Parameterized complexity is a part of computer science dealing with the computational complexity of problems measured not only by the length of their input but also some parameter of the input. Nei- ghborhood diversity is a recently introduced parameter describing a certain structure of a graph. is parameter is aractive for resear especially because some problems whi are hard with respect to other parameters that are incomparable with neighborhood diversity become fixed-parameter tractable with respect to neighborhood diversity. In this thesis we show fixed-parameter tractability for three problems that are hard with respect to treewidth. is constitutes the main part of this thesis and it is our original work. Next it contains an overview of other interesting problems and also a survey of the state of the art in the area of parameters for sparse and dense graphs. 1

Aims. The goal of this paper is to present complete radial-velocity data for the spectroscopically selected McCormick sample of nearby K-M dwarfs and, based on these and supplementary data, to determine the space-velocity distributions of late-type stars in the solar neighborhood. Methods. We analyzed nearly 3300 measurements of radial velocities for 1049 K-M dwarfs, that we obtained during the past decade with a CORAVEL-type instrument, with a primary emphasis on detecting and eliminating from kinematic calculations the spectroscopic binaries and binary candidates. Combining radial-velocity data with HIPPARCOS/Tycho-2 astrometry we calculated the space-velocity components and parameters of the galactic orbits in a three-component model potential for the stars in the sample, that we use for kinematical analysis and for the identification of possible candidate members of nearby stellar kinematic groups. Results. We present the catalog of our observations of radial velocities for 959 stars which are not suspected of velocity variability, along with the catalog of U, V, W velocities and Galactic orbital parameters for a total of 1088 K-M stars which are used in the present kinematic analysis. Of these, 146 stars were identified as possible candidate members of the known nearby kinematic groups and suspected subgroups. The distributions of space-velocity components, orbital eccentricities, and maximum distances from the Galactic plane are consistent with the presence of young, intermediate-age and old populations of the thin disk and a small fraction (similar to 3%) of stars with the thick disk kinematics. The kinematic structure gives evidence that the bulk of K-M type stars in the immediate solar vicinity represents a dynamically relaxed stellar population. The star MCC 869 is found to be on a retrograde Galactic orbit (V = -262 km s(-1)) of low inclination (4 degrees) and can be a member of stellar stream of some dissolved structure. The Sun's velocity with respect to the Local Standard of Rest, derived from the distributions of space-velocity components, is (U-circle dot, V-circle dot, W-circle dot) = (9.0 +/- 1.4, 13.1 +/- 0.6, 7.2 +/- 0.8) km s(-1). The radial solar motion derived via the Stromberg's relation, V-circle dot = 14.2 +/- 0.8 km s(-1), agrees within the errors with the value obtained directly from the V distribution of stars on nearly circular orbits.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / This report acts as an independent study which contributes to the author’s participation in the 2012-2013 Kansas City Design Center planning and urban design studio. The project focuses on Independence Avenue in Kansas City, MO, the commercial and transportation backbone of seven neighborhoods, collectively known as Northeast Kansas City. Residents of these neighborhoods place great value in the “diversity” which exists in their neighborhoods, and have made it clear that this should be encouraged as a major part of the Northeast’s identity. This inspired the author to pursue a deeper understanding of the idea of diverse neighborhoods, how they fit into the “sustainable development” consciousness, and ultimately how one can plan and design for neighborhood diversity. The resulting study consisted of two levels of analysis. First, analyzing the mixture of age, sex, household type, race, and income level at the regional, city, and neighborhood scale, in order to understand what social diversity means in the Kansas City context, and define how diverse Northeast Kansas City neighborhoods are. The second was an analysis of conditions in the built environment. Using the Scarritt Renaissance and Lykins neighborhoods, and a common commercial district/social seam between the two as a case study, the author intended to analyze how successful or unsuccessful the typical Northeast neighborhood is at encouraging diverse populations. Ultimately, these analyses yielded two main conclusions. The first is that neighborhood diversity means drastically different things depending on how you define and measure the term. The second is the notion that social seam commercial districts are a unique spatial typology, which requires special design consideration, and can be most catalytic to setting the tone for future growth. Finally, the author concludes with the idea that one cannot necessarily plan or design for diverse neighborhoods, but they can do so in ways which empower diversity, and be conducive to things which support diverse neighborhoods. However, the built environment only makes up a portion of the things which influence neighborhood diversity, requiring an involved and invested community who values social diversity in their neighborhood.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston Gibson / Often cities are in a perpetual struggle to increase or maintain community development within their districts; how can cities revitalize struggling neighborhoods? How can cities bring energy and life into portions of the downtown? How can cities encourage development for night-time destinations? There is no clear-cut answer to these questions, but this study will examine what amenities within districts may be in the presence of successful music venues. I will determine the district-based criteria for potential venue placement for success based on multiple case studies of different venues located within St. Louis, MO; Omaha, NE; and Indianapolis, IN as described in Yin’s Case Study Research (2009). These case studies will be compared using the community capital framework (Green & Haines, 2012) using a matrix based upon a) social, b) physical, c) financial, and d) cultural capitals. Each study will contain both qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to tell the story of each district for more comprehensive analysis.

