WHO recommendations on TM policy in sub- Saharan Africa using five selected countries. Result: The results from the five selected countries showed significant difference in the current policies and guidelines on the regulation of TM, but no significant difference in the actual WHO TM policy indicators that the countries implemented. Discussion: Regularisation of TM practice by integrating it into main health systems could make it more acceptable. The complexity of TM/herbal products needs a different yet integrated approach. Harmonisation of regulatory requirements eliminates the need for redundant testing, ensures consistency across regions and improves implementation of WHO TM policy indicators.

The Gulf of Mexico is home to two of the world?s ten busiest ports by cargo volume, the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Houston; and in 2008, these ports hosted a combined 14,000 ships, a number which is likely only to increase. Past research shows that this increase in shipping worldwide has historically lead to an increase in ambient noise level of 3-5dB per decade. Sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico are considered a genetically distinct, resident population. They have a preference for the Louisiana-Mississippi Shelf region which directly overlaps with the entrance to the Mississippi and the Port of New Orleans. Disruptions from vessel noise could influence feeding and breeding patterns essential to the health of the stock. Data used in this analysis were collected continuously over 36 days in the summer of 2001 from bottom moored Navy Environmental Acoustic Recording System (EARS) buoys. Results showed a significant difference (P<0.05) in noise level between hours with ships passing and hours without. Metrics for 56 ship passages were analyzed to compare duration of ship passage with duration of maximum received level (MRL) during ship passage. Results of that analysis showed an average ship passage of 29 minutes with average MRL lasting 23% of the ship passage and an average increase of 40dB. Lastly, click counts were made with the Pamguard. Click counts for ship passages were completed for 35 min and 17.5 min before and after the estimated closest point of approach (CPA) for each ship. Results showed a 36% decrease in the number of detectable clicks as a ship approaches when comparing clicks detected at intervals of both 35 minutes before and 17 minutes before the CPA; additionally, 22% fewer clicks were counted 30 min after the ship than 30 min before (results significant at the P=0.01 level). These results indicate a potential change in sperm whale behavior when exposed to large class size vessel traffic (e.g. tankers and container ships) from major shipping lanes. Recommendations for addressing this issue are discussed.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between trade restrictiveness and corruption levels in Europe and tests the robustness of the results using two different measures of corruption; Corruption Perceptions Index constructed by Transparency International and World Governance Indicators; Control of Corruption constructed by the World Bank. The results show that the outcome differs among the two indices and that previous results found in studies may be subject to data choice and measurement errors. A majority of previous studies have used trade openness in the form of imports share in GDP, or trade openness indices as variables that explain corruption levels. This thesis focuses on trade restrictiveness. It also investigates the differences between restrictiveness and openness in their impacts on corruption. The author of this thesis finds a weak relation between trade restrictiveness and corruption on one hand and an even weaker relation between trade openness and corruption on the other hand when controlling for other variables that may have an impact on corruption. The limited time-frame could be an explanation for this result, i.e. trade policy effects. A longer time-frame would have probably resulted in a bigger difference between variables for trade openness and trade restrictiveness. It is found that the variables showing to have the largest impact on corruption levels in Europe are those associated with historical dimensions such as whether the country has had a tradition of the church being separated from the state or whether being a previously planned economy. Most importantly, the thesis presents suggestive evidence on the fact that not all government involvement increases corruption. Rather, it is regulations that limit internal competition have a large impact on corruption levels in Europe. It has also been found that not all government involvement in the economy implies higher corruption levels. The findings outlined are in line with the common perception that corruption is highly dependent on previous values of corruption and that radical policy interventions are needed to curb corruption.

When setting the stringency of environmental regulations of the intensive livestock industry, governments make a trade-off between rural economic development and environmental quality. This trade-off represents the weight the government places on social welfare relative to the profitability of the intensive livestock industry. The impact of the weight the government places on rural economic development on the formation of environmental regulations in the US intensive livestock industry is examined in this thesis. A political economy model explaining the formation of environmental regulations in the presence of a special interest lobby group is developed. The theoretical model finds that the incumbent government sets policy in response to the marginal disutility from pollution, the intensity of pollution damages, and according to the weight the government places on rural economic development. The theoretical model is tested using a cross-sectional analysis of 1997 intensive livestock industry environmental regulations across US states. Econometric results provide evidence that state governments implement more stringent regulations in response to the concerns of rural citizens and the intensity of pollution damages. The study finds that the pressure to pursue rural economic development has a positive relationship with the stringency of regulations.

When setting the stringency of environmental regulations of the intensive livestock industry, governments make a trade-off between rural economic development and environmental quality. This trade-off represents the weight the government places on social welfare relative to the profitability of the intensive livestock industry. The impact of the weight the government places on rural economic development on the formation of environmental regulations in the US intensive livestock industry is examined in this thesis. A political economy model explaining the formation of environmental regulations in the presence of a special interest lobby group is developed. The theoretical model finds that the incumbent government sets policy in response to the marginal disutility from pollution, the intensity of pollution damages, and according to the weight the government places on rural economic development. The theoretical model is tested using a cross-sectional analysis of 1997 intensive livestock industry environmental regulations across US states. Econometric results provide evidence that state governments implement more stringent regulations in response to the concerns of rural citizens and the intensity of pollution damages. The study finds that the pressure to pursue rural economic development has a positive relationship with the stringency of regulations.

Abstract Energy is one of the most important factors that continue to influence the shape of civilization in the 21st Century. The cost and availability of energy significantly impacts our quality of life, the health of national economies and the stability of our environment. In recent years there has been a significant global commitment to develop clean and alternative forms of energy resources and it is envisioned that by 2020 10% of world energy will be supplied from renewable resources, and there is an expectation that this value will grow to 50% by 2050. Among renewable energy resources, wind generation technology has matured considerably, and wind is fairly distributed around the globe and therefore available to world communities. In the last decade, wind generation has been the fastest growing energy source globally. However more penetration of wind energy into existing power networks raises concern for power system operators and regulators. Traditionally wind energy convertors do not participate in frequency regulation or Automatic Generation Control (AGC) services, and therefore large penetration of wind power into the power systems can result in a reduction of total system inertia and robustness of the frequency response to the disturbances. The research presented in this thesis covers some of the operational and design aspects of frequency control and AGC services in power systems with mixed generation resources. The thesis examines the operation of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) with a modified inertial loop control considering single-area and two-area frequency control, both primary control and AGC. The thesis presents new, small-perturbation, linear, dynamic, mathematical models for the simulation of primary regulation services and AGC services for single-area and two-area power systems with a mix of conventional and non-conventional DFIG-based wind generators. In order to improve the performance of the frequency regulation and AGC services of the above systems, a parameter optimization technique based on the minimization of the Integral of Squared Errors (ISE) is applied to determine the optimal settings for the proportional-integral (PI) controller gains of the DFIG machines. The thesis presents analytical studies with various perturbations to demonstrate the effectiveness and participation of DFIG-based wind generators in frequency support services and draws some important conclusions. Variation in DFIG penetration levels, and wind speed levels (strong wind and weak wind) on system frequency control performance, has also been examined in the thesis.

Local tax legislation means that the local government designates its own local tax category, prescribes its own tax, and executes the tax assessment rights. Local taxation independence has great impact on the finance and development of the local government and has become a prevailing international trend of thought in recent years. In Taiwan, local governments commonly face the problem of tax assessment shortage due to general economic slowdown in the past few years. Increase of government spend worsens the finance of various levels of local governments. The fact that the local governments in Taiwan are spending more money than what they take in causes the annually increased deficit budget. In addition, the merge and upgrade of five cities this year will definitely cause expelling effect on the income of local governments. Therefore, the tasks of increasing revenue and cutting spending should not be further delayed by the local governments. Local government financial independence is one of the crucial factors ensuring local autonomy business publicity. Therefore, the study of legal causes and reforms of local government tax income shortage, especially the study of local tax legislation that directly affecting tax assessment, is an important issue for safeguarding local government financial independence and local autonomy. This study is a detailed analysis of issues based on local government legislative precedents and literature reviews. Using the information collected, this study analyzes the differences and similarities of practical and academic views, conducts in-depth interviews of experts in this field, and thereafter presents conclusions and proposals. The soundness of local tax legislation can not be achieved without the maturity of democratic concepts, local autonomy consciousness, time and environment. Expanding tax sources can be done in two ways at the same time. First, nationwide local tax shall meet the principles of sufficiency and stability of taxation. Specifically, an overall review on the current local tax system should be conducte, including the revocation of unreasonable tax reduction and increase of publicly announced land prices. By doing so, we can meet the finance demands from local governments. Second, local government can create new taxes that meet the principle of equity, neutrality, and benefit-receive. Specifically, local government can impose taxes with designated purposes of use, establishing the link between people¡¦s interests and burdens and meeting the special demand of local government finance. Combining these two ways shall solve the problem of insufficient tax assessment.

The aim of this study is to examine the role of &lsquo / Turkish Disaster Regulations&rsquo / on architectural design. Although the preliminary aim of Turkish disaster regulations is to provide knowledge for designers and builders to control structural and constructional system of buildings that can resist disasters in the pre-disaster period, these regulations can create some restrictions for architects in their design process. Following an analytical examinations of Turkish disaster regulations that have been developed continuously after different disaster experiences for years from an architectural view, the focus will be given to the 2007 disaster regulation called &lsquo / Specification for Buildings to be Built in Earthquake Areas&rsquo / in order to evaluate critically the limitations of those regulations for architects in their design process. Furthermore, seven types of irregular buildings that are mentioned in 2007 disaster regulation will be examined and discussed in detail.