The present study investigated the direct and interactional effects of neighborhood disadvantage and harsh parenting on concurrent assessments and change in externalizing and internalizing behavior in toddlerhood. The study included 55 mothers and their children; families completed in-home assessments when children were 2 and 3 years of age. Mothers' reports were used to measure neighborhood disadvantage and children's problem behaviors. Observer ratings derived from a clean up task were used to measure harsh parenting. Four hierarchical regression equations were computed to test each study hypothesis. Results indicated marginally significant effects of harsh parenting on externalizing problems at age 2. Surprisingly, harsh parenting and exposure to neighborhood risk did not significantly predict increases in externalizing behavior problems from age 2 to 3. Harsh parenting was marginally related to children's internalizing problems under conditions of high levels of neighborhood disadvantage and predicted increases in internalizing over time. The theoretical implications of the results are discussed.

The corner store represents a significant part of New Orleans' history and neighborhoods. From essential grocery providers to bars and restaurants full of local character, these buildings have held a number of roles in the community. These roles have changed in response to development patterns, market pressures, and land-use regulation. A number of these traditional businesses still exist today as neighborhood cultural institutions throughout the city. Many more, however, have faced conversions to residential buildings, abandonment, or demolition. This case study addresses the significance of the corner store, identifies a number of factors leading to its decline, and suggests that a newly revised Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance in the city of New Orleans should reserve a place for these neighborhood businesses.

This research investigates the uses and perceptions of the population of the East Carrollton Area in New Orleans so as to evaluate the possible outcomes of urban design intervention and policy changes. Using GIS, field notes, structured interviews and a population survey, this research evaluates how much the built environment influences the uses of the neighborhood open space. Subsequently, it evaluates how the neighborhood open space is perceived as a place as opposed to a transportation infrastructure. Overall, the built environment affects the experience of the residents when they perform leisure activities in the neighborhood open space. Major deterrents to functional use and active transportation are related to social factors and the social environment. The neighborhood open space is largely perceived as an asset by the residents. It can be a valid replacement for urban parks when the population cannot access them.

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La programmation par contraintes est souvent décrite, utopiquement, comme un paradigme déclaratif dans lequel l’utilisateur décrit son problème et le solveur le résout. Bien entendu, la réalité des solveurs de contraintes est plus complexe, et les besoins de personnalisation des techniques de modélisation et de résolution évoluent avec le degré d’expertise des utilisateurs. Cette thèse porte sur l’enrichissement de l’arsenal des techniques disponibles dans les solveurs de contraintes. D’une part, nous étudions la contribution d’un système d’explications à l’exploration de l’espace de recherche, dans le cadre spécifique d’une recherche locale. Deux heuristiques de voisinages génériques exploitant singulièrement les explications sont décrites. La première se base sur la difficulté de réparer une solution partiellement détruite, la seconde repose sur la nature non-optimale de la solution courante. Ces heuristiques mettent à jour la structure interne des problèmes traités pour construire des voisins de bonne qualité pour une recherche à voisinage large. Elles sont complémentaires d’autres heuristiques de voisinages génériques, avec lesquels elles peuvent être combinées efficacement. De plus, nous proposons de rendre le système d’explications paresseux afin d’en minimiser l’empreinte. D’autre part, nous effectuons un état des lieux des savoir-faire relatifs aux moteurs de propagation pour les solveurs de contraintes. Ces données sont exploitées opérationnellement à travers un langage dédié qui permet de personnaliser la propagation au sein d’un solveur, en fournissant des structures d’implémentation et en définissant des points de contrôle dans le solveur. Ce langage offre des concepts de haut niveau permettant à l’utilisateur d’ignorer les détails de mise en œuvre du solveur, tout en conservant un bon niveau de flexibilité et certaines garanties. Il permet l’expression de schémas de propagation spécifiques à la structure interne de chaque problème. La mise en œuvre et les expérimentations ont été effectués dans le solveur de contraintes Choco. Cette thèse a donné lieu à une nouvelle version de l’outil globalement plus efficace et nativement expliqué. / Constraint programming is often described, idealistically, as a declarative paradigm in which the user describes the problem and the solver solves it. Obviously, the reality of constraint solvers is more complex, and the needs in customization of modeling and solving techniques change with the level of expertise of users. This thesis focuses on enriching the arsenal of available techniques in constraint solvers. On the one hand, we study the contribution of an explanation system to the exploration of the search space in the specific context of a local search. Two generic neighborhood heuristics which exploit explanations singularly are described. The first one is based on the difficulty of repairing a partially destroyed solution, the second one is based on the non-optimal nature of the current solution. These heuristics discover the internal structure of the problems to build good neighbors for large neighborhood search. They are complementary to other generic neighborhood heuristics, with which they can be combined effectively. In addition, we propose to make the explanation system lazy in order to minimize its footprint. On the other hand, we undertake an inventory of know-how relative to propagation engines of constraint solvers. These data are used operationally through a domain specific language that allows users to customize the propagation schema, providing implementation structures and defining check points within the solver. This language offershigh-level concepts that allow the user to ignore the implementation details, while maintaining a good level of flexibility and some guarantees. It allows the expression of propagation schemas specific to the internal structure of each problem solved. Implementation and experiments were carried out in the Choco constraint solver, developed in this thesis. This has resulted in a new version of the overall effectiveness and natively explained tool.

Zoning is premised upon the segregation of land uses. Rudimentary zoning ordinances originated in New York around 1916 as a means of separating the lower class fabric markets from the upscale retailers of 5th Avenue nearby, and to reduce density. The Standard Enabling Acts of the 1920s granted governments the broad authority to enact zoning ordinances to reduce population densities in cities for the purposes of health, safety, and well being. The United States Supreme Court upheld this authority as constitutional in the landmark case of Euclid v. Ambler Realty (1926). In the roughly eighty years since the Euclid decision, zoning has become the planning profession's primary tool to regulate land use. While an effective policy response to issues at that time of a rapidly industrializing America, Euclidean zoning has unintentionally shaped the US landscape into a sprawling, auto-dependent society characterized by segregated communities of isolated populations. Euclidean zoning makes it extremely difficult to mix uses. As a result, 'traditional' development patterns with high-density housing, nearby commercial, and pedestrian-friendly walkways are virtually impossible to create. Many critics suggest that zoning promulgates sprawl. In short, Euclidean zoning prevents 'good' urban design. In recent years, new trends have emerged to address these problems to varying degrees of success. Form-Based Codes are one of the most recent planning innovations. With origins in the New Urbanist school of development, Form-Based Codes elevates physical design in city planning, as opposed to the 'use-based' restrictions of Euclidean zoning. This paper examines whether or not Form-Based Codes could be a viable solution to the ills associated with Euclidean zoning. Benefits and drawbacks of both Euclidean zoning and Form-Based Codes are debated, including a case study analysis, as well as a discussion of legal ramifications and future scenarios in land use planning. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